All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Arthur: I see that you appear to be in area where most aerials are on Winter Hill (I looked at Google Streetview). I did spot one aerial on the Norden relay transmitter.
I suggest that the problem you might have is that your TV/box might have tuned to the signal from the other transmitter. That is, if your aerial is on Norden that it might be tuned to Winter Hill or vice versa.
If you are on Norden, then you won't get many of the commercial channels, or if you do then you won't be picking them up from Norden, and therefore your aerial is pointing in the wrong direction (and polarity) and so reception could be touch and go.
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John Finn: The problem is because your TV keeps tuning to another transmitter which I guess will be Moel y Parc.
Carry out the procedure at the top of this page. Then run the auto-tuning scan without the aerial lead plugged in and when it gets to 70% plug in the aerial lead.
This will have the aerial unplugged whilst it is scanning the frequencies used by Moel y Parc. The gap between those used by it and Winter Hill (which is what you want) is very close that you might not get the aerial plugged in in time to get them all. If it is the case that some are missing, then you should be able to add them manually and the lowest ones are as follows:
Ch54 HD services (only applicable if it is a HD TV)
Ch55 ArqB - Yesterday (and others)
Ch58 SDN - ITV3 (and others)
Ch59 D3&4 - ITV1/C4/C5 (and others)
If the problem manifests itself again, you will need to look to see if there is some option that can be turned off to stop it looking for new services.
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Tony Lindsay: I would say that you are probably receiving your analogue TV from Newhaven relay transmitter. This is based not only on the Digital UK predictor, but a look at Google Streetview which shows the vast majority of aerials facing Newhaven.
A poor analogue picture is not forced to be the condition of your cable; it could be because your TV is tuned to a signal from another transmitter (to which your aerial does not face). The four analogue services are on channels 39,45,43,41 from Newhaven.
Come switchover, you will only get multiplexes BBCA (the BBC TV and radio channels), D3&4 (ITV1, ITV1+1, ITV2, C4, C4+1, E4, More4 and C5) and the HD channels.
See here for information on multiplexes:
Freeview multiplexes | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
If you wish to get the other commercial multiplexes, then you will need another aerial on another transmitter that broadcasts these services *if* you can receive from such a transmitter at your location.
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Jon: Have you tried manually tuning the missing multiplexes in on the HDTVs?
Different pieces of equipment are of different sensitivity.
Where is your booster? Does it provide a signal for each outlet?
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Kevin: That sounds promising.
If it is the Central Lancashire multiplex that you are receiving (on 12A), then it is only broadcast from Pendle Forest and Winter Hill.
Try going upstairs to a window which faces Pendle Forest and take your DAB radio. Then see what you get.
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kieron: For loads of information on this, see ATV Sheffield's website:
Television Aerial Boosters / Amplifiers, Splitters, Diplexers & Triplexers
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jb38, jude: Pendle Forest is not a "Light" transmitter as it broadcasts all the multiplexes.
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David Reichenberg: 1. Yes, West Wycombe will broadcast digital television come switchover.
2. I had a look at Google Streetview... I see that some houses have gone for tall masts with aerials on various transmitters. If you're on the higher side of the street then maybe your likelihood of success will be greater.
For gauging line of sight, see here:
Terrain - shows radio profile between two UK sites to optimise you DTT, Freeview, DAB or analogue TV reception
You will need to input your OS Landranger grid reference. Bear in mind that the reference you put in will tell it what your height above sealevel is, so if it's slightly off, it could affect the result (I'm not sure to what degree). At least it should give you some rough idea.
If you're looking to do it yourself, or just want to know more, see the excellent informative ATV Sheffield site: www.aerialsandtv.com
3. West Wycombe will be a "Light" transmitter and will only broadcast the Public Service Broadcaster services. See here:
Freeview Lite? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
The High Wycombe transmitter will also be a Freeview Light transmitter, so its viewers will also not get all the services.
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D Curtis: One of the issues that you have is that the Channel 4 analogue signal from the Patcham relay is on Ch50, which is the same (frequency) as Mux 2 (ITV1/C4/C5 etc) from Whitehawk. Hence the signal from Whitehawk on this mux is much lower in your direction, so as to reduce the chances of interference with viewers of Patcham's Channel 4.
Have you tried turning off (and removing) your amplifier or reducing the amount of amplification? This might help produce a better result.
Try manually tuning in the missing multiplexes if you haven't already done so.
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Friday 9 December 2011 10:24PM
John McCann: Based on the fact that it was installed around three years ago, I am inclined to suspect that it will be a suitable aerial for use after switchover. It may benefit from re-alignment onto TW, but whether this is the case, you will have to wait and see.
You might be lucky; the current pixelation you are experiencing from Heathfield might be irradicated by the increase in signal strength at switchover.