All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Jan: Which transmitter are you using are there are a number that serve various parts of the Esk valley?
See this page on Digital UK's site:
http://http://www.digital…imes
It says that the first stage of switchover has completed at the Castleton and Whitby transmitters, but that Aislaby and Limber Hill won't be on until "mid afternoon".
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Jan: Today was the first stage of switchover. BBC Two analogue is now unavailable. BBC One, ITV Tyne Tees, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are still being transmitted in analogue. Also, only BBC standard definition TV (and radio) have switched. That means that they are being broadcast on high power and the other digital channels remain as they were. The rest switch in two weeks' time.
Did you have a Freeview receiver prior to switchover and did you manage to receive any digital channels? If you didn't, then the only thing that has changed overnight is that BBC standard definition should be available to you now. You will have to continue to watch Tyne Tees, Channel 4 and Channel 5 in analogue.
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Richard: I suspect that receivers can just be left as they are.
I will be surprised if they all stop showing a picture on the affected services at the moment that the logical channel numbers (LCNs) change.
I think that it simply means that retunes after the change will result in the new LCNs being used.
These are just my own opinions; I'm not a professional.
This is all quite silly because Tyne Tees area has just had its first stage of switchover and its second and final one will be in two weeks' time. Why on earth didn't they just make the changes to LCNs happen to coincide with that switchover so that people in the area don't have any need to retune three times??
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Jack: In order to make a diagnosis, more information is required. Specifically your location (preferably in the form of postcode or nearby postcode, e.g. a shop) and the transmitter you are using. If you don't know which transmitter you are using, then your location and the direction of the aerial should allow this to be deduced. It may also be helpful to know whether your aerial is horizontal (elements flat) or vertical (elements up/down) as different transmitters use different polarisations.
Some transmitters don't broadcast all channels; the Commercial (COM) channels only cover around 90% of the population whereas the Public Service (PSB) channels cover 98.5%.
See this page and identify which of the PSBs and COMs you have and let us know what you find:
DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex
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Nedbod: The aerial heights would tend to suggest that the radiating antennas are not on the small mast.
They are directional, and in particular do not give out much to the east.
See the Ofcom coverage maps:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/s….htm
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Richard: I have to say that I am still not sure.
There would appear to be two main possibilities:
1. The LCNs of particular services change and at the point this happens those services become unavailable to anyone who has NOT retuned.
2. The LCNs of particular services change but those services continue to be viewable to those who haven't retuned and are therefore watching them via the old LCNs.
Number 1 is more profound and will lead to blank screens on particular services (e.g. LCN80 BBC News).
It all comes down to what "need" to retune means.
What I think that you consider it to mean is if possibility number 1 occurs. If it is number 2, then viewers might consider that they don't "need" to do anything and will continue as they are (or indeed some may be unaware of these changes).
Any mention of increases in capacity is simply to provide more LCNs for particular uses. For those who aren't interested in the new services, it follows that if it is possibility number 2, then they "can" if they wish continue as they are.
No doubt though that they will put these annoying messages on the screen.
They are potentially misleading and, in some cases, call viewers into action (i.e. retuning) when it isn't necessary. Or the result will be that the wrong transmitter will be tuned in and hence poor reception.
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Peter McGarry: It's possible that some change was made at the transmitter, probably to do with preparation for switchover.
I would suggest that you don't make any changes or do anything that will cost you anything as it may well right itself when switchover completes in two weeks' time.
You could always try bypassing the distribution amplifier as a test by connecting the feed from the aerial directly to one of the room feeds.
The frequency range that the amp says it operates within is simply that which is used by TV so I wouldn't be concerned that it might be not as effective on C21. In any case, in two weeks' time the lowest channel that Bilsdale will use is C23.
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Jan: Have you carried out a full retune?
Failing that, you may have to try a factory reset (or similar), although be warned that this may revert back other settings such as if it is a TV (not a box) then picture settings might be returned to square one.
What types of "reset" is available depends on the model. What is the make and model?
Which BBC channels do you have?
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geoffrey jagger: You may have to live with not being able to get ITV1, C4, C5 etc until switchover completes in two weeks' time. Different sets have differing sensitivity.
Peter McGarry near Bishop Auckland has reported that ITV1 from Bilsdale was lost about 10 days ago or so:
Freeview reception - all about aerials | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
Can you try manually tuning to C21?
Also, the TV that freezes at C34, have you run it through a number of times and does it do this consistently? If so, try unplugging the aerial before it gets to C34. Then, if it allows, do a manual tune on C34. Its make and model might be useful so we can see if there are other reports of similar behaviour.
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Wednesday 12 September 2012 10:32AM
P Marsh: According to Digital UK Postcode predictor, C48 is now at 174kW (same as the other five). I assume that if it isn't already at this power (i.e. the predictor has pre-empted the increase), that it will be increased soon.