All posts by jack
Below are all of jack's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.Im still confused
Can you just say without explaining the technology and history
Is it possible to just cancel sky and view
any free channels on the equipment without paying anything please?
If steps need to be taken can you list them 1 2 3 etc? Sorry im not good at this tech stuff
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Grr... try again
Since the retune we have had less about 36% signal on "mux"45 (666Mhz) and constant break ups and no signal messages.
Every channel on that is totally unwatchable now.
All the others have drifted power down below 44-48% except 2 at 60%
Only the HD channels seem to work at all reliably appart from those.
Any attempt to amplify just makes it worse.
We have a "new" mux appeared but the signal level is just 10% so all we get is flashes and black screen.
I see sandra is nearby to us so it may be an area fault?
Cant they just stop adding stuff until they can make what we have watchable?
The recent additions - didnt - they just subtracted what used to work reasonably reliably.
B34 area.
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Thanks for the info - and nicely presented.
However the statement when everyone has the new boxes/sets is an open ended waffle.
Some people still have CRT sets.
A date should be put on this upgrade and announced.
Freeview is a poor enough "service" as it is - statements like this just make me want to give up altogether.
(And it seems to be getting worse every year by the way)
This month we have lost 2 muxes entirely. (on both our boxes)
1 box is unwatchable on all one mux channels the other regists zero power on both.
i dont know what the problem is but just trying to watch TV is now a major undertaking
all the time. Couch potato's have never had so much exercise.
Funny how we never have problems over xmas or other major events though - why is that?
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J
Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteThursday 30 September 2021 3:01PM
Birmingham
hi chris
Thanks - for the response
We were having this issue before the works listed but nowhere near as bad
and only occasionally but maybe that's why they were doing it?
Anyway this seems to be permanent now - today (bad weather I know) power through the amp
is bouncing between 31% and 52% with Q dropping to zero every few seconds
The channels on it are just unwatchable.
pcode b34 6te - understand there are repeaters but dont know if we are using one.
I think we are pointing right at sutton.
As mentioned all other channels are no problem at all.
Looking back online on other sites 55 has been a problem for a few years at least
in other places. I stood outside and watched the aerial the other day in case
it was wobbling in the wind but it seems solid.
Up until recently it was ok for us when the new amp was fitted (3 years ago about)
(I have tried swapping ports on that by the way.)
Just an FYI in case it helps - I am seeing a steady 30-31% 100% Q (through the amp)
on ch26 (514Mhz) - no channels on it so not sure what it's for unless it's engineering -
I just read your comment above about manual tuning - I havn't tried that so will
give it a go just in case.
jack
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Thanks chris - I'll look into all that.
FYI I have checked out my entire system top to bottom - nothing moving (even in the wind the cable
comes straight in upstairs so is quite short - maybe no more than 15 ft into the amp.)
and no changes here otherwise. No cable re-route but I have unplugged and replugged everything
in case of a loose plug. I've even dissmantled the plugs and made sure they were tight and
grounded inside. The current aerial was put in I think about 5 yeas ago - no damage to it. We
had this one because there are trees nearby and I wanted a better signal at the time but there
always has been trees - if anything the leaves have come off recently which usually improves
things so I would tend to discount that. (I'd also expect some issue with other channels wouldnt I ?)
I seem to recall the installer said 340 degrees so 343 rings about true.
I've just put a F-F inline to run without the amp (Its a SLX 4 way signal booser that says
"red compliant" whatever that means. mains powered) It takes both UHF and VHF input.
I feed 2 identical boxes off it - the readings and issue are pretty much the same on both.
Gain per port is 11dB -fixed no control
Noise < 3dB
4G protect >46dB (No mention of 5G or police frequencies)
Reading down the mux channels list now I get: [mux Pwer Q]
Amp removed:
26 10% 50-90
39 65-67% 100
40 67-68% 100
43 65-67% 100
43 58-67% 100
45 60% 100
46 38-55% 100
48 10-20% 0-100 getting steady 100-Q at 15%+
55 25-31% 100 steady - actually went to 55 when plane flew over (between us and sutton)
FYI at 7 am this morning 55 was totally off air. 0% 0 perhaps overnight working still?
