All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
John: BBC Two is no longer broadcast in analogue as it has made way for BBC digital (on the same frequency).
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David: When the aerial lead is unplugged during the scan, I wonder if it could it be being held too close to it; i.e. enough for the Frome signal being picked up by the aerial and down the cable to be "heard" by the receiver.
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Dave Saunders: Not sure about getting rid of the speech descriptions, but the reason that you don't get all the channels from Belper is because the Commercial (COM) broadcasters don't wish to transmit from it. They broadcast from about 80 of the largest (by viewer population) transmitters in the country and cover 90% of the population. For a more in-depth explanation, see here:
Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
You appear to be in an area served by Sutton Coldfield which carries the COM channels, although it carries West Midlands regional programming instead of East Midlands which Belper broadcasts (as a relay of Waltham). You could have a second aerial fitted for Sutton Coldfield to allow reception of the COMs. Not sure how this might work (or not as the case may be) with recording equipment though.
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Paul Evans: See:
Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
If you can receive from Wenvoe at your location (and receive the lower power Commercial multiplexes that aren't available from Bargoed) then have an aerial installed for it; that's going to be your only way.
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Peter P: Your receiver may have tuned to the Brighton Central transmitter rather than Whitehawk Hill. Whitehawk Hill is the main transmitter for Brighton and Brighton Central is a filler-in for some who have difficulty picking up Whitehawk. You are in close proximity to Brighton Central which is on the top of Theobald House, hence your receiver could have picked it up.
You may find that Whitehawk's BBC channels are in your 800s.
To find out which is which, go to the signal strength screen whilst tuned to a channel. Then look for the UHF channel number that it is tuned to. For Brighton Central it is C41 and Whitehawk is C60.
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John Tarry: Unfortunately not. The other services are run on a purely commercial basis and the operators have decided to transmit from 80 or so sites and achieve a 90% coverage of the population.
See here for an explanation:
Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
Judging by the Digital UK predictor, you appear to have a "good" chance of receiving the services from Crystal Palace.
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Chrissie: The first phase of switchover at Rowridge occured on 9th March only affected BBC channels. On 21st March ITV will go on to full power (as BBC is now).
Until then, ITV1, C4, C5 etc are on UHF channel 32. If your set allows, manually tune to C32. Depending on its design, it might tell you the signal strength on that channel. It could be too low to produce a picture and you may find that moving your aerial whilst looking at the strength indicator might help you receive these services.
As I say, on 21st March, they will go on to full power (and will move to UHF channel 27).
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Stephen: BBC on channel 24 is from Rowridge.
Rowridge uses low channels and Whitehawk are high channels. Run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial unplugged up until 50% to avoid Rowridge and get Whitehawk.
Or if it gives UHF channels, get the aerial plugged in for C48 which is the lowest Whitehawk one (from 21st March it will be C51).
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Old Gadgee: From the splitter towards the TVs there are variables. They are:
1. Cable and connectors. The longer the cable the more loss along its length and therefore the lower the level of the signal will come from the output end for the same level of input signal.
2. Differences between tolerances of tuners such as signal level needed to work, level of noise/poor signal that they will work with.
The reason some work and some don't could be one or the other or both to a certain degree.
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Friday 9 March 2012 10:57AM
David: You're only 200 or 300 metres from the Frome transmitter, so maybe it is being picked up by the aerial socket (without the aerial plugged in).
Does this sound a possibility? Does it show that some services have been picked up whilst the aerial is unplugged?
If so, then you need to get it such that it doesn't pick up these channels.
I'm not an aerial installer; the pros may have a better suggestion but either:
* take the TV to another room that is further away from the transmitter (i.e. where there are as many walls between the TV and the transmitter (which is on the roof of the telephone exchange), or;
* you need a radio transmitter to hold near the aerial socket whilst it's scanning the channels used by Frome. I'm not sure how effective this might be. A broadcasting cordless phone or mobile phone held close might be sufficient to stop the TV from receiving the Frome signals. You will need to have them transmitting at the time, i.e. making a call.
Once the scan has passed 25% it has passed the channels used by Frome, remove the source of interference. Plug in the aerial at 50%.
If each on their own doesn't work, then you could try both.
As I say, I'm not giving any guarantees as to what will work; I'm just suggesting what I'd try if I were you.