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All posts by Dave Lindsay

Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.

Hannington (Hampshire, England) transmitter
Saturday 18 February 2012 11:02PM

drh: Have you checked that the Matsui has not picked up Crystal Palace (for which it is giving "no signal" much of the time)?

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g.checkley: The power will be increased at switchover which should solve your problems.

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pete: I think that your best bet will be Tacolneston. It carries all the commercial channels as well and (having looked on Streetview) all your neighbours' aerials are on it. It is at 282 degrees.

You are right that for reception of the Lowestoft relay (which is on the top of Lowestoft College), the aerial should be vertical. For Tacolneston it should be horizontal.

It's probably best to confirm that it is tuned correctly. This information is usually given on the signal strength screen. For Tacolneston:

BBC One = C55
ITV1 = C59
HD = C62
ITV3 = C42
Pick TV = C45
Yesterday = C50

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Neil Croft: Unfortunately it's not likely. This is because the commercial operators of the services you can't get decide where they wish to site their transmitters. They broadcast from 80 or so of the biggest transmitter sites in the country and achieve coverage of about 90% of the population. The other 9% that can receive terrestrial television is served by around 1,000 "filler in" relays such as Cragg Vale. For the commercial operators to transmit from these sites is would roughly double their cost of transmission. They were invited to increase their coverage, but declined.

For a more in depth explanation, see here:

Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

Your best bet would probably be to get Freesat. On account of the fact that you are at the bottom of a steep drop in the direction to which the satellite resides, you might need to fit the dish high up, probably on the chimney. The "Upper Castle" houses have done this. I'm not sure about those on the opposite side of the road; they're obviously closer to the slope.

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Hannington (Hampshire, England) transmitter
Monday 20 February 2012 12:19PM

FJC Farrar: Multiplex names (and services carried on them) before and after switchover are listed here:

DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex

See also this before and after list on this website:

Freeview multiplexes | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

Post switchover:

PSB1 = "BBC A"
PSB2 = "D3&4"
PSB3 = "BBC B" (HD services, including those of ITV1/STV and C4/S4C)
COM4 = "SDN"
COM5 = "Arqiva A"
COM6 = "Arqiva B"

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Graeme White: You mention about getting less channels. I assume that you are referring to the commercial (COM) channels which are not carried by the Tedburn St Mary relay; it is a Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) transmitter only. This means that it only carries BBC TV and radio, ITV1, ITV2, C4, E4, More4, C5, HD and a few others. Is that what you have?

For an explanation of why this is the case, see here:

Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

Thus, talk of signals being "weak" are (I assume) those of the COMs from main station(s) such as Huntshaw Cross. This could well be due to the terrain. In some areas what can and cannot be picked up can vary house by house where the ground (and surrounding ground) isn't flat.

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Alan Gill: Perhaps someone else could offer their thoughts on this as I'm not sure what to suggest.

The only thing I can think of is to check that no device (video, Playstation etc) that puts a signal out on the aerial lead that could be the source of interference.

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lisa: Follow the link to "Digital UK tradeview" next to your posting and it gives the channel numbers, complete with offsets.

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delboy: London and Kent have yet to switchover
to digital, therefore you are served by analogue (if you are served by any terrestrial television). Thus, the digital signals eminating from transmitters are not as strong as their analogue counterparts yet and will not reach as far. Those in poor areas, such as low down or with obstructions, may have issues.

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