All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
janet denton: What reception problems are you having? The most likely answer in the area is that your receiver has tuned to the Belmont transmitter instead of Emley Moor and therefore it is this which needs correcting.
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Sarah Bramley: You may need your aerial replacing if it is a group A one put up in the days of four-channel analogue. See here for an explanation:
Bilsdale (North Yorkshire, England) full-Freeview transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
Before you do this, if your receiver has a manual tune facility then use it.
For COM4 multiplex which carries ITV3, 5*, 5USA, QUEST and others, tune to UHF channel 43.
For COM5 multiplex which carries Pick TV, Dave, Really and others tune to UHF channel 46.
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mary : You need a satellite dish mounted outside, usually on wall that is south-facing.
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Tony: My sympathies go to you.
Before replacing the aerial, try manually tuning if the receiver allows.
There are also a proportion who receive from PSB-only relays, such as in Whitby and Guisborough, who have had to wait to switchover to get any Freeview at all. These people will be disappointed that they have limited channels.
The nonsense of so many wideband or semi-wideband transmitters (where PSBs are in one group and COMs in another) is caused by the fact that channels 31 to 37 have been ringfenced to be sold off for more multiplexes... or maybe not depending on what the powers that be decide.
Consequently, where previously Group A channels available were 21 to 35 (or perhaps you could say 21 to 37) are now 21 to 30 (but only a handful of transmitters use C30).
At the top end (C/D), C61 to C68 have been ringfenced to be sold off to 4G mobile operators, so this is now a smaller group as well.
The silly nonsense of prospectively putting three new muliplexes in the 31 to 37 gap means that some Group C/D aerials (on C/D transmitters) may have to be replaced.
When it was all planned out, the vast majority of transmitters had four channels all in the same group. Queue the introduction of Channel 5 in 1997 and the insistence that logical planning and universal coverage should go out the window in order to cram in as many as possible.
The objective has always been that post-switchover the PSB services are available in all areas that four-channel analogue was, and without the need to change aerials. This has been achieved in all but a small number of cases.
In answer to your question, in signal areas where a log periodic will work, use one. These are naturally wideband and have a much flatter response than yagis.
Where more gain is needed, a yagi must be used. Because the gain curve of yagis always peak at a relatively high channel and slope off downwards, wideband yagis have less gain on Group A channels. This means that a "high-gain" wideband aerial isn't "high-gain" on Group A channels:
Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial
See this page for some examples to understand this point:
Gain (curves), Again
It is really a compromise. The more channels you design the aerial to operate across, the more the curve stretches and hence the more the low gain end spans more channels.
I'm not sure on what basis that the above says wideband. Perhaps because everything may all get thrown up in the air and it will be anyone's guess as to where they land....
However, on the basis that useable C/D is now smaller, I wouldn't have thought that they would be allocating any C/D channels to transmitters that currently don't have them.
In any case, it doesn't mean that "no" signal is received out of group. As I say, the gain slopes away.
For more information and products, see ATV's site:
Bilsdale TV Transmitter
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william: In general, yes. It will receive from the Freeview network in Northern Ireland.
However, there are a few points to note if you intend to use it to receive RT and TG4 from a terrestrial transmitter (if they are available in your area):
1. If you will be receiving RT/TG4 from one of the transmitters in the Republic, then the UK receiver may or may not work. One alternative is to use a separate Saorview set-top box for those services.
2. If you will be receiving RT/TG4 from one of the three NI Freeview transmitters (Black Mountain, Brougher Mountain and Carnmoney Hill), you won't need to worry about it being Saorview-compatible, but you will need to purchase a Freeview HD receiver in order to watch them.
This is because, even though the pictures will be standard definition, the transmission mode used for them will be DVB-T2 which is that used for HD services.
Ofcom has produced a leaflet on reception of RT/TG4 in Northern Ireland:
http://consumers.ofcom.or….pdf
Digital UK has published an Installer Newsletter:
http://www.digitaluk.co.u….pdf
Refer to page 7 under the heading "Freeview and Saorview products use different standards". If you intend to combine a Freeview aerial with an aerial on a Saorview transmitter (in the Republic) and (hopefully!) receive Saorview and Freeview channels on the same receiver, then it is probably worth seeking out some information as to which devices work with both.
