All posts by Steve Donaldson
Below are all of Steve Donaldson's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Damon: I wonder if one of the mobile networks has turned on base stations on the former TV frequencies (700MHz and 800MHz bands) over the last few days across the area.
There is a report on the Hemel Hempstead transmitter page saying that reception of C46 has been lost. This is on multiple TVs with two different aerials. The person says C43 has some errors. He also says others on Facebook are reporting the same issue in HP3.
Another user of the transmitter in Hatfield says C46 was "no signal" yesterday and is unstable today.
C46 is the highest channel, with C43 the next lowest. The 700MHz frequencies now passed over to mobile operators are C49 and upwards. Thus, C46 is the closest to any potential 700MHz mobile signal.
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It is curious that there have been other reports of issues with Hemel Hempstead, all impacting C46. I wonder if a mobile network has base stations across the area now using 700MHz frequencies, those previously used by TV and which could potentially cause TV reception issues.
These are from Hemel Hempstead (where the person says others in the area are complaining of the same issue) and Watford. Thus, it's pretty widespread and can't be the same base station, hence why I suggest it may be a group of them across a wider area.
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David Males: Contact Restore TV (again) and they should come out if you tell them you have a masthead amp. The older filters blocked the 800MHz band, UHF channels 61 to 69. After channels 61 to 69 had been given over to mobile operators, amplifiers were sold that had an in-built filter for those channels.
Now the 700MHz band, UHF channels 49 to 60, has been given over to the mobile operators, an 800MHz filter may need replacing with one that blocks channels 49 to 69. Where an amplifier that has an in-built 800MHz filter is in use, it may require a 700MHz filter (C49 to C69) fitting to its input.
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Tuesday 3 September 2024 1:07PM
Damon: I suggest you contact Restore TV and ask them to send you a filter, which is free. Restore TV is the organisation responsible for alleviating issues with TV reception caused by mobile phone masts operating on frequencies previously used for TV. As they were previously used for TV, the front end of TVs is capable of receiving them. Sometimes their presence can be an issue to reception of one or more TV multiplexes.
I wouldn't be concerned that resolution of the issue may require more serious and expensive action at this stage. Mobile interference is not an uncommon issue, and is therefore worth suspecting. The test is to install the filter. If the problem is solved with the filter in situ but not without then this is confirmation that mobile interference is the cause.
Link to Restore TV (it says addresses in your postcode have been sent a postcard):
https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/
Use manual tuning to restore the missing HD programme channels. Now we know you are using the Hemel Hempstead transmitter, I can tell you that they are on UHF channel 46.
Automatic tuning clears all tuning information currently stored and scans through all frequencies (UHF/broadcast channels) to see what is available. This therefore takes more time, as well as deleting what is already stored.
On the manual tuning screen, enter UHF channel 46 (C46) and see what happens. If the TV gives indication of signal strength and quality on the manual tuning then see what it says for C46. Give it ten seconds or so to see what it stabilises on. Try scanning/tuning the channel, seeing if it can decipher the signal and add the programme channels (the HD ones) carried on it.
Also, it might be worth seeing what it says for other UHF channels used by the transmitter. These are 40 (BBC standard definition TV), 43 (ITV1, Channel 4 and some others), 37, 31 and 29.
If you do find there is a signal there and it will tune, then don't reset and retune if the channels go back to "no signal" message. Indeed, as I said previously, resetting cleared what may have been correct tuning information and now you are looking to get it back. You cannot watch nor tune to something which is not there, which isn't coming down the aerial lead, for whatever reason. It is therefore advisable not to retune in such situations.