freeview problem!! 31 March 2009 at 5:10PM in TV MoneySaving 21 replies 3.5K views

sam1970

our new digital aerial which was installed 6 months ago on the roof has been working fine but since yesterday the signal quality has dropped for BBC 1 and 2 and there is a lot of interference!!other channels are absolutely fine...any idea on whats wrong? i tried internal aerial and BBC channels are fine!!

aliEnRIK

Contact whoever installed it

sam1970

thanks for replying...i phonedthe guy and he tried to tell me that it could be a problem wih th transmitter where there may be some repair works..i told him that an internal aerial is working fine so it must be the roof aerial problem...he said he will come out on thursday to have a look. my question is do i have to pay him for this? i feel that the installation was not done properly hence i am having this problem especially that we did not have any windy days recently. I have a satellite dish installed five years ago and never had a problem with it since installed.any suggesstions please!!

kwikbreaks

Were you using your indoor aerial for analogue? If so then it isn't a valid comparison as it will certainly be on different channels and possibly on a different transmitter.

I'll offer a guess as to what you may be seeing (which is what I have from tiime to time)...

We have had high air pressure recently (which is why the weather was so nice at the weekend). Under those conditions you sometimes get enhanced ranges for TV stations (amongst other signals)...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_ducting#Tropospheric_ducting

When that happens a distanf analogue tramsmitter signal can be received which happens to fall on the same frequency as one of the channels used by you for digital (which may carry half a dozen or more actual TV channels). The result can range from intermittent break up to complete loss of that group of digital channels while others remain OK.

If your problem is only impacting some of your channels then my betting is that this is the cause.

In my case my aerial points due north and the transmitter I ususally pick up is just over 30 miles away (where I live in Northampton just about every transmitter is a long way off). After investigating I discovered that a transmitter 250 miles away is using some of my digital channels for analogue and that is why I get problems sometimes.

sam1970

thanks for your detailed reply...i used the indoor aerial for freeview channels so the comparison is valid. As i said earlier only BBC channels are affected (1,2,3,4 and BBC news) and i live about 10 miles from the transmitter (sutton coldfield-West midlands)

oldagetraveller

I live on the outer fringes of the Sutton Coldfield transmitter and in a problem reception area. No deterioration at all with any transmissions. However, this might prove useful for any works happening on the transmitter. http://www.ukfree.tv/txdetail.php?a=SK113003
As has been previously mentioned high atmospheric pressue can influence, or in my case, sometimes block the signal completely. That's usually happened after dark?!
I know my reply doesn't answer your query but the link might help in future?
The aerial installer should be able to check though. Does your T.V. and/or Freeview box have a signal strenght and quality facility to check what you are actually receiving? If so view a BBC channel and look what is displayed for strength and quality. Even at my location its about 85%/100% (strength/quality) for BBC transmissions.

sam1970

the signal strength/quality for BBC has been always at 60%/100% but for the last three days it dropped to 37%/40%...i live in solihull by the way

oldagetraveller

I'm no expert by any means but I would have thought you're signal strength etc. should be better than that? You're just about living next to the transmitter, only about 10 miles - or is it transmitting over your head!?
I'm about 40 miles away, in a shallow valley, and my figures are as stated. Got to be you're aerial or aerial installation surely?
Or has someone built a block of flats or erected a crane in the line of sight?:p We recently had a bit of high wind, could the aerial have moved a bit? Then again it's been there for 6 months over the winter.
I'm only clutching at straws here. You're installer should be able to sort it out, or explain why, if they're half decent.

tomterm8

sam1970 wrote: »

our new digital aerial which was installed 6 months ago on the roof has been working fine but since yesterday the signal quality has dropped for BBC 1 and 2 and there is a lot of interference!!other channels are absolutely fine...any idea on whats wrong? i tried internal aerial and BBC channels are fine!!

Turn the freeview box off at the plug, wait ten minutes, turn it on again.

Inactive

tomterm8 wrote: »

Turn the freeview box off at the plug, wait ten minutes, turn it on again.

I somehow don't think that will make a scap of difference, channels are stored in memory on a Freeview Receiver.

That does sometimes help with Sky Receivers that " lock up ", never heard of it working on a Freeview Receiver.

It sounds like an aerial problem to me, no doubt the installer will sort it out tomorrow.

tomterm8

It works on my Freeview receiver. Some of the cheaper boxes tend to leak memory.