Disappointed by Freeview

Redlander

I thought I would save some money by ditching the TV part of my Virgin service and getting Freeview instead. I paid £200 to have an aerial installed and bought a Manhattan Freeview box costing £169. Then I tuned into the channels and got a nasty shock; I was expecting the whole pageful of channels that are displayed under "Freeview" in Radio Times; instead, there were scarