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All posts by Lordgeous

Below are all of Lordgeous's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.


Why does this site constantly say 'no reported problems' when for the last few weeks there have been and still are serious problems with many of the commercial freeview channels? I'm in Bath, using the Mendip transmitter up until recently with no problems. Now though the ITV channels, Cha 4 etc are often badly pixellated or not showing at all. Examining signal strength indictors at these times the signal is minimal while BBC channels are 100% (this goes for PVRs as well as a number of TVs.

My neighbours have same problems as have friends on the opposite side of the city, as well as friends in Bristol. So this has to be an intermittent transmitter problem. Who should one contact. Anyone else with similar problems?

Thanks

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GB flag

Appreciate what you say. I'm highish up on the northside of Bath (friends in similar position on the south) - but no line of site view of MendipI would use the local relay but it has capacity for only a few channels. All local ariels seem to be aimed at Mendip in my location, as you get higher up out of Bath then the seem mainly to point to Wenvoe (i think). Freeview has worked fine since the digital changeover so what has changed? I will investigate further but I do have one TV on an indoor ariel which gets a very weak signal, cant pickup Mendip with it at all, only the local relay.

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GB flag

I guess there must be something in what JB38 says and I've ordered a variable attenuator to experiment with. What I dont understand is why these problems only started a few weeks ago - I had perfect reception on all channels up til then so maybe theyve upped the signal strength on some stations from Mendip.

Just to clarify what I said before the 'good' signal as displayed on my PVRs and TVs is not EXACTLY 100%, just high. I have two 'high-end' HD PVRs and current Sony, Panasonic & Toshiba TVs, each fed seperately from a 7 way distribution amp (without gain as far as I'm aware), a good rooftop ariel, and as I said this has all worked fine for some time.

Anyway thankyou to this most helpful and informative site - I shall report back.

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Variable attenuator makes no difference, just lowers signal strength and bad signals just get worse, not better! Now today cannot get the 'bad' channels at all - receivers just say No Signal. It is raining so I guess that effects signal, BBC chas all OK as usual. Dont know where to go from here. Should I try pointing ariel towards Wenvoe and try that?

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My problems seem similar to Ben Wards, as said previously, all channels working fine til about same time (April) - coincidence?. Was going to reply in detail to RG38s appreciated post but as of couple of days ago all seems to be working fine again, except occasional bad picture on borderline channels. Just for the record though my line of sight to Mendip is slightly more southerly than he imagines from postcode location. I know houses & hill with trees behind that he mentions which are off to the right. From my rooftop there are absolutely no obstructions with clear line of sight to the opposite side of the valley that Bath sits in. Anyway, fingers crossed for now. Thought digital was going to be trouble free but in 40 plus years of analogue never had ANY problems, except occasional transmitter breakdown!

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L
Mendip (Somerset, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Thursday 14 June 2012 10:15PM
Bath

Thanks again JB38. Yes I also have a fairly sophisticated satellite set up (large motorised dish, HD receiver, PVR etc) which I've been resorting to recently - a better picture too in my view! I work with digital audio but digital picture technology is pretty much an unknown area for me.

Can I just say what a relief it was to discover this site and be able to share information and benefit from your expertise - is it a labour of love for you? (Not my business I know).

Regarding my issues, the main mystery for me is why its all been OK until recently? I've spoken to quite a few other local residents (on Mendip) and I think without exception they all suffer from SOME reception problem. As far as I know no-one's planted a huge tree or built some obstruction between Bath & Wells! I might just ask the local TV shops if they know anything but for now I'm happy to have reasonable reception. Fingers crossed!

Thanks again.

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