All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Adrian: It's working fine for me and I'm not far from you. COM8 isn't on air yet, it is COM7 that has just come on air.
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Dave: The way in which the signal has gotten worse over the last five months, and which has been so bad that you've attempted to cure it by installing a booster, does rather sound like a building has gone up somewhere between you and the transmitter.
If it were a tree (or trees) in the way then we might expect the signal to get better when the leaves drop and get worse when they grow back. Or the picture might break up when the wind blows the tree about.
It might be worth asking neighbours, ensuring that they are using Freeview and not a satellite platform like Freesat or Sky. If their reception has deteriorated like yours then that rather points to something outwith your control such as a building going up and changed in some way.
It is quite clear that you aren't in an area where reception is easy and the issue you are experiencing isn't uncommon in such situations.
As I said previously, in the direction of the transmitter the ground slopes upwards for three miles until it reaches Keycol Hill. This is shown here:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
Imagine if the transmitter were torch light. The yellow line represents the light and because it is close to the ground objects on the ground are likely to be in the way and so the light (signal) is affected by objects on the ground. Objects within the zone between the yellow line-of-sight line and the pink one can also potentially affect the signal.
If the ground were relatively flat in the direction of the transmitter then you would have been able to "see" over the objects on the ground and so they wouldn't have been an issue. This is why transmitters are placed on high ground - so that the places they are receiving them have the best chance of "seeing" them.
The same issue could beset if you were to receive from Dover. It is 28 miles away but the ground slopes gradually upwards for 11 miles meaning that the "line" between you and the top of the mast is close to the ground for that distance which means that "clutter" on the ground could potentially degrade the signal:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
Most aerials on your road point to Bluebell Hill; one is on Dover (or at least it was in May 2009 when the Google Streetview car visited). One or two aerials are below the apex of the roof. Whilst height isn't always everything it might be worth trying to get it above the roof line if possible.
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Enid Jefferies: I should add that satellite reception isn't without its issues. During a very bad storm the signal break up and with snow on the dish reception may be curtailed completely.
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Chris Burmajster: I don't believe that is likely. I can only imagine that you read about the new quasi-national multiplex and that it has started a earlier than expected.
Film4 fitted in where text services such as Gay Rabbit used to be. There has always been room for a fifth HD service on the HD multiplex. Channel 5 didn't want it so it fell to the BBC.
Changes "may" come after 2018. I say this because the licence for the new BBC HD services was granted subject to possible revocation no sooner than the end of 2018. This would allow replanning of the frequencies used for TV, but who knows whether it will result in more services from PSB-only relays like Marlow Bottom. The point is that there isn't likely to be any more for at least five years.
Satellite (Freesat) looks to be your only sure-fire way to get these services. Even if you could receive from Crystal Palace, the power of the new HD mux is much lower than the rest, so you aren't likely to pick it up.
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John Plumtree: Unfortunately, evidently so. This is because your aerial is probably a Group C/D one which means it is most sensitive to frequencies in the top third of the ban, which is where Winter Hill's has been up to now.
The new quasi-national HD multiplex has been fitted in on a previously unused portion of frequencies which are well below those of C/D, hence a wideband aerial might prove necessary.
BBC News HD (and BBC Four HD for that matter) should, on the signal strength screen, be shown as being tuned to UHF channel 31 (554MHz), this being the broadcast from Winter Hill.
An amplifier (booster) might help. If you have one fitted and it is variable it might be worth increasing it a bit to see if reception of the new HD mux improves.
If you do get a wideband aerial it should be a log periodic, without question, rather than a yagi.
Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial
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John Dyas: I looked on Streetview and concur that aerials face Hastings transmitter. I know a few people have posted over the last 12 or so hours reporting problems with some channels from Heathfield, which is obviously an adjacent transmitter, so it might be something to do with the transmitter or its feed.
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Paul Gilbert : BBC Three and CBBC timeshare, so when one is on the other isn't. The same applies to the HD variants of these services.
BBC Three HD and CBBC HD are available to everyone who can receive Freeview.
BBC Four HD and BBC News HD are not available to everyone who has Freeview, although more transmitters are to come on air next year. If you receive your TV from Marlow Bottom transmitter, or from one of the many other PSB-only transmitters, then you won't get these services, unless you can receive from another transmitter which carries them.
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Wednesday 11 December 2013 12:40AM
Tom: If it's a communal system and the signal coming "out" of the wall socket isn't as it should be then the only rectification is to the system itself.
You need to prove, as far as you can, that the problem isn't with your equipment, including the aerial lead.
Test with a different TV. Or, if you have a Freeview box (recorder) and a TV with Freeview built in, connect the TV only to the aerial socket and try it. Then connect the box only to the aerial socket (you will need to connect the TV to the box using a scart lead or HDMI lead as normal).
Some receivers are more sensitive than others, so just because one doesn't show a problem doesn't mean that the other is faulty. However, if they both exhibit symptoms then that tends to point to the common factor which is the aerial system.
See whether neighbours have the same issue but check they are using the aerial system (Freeview) and not satellite (Freesat or Sky).