Freeview reception at AB56 1TX
List is for aerial group type: ■ wideband ■ group A ■ group B ■ group C/D ■ group E ■ group K
| ch | name | signal strength | direction | transmitter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C21+ | Freeview HD multiplex BBCB (PSB3) National | n-nw 342° | Rumster Forest | H | |
| C24 | multiplex D3+4 Scotland STV North (Aberdeen micro region) | H | |||
| C27 | multiplex BBCA Scotland | H | |||
| C29 | Freeview HD multiplex BBCB (PSB3) National | southwest 215° | Knockmore | H | |
| C31 | multiplex BBCA Scotland | H | |||
| C32- | multiplex SDN Scotland (COM4) | n-nw 342° | Rumster Forest | H | |
| C33 | multiplex SDN Scotland (COM4) | southwest 215° | Knockmore | H | |
| C34 | multiplex Arqiva-A (COM5) | n-nw 342° | Rumster Forest | H | |
| C35 | multiplex Arqiva-B (COM6) | H | |||
| C36 | multiplex Arqiva-A (COM5) | southwest 215° | Knockmore | H | |
| C37 | multiplex D3+4 Scotland STV North (Aberdeen micro region) | H | |||
| C39+ | multiplex D3+4 Scotland STV North (Aberdeen micro region) | west 267° | Rosemarkie | H | |
| C40+ | multiplex Arqiva-B (COM6) | H | |||
| C42 | Freeview HD multiplex BBCB (PSB3) National | H | |||
| C43 | multiplex SDN Scotland (COM4) | H | |||
| C45 | multiplex BBCA Scotland | H | |||
| C46 | multiplex Arqiva-A (COM5) | H | |||
| C48- | multiplex Arqiva-B (COM6) | southwest 215° | Knockmore | H |
List is for aerial group type: ■ wideband ■ group A ■ group B ■ group C/D ■ group E ■ group K
Distance to transmitters:
- Rumster Forest - 76.2km 47.3 miles
- Knockmore - 19.9km 12.4 miles
- Rosemarkie - 67.3km 41.8 miles
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Wednesday, 4 November 2020
C
Chris.SE1:04 AM
Tracey:
Hi, sorry I didn't spot your previous posts until now.
First lets deal with these aerial elements. The "squashed X" profile tends to be aerials with higher gain for the number of elements.
Vertical or Horizontal - If the squashed part of the X is horizontal, in other words it's wider than it is high, that's horizontal.
You said your rods are vertical - did you mean that?
Are the surrounding aerials at the same sort of height as you?
The fact that you are high up means you are generally likely to have a good line-of-sight, may have a stronger signal than those lower down (but not absolutely always) and the signal is less likely to have too may fluctuations.
Those strength, quality and BER figures you've posted are very good, BUT I'm staggered they are as good as that if your aerial rods really are vertical, they should be horizontal for Winter Hill. If the polarisaton is incorrect that could explain the variation in severe weather. (On a side note, the strength figures aren't necessarily definitive, different sets may give slightly different figures, but what it indicates is there is adequate signal, the fact that the Quality is 100% and the BER (Bit Error Rate) is zero shows the signal is excellent).
As far as the UHF channel data on the Winter Hill page, I'm afraid the site owner has not updated it all correctly with all the 700MHz clearance changes (there are many other transmitter pages similarly incorrect I'm afraid, but in a lot of cases there are fairly recent posts listing the correct information). The channel numbers I quoted in my previous post are the correct ones and if you hover your mouse over those numbers (which have the C in front of them) it tells you the frequency for the channel. Also where a channel number is shown with a + or - , the frequency is offset by 167kHz - and a lot of sets round the figure so you might see eg. 585.8 instead of 585.833 BUT IF a channel had an offset + or - the hover doesn't show the offset frequency!! Hope that hasn't got too technical for you, if you want me to explain it more clearly if you haven't followed that, let me know.
Another aside, there's another "local" multiplex for Manchester, the G-MAN/GI multiplex (you may have spotted on the Freeview Channel Listings page) that's on C27. The Coverage Checker doesn't predict any coverage of that one for you - but, you never know, the checkers aren't always right!
So if you can come back on those points, we should know what's needed next!
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T
Tracey8:04 AM
Chris.SE:
Apologies Chris, no idea why I said Vertical, they're single bar horizontal elements (I must have re-read my post 10 times before I hit send and never spotted that one)! The houses around us are at similar heights and their 'x' elements are wider than taller, so horizontal too, and yes we have a clear uninterrupted view in the Winter Hill direction (although the mast itself isn't visible from any view point I can access, but I guess at that distance it's to be expected).
The G-MAN/GI multiplex on C27 does indeed appear, with signal strength 38%, quality 100%, error 0% (that's with this morning's fairly good weather).
Your frequency explanation made excellent sense, thank you, and I've re-checked my results against your values, and apart from the rounding up my set does, they're all in agreement. Interestingly, my TV has a 'Signal History' menu which 'displays the Channel numbers that were saved when the signal strength was weak'. I've manually re-scanned some of these but haven't found any increase on the 90%'s I was seeing before.
