All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Alan: I suggest that you wipe memory of all channels. There may be some option within it to do so, or you might run it through an auto-tune scan with the aerial unplugged, so it picks up nothing.
Then manually tune in the five Oxford multiplexes (six if you have HD).
They are: 53, 60, 57 (HD), 62, 59, 55
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quinto: Assuming that your aerial is directed at Crystal Palace (south east), try manually tuning to Ch31.
The HD multiplex from Crystal Palace is not on the same power as the other digital services and therefore doesn't have as a wide a coverage area. In particular, Sandy Heath also uses the same frequency for one of its services, so you could be suffering from interference from it to boot.
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Rev Derek Hollis: The multiplex from Sudbury is on low power until 27th June. Perhaps there has been a change in the signal level which has put it below that which your tuners will work.
Don't retune these TVs until 27th June. These channels could return.
Try looking up the signal strength whilst you are on number 12 (Yesterday). It might show a low strength signal is present.
Is the attentuator fitted to the aerial mast on the roof?
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Two other reports of the Freeview outage on the other page for Midhurst:
Freeview on Midhurst TV transmitter | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
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paul seaman, John: There are other reports on the other page for Midhurst that there is a fault:
Midhurst digital switchover date | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
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nicola: See here:
Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
I suggest that the problem is that your receivers are being overloaded due to too high a signal level.
If there is a variable control on the booster, try turning it right down.
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Liz: The most obvious thing that springs to mind here is that the scart lead is plugged into the wrong socket on the box. If there are two scarts on it, one will be for the TV.
Having plugged in the box, try selecting the scart input on the TV (it might be denoted as "AV", "Ext" or a circle or TV screen with an arrow pointing inwards).
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James: Which channels are you referring to?
The Shotleyfield transmitter does not yet broadcast digital (Freeview) services and will only begin to do so at switchover in September.
If you are receiving Freeview, then you are probably getting it directly from Pontop Pike.
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Andy: If your aerial is horizontal and pointing a bit clockwise of north, then it is on Bilsdale. If this is the case, then you have not switched over to digital yet; you still get analogue (including regional programming BBC North East & Cumbria and Tyne Tees). The digital service you are receiving is (presumably) the only low power pre-switchover one you can get. If you are receiving anything with Yorkshire regional programming, then you must be receiving it from elsewhere (not where your aerial is directed), in which case you need to either retune or have an aerial installed on another (Yorkshire) transmitter).
On the other hand, if your aerial is directed at Idle which is the same direction as Bilsdale but aerial vertical, then the lone multiplex that you are getting on your digital receiver is wrong as it is tuned to the Bilsdale one. In which case (if you're on Idle), I would wipe the digital channels stored (maybe there is an option in the menu or maybe you will have to do this by running the auto-tune scan through with the aerial unplugged). Then manually tune in the Idle multiplexes: 24, 21, 27 (HD), 42, 45, 39.
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Tuesday 3 January 2012 4:02PM
Alan: I had a look around your estate on Google Streetview. Most aerials I can see are on the Woodford Halse transmitter.
This is a relay of Sutton Coldfield (which means that it re-broadcasts its multiplexes. However, it only carries the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) ones (which have the services BBC, ITV1, ITV2, C4, E4, More4, C5, HD services and a few others). For this reason you will probably wish to avoid it if at all possible.
There are some houses in the dead-end bit of Oak Drive that are on Oxford. These have larger aerials with taller masts. Membris Way, at the Byfield Road end, also has lots of aerials on Oxford.
I said that the predictor "suggests" that Oxford isn't an option. Clearly increasing the height (as well as cost of installation) of an aerial increases the likelihood of reception and the predictor has to give a figure based a particular height. For this reason, it should be used as a guide.
You said that you get South East and Midlands, with the latter being stronger. It would perhaps be useful to find out which transmitters these services are coming from.
You should be able to get the UHF channel number (frequency) from the signal strength/quality screen whilst tuned to one of them.
I would suspect that "Midlands" means Sutton Coldfield (and its relays). For Midlands, if BBC One is on Ch25, then it is being picked up from the Woodford Halse relay and if it is 43 it is being picked up from Sutton Coldfield. For ITV1, if it is Ch22 then it is Woodford Halse and Ch46 for Sutton Coldfield. What I'm saying is, check that it is Sutton Coldfield that it's picking up and not Woodford Halse.
It is also the case that the commercial multiplexes (COMs) are at 50kW from Oxford, whereas PSBs are 100kW. So you might have an aerial that is sensitive enough to pick up the PSBs but not the COMs.
I am also intrigued to know what the "South East" channels are that you're picking up. Check out the channel numbers and we can work out what transmitter it is. Unfortunately the transmitters don't give their name, but the area they serve.