All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Mark Tew: As it says above, digital TV is off the air from 10am. No expected time of recommencement of services is shown. I expect that it will be turned back on again when the work is finished.
You live only a short walk away from the transmitter. The most likely source of an estimate as to when it is likely to be back on are the engineers who are working there.
The problem you have now is that having run the retune sequence you have untuned your TV so you won't know when it's back on. For this reason don't retune in such circumstances because it just makes the situation worse. Only retune if you know that the tuning is at fault (which then begs the question why is it at fault?).
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Hayden: Your neighbour's TV has evidently picked up the signals from Sutton Coldfield and Waltham. It deals with this by presenting a menu of the regions (and hence transmitters) it finds.
Other TVs/boxes don't do this and decide to make one of the transmitters the main one (using the standard logical numbering, i.e. 1=BBC One 2=BBC Two 3=ITV1 etc). They then put the programme channels for the other transmitter in the 800s.
So these are the two ways in which different models deal with receipt of multiple transmitters. It could be that your TVs are the latter type.
Either way, it is good practice to tune to the transmitter to which the aerial faces. Thus, if your neighbour's aerial points at Sutton Coldfield and he/she selects "East Midlands", then the aerial doesn't point in the direction that the signal tuned to is coming from. It may work alright, or it could cause issues with reception, all the time or at some times.
If you get an aerial pointing at Waltham (East Midlands), your TVs may still choose to make Sutton Coldfield the main transmitter. A way around this is to unplug the aerial for part of the automatic tuning scan. See here for a posting I made previously to someone in your part of the world:
My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound or the channel line up is wrong | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
There is, of course, nothing to stop you doing this now, but if your aerial is on Sutton Coldfield then you will be receiving from a different direction to which your aerial points. The warning given above applies.
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Karen: Try manually adding the missing multiplex (services).
If you post your location (post code is preferred) and the direction of your aerial we can advise as to what to manually tune to.
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john ledbury: I had a look at the UHF channels (frequencies) used for the transmitters that you are picking up and they're all mixed together (see list below). Of those that broadcast from Belmont, neighbouring channel(s) are used by Sandy Heath and Waltham. This rules out any possibility of using the auto tuning without risk of picking up the wrong multiplexes.
If you are attempting to manually tune, then you might have to wipe the memory of services. This is because if, for example, BBC A from Belmont already exists in the 800s (because a BBC A from one of the other transmitters is in the proper logical channel number ["LCN"] positions, 1=BBC1, 2=BBC2, 7=BBC3 etc) then manually tuning to it might do nothing. What it does depends on how your receiver is designed, which is why I say "might".
One way to achive this is probably to run it through without the aerial plugged in, as explained here:
My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound or the channel line up is wrong | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
Or there might be a factory reset option to do this.
The next step is to manually add the five (or six if it's a HD receiver) multiplexes from Belmont. Once you have done, you will not (hopefully) have any programme channels in the 800s.
It may be that your receiver, once the memory is wiped, will only allow you the option of automatic tuning. Manual tuning may only come available to you once some services have been stored (this will vary by design). If this is the case, then you will have to take your chance with the automatic tuning with the aim being to tune in just one multiplex.
If it's not a HD receiver, then start the scan and the first multiplex it will pick up is BBC A from Belmont. Having done that, unplug the aerial and leave it out until it's finished the scan. Once it's finished, you should just have BBC standard definition TV and radio channels from Belmont (signal check screen should say C22 E Yorks & Lincs). Then manually add the other Belmont multiplexes.
If it is a HD receiver, then you will have to take your chance on it picking Sandy Heath's HD multiplex. If it does this, then I would manually tune in the other standard definition services from Belmont and then come back to putting right the incorrect HD services. Having done all the SD services, depending on the design of your receiver, you might be able to delete LCN 50, 51, 52 and 54 and then manually tune to add the Belmont HD services. If it won't allow you to delete LCNs, then you might be able to add the Belmont HDs into the 800s and then swap them with the 50s.
I have compiled a list of services that you are picking up by UHF channel number:
21+ Sandy Heath BBC B
22 Belmont BBC A
24 Sandy Heath D3&4
25 Belmont D3&4
27 Sandy Heath BBC A
28 Belmont BBC B
29 Waltham SDN
30- Belmont SDN
31 Sandy Heath SDN
48 Sandy Heath Arq B
52 Sandy Heath Arq A
53 Belmont Arq A
54- Waltham D3&4
56 Waltham Arq A
57 Waltham Arq B
58 Waltham BBC B
60- Belmont Arq B
61 Waltham BBC A
BBC B carries the HD services (inc. ITV1/C4) and is therefore only applicable for HD receivers.
+ and - is a frequency offset, but when tuning you just need to enter the number (without +/-)
If you decide to re-orientate your aerial, then you will obviously get different regional programming. It might be worth looking around at other aerials to see what your neighbours are receiving from.
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Bill: I offer you some thoughts.
I won't give you any definitive answer other than to say that some manufacturers evidently cut corners which is why some devices are now in landfill.
Try Googling "dtr210 loosing channels" (without quotes) and it comes up with quite a few pages.
I don't know what the limit on the number of channels that your device will store, but it could be that that is causing the problem. If I were you, I would check that there aren't any programme channels being stored in the 800s (which are duplicate services from neighbouring transmitter(s)). If there are, then manually tuning might be the answer as you won't end up with the memory being taken up with duplicates.
Bear in mind that you will have to run the scan, switch it off and then on to see what is retained in the memory. That is, does it retain those in the 800s when it is unplugged?
If it turns out that you don't have any in the 800s, then maybe deleting some of the channels you don't watch might help. Some receivers store the scrambled channels even though they don't have method to unscramble them. You might not listen to the radio stations so they might go. Adult and shopping channels might also not be of interest.
I suggest this *if* it is the case that the device's memory is limited, as a workaround.
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Mal evans: You need to connect it to your TV with a HDMI lead in order to benefit from high-definition pictures. The HDMI lead will also allow you to watch standard definition streams as well.
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Peter Merritt: That is correct.
Before switchover transmission of HD services is not standard from transmitters which is why Hemel Hempstead's transmitter doesn't carry it.
Crystal Palace has a pre-switchover HD multiplex which is on lower power than the standard definition services.
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Ian Fellows: Ripponden is a low power relay that does not broadcast the commercial multiplexes (COMs). The reason for this is because the COMs broadcast from 80-odd of the most lucrative transmitter sites. See here for more information:
Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
In some cases you might be able to receive from one of the transmitters that does broadcast these services. Obviously the lower down you are, the lower your chances.
Provide your post code or put it in the Digital UK website (tick the box to say that you're in the trade).
I did this for St. Bartholomew's Church (HX6 4DG) and it suggests that Ripponden is the only transmitter that can be picked up from. Looking at the contours, I'm not surprised. (HX6 4DG)
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Wednesday 21 December 2011 11:05AM
Chris Wright: They are given at the top of this page below the list of services that each multiplex carries
Here they are:
50, 43, 40, 46, 44, 41