All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
S Owens: Bring up the signal strength screen on the following three and see whether they are tuned to Brougher or Divis:
COM4:ITV3 | Brougher=C21 | Divis=C23
COM5:Pick TV | Brougher=C24 | Divis=C26
COM6:Film4 | Brougher=C27 | Divis=C29
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Neil: I suggest that you connect a length of coax to the aerial and point it in the direction of Bluebell Hill. You may find that it works at ground level, certainly for test purposes.
You might find that the booster isn't require at such close proximity to the transmitter. Too high a signal level can overload the tuner, the effect with digital appearing much the same as too little a signal.
Use manual tuning to store the five standard definition multiplexes from Bluebell Hill: 46, 43, 45, 39, 54.
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js: The question must be one of whether the slash is required under the specification for the language.
If the answer is "no" then the broadcaster was right to use it and it appears that these boxes have a bug in their firmware/software.
If the answer is "yes" then the broadcaster was wrong not to include them.
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bob: The Boscastle TV transmitter will never carry any more channels because those broadcasters that don't wish to use it don't consider it worth their while to do so. See here for an explanation:
Londonderry (Northern Ireland) Freeview Light transmitter | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
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R.J.Savage: There is a two-tier terrestrial television system in the UK. The Public Service (PSB) channels have the same degree of coverage as the former four-channel analogue network and the Commercial (COM) channels fit in where they can with inferior coverage to the PSBs.
Only the largest transmitters carry the COM channels. Of the viewers that use these transmitters a small proportion are only likely to pick up the PSBs. See here for an explanation:
Londonderry (Northern Ireland) Freeview Light transmitter | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
In the case of Carmel, the COM channels are half transmission power to the PSBs. This in no way means that the signal will only go half as far!
In the case of the caravan park I suggest that the fact that it's lower down and doesn't have line-of-sight to the transmitter is the reason for the difficulty of reception of its COM channels. Have a word with neighbours and see whether they can get the COM channels from Carmel.
I have assumed the location to be Sunrise Bay Caravan Park, SA33 5LP.
The aerials on the adjacent homes point to the Ferryside transmitter. It formed part of the digital pilot and for that reason carries the PSBs and COM4. Whilst it is missing COM5 and COM6, it will, if you can pick up from it, give you a few more channels. For it you will need your aerial switching to vertical.
The other possibility might be to turn your aerial to 168 degrees horizontal, this facing Huntshaw Cross. This carries BBC One South West and ITV West Country, but may give you the COMs.
If you can receive the COM channels from Huntshaw Cross and the Welsh PSBs from Ferryside then you could conceivably have an aerial on each and combine the feeds so as to get the full service and Wales regional programming.
For a list of Freeview services by PSB/COM, see:
DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex
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Debbie Walsh: Do these TVs use a single aerial? If so then the common factor is where you need to look.
The first suspicion is the powered amplifier, if there is one. Even though the light is on doesn't mean that it is functioning properly.
I would try bypassing it by connecting the lead coming from the aerial to a feed to one of the rooms.
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Debbie Walsh: As you have carried out retunes then you have "untuned" the TVs, this being why the temptation should be avoided.
The "amplifier" may also be known as a "booster" or "powered splitter". Basically anything which forms part of the aerial system which must be fed with electricity.
If you have anything that is powered from the mains then knowledge of its make and model number should allow us to assertain what its purpose is.
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Ian Kinnaird: I would suggest "yes".
As a test I inputted the postcode for Glen Stores at Lephin and Digital UK predicts excellent reception:
Coverage Checker - Detailed View
The channels are Group C/D (top third of the band of TV frequencies). In order to be future proof I would use a wideband aerial, rather than a C/D one.
4G services have meant the clearance of channels 60 to 68. In future there may be more changes which will cause high channels to be moved downwards.
On the basis that the predictor scores 100s across the board I suggest that a log periodic will probably work:
Online FM DAB TV Aerial sales
UHF Aerials [Aerial Type: Uhf Log-periodic] > AerialSat.com
Best aerial for house motorhome or caravan log periodic
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jb38, Ian Kinnaird: The coverage map on this site has been produced using the Scoval HP radiation pattern. This produces a narrow beam to feed another transmitter:
mb21 - The Transmission Gallery
The main service is vertically polarised and would appear to be available from the southern face of the transmitter.
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Tuesday 23 July 2013 11:32PM
S Owens: As a bodge it might be worth manually tuning to UHF channels 23, 26 and 29 which are the three COM channels of Divis, so as to see if they can be picked up off the back of your aerial. When you go to the manual tune screen, enter or select the channel numbers but don't press the button to scan straight away, instead wait and see if it gives any indication of strength and quality.