Mass Media & Technology

Reception issues is it my aerial?

lost most channels (December 2020)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
SP
Steve in Pudsey
Waltham changed frequencies within the last few years, after DSO it was on 49/54/29/58/56/57, and the former analogue services were on 58/64/61/54.

I wonder whether you have an old Group CD aerial (optimised for channels 48-68.), and by some fluke it's managing to pick up a usable Ch29 but not the higher frequencies?
Last edited by Steve in Pudsey on 31 December 2020 7:45pm
RO
Rococo
[quote

UK Free is a mess of a site, and not up to date, it's missing much of the 700 MHz clearance details for some other sites

Use the info box on mb21's Waltham index page, that is up to date

http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=679[/quote]

OK, i have had a quick compare and checked the numbers i was inputting ( are these still called 'channels'?) The ones i got from Freeview are the same as the ones from the up to date site you gave, i am just struggling with some of the jargon peope are using.

I only found channels when i input the BBC A number - 32 which gave me 25 channels and the SDN number - 29 which gave me 42 channels, freeview told me i should be able to access 107 freeview channels, 33 radio, 7 on demand, though i assume i only get everything if i have a freeview box, i am still pretty short and some of them are breaking up ( the low signal from SDN 29 i think) I also keep losing channels i had previously when i attempt another retune, currently dont have Film 4 which i had a couple of days ago?

This Waltham on both sites below for clarity, i thought i should be able to get channels on all of them?

BBC A 32 - D3+4 34 - BBC B 35 - SDN 29 - ARQ A 37 - ARQ B 31 - COM 7 55 ( this one only shows up on freeview)

Could anyone confirm that my HDMI cable even if rubbish cannot cause the level of interference and issues i am currently having? just trying to narrow down.

Happy New Year all Laughing , i appear to not be able to thumbs up anyone which i want to do, is this site iffy on Firefox? Thanks
Last edited by Rococo on 31 December 2020 10:08pm
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
You don't need a "box", any TV with Freeview built in will do.

what do you mean "this one only shows up on Freeview"? It's supposed to only show up on Freeview. What are you tuning in on? TV or a box?

Unlikely (but not entirely heard of) that a HDMI cable will cause the interference, that's normally caused by either an issue with the aerial (is it a communal setup, ie one aerial/dish feeds multiple flats/apartments/house) or does each home have its own aerial? Or is this a standalone house) If its a communal setup you could ask another a neighbour that runs off the same communal setup if they have issues. If they don't, then you know the issue is with your setup) or the cable or potentially the tuner in your device.

The other potential cause is: Signal boosters. It is possible to boost your signal to a point that effectively overwhelms your signal and generates the same effects. If you have a booster remove it. If you have another Freeview TV/unit swap it out (or beg/borrow/pinch one) and rescan. If problem is now fixed the original device has a problem.

Re: thumbs up, site works fine in Firefox. Hover over and click the thumbs up to give kudos. You can't kudos yourself Smile
MA
Markymark
Sone HDMI cables do radiate badly at 750 MHz, which relates to Ch 55, the nationwide home of COM7. I can't remember the mathematics, but there's a harmonic relationship with the timing clock for HDMI transport

However, it seems reception of that is fine.

My money is on the aerial being a group C/D, in which case any mux below Ch48 will be unreliably received. You don't necessarily get a brick wall effect out of band, what you often experience is random responce in terms of direcabilty (which may well explian the appearance of Ch42 from Sutton Coldfield) as well as seemingly fine reception of out of band stuff. A photo of the aerial would be good?
BA
bilky asko
Re: thumbs up, site works fine in Firefox. Hover over and click the thumbs up to give kudos. You can't kudos yourself Smile


New users can't give kudos straight away, I believe.
RO
Rococo
I dont have a box or a Freeview TV, I am accessing channels as i always have ( apart from when i was with Virgin) by tuning the TV, as far as i was aware that restricts what i can get.

'what do you mean "this one only shows up on Freeview"? It's supposed to only show up on Freeview. What are you tuning in on? TV or a box?'

I meant on the Freeview website, its not on the other site that i was told was more up to date - COM 7 55

I still keep losing channels, and could do with an explanation as to why? BBC 1 and 2 are breaking up, after using the HDMI to stream last night i am back to 'no signal/weak signal' This is what is so annoying, there seems to be no definite reason why i keep dropping channels and that manual retune is unstable in what it gets and keeps?

