All posts by LouiseB
Below are all of LouiseB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
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Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) Full Freeview transmitterSaturday 2 November 2013 3:28PM
Gillingham
Have recently turned my loft aerial towards Bluebell Hill after all reception from Crystal palace was becoming unwatchable (was ok until 6 days ago, last staw was losing PCB1!, used to receive over 100 channels without a booster previously).
I'm in area ME7 5HY and from Bluebell Hill I am not receiving any channels from ArqA or ArqB. I've tried clearing all channels and retuning more than once, sometimes I seem to pick up enough signal for the ArqA channels to be put in the 800's on my TV (Samsung TV with built in tuner). I have tried a separate freeview tuner and it is reporting poor to no signal for ArqA and no signal at all for ArqB. Meanwhile as I type, the wind outside has picked up and I'm experiencing a lot of interference with the channels I can receive (PSB1 is blank with broken sound, and SDN is juddering and popping, it was OK this morning). I don't understand how can I have such poor reception from my local transmitter.
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Expecting 4G interference? Tests now show that you have a one Saturday 2 November 2013 3:54PM
Gillingham
I find it quite ironic that the muxes I have been receiving poorer and poorer reception from for the last few weeks (months in come cases - and completely disappearing at times since 28th October!) are the ones with reported interference from 4G when tuned to Crystal Palace; BBCA, BBCB and ArqA!
But yet according to at800 website I live well outside of the interference area but yet I am surrounded by phone masts, from multiple operators on all sides.
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Dave: Thanks for the reply. I had only been having intermittent problems with ArqA and ArqB for the last few months, which could be explained by the development (which is a new/rebuilt school that was finished in August). The last few weeks had been ridiculous though - ArqA and ArqB got much worse at times, to the point that a booster made no difference. And then since the storm on 28th October all channels on ArqA, ArqB and BBCA went completely blank and reported weak or no signal. I decided to retune to see if it would help (bit of an old analogue mentality, I know). I was surprised to find that the transmitter didn't have storm damage as that's the only explanation I could think of.
I have also posted on the Bluebell Hill transmitter as I turned my loft aerial the other day to see if it was any better from there (last time I tried was before the area switched over), but that is proving just as problematic with little or no signal on ArqA, no signal what so ever from ArqB and since this afternoon (weather has got windy) serious break up on BBCA & SDN, incidentally channels received via D3+4 are all fine.
Just for reference; in the analogue era we used to get too much interfence from the hospital to receive much from Bluebell Hill, I grew up watching Thames and LWT (same house) because of it.
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Dave: Thanks again, have replied to your comments on the Crystal Palace page. Google maps doesn't show the terrain as well as I had hoped, as I always thought I was on fairly high ground - as there's quite a climb up from the valley that Chatham and Rochester are in - so the next high ground in view/sight is cuxton/shorne country park. Looks like I'll have to put the aerial back to Crystal Palace for now. Just wish I knew why the reception had deteriorated so much since the storm on 28th October as I said it was mostly watchable before that.
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MikeB: I don't see how a loft aerials cables etc could have corroded because of the storm when they are all internal. I might look into replacing the cabling though as some of it must be 30 years old - as is the aerial. When having a quick look at it all when I turned the aerial to Bluebell Hill, all the cable seemed fine, with no lose connections. None of the cabling is recessed into walls etc. which makes it easy to check. Still doesn't quite connect (in my brain at least) as to why it got worse after the storm.
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Dave Lindsay:
Thanks for that. I understand how the building may/has affected my reception from crystal palace, even though the part of that building where my aerial faces (the "top end" closest to the hospital) is currently being pulled down, so that could also be contributing to my problems. I've learnt a lot of things since posting on here yesterday, regarding frequencies and aerial groups etc. so I have a lot of things to consider and work on.
I will try that test with a set top aerial for Bluebell Hill as soon as I can borrow one.
jb38: I get what you are saying and I will check all the connectors for deterioration etc. I will also look into replacing the coaxial cable with a higher graded (and better shielded) one. Depending on costs I may replace the lot, aerial included.
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Dave: Thanks, I've been learning a lot in the last 24 hours, all useful. I've been given the suggestion to try a test with a set-top aerial, which I will try as soon as I can borrow one. A friend of mine in Maidstone (uses either Bluebell Hill or Tonbridge transmitter, I'm not sure) has recently bought a new aerial from Asda with a 3G/4G filter and has said her reception has improved significantly. So I have a few things I can try/test before I start thing about replacing my whole set-up.
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Saturday 2 November 2013 2:09PM
I have a loft aerial and had good reception from Crystal Palace for all channels after the switchover - no weather interference or any interuptions for the whole of 2012. Since the start of this year (2013) the signal had gradually been getting worse and I had to start using a booster for some channels. Since the storm on 28th October I lost all channels on ArqA and have since lost all BBC channels too. I have tried blanking all channels and retuning more than once and each time the number of channels detected decreases! There is no reports of engineering works or other problems so I can't work out what's going on. I live in ME7 just down the road (north) from Medway Maritme Hospital.