My ITV/C4 Freeview channels have disappeared - what can I do? Is it my SCART ca
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV It is a feature of television signals that they can be effected by the weather. Aside from the obvious damaged that can be caused by wind or torrential rain, the onset of summer can cause a more intriguing problem called "inversion".
Basically, when the sun heats up the land, the hot air can get trapped below cold air at high level. This creates an "inversion layer" which acts like a polished mirror to TV signals. This causes two problems: you can receive both the original and a reflected signal from your own transmitter (on analogue TV this appears as "ghosting") or interference from TV transmitters that are normally too far distant.
The ITV/C4 multiplex of channels (ITV-1, ITV-2, ITV-3, ITV-4, CITV, C4, More4, E4, Quizcall) use a transmission "mode" called 64QAM, and it is sadly much more prone to these problems.
So, whilst a loft-mounted aerial will provide reception at some time, it will fail at others. The only real solution is to mount the aerial (or a new Class I aerial) outside on a pole, but some people report that changing the cable from the aerial to the set-top box to the high-grade satellite cable can also help.
The SCART connection, by the way, only carries a single TV picture, not the Freeview transmission multiplexes, so if this is disconnected it will result in degradation to every channel at once.
All questions
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Sunday, 1 July 2012
J
jb389:14 PM
Mik: In addition to what has been suggested by Dave Lindsay, should any problems arise with the carrying out of the procedure mentioned another line of thought to consider is that as each of your bedrooms have a Goodman's Freeview box installed are these being fed from a powered booster / splitter? as if they are then for a test try by-passing the booster and connecting the aerial directly into one of the outputs that feeds one of the problem boxes.
On the other hand though, if you are simply using a passive type splitter (unpowered) then it could be the case that your signal level is on the low side that's just giving a picture and no more, and the sensitivity of boxes vary from brand to brand and this is why some work and some don't, BT vision boxes unfortunately having somewhat inferior tuners.
However as you are located at only 7 miles away from the 80Kw Dover transmitter the possibility exists that your signal level could be slightly too high which can also cause the type of problem mentioned albeit its more likely to show up on the BBC / ITV channels that are being transmitted on twice the power of the commercials such as ITV3, but this has to be verified and with that being the purpose of the first test, as if the problem is rectified by by-passing any booster / splitter that might be fitted then the signal is excessively high and likewise an attenuator will be require to be fitted on the aerial input socket of the booster / splitter.
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Monday, 2 July 2012
G
GC8:19 PM
Sidcup
I'm located nr DA15 7DN and have lost the BBC channels. I updated my 2 week old Sony KDL40EX723 today with the latest firmware and when I re-scanned my for digital channels, the set found 71 with the BBC channels (standard & HD)missing. These channels were available yesterday but I don't think their absence is due to the firmware upgrade.
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GC's: mapG's Freeview map terrainG's terrain plot wavesG's frequency data G's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mark Fletcher11:14 PM
Sidcup
GC.Sidcup,DA15 7DN.Is your aerial polarised either horizontally facing either Crystal Palace or Bluebell Hill main transmitter,or vertically facing Woolwich relay.If you know which transmitter/relay you are using you may have to input the affected frequencies via manual scanning,or resetting your TV via unplugging aerial then performing auto scan which will find zero channels as such yet clears your TV's previous memory,then replugging aerial back into your TV and this time performing manual scan.
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Mark's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 5 July 2012
B
Brian6:12 PM
Why dont we get all the channels advertised, ie sky news, sports,espn, dave, yesterday itv3 itv4 etc, have the basic 22 but no more and checking the transmitter for our region they do not have then listed....why is this I pay my license like everyone else but how come other areas of the country get 50+ channels compared. not right some how !!!!
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Monday, 9 July 2012
S
Steve8:42 PM
Ilford
I've just lost all of my ITV and ch4 channels.
I'm at IG2 6QN and the aerial is on the roof.
The TV is a Samsung LE40B551 and has integrated freeview.
I used the plug and play feature to reset the TV and auto search for channels, but it's still missing loads.
When I reset the TV at digital switchover (and up until today) everything was fine.
Your advice will be greatfully appreciated.
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Steve's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Craig8:57 PM
We live in London, E1 and have lost ITV1 and 2, channel 4, E4 and more 4 plus channel 5 - however - BBC1, 2, 3, 4 and ITV2+1, 3 and 4, and the other channel 5 channels are fine. Aerial and cables are as they have always been, freeview box is a Whalfedale DV832B, can anyone offer any ideas on what is going on?
Cheers all
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Tuesday, 10 July 2012
P
Peter3:58 PM
Fareham
My post code is po16 7hp. About a week ago I lost a most of my freeview channels including ITV, film 4, 5* and many more. I have a Samsung TV. When I lost my channels, the same night I plugged a separate TV in to another aerial in the house..not sure if they use the same aerial or not. I have since removed this TV but still my channels have not returned. Any help please, my wife is going to kill me.
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Peter's: ...
Thursday, 12 July 2012
S
Stuart9:20 PM
London
Hello. About 6 weeks/2 months ago we suddenly lost all BBC HD and ITV HD reception. Well, occasional flickers on BBC HD. ITV 4 was awful and breaking up and unwatchable too. I have a LG new LED TV with built in Freeview. I followed the Freeview guidelines and unplugged the aeriel, retuned the tv, unplugged the tv for a minute, replugged it in and attached the aeriel. Ta Da!!! I've now lost all channels from 50 - 59. I don't know about those above, as I never watch them anyway. The importnat ones are BBC HD and ITV HD. Gone. I live in Brixton, London . Please can anyone help me get back my channels.
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Stuart's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb389:32 PM
Stuart: As you are located at only about 3 miles or so from the Crystal Palace transmitter you could well be suffering from an excessively high level of signal and this type of situation will always affect HD reception before SD, with the latter in many cases appearing as being perfectly OK.
If you have access to a set top aerial then for a test try that, or even a short piece of wire (about 18" or so min) connected into the aerial socket, if this corrects the situation then you will require to purchase an attenuator to place in line with the TV's aerial socket.
Further advice dependant on findings.
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