Most channels look like they dont need the amp anymore just a couple that do on todays
showing.
If anything the power levels on most have improved over recent years - at least on this reading -
I havn't needed to look at things for a long time.
C26 is tuned - theres just nothing picked up on it - just power and q and no channels.
Could it be something other than freeview using that channel? I don't see how I'd pick that up but I
don't know. It's been there for months if not at least a year now.
55 seems to get even worse in the evenings for some reason.
I'm out of ideas of what to try. I'll try watching without the amp tonight to see if anything
else is droppong out - even the city center channel (birmingham TV on 48) seems clean at the moment
despite the very low power and Q changes.
jack
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Hi Chris -
Thanks for the detailed reply.
Unfortunately I have years of experience recognising the issues with trees - this problem isn't
the trees.
Oddly enough during all that wind and rain it all stabilised at 54%
(I havn't replied as I wanted to see the outcome first) - so far it seems solid still (sat - 9th)
We'll see how it goes - also noting the previous message (thanks poster)
as for 26 - there's nothing I can think of locally - could it be pickup from someone nearby maybe?
I'll check the 800's - I have them programmed out so I'll re-enable them and see if anything is
picked up.
jack
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No good at all- it does stabilise in the mornings but appart from that its pretty useless.
It seems I'm not the only one around here with the problem either.
Last nigh it was dropping from zero to 35% (amplified)
I can only assume its the low power transmitted or some sort of interference
from something nearby .
Why it should suddenly start doing this I can't otherwise think.
It's a shame because BBC-4 seems to be the only channel with half decent documentaries
Basicly we've lost half the HD channels from a paltry handful in the first place.
Not a very good advert for freeview.
Why aren't there more HD channels now anyway. Does anyone know? There cant be anyone
left with an SD TV set surely?
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Thanks chris -
Yes I've moved everything and the cables are far away as possible from each other.
I've even tried changing the HDMI cables but since I get the same on both boxes
(They arent together) I dont see that can be the issue.
I dont know if the neighbours would know how to check for that C26 signal but I can ask.
(Theyre not too friendly round here sadly) It's still there and rock solid whatever it is.
One chap did say there was a CB or radio aerial sticking up 12 foot higher than
his house fairly near-by maybe thats worth looking at somehow. I will look for it. (But they
dont transmit TV do they?)
I have noticed its fairly stable at 60-61% in the mornings around 10 am - then by the afternoon when
I check again its bouncing down well into the mid 25% and up to about 52% signal and zero Q later and in the evenings.
Its got worse if anything these last couple of weeks regardless of weather - except when
the rain and wind is very bad I do see some improvement for some reason. That seems odd
on its own.
Essentially all the channels are useless on just that one frequency. Even the other low
power channels are clean without any breakups.
I think I'll just have to put up with it. Why it should suddenly start happening is no doubt
part of the puzzle but I'm at a loss for ideas now.
So thanks for your kind input Chris - it looks like no HD movies this christmas.
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Hi
Just an update
I thought I'd mention I had occasion to re-tune last night and noticed
that mysterious C26 entry has vanished. I did discover it IS freeview format and West Midlands
region sourced. The signal was the SD picture type but no channels were listed.
Very odd.
COM7 is still all over the place. Nothing suggested or I've tried makes it reliable.
I'm seeing signals of 80-83% on all others now (amplified) except the local one
COM7 is still bouncing 63-68 power and random total dropouts on all
the receivers. Removing the amp or shorting the VHS doesnt fix it but thanks
for the straw to clutch Chris.
PS
I will stream TV/movies the same day I get my brain replaced by a cabbage.
Nobody seems to think or care about long term consequences. Sad really.
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Page 1
Thursday 11 April 2013 3:06PM
Birmingham
what is going on now
for about 2 weeks we've been getting random break-ups on multiple channels
This morning every mux except 1 went dead for about 2 minutes - no signal nothing
is freeview EVER going to be a service that can be relied on?
What are they playing around with now?