All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Stephen Skinner: It's allowed because there are no other better frequencies available, and so as to harmonise with other parts of the world.
The Licence Fee allows one to receive broadcast television; it does not give any guarantee as to reception, whether that be a signal being present or free from interference.
Your complaint is about reception of (at least) one of the Commercial (COM) channels. These don't have as wide a coverage as the Public Service (PSB) channels which carry the likes of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Therefore you may be in a location where reception of the COMs is likely to be intermittent, or adjustment to your aerial may be of benefit in getting more solid reception of the COM channels.
For an explanation of why we now have a two-tier terrestrial television transmitter network see:
Londonderry (Northern Ireland) Freeview Light transmitter | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
If your aerial is directed to Rowridge on the Isle of Wight then it broadcasts horizontally and vertically and has been doing so since April last year when the COM channels took up their final positions. Horizontally the COM channels aren't as strong whereas vertically they are, so switching to vertical polarisation is advisable where reception issues are experienced. There is no requirement for a different aerial, unless it is somehow physically defective of course.
If you receive from Findon then it only carries PSB channels and you are lucky some of the time to get the COMs because they are being received off-beam of the aerial. In which case the advice is to have an aerial fitted that is pointing at the full-service tranmsitter.
| link to this comment |
D. Hartley: No. Your Licence Fee permits you to (legally) view television broadcasts. It does not guarantee reception or provide support for difficulties.
You have the Public Service channels. The Commercial channels operate purely for profit, therefore it is up to those broadcasters whether they wish to "provide" and up to viewers whether they wish to "consume". Thus it is a free market with providers and consumers, the latter not being "citizens".
The reason you have any television is because of Public Service Broadcasting. This includes the BBC and it is the BBC to which the Licence Fee goes. I do not believe that because the Commercial broadcasters don't wish to serve you that the Public Service Broadcaster should have to have its revenue reduced.
At your location the Overstrand transmitter and West Runton transmitter are roughly in line with one another, with the latter using lower channels than the former, so your receive may have tuned to it.
| link to this comment |
Lesley : My point to D Hartley, who is in Overstrand, is that from his/her location both the Overstrand transmitter and West Runton transmitter are in line with one another, the point being therefore that the aerial effectively points at both.
If you are in Cromer itself then, roughly speaking, the two transmitters are in opposite directions.
Unfortunately this doesn't help with the problem of receiving the full complement of Freeview channels because they both only carry Public Service (PSB) channels.
For an explanation of why we now have this two-tier system, see:
Londonderry (Northern Ireland) Freeview Light transmitter | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
The full service transmitters that may be available to you "if" any are Belmont and Tacolneston. The question, therefore, is whether you stand any chance of reception and if you do whether this "might" be stable or variable depending on the weather.
As an example I took the postcode of Cromer Police Station and Digital UK's predictor comes back with not so sparkling results:
Coverage Checker - Detailed View
Predictors should always be taken with a pinch of salt because there are so many factors involved - they are there more because of the demand for such services.
It is interesting that Tacolneston doesn't even get a look in. You know the local topography better than me; from what I gather (and it would seem sensible) the ground slopes down towards the sea which is the reason for the difficulty picking up from Tacolneston.
Belmont is the main high power transmitter in Lincolnshire, between Market Rasen and Louth. Obviously it doesn't broadcast Anglia programmes, so if it is available you may decide to retain the West Runton aerial and feed it into a separate set-top box so as to watch your native regional programming.
Have a look around to see if others in your area have Belmont-facing aerials, these being horizontally polarised (elements flat) rather than vertically polarised as for West Runton and Overstrand.
| link to this comment |
Lesley: I should add one further point and that is the fact that someone has an aerial directed to Belmont, or indeed any transmitter for that matter, doesn't necessarily mean that they get stable reception at all times. It also doesn't necessarily mean they can pick up all channels but this isn't to say that they don't.
| link to this comment |
andrew sambrook: Because the multiplex that it is carried on is to close!
Regional MXR digital multiplexes to close : Radio Today
| link to this comment |
michelle : The filter should be fitted before any booster because the 800MHz 4G signals could affect it.
Some boosters are 2-part systems whereby what may appear to be a booster sits behind the TV set. The booster is the thing on the roof, the box behind the TV merely being a power supply. Thus a filter needs fitting prior to the booster on the roof.
Can you confirm that the aerial feeds into the filter and out into the booster? The make and model number of the booster should allow use to determine which it is.
If it turns out that a filter needs fitting adjacent to the aerial (so as to be before any booster sited on the roof) then you will have to contact at800 in the hope that they will cover the cost of such work. I understand that they do, although there may be limitations.
| link to this comment |
Chris Roberts: Potentially. Does the scaffolding appear to be blocking the line of sight of the aerial? Or is the aerial protruding high on the roof where the scaffolding isn't likely to affect?
| link to this comment |
Christine Hedges: Presumably your aerial is directed to Crystal Palace, in which case COM6 which carries Film4 and others is on UHF channel 28.
Having lost it you shouldn't have carried out a retune because all that has happened is that the problem is compounded as now your TV isn't tuned. If the signal were to return after retuning then it would probably return anyway, or else it is hovering around the threshold required for your TV to resolve a picture.
What I suggest you do is go to the manual tuning screen and enter/select C28 but do not press the button to scan/add channels, instead wait and see if it gives a reading of strength and quality on that channel. If it does, having noted those readings, then try adding those services/channels.
| link to this comment |
Monday 15 July 2013 11:25PM
DAVID: Go to higher ground.
The Dolgellau transmitter is for TV only; there is no DAB.