All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Ryan: "If" your aerial is pointing at the Bath transmitter, then, as you already know, it doesn't broadcast the COM channels and so I recommend that you look towards a replacement aerial pointing at Mendip rather than trying to amplify what signal is being picked up from Mendip by your Bath aerial.
A look on Streetview (photos taken August 2009) shows a few aerials on Mendip in the area. Remember that these photos were taken in the days before switchover (when the digital signals were weaker and therefore "perhaps" unavailable at that the location).
If this is a shared communal aerial then obviously you will either need to get those responsible for it to get it changed. If it is your own aerial, then you might like to see whether you can have a replacement for Mendip on the roof of the building, even if you do not live on the top floor.
The Bath transmitter is at 128° and aerials are vertical. Mendip is at 228° and aerials are horizontal.
| link to this comment |
David: Nothing has changed. The messages appear irrespective of whether you have retuned as there is nothing built into the system to "know" whether the user has carried out the retune.
| link to this comment |
Bill: Not sure on what might solve that. Have you tried running the automatic tuning scan again?
Have you confirmed that all channels are those that are being broadcast from your chosen transmitter?
| link to this comment |
W J Ford: Your receiver has tuned to the signals from another transmitter.
With knowledge of your chosen transmitter and the transmitter is is picking up may allow a workaround to be proposed.
If you do not know which transmitter your aerial is directed to, then your location and its direction will allow this to be deduced.
It will also be useful to know which transmitter is tuned instead. To find this out, go to BBC One and bring up the signal strength screen. It will give the UHF channel number (frequency) and this will tell us which transmitter is the one you need to avoid.
| link to this comment |
Andy: Having scanned, some receivers go with the first signals that were found. As yours has gone with the highest then obviously this isn't the cause.
I'm not an RF professional, but the best logical explanation I can give you is that "if" it has picked up the three COMs from Whitehawk, then "maybe" it has chosen to go with PSB1 (BBC) from Whitehawk because it matches it closer from a strength point of view.
You will know if you have tuned the three COMs because there will be [10]ITV3 (which is carried on COM4), [11]Pick TV (COM5) and/or [12]Dave (COM6) present.
As Whitehawk and its relays switched over in March, then prior to that there was probably no chance of it being received at your location. Thus, only from then onwards would there be any benefit in receiving from it (rather than Saltdean), if indeed it is available. So if no one has taken that step to investigate the possibility maybe some aren't aware then everyone will continue to use Saltdean.
| link to this comment |
Bill: This is strange and makes me wonder whether you are, somehow, viewing the analogue signals. On analogue BBC Two has been switched off.
With the digital, multiple services are carried on one signal, unlike analogue where one service occupied one UHF channel (signal).
So if you have BBC One and BBC Three, then you would be expected to have BBC Two.
Are you sure that you haven't unknowingly used the TV's remote and carried out a retune of the TV's analogue tuner?
In answer to your question, BBC standard definition TV and radio is now on the full final power (it has "switched" as it were).
| link to this comment |
R Pallister, Jonathan Currah: There was an "update" which said that only a few channels would move slots:
Updated - changes to Freeview channel numbers this week on September 19th 2012 | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
There may be a second retune, perhaps next month, dependent on the outcome of the appeal by two channels to their change of logical channel number.
| link to this comment |
Gerry: All Freeview transmitters use lower power than after switchover which means that they have limited coverage, and hence there will be some who find that they are very weak.
You will have to wait until 24th October when the signals will be boosted.
See Northern Ireland "mini multiplex" (NIMM) | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
Limavady will not be carrying RTÉ and TG4. There are three transmitters in the North that will be doing so (follow the link above): Brougher Mountain, Black Mountain (adjacent to Divis) and Carmoney Hill.
The idea is that these transmitters supplement the service of the Saorview transmitters. See the Saorview coverage map (click "Show Coverage"):
Step 1: Check Coverage | SAORVIEW
The transmission mode of the signals from the three Freeview transmitters will be DVB-T2 which is that of high-definition broadcasts which means that a HD receiver will be required (for reception of the Northern Ireland Mini-Multiplex).
| link to this comment |
Gerry: I have just replied to your posting on the Limavady page:
Limavady full-Freeview transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
| link to this comment |
Friday 21 September 2012 1:05PM
Andy: I've re-read the exchanges that you have had previously with myself and others.
BBC on C60 is from Whitehawk. C55 is from Saltdean, as you have gathered.
Some changes to Freeview logical channel numbers (LCNs) took place on Wednesday:
Freeview channel numbers change on September 19th 2012 | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
Others were due to also take place on that day, but due to two channels disputing the change, these will either be cancelled or postponed:
Updated - changes to Freeview channel numbers this week on September 19th 2012 | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
One such channel is Sky News which has gone to court. Briantist has said that the reason is because viewers will have to enter three digits instead of two to get to it. This is a bit rich given that all channels on Sky's satellite service are three digits anyway!
If you are receiving from Saltdean, then you will not have available the Commercial (COM) channels which include Sky News. The HD channels were due to move to 10x numbers, but this doesn't seem to have happened. So in actual fact there were probably no changes for the PSB channels and therefore no changes to the services broadcast by Saltdean.
As you were receiving BBC on C60 from Whitehawk with the aerial facing the wrong way, then we must wonder whether you could receive a full service from it on a reliable basis. This would give you the COM channels which Saltdean does not transmit.
See this page for the six multiplexes (each is a separate signal), three of which are PSB and three, COMs:
DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex
The only reason you may not have good reception from Whitehawk is because of the high ground at Rottingdean on and immediately behind Westmeston Avenue.
It may be worth noting that the effective transmission power of Whitehawk is greater on all six digital channels than it was on the former analogue, so it is expected to reach parts that it didn't before.
If I were you, I would be investigating the possibility of reception from Whitehawk in order to receive all channels.