I hope I've answered your points without 'flipping' the information this time! I can't help but wonder why the fitter would use this aerial when from his vantage point he would see at least 7 other aerials (that's just the other side of the road, viewable from my lounge) that have more elements, and in some cases the 'x' type as well. His cabling along the front of the house is very neat, suggesting he takes pride in the finished appearance of his work, so why choose what would seem to be a 'marginal' aerial? (rant over).
Thanks again for your invaluable assistance and apologies for the red herring!
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Tracey's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 5 November 2020
C
Chris.SE5:07 AM
Tracey:
Quote > His cabling along the front of the house is very neat, suggesting he takes pride in the finished appearance of his work, so why choose what would seem to be a 'marginal' aerial? (rant over).
Penny pinching cheapskate?? :O Seriously, it depends on who did the job, was it a professional installer, or an amateur one where the person who did it may not have appreciated the differences in aerial gains.
It's a shame you haven't got any strength and quality figures (I'm assuming) from the past when reception was poor.
Two things I did mean to mention, first was that there are now no offsets on any of Winter Hills UHF channels, when the final 700MHz clearance took place in August, the channel moves were to the exact frequencies.
2nd, it's possible that "some" of your poor reception in the past may have been due to "Tropospheric Ducting" which sometimes occurs with High Pressure weather conditions resulting in interference from distant transmitters in Europe or the UK as signals travel further. See Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | RTIS for a simplistic explanation. There is unfortunately some predicted to be around over the next few days which "might" affect reception.
As far as problems when it rains heavily, if you know someone who can go up and look at your aerial to make sure water is not getting into the connections and cable, that would be a good idea, but I would want to see what happened to the Strength and Quality figures in the bad weather before venturing up there if it's a bit awkward (ie. need a proper roof ladder etc.). That said, as I mentioned in a previous post, if you have receipts if it was a professional installer, you could try a gentle moan at him and suggest he should come to check the installation as reception degrades significantly in heavy rain which it shouldn't.
The figures you've given are very respectable and probably about right for the transmission mode & power of the respective channels relative to one another (The main 6 muxes are the same power, COM7 is lower power, as are the Local muxes which are also beamed in specific directions).
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T
Tracey6:57 AM
Chris.SE:
Thanks again Chris. I'll question the previous owner a little more on their choice of installer and see if they have any paperwork to hand. No, unfortunately I don't have any strength and quality figures from the past when reception was poor, the relevant TV menus hadn't been found at that stage. Interesting read on the tropospheric ducting (an interesting looking website in general - I shall read further). As you suggest, I need to wait now for the weather to re-produce the problem and gather more data then. This being Glossop, that shouldn't be far away. I'll report back when I have further information. Thank you for the help, it's been most interesting working through this with your aid.
Tracey.
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Tracey's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE7:28 AM
Tracey:
No problem, look forward to hearing how it goes.
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Saturday, 5 December 2020
J
Jeff Kinghorn11:57 AM
Henley-on-thames
We are at RG9 5NB.
Why can't I get ITV3+1 (or any other COM4) channels from Hannington?
Some of these channels are out of date (eg Hannington CH 40 is CBS justice not Sony Movies Action)
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Jeff's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 6 December 2020
C
Chris.SE12:33 AM
Jeff Kinghorn:
According to the Freeview Detailed Coverage Checker, you should have no problems receiving ALL main multiplexes at your location, including the Local multiplex on C34.
Check that your aerial looks intact and is pointing the correct way, at a bearing of 213 degrees (between SSW and SW) with the rods (or squashed Xs) horizontal. Check your downlead looks undamaged and is secure.
There are some relay transmitters nearby, which although vertically polarised, you might still inadvertently tune to if signals are strong enough when signals from Hannington are low/missing due to maintenance or adverse weather conditions. It's best to ensure automatic retuning is turned off as it's generally more trouble than it's worth. If a retune is needed you are usually advised by an on-screen pop-up and can initiate it manually.
So check you are tuned to the correct UHF channels for Hannington which are -
In the multiplex order PSBs1-3, COMs4-7, Local - they are C45, C42, C39, C40, C43, C46, C55, C34(C32 depending on location).
If you are tuned to the correct UHF channels and still have a problem then check all your wall plates, coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads are a common problem, try swapping/changing them. See what signal strengths and quality you are getting for the multiplexes (groups of channels) shown in your TV's tuning section.
Problematic connections, breaks, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.
As far as an up-to-date listing of which channels are on which multiplex and their LCNs, the site owner has not had time to update after many recent Freeview changes. Generally, Freeview have a current list at Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview but they haven't updated for the following changes
Updates and alerts | Freeview
Updates and alerts | Freeview
Change to come Updates and alerts | Freeview
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C
Chris.SE12:44 AM
Jeff Kinghorn:
Sorry, forgot to add, ITV3+1 only broadcasts limited hours as it shares the space with another channel (CITV IIRC).
Currently I believe they are on air 2100 -0400.
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Saturday, 20 February 2021
A
Alan Wilson6:14 PM
BlackHill transmitter in Glasgow has gone dead.
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Alan's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
StevensOnln17:17 PM
Alan Wilson: Black Hill serves close to a million homes and you're the only one reporting a problem. That makes it far more likely to be something at your end rather than the transmitter having suddenly developed a major fault. Start by checking for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV and do not attempt to retune as this will just delete all of your correctly tuned channels which won't help in any way.
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