All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
kc: Your most likely transmitter is probably Crystal Palace and certainly not Midhurst!
If so, then wait until tomorrow when Crystal Palace switchover completes and HD services become available.
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george: 4seven is broadcast on one of the Commercial multiplexes which don't wish to invest in transmitting from Merthyr and around 1,100 other similar small transmitters. For an explanation, see here:
Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
Your best bet for additional channels will probably be Freesat, and according to the posting above, 4seven will be on there.
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john merchant: On the basis that you say you can see the transmitter, I wonder if the issue is that the levels are on the high to too high side.
See Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
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kerry: Switchover completes tomorrow when all other channels should become available.
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IKG: Google "Full HD" and it says that it is 1080p. It does not qualify that the in-built tuner can receive HD services over the air.
It is correct that the set will "show" Freeview HD channels from Rowridge, or any UK transmitter for that matter. A separate tuner will be needed to receive it.
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Jo: I think that the most likely answer is that the Alba has put the channels from Whitehawk in the 800s and another transmitter in the "proper" positions.
The fact that you have 800s is testament to signals from more than one transmitter being received. When a receiver picks up signals from more than one transmitter, it has to decide which it makes the "main" one (i.e. the BBC One that gets put under number 1) and which it throws in the "other" pile (i.e. puts in the 800s).
The simplest ones just take the first ones they find as the main and put subsequent (duplicates) in the 800s. As it happens, Whitehawk uses high frequencies and Rowridge uses low and can be picked up in your area.
So just run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial unplugged for the first 50%.
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Jo: Before you carry out a rescan, you can look at what you have now.
While on BBC One, bring up the signal strength screen and it will (hopefully) show the UHF channel that it is tuned to. If it says C24 then it is tuned to Rowridge and C60 is Whitehawk.
ITV1 Whitehawk=C53 / Rowridge=C27
ITV3 Whitehawk=C57 / Rowridge=C30 (C25 from tomorrow)
Pick TV Whitehawk=C56 / Rowridge=C37 (C22 from tomorrow)
Yesterday Whitehawk=C48 / Rowridge=C33 (C28 from tomorrow)
If you find any of these are Rowridge and you have poor reception, then that's the cause.
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IKG: With respect, I don't see as there is anything you can do.
If the person said "I think you will be able to receive Freeview HD transmissions at switchover", then that is a statement of opinion rather than statement of fact (as it starts "I think").
If the salesperson told you that "you will be able to receive Freeview HD transmissions" when Rowridge switches over, then they made, what turns out to be, an incorrect statement. But I wouldn't think that in law a customer can hold a retailer to what they said would happen in the future (when it hadn't been finalised), particularly when the decision of what happens is down to someone else and certainly not after four years.
If they said that it will "show the Freeview HD channels" when switchover happens, then that is what you have. That is, it will "show" them.
As I say, it's four years ago so I don't think that there's a lot to be done.
And in any case, if this was all verbal then it's your word against there's or perhaps the person that sold it to you has moved on.
I appreciate that the marking people band about terms like "Full HD" and "HD Ready" and that some will have interpreted (prior to switchover) that the latter meant that it is ready to receive HD when it comes on the air. That's marketeers for you. I'm certainly not a marketeer so would have never used such ambiguous phrases.
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Corin: I am not "claiming" anything; merely stating information found elsewhere.
Two sources quote 2kW for Storeton Wales:
- DTT licences V7 (27/01/12):
Ofcom | Supplementary licence documents in relation to DSO
- Digital UK Tradeview. Take this sample post code and then scroll down to the Storeton Wales transmitter. Then hover your mouse over the channel numbers and a tooltip will appear stating 2kW:
Postcode Checker - Trade View
The Digitak UK Installer Newsletter you linked to is dated December 2008. Page 7 of the Ofcom document you refer to was last updated in January 2011, although the "Document History" on the last page doesn't mention that the reason for update was Storeton's ERP.
The author of this site has commented before that those Ofcom documents don't seem to be up to date and has been relying on the licences document instead.
There is of course no reason to suspect any are incorrect; it may have been 500W when it was put together.
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Tuesday 17 April 2012 11:02AM
Mike Payne: Where signals from more than one transmitter are found, then receivers put these in the 800s. Different receivers have different methods of deciding which to go with as the "main" transmitter (i.e. those that get the proper logical channel numbers, 1=BBC One etc).
With such a marked difference in signal strength, it would appear that this doesn't go on signal strength! Maybe it is one of those that goes with the first it finds during the scan (and then throws the rest into the 800s). So if your transmitter happens to be on the lowest frequencies, then it is found first and you are OK.
All of Oxford's channels are at the high end...
The thing to do is to see what transmitters your receiver is picking up. It will hopefully tell you the UHF channel that it is tuned to on the signal strength screen. (I say "hopefully" because not all do and if it doesn't it rather leaves you guessing.)
Refer to this page:
Freeview multiplexes | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
Under "After switchover configuration" you will see six rows. These are the groups of services known as multiplexes or "muxes". What I would do is survey one of the services in each of the muxes. These are usually BBC One, ITV1, BBC One HD (if applicable), ITV3, Pick TV and Yesterday.
The signal strengths you have discovered perhaps suggest that Oxford is in the 800s and another transmitter is the main one. In which case poor reception on the main transmitter may ensue because the aerial is probably facing the wrong way (for the signals being picked up).
The Digital UK Tradeview predictor suggests that Sandy Heath may be a possibility at your location. Click the link beside your posting for the list of transmitters and UHF channel numbers.
The automatic tuning scan runs from channel 21 to 69. So if it doesn't give these channel numbers as it scans, and only give a percentage, you can convert target channel number to percentage.
As Oxford's start at 53, then I calculated that to be 66%. So if you run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial unplugged up to 60% you should get it. If you do not get it in in time and the receiver has manual tuning, you can manually add missing multiplexes. E.g. the lowest channel is that of BBC A, so manually tune to C53 to add it.
The only thing you've got to watch for is if there is a transmitter that is being picked up uses channels within the range of the target. This is why I suggest you survey what you have beforehand. A way round this may be to have the aerial unplugged for longer so as to avoid the other transmitter, and then manually add any missing ones.