Digital switch-over problems
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV The Sutton Coldfield transmitter that serves Birmingham is having all the current analogue and digital services moved to a second temporary mast. This work was due to be completed last month, but the bad weather has not allowed the "air work" to be completed quickly.
With the power level reported to be about an eighth of normal, this has caused many people reception problems in second largest city in England.
Despite being close to the first digital switch-over in Whitehaven, it seems that people using the Bleach Green transmitter are unable to scan for Freeview services. However, they do work if the viewer manually tunes their box toC53, C57 and C60. "Digital UK says they are now working with Ofcom and the broadcasters to fix the problem".
Down in Cornwall, the Redruth transmitter is stuck in limbo. Cornish people can now watch digital TV from the transmitter and relays, but the commerical multiplexes are on the old power levels and old frequencies until 30 September 2009.
It would appear that the 30 September Freeview retune will be an important date nationwide.
Help with Freeview, aerials?
In this section
Friday, 5 October 2012
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ANN NEWSTEAD12:46 PM
Nigel Dutson: HI NIGEL,YOU ARE A STAR I AM SO GRATEFULL FOR YOUR HELP AND I AM GLAD TO SAY YOUR ADVICE ON RESETTING THE BOX HAS WORKED, IT IS NOW BACK TO RECORDING ECT;I HAD NOT TRIED DOING IT BEFORE AS I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD RESET THE BOX SO MY SON DID IT LAST NIGHT FOR ME SO NOW MY GRANDAUGHTER WILL BE PLEASED TO HAVE HER BANANA IN PAJAMA PROGRAME THAT I RECORD FOR HER BACK TO NORMAL I CAN,T THANK YOU ENOUGH AS THE PROBLEM WAS DOING MY HEAD IN THANKS ANN
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Wednesday, 24 October 2012
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robin stewart3:31 PM
tuned my eldely aunts tv a toshiba with built in freeview today, checked single strengh from divis and it is good, got all channels after doing first time instalation but when you switch tv of and then back on again bbc channels are lost, and when i try to retune it takes several goes to get bbc channels back and as soon as you switch off you loose the bbc channels again. phoned hot line number and was told to contact toshiba, is it a prob with the tv as it is not yet 6months old
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jb385:47 PM
robin stewart: Have you tried completely resetting the TV back to its factory default setting? on Toshiba's this might be called "first time installation".
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Thursday, 25 October 2012
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robin stewart9:14 PM
jb38 yea done all that. Phoned Toshiba today and went thru it all again with their technical help. T.V. being returned to them guy reckoned that their may be a fualt with built in receiver. they will be without T.V. for up too 8 weeks but okay because they have sky on their other T.V. Was thinking tho if buying a digi box would fix the problem but its no worries T.V. is still under warranty. if anybody else has this problem with T.V. and warranty has expired it maybe a cheaper option than paying a tv engineer to repair.
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Wednesday, 14 November 2012
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anne hoey9:03 AM
Oldham
just switched the tv on this morning and it showing "OTA searching in progress" on my screen. What does this mean?
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anne's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
anne hoey: OTA means "over the air".
Knowledge of the model number might be useful.
Perhaps it is an update to the firmware (in-built software), in which case knowledge of the model number would allow us to see whether an update for that model is being broadcast. Or perhaps your TV has tuned in signals from Moel y Parc transmitter in Wales. Early this morning one of its channels changed frequency, so maybe it is reacting to that.
These are just possible ideas. Did it stop after a while? If so, how long was it like that?
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Lynne Robson3:19 PM
Please help! I have a Hitachi HDR082 digital TV recorder. Since the switch over, my recordings are stuttering, jumping and freezing, especially on ITV programs and some BBC programs. They are mostly unwatchable and it's driving me crazy.. Please can someone tell me in layman's terms what I can do? I'm not a very technically minded person. Thank you.
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Lynne Robson: I came across this unofficial site which describes the issue:
Unofficial Vestel PVR Information (UK) - T825 Freeview+
This model is apparently a Vestel T825 model.
According the site, this is a known issue and there was an update to the firmware, although the note at the end says that some users have reported that the issue remains even after the update. The firmware is the in-built software, a bit like what Windows is to a PC.
I found the user manual here:
http://www.hitachiservice….pdf
Page 29, part 5.2.7 talks about "Receiver Upgrade" which can be accessed through the menu via Setup > Configuration. It often will say somewhere what version is installed, although the screen shot in the manual simply gives the date and time when the software was built.
According to the link I provided, the latest software is version 13.0. Even if there is no version number, perhaps the date will be a clue. The page dates back to 2010, so if, for example, your software is dated 2007 (maybe it is what was installed when the device was built), then this pre-dates the update and therefore suggests that it is running the old version.
Indeed, the page linked to gives the factory version for your model as 2.8, dated 2007-11-13 18:12:13.
When the manufacturers publish updates to firmware for their models, they have them broadcast over the air. In order for the devices to upgrade, they will have to be switched on and be set to do so. The manual says that it looks at 3am and that it will have to be set to do so.
If your firmware has not been updated, then the website has available what it says is the updated version. Obviously this is an unofficial site, so it is all at your own risk as the loading of corrupt/incorrect firmware could render the device useless.
Your model has a RS232 connection which means that it can be connected to a PC with such a port and upgraded with the appropriate firmware. This tends to be older machines and some desktops.
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Lynne Robson: The last sentence - it is older PCs that tend to have RS232 (serial) connections because USB is the most common way of connecting devices these days.
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Lynne Robson6:10 PM
Dave Lindsey: Thank you very much for the information. I will go to the site for the user manual and read up about the sections which you have outlined to do with 'receiver updates.'Thanks again.
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