All posts by John H
Below are all of John H's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Helen Horner: unless the TV can also receive Freeview (it will have a logo on it or something in the manual to say so) you'll be limited to what you have now. Freeview is transmitted rather like old-fashioned TV signals (except that it's digitally encoded) so you'll need both a receiver that says "Freeview" on it, AND a decent aerial. A satellite dish alone can't receive Freeview.
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J
Fenham (Newcastle Upon Tyne, England) Full Freeview transmitterSaturday 22 December 2012 5:28PM
Gateshead
Like Nick above, I'm disappointed with the reception we get in the area NE8 3J, with a good roof aerial erected a few years ago. Since the full digital switchover, things have been no better than they were with a 20 times weaker signal. We're in the shadow of Carr Hill, which is the reason why our signal comes from Fenham, not Pontop Pike. We can receive all muxes and the signal generally shows as strong. I've removed the redundant signal amplifier we used when analogue was still going. However, there are an awful lot of "glitches" and dropouts - periods when the picture shows some pixellation, freezes or disappears altogether and shows "No signal". This happens both with SD and HD, although we don't tend to see pixellation on HD, just a freeze or complete dropout.
As the signal is good most of the time, I have the distinct impression that the transmitter itself is suffering from interruptions. Is it worth complaining to the BBC, or am I wrong about this?
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J
Fenham (Newcastle Upon Tyne, England) Full Freeview transmitterSunday 23 December 2012 6:23PM
Gateshead
Thanks for the comment, Dave, but the only flyover is to the southwest of us, whereas Fenham is to the northwest - likewise with the high rise blocks. There are a few three storey flats between our street and the river but I don't think they're in a direct line of sight.
Maybe I need to consult another aerial engineer. The last one we had (a couple of years ago) seemed to know what he was talking about and said we were in a poor signal area but that he'd given us an adequate (roof) aerial; he was also extremely pricey.
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J
Fenham (Newcastle Upon Tyne, England) Full Freeview transmitterSunday 23 December 2012 6:33PM
Gateshead
Sorry, I should have said that I haven't noticed any common factors about the poor reception except that it seems to occur between about 8.30 and 10 at night on random nights. It may be just that this is the time when we're most likely to watch TV (apart from the period between 5.30 and 7, when I haven't noticed any glitches).
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Saturday 1 January 2011 6:02PM
We have to use Fenham instead of Pontop Pike because we live just north of a large hill (NE8 3J), so we get a weak Freeview signal. Would you expect us to be able to get reliable Freeview HD from October 2012?
Thanks for any info.