I can't take a photo though if you know of a website that shows different aerials I can get someone to compare it?

Should i buy a new HDMI cable or anopther aerial cable? Or is this most likely the aerial?

Thanks
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
If you don't have Sky or Virgin or Freesat or anything like that, the only other way to get TV in this country over the air is via Freeview (you can get this through certain things like BT, Talktalk or EE boxes which double up as Freeview receivers with ability for extra streamed channels). If you have literally no other TV boxes on the TV aside from Blu-Ray/DVD players, video/VCRs, consoles or or anything else like that that isn't a TV service receiver then its safe to deduce that you are using a TV with built-in Freeview. There's no other way to get TV otherwise, as analogue TV disappeared years ago.

Aerial pictures are here, horizontal and vertical polarisation:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/help-guides/freeview/what-type-of-aerial-do-i-need

If the issue only starts after you've finished with a specific HDMI cable and it's fine up to that point, then logic dictates stop using it and get another one. If you have access to another TV swap it out and see if the problem fixes itself. If it does the issue is with the first TV. If it doesn't, then you may need to look at the aerial.
RO
Rococo
There were issues before there started being this additional issue when i used the HDMI cable, its not that cut and dried I suspect. Will take a look at the pics and get back to you thanks!
NG
noggin Founding member
I dont have a box or a Freeview TV, I am accessing channels as i always have ( apart from when i was with Virgin) by tuning the TV, as far as i was aware that restricts what i can get.

'what do you mean "this one only shows up on Freeview"? It's supposed to only show up on Freeview. What are you tuning in on? TV or a box?'

I meant on the Freeview website, its not on the other site that i was told was more up to date - COM 7 55

I still keep losing channels, and could do with an explanation as to why? BBC 1 and 2 are breaking up, after using the HDMI to stream last night i am back to 'no signal/weak signal' This is what is so annoying, there seems to be no definite reason why i keep dropping channels and that manual retune is unstable in what it gets and keeps?

I can't take a photo though if you know of a website that shows different aerials I can get someone to compare it?

Should i buy a new HDMI cable or anopther aerial cable? Or is this most likely the aerial?

Thanks


If you bought your TV in the UK, it's from a known brand, and it's connected to an aerial and receiving any stations at all, then it's going to be a Freeview TV.

DVB-T/T2 are the two over-the-air digital TV standards that fully replaced analogue TV in the UK - when analogue was switched off in 2012 finally. DVB-T launched in 1998 and only carries SD services. DVB-T2 launched in 2009 and carries all the HD services, and a few additional SD services. The way DVB-T works all the BBC SD services are carried on one frequency (so if you get BBC One SD, you also get BBC Two SD, CBBC SD, CBeebies and BBC Four SD, BBC News SD, BBC Parliament SD and the BBC Radio services), ditto the main ITV and C4 services are carried on the same frequency (though not all the sub-variants may be) etc.

Unless your TV is from a no-name Chinese manufacturer bought via eBay or Amazon, then it's also likely to be a 'Freeview' TV (not all DVB-T/T2 TVs are - but almost all of them sold in the UK are). Freeview is the licensing used by all mainstream TV manufacturers (Sony, Philips, Panasonic, JVC, Hitachi, Sharp, Samsung, LG etc.) show sell TVs in the UK - and the reality is that most TVs sold in Europe are Freeview licensed (they may also be licensed for TNT in France, NorDig across the Nordic nations and Ireland etc. - selecting between the standards when you start up your TV for the first time and select your country)

Most TVs sold here also have DVB-C cable tuners - but they won't work on VirginMedia here. Some TVs have Freesat (and some Sony's have non-Freesat) satellite tuners - but if you don't have a dish then you won't be using that.

For a DVB-T/T2 Freeview TV :

1. You need an aerial - and it needs to be pointed at the right transmitter and be the right aerial for that transmitter (and be mounted the right way round). Some transmitters changed their frequency bands when they migrated from analogue to digital, or more recently when they cleared frequency bands to make way for 4G etc. If you have an old analogue aerial it may not be suitable for your current digital TV frequencies.

2. Your cable between the aerial and your TV needs to be in good order. It's common for water to get into these downloads on old installations, which can cause major issues.

3. If you have a marginal signal and poor cabling then you can get interference from sources like HDMI cables. (DECT phones can interfere with satellite LNB signals too ISTR)

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