Freeview

Fri 29 Jun 2018, 16:05

Banbury Aerials are very good

Fri 29 Jun 2018, 11:57

Can anyone recommend a good local aerial company who could re-align our aerial?

Fri 8 Jun 2018, 22:18

Andrew

That is unusual, The Oxford HD channels ( 47, 55 and 56 ) are hard to capture in Charlbury, particularly the latter two channels. Oxford Channel 41 ( the BBC cohort ) is generally ok and of a more consistent quality than the HD channels. If you are having difficuly with Channel 41 try using Channel 39 from the Charlbury relay transmitter. Even if your aerial is aligned to Oxford, you should just about get an acceptable quality on Charlbury transmitter channels 39 (BBC cohort) and 42 (ITV et al).

Having said that, Freeview reception from Oxford in Charlbury is at its best "fragile" when compared to Freesat - so if a new aerial if being considered - a dish is generally cheaper and more effective ( provided you have a clear line of sight to the three satelites ( no neighbours overgrown trees!)

Good luck tomorrow

Fri 8 Jun 2018, 13:12

Andrew, I'm surprised at the freeview advice that you have received. Since my retune of freeview, I have frequently lost BBC 4 HD both on my TV & on my Blu-Ray recorder. Not all the time, but at unpredictable intervals.

This started with the TV, but then it also started happening on the recorder, so various programmes did not record. And this means that I have had to opt to record BBC4 programmes away from the HD channels. Perhaps you could raise this, Andrew, with the technician when he comes to see you. By contrast, my normal freeview channels are absolutely fine!

I'm in the Ditchley Rd area, and am not relying on the Charlbury Relay transmitter. I don't know if that explains it, but would appreciate discovering what you find out.

Fri 8 Jun 2018, 11:29

Getting a bit further with this at last!

I spoke with a technical agent on the Freeview help line this morning and he talked me through looking at manual tune possibilities.
It looks as if all the normal BBC channels on UHF channel 41, ie, not the BBC-HD channels, are very low in both strength and quality but all others channels we looked at (ITV, Ch4, Ch5, etc etc) were fine with a strong signal strength and quality.

The BBC-HD channels which are on the UHF Ch 47 show 100% for strength and quality, which is great for the one HD TV we have but useless for the non HD TVs as we can not get those HD channels on those.

A visit tomorrow by their home-visit techs may solve this for us but we wait to see!

Thu 7 Jun 2018, 09:20

As Huw states check the cable connectors, re-made connections on a friends tv ariel connections, job done!!

Wed 6 Jun 2018, 19:02 (last edited on Wed 6 Jun 2018, 19:04)

If anyone else is still having problems with this as we are here in Little Lees I recommend that you ring the freephone Freeview help number 0808 100 0288 and see if they can help you.

They believe there may be other nearby signals that are interfering with the Freeview TV signal and they are arranging to send an aerial technician to try to solve this for us.
Looking at our house elevation and signal strength they think we should get here from the Oxford transmission mast, they believe there is obviously something very wrong and it should be possible to get us back to the full 144 available channels.

Watch this space!

Sat 26 May 2018, 07:12

Andrew

If you are experiencing "pixilation" ypu are at the edge of the digital signal for that frequency. Digital TV and Radio signals have a cliff effect where you immediately go from a strong signal to no signal (an analog signal slowly fades). If you are experiencing signal loss on just one TV in a group, the problem is possibly the aerial connection at the back of the tv or a poorly made joint in the cable from the aerial where the signal is split to different tv's. A combination of a number of very
small faults can easily lead to no signal.

Fri 25 May 2018, 23:15

Thanks for the heads up Christine, Glad your retune went well :)

Fri 25 May 2018, 23:10 (last edited on Fri 25 May 2018, 23:13)

Thanks for the tips Huw. It's probably not worth the investment. Most stuff is available on catch up now and most catch-up apps have the ability to stream live tv. An Amazon Fire TV Stick or Google Chromecast don't set you back much. Most modern TVs have at least 2 HDMI ports

Fri 25 May 2018, 19:04

How are people doing with this problem now?

We had some pixilation after the original retune on Wed. which largely disappeared yesterday. However, this afternoon we lost all BBC programmes completely on our newest and best TV, with all other stations that I've tried still working.