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Ken: Put the make and model number into Google and it brings up results of discussion on this. Try other words along with it such as "firmware" or "switchover".
It may be that the only answer is as suggested - that you use a separate tuner.
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Ken: Others may be able to make some suggestions. However, I make the following suggestion as something to try, something which you might not have tried. I'm not a TV engineer, but just throwing an idea your way.
Sometimes when TVs pick up more signals and store them than they have memory for, they "forget" some when powered off. This usually happens in areas where more than one transmitter can be received.
I wonder, "if" this is happening, and the TV is reacting to the fact that it has "forgotten" some channels by retuning.
Knowledge of your location may help work out whether this could be the case. Indeed, if your aerial is directed to a transmitter which uses high channels but are in an area where a neighbouring transmitter uses low ones, then it may even decide to go with the first it finds.
The user manual is here:
http://www.electromanuals….pdf
This describes how there is a manual tuning function for analogue, but unhelpfully, none for digital...
If the automatic tuning process indicates when it has picked up a multiplexes/channel, then run it and unplug the aerial after it has found one (any one will do).
My thinking here is that if the problem is its memory is getting full, then tuning one multiplex only hopefully won't over fill the memory. Once you've done this, power the set off (leaving it off for a period if that is what normally causes it to autotune on startup). Then power it on and see if the tuning sequence runs again.
If it doesn't and it appears to have rectified the problem, then let us know your location and transmitter and we will see if you can do a dance with the aerial lead to get it to tune in only those of the desired transmitter.
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Geoff: I'm a Yorkshireman and I like my local news coming from Yorkshire...
It's quite normal for other transmitters to be picked up and it is also common for receivers to "decide" to go with the "wrong" ones - wrong being not the ones that the aerial was installed for.
In some cases receivers simply tune to the first channels found during the scan, so if your desired transmitter isn't the first one to be found then it will go with the wrong one.
Tyne Tees has recently completed switchover and so its digital signals are now as strong as the former analogue. Bilsdale near Northallerton can be received in many parts of Yorkshire (and parts of Lincolnshire!).
The question is, are you receiving Yorkshire TV from Emley Moor or Belmont?
If you're receiving from Emley Moor, then just unplug the aerial for the first 30% of the scan to miss out Bilsdale and get Emley.
However, if you're receiving from Belmont, then that is more tricky because its channels are interleaved with those of Bilsdale and so you will have to restort to manually tuning if available.
I am somewhat doubtful that you will be receiving from Belmont because its BBC is on C22 whereas Bilsdale's is on C26. So if your set tunes to the first, then it would have gone with the right one regardless.
Also, despite being relatively close, due to the terrain there appear to be some gaps in Lincolnshire where Belmont isn't so good. These being to the west of the A15 up to a few miles north of Lincoln up to Scampton as well as around Kirton Lindsey.
BBC Look North from Belmont is from Hull with Peter Levy and serves East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. I'm not sure whether Calendar still does opt-outs for Belmont (I know it did at one time, but cut-backs may have played their part).
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Ken: I wouldn't be too concerned about not having the latest firmware. Newer firmware is brought out to fix faults. It depends whether any of these "faults" are acting to your detriment.
In any case, I'd be surprised if there is anything that can be done with regards updating it, officially at least.
It appears that you "may" be able to pick up signals from the relays at Shotleyfield and Newton. These use low channels and Pontop Pike uses high ones, so they could potentially be picked up and your TV might decide to use them as the "main" ones instead of Pontop Pike.
To avoid this possibility, run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial unplugged for the first 50%.
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Friday 28 September 2012 12:11PM
anthony stafford: Without knowing which transmitter you are receiving from and your location so a check of expected signals in your area can be made, we can only be general.
You are missing multiplex COM5.
"If" you are receiving from Bilsdale, then you may need your aerial replacing because the COMs are out of group A for which your aerial may be best at. COM5 is on the highest channel from Bilsdale and is there the furthest outside of group A and thus your aerial may be least sensitive on its frequency.
See here for an explanation:
Bilsdale (North Yorkshire, England) full-Freeview transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
If you receive from another transmitter then please let us know which it is and your location, preferably in the form of post code or nearby post code such as that of a shop.