All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Adele: You don't like throwing things away that still work; you're a girl after my own heart!
Treat yourself to a new telly as the old one is gone!
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AlanD: If the signal booster is behind your TV and it has a variable control on it then try reducing it. Have you tried removing the signal booster altogether (assuming that it is accessible)?
I note the slope of the road and the trees in the direction of Black Hill that are hindrance.
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David Jackson: Crystal Palace uses lower frequencies than Sudbury (which I assume your aerial is directed at). Run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial unplugged up until 25%.
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A.A.Wright: Sometimes, even though an aerial points to a particular transmitter (Emley Moor in this case), it picks up the signal from another transmitter as well and sometimes when this happens a TV can decide to go with the signal from the other transmitter.
In this particular case, a workaround to avoid it picking up the wrong signal (from Belmont) is to run the automatic tuning with the aerial unplugged and then plug it in when it gets to 25%. That way the aerial is unplugged when it is scanning frequencies used by Belmont and plugged in for those used by Emley Moor.
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David: Royal Mail and BT have universal service obligations whereas their competitors do not. The BBC, ITV1 and Channel 4 as "Public Service Broadcasters" have a similar obligation, whereas their competitors do not.
In *some* cases it is possible to have a second aerial or replacement aerial on another transmitter that broadcasts these services. In some of those cases the signal might not be as good as that from the other "Freeview Light" transmitter and hence it might require a larger, more expensive, aerial installation. In those cases, the viewer's choice might be the status quo or spend money to get all the channels (this is if they realise that they might have such a choice).
Freesat is often used as an alternative and might be worth looking at.
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john voisey: I sympathise with your predicament. The commercial operators were invited to broadcast from more sites and declined.
The BBC is quite correct. Mynydd Machen broadcasts the BBC, ITV1 and Channel 4 which have a universal service obligation. Years ago it will have been determined that Wenvoe doesn't provide a sufficient signal to your area and that is why Mynydd Machen was installed.
It is the commercial broadcasters that have decided not to bother with Mynydd Machen and that is hardly the BBC's fault.
As I said to David (above), in some cases viewers might be able to receive from another transmitter, usually with the need for a larger and more expensive aerial installation. This would be his or her decision whether to "consume" the service.
I had a look at your close on Google Streetview. Number 18 has opted for such a solution; a larger aerial mounted higher up pointing at Wenvoe. It is obvious that this aerial is on Wenvoe because it is horizontally polarised (aerials on Mynydd Machen are vertical). The difference in the direction of the two transmitters is about 35 degrees. Look around and see what your other neighbours have done. What can and can't be done might vary from house to house. Only a professional could give you a definitive answer.
Be aware that Wenvoe's commercial multiplexes (the ones you can't get) are at a power of 50kW whereas the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) ones (the ones that Mynydd Machen transmits) are at 100kW. So the commercials from Wenvoe will be weaker and this will mean that in some places they will be too weak but the PSBs will be receivable. Thus, any solution (if possible) that uses Wenvoe must be sensitive enough to pick up the weaker commercial channels or it's a waste of time.
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A.A.Wright: Following KMJ,Derby's posting I had a look at the home in question and there are two aerials on the roof (mounted at the highest point). One is definately on Emley Moor and the other is probably on the Sheffield transmitter (it's difficult to be 100% looking at Streetview photographs).
If it is the Emley Moor aerial that is being used, then carry out the procedure I outlined above (run scan with aerial unplugged until it gets to 25%).
If it is Sheffield that is being used, then that is more tricky because its signals are around the same frequency as those used by Belmont (the transmitter that your friend doesn't want). Thus, it's far more tricky to do a workaround by plugging in and unplugging the aerial lead and manual tuning might be the only option.
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Manfred Pinske: You are very close to the Darley Dale transmitter and therefore your TV could have tuned to it. (I am assuming that your aerial is directed at Stanton Moor as that is the page you have posted on.)
Darley Dale uses lower frequencies than Stanton and it could be that your TV, when doing its scan, found the former first because of this.
If your aerial is on Stanton Moor, run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial unplugged and then plug it in when it gets to 60%. This will have the aerial unplugged whilst scanning Darley Dale's frequency and plugged in for Stanton.
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Tuesday 10 January 2012 2:00PM
Mark Cameron: If you can receive directly from Tacolneston, then you should be able to pick up the multiplex that carries Sky Sports.
See the list of Freeview channels here:
DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex
You will see that Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 are carried on COM6 multiplex, Arqiva B. If you can receive Yesterday, Film4 or any other service on that multiplex, then you can get Sky Sports because it's all carried on the same signal.