Two other older TVs still get BBC OK so I am baffled.

Thu 24 May 2018, 18:16

You can get an aerial booster. Re-tuning your tv should work it did for mine and I have different makes of tv's and live in a valley.

Thu 24 May 2018, 12:46

Alex

To pick up the Oxford transmitter (144 channels) you will need an external high gain TV aerial will a clear view to Beckley. Even in west Charlbury ( Dyers Hill / Park Street) this will give reasonable reception. Similarly for FM/ Dab reception you will need an external aerial tuned to Oxford. The Charlbury transmitter only delivers radio bundled with digital TV on UHF .

In fairness, you are doing well to receive a full suite (144) of TV / Radio channels in Charlbury from either transmitter (Oxford or Charlbury) without an external aerial.

Thu 24 May 2018, 12:07

Alex, the re-tune was because the Government required some of the frequencies for future 5G telephone services. All Charlbury channels have been shifted so that the Oxford channels can also move. The page about it is here: https://www.a516digital.com/2018/05/major-freeview-frequency-change-for.html

The link gives a free advice line for help restoring freeview channels. But I think some people will need to get their aerials adjusted by a specialist firm.

My own re-tune was straightforward except for the fact that my digital recorder insisted that I ticked a box about privacy agreements before I could do anything at all.

Thu 24 May 2018, 08:56 (last edited on Thu 24 May 2018, 09:40)

Must be living in the dip as can only get the Charlbury transmitter freeview lite channels - which now includes some sewing channel which I have no personal interest in. Quite what this has all achieved is beyond me! Just a boost then? Has anyone in Charlbury managed to pick up on the Beckley transmitter on an indoor aerial? At least it is not freeview lite!

Wed 23 May 2018, 20:55

They appear to have boosted the signal / improved compression as I can now get all channels on an indoor aerial. Whereas before I only got the BBC channels. Ps scheduled recordings on your PVR will have to be reprogrammed unless it has smart rescanning.

Wed 23 May 2018, 15:38

I am extremely pleased to say that after having my TV off for an hour when I switched on àgain it said 'update channels'and it actually worked.!😀

Wed 23 May 2018, 13:04

It's strange how some people are effected and not others as my family's appear to be ok. It's been suggested it might be my aerial but fact had a brilliant picture before is that likely? ?"

Wed 23 May 2018, 12:51

I have done what it said (I think) on the reset but it now just says Please scan channels ! I don't know how to do that. Should I wait till after 5p.m. ?

Wed 23 May 2018, 12:20 (last edited on Wed 23 May 2018, 12:22)

Hello, we've tried retuning but are completely unsuccessful , like yourself we just getting few channels which not remotely interested in and not clear at all. Perhaps if we try after 5 then we may have better chance . I do hope so as that's my entertainment and daytime company,feel lost without it.
😢

Wed 23 May 2018, 11:42 (last edited on Wed 23 May 2018, 11:44)

Yes, I have the same problem. All channels have disappeared except for six dodgy ones I've never heard of. Even retuning didn't bring them back.

The message on the Freeview website when you search by postcode for problems is -

"You may need to retune if you find you are missing chanels
We recommend retuning after 5pm today

Read more at https://www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges/clearance-results#tktfdZr2iwMTLKKJ.99"

Wed 23 May 2018, 11:32

I wondered if anyone else was having trouble this morning like we are. I just can't get any programmes especially my favourites which are BBC 1 and ITV3. I've been through all settings in Menu and it appears it was originally set up through Wireless connection no matter what else try won't work. It's very distressing.

Wed 23 May 2018, 10:39

Alex,

All you need to do is retune your television. The aerial does not require any adjustment. If you are using the Oxford transmitter, all the works to reassign channels were completed overnight. If you are tuned to Charlbury, I don't know if the retune is complete yet.

Wed 23 May 2018, 10:19

You may care to look here:
https://www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges

Wed 23 May 2018, 10:11

I knew an update was due but I don't remember seeng that we were going to lose channels for a day or so. All I know is that suddenly I've lost all my freeview channels. Thank you for freesat or catch up tv that's all I can say. And before anyone says anything yes I've tried rescanning and repositioning the aerial.