All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Sarah: At 5.7 miles from Crystal Palace with clear line of sight to the transmitter (at roof level, assuming no local obstruction), you might be lucky.
The transmitter is to your west and therefore I would suggest that the signal is going to be best at that side of the house. You might have to experiment siting your aerial in various places in the room. An aerial extension lead might be helpful and you may have one or more of them from video recorders or similar devices (what you used to connect the video to the TV).
You might find that putting the aerial on the top of a wardrobe or shelves might help. Also, don't assume that higher is better; often it is but sometimes inside that doesn't hold good, so you've really got to experiment.
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Sarah: The digital signal from Crystal Palace is weaker now than it will be after switchover in April. You could try your aerials with digital now, but if they don't work successfully, they might do after switchover. However, if they do work now, it's fair to assume that they are likely to work after.
One other thing you could do is, whilst you have analogue still available, do some experimentation to see what parts of the room the signal is good and where it's not so good. This might be helpful as the digital signals (after switchover) might be good in the same places that analogue is good now. If you do carry out this test, don't use Channel 5 because its signal is not from Crystal Palace.
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Sarah: I have one of these Labgear set-top aerials:
Discontinued - Labgear Tristar ANR310 | digital tv aerials | indoor aerials | tv aerials | best tv aerial | indoor aerial Test Reports | summary report for the Labgear Tristar ANR310
I usually use a loft aerial, but I have sometimes used it on the first floor. I am 25 miles from Emley Moor and obtained good reception on digital channels before switchover. I have line of sight at roof level.
There can't be any guarantees, but I'd certainly give it a shot.
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nicola: At about four miles from the transmitter, there is quite a possibility that you could remove the power booster and replace it with a non-powered splitter.
If you still have issues with reception (like you have now) then you might need an attenuator as well.
If I were you, I'd try disconnecting booster and connecting the incoming aerial lead to one of the feeds to one of the Freeview boxes. Then try the same with the other box and see what you get.
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Lesley: You need a Freeview box with an RF modulator inside. The modulator puts the signal out on the aerial lead (with no need for scart). The signal it puts out is an analogue one and will therefore work with your existing TV.
You could have a look online or someone else might be able to recommend a suitable model device for you.
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Lesley: I should point out that quite a few Freeview boxes don't have modulators in, so it is important to check that the model you intend to buy does have one in.
Are you just looking for a box to allow you to watch TV as it is broadcast, or do you want something else such as one that records programmes?
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Lesley: Or if you already have a Freeview box then you could get a modulator that has a scart socket on it such as this:
Universal Scart To Coax Video Modulator: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
I've just found this one online, there may be other cheaper alternatives. Others might be able to make suggestions.
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Tom Wardman: I found these instructions for a TV from that manufacturer:
http://www.skymediauk.co.….pdf
They say that the default PIN is 0000.
I suggest that you download the manual and keep it somewhere safe:
Swisstec and UMC TV Manuals | Sky Media
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Concrete: On 10th October BBC Two analogue will be switched off and BBC services will start transmitting in digital (Freeview). Two weeks later on 24th October the other services will be turned on having switched off the remaining three analogue channels.
Note that Strabane will be a "Freeview Light" transmitter as it will only tranmsit the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) multiplexes (groups of channels). These are BBC TV and radio, UTV, C4, E4, More4, C5 and HD channels).
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Wednesday 4 January 2012 5:43PM
Jeanette: If you are on Craigkelly, then you need to manually tune to 45 and 39 for COM5 and COM6 respectively.
If you are on Black Hill, then it is Ch44 and Ch47 you need.
To find out which you are on, change to BBC One. Then go through the menu to the signal/strength screen. On there it will tell you the UHF channel that it is on.
If it says Ch27 then you are receiving from Craigkelly and if it says Ch46 then you are picking up Black Hill.
The best thing to do in these circumstances is not to retune. Doing so results in the TV not being tuned and you won't know when the transmitter has come back on again.