All posts by Chris S
Below are all of Chris S's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
DJB .I think this amplifier is worth a try . Especially if your aerial is pointing north towards Tacolneston rather than west to Sudbury. It is variable gain so that it can be adjusted (hopefully!) to a sweet spot where there is neither too much or too little gain. Wolsey WFAV 25 LTE 1 Way Variable Gain Masthead Amplifier with Power Supply Kit - Black: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics .Ideally an amplifier should be on the mast . But in your case the next best place is in the loft where you can set up the gain. . The power unit can be anywhere . Perhaps next to the tv. Let us know if it works!
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Patricia it helps if we know your rough location and what aerials are you using . And where are the aerials.
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re Mcmahon. the changes at Sudbury should not affect signal strength because all MUXs are still at 100KW. Only a group CD aerial would have trouble getting the channels . Any other group aerial B K or E should be ok for the time being . (until UHF channel 29 comes into use) I suspect the problem could be a bad joint in the aerial connection or interference as Chris suggests.
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Lowestoft is in a difficult reception position . best signal should be from the local Lowestoft transmitter which has recently changed frequency . Previously a group CD aerial was the correct choice . Now a group B or K or wideband is required.. Note this should be vertically polarised ( elements up down not horizontal )
Some places might get more channels from Tacolneston with a horizontal group B or K or wideband high gain aerial.
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Steve there has been some recent work on the Lowestoft transmitter especially in the morning. Probably in connection with the recent frequency changes. If you click on the word Lowestoft it should take you to the page for that tranmitter
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some if not all BT youview boxes are made by Humax. Com7 and 8 are transmitted on lower power than the standard channels .
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I'm not sure about the power of COM7/ 8 after analogue switch off . I know its now 18 killowatts . wheras the main channels are 100KW. The local Norwich channel comes through fine on 10Kw because it is standard definition. A stronger signal is needed for proper reception of HD. I agree that the youview boxes are less sensitive than many tvs . But it can be tricky to get the right degree and type of amplification that would fix it. The "proper" technical solution is a better aerial that is sensitive to com7/8 . The super solution is the use of two aerials one of which is filtered or sized to just pick up com7/8 . But is the expense and bother worth it.? Especially as in the future com7 and 8 are likely to be discontinued.
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yes Stevens . the point being that before the recent change they were 27.4kw and 24kw .At the new level of 18kw they are a bit harder to receive in fringe areas.
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Monday 18 June 2018 2:11PM
Mcmahon. you should be able to easily get BBC1 on uhf 44 or 47 (HD). Probably even with an indoor aerial . Note that the channels are now at the low end of the UHF frequencies so an old aerial may need to be changed for a wideband or group k aerial. If this is so you maybe eligible for help or aerial from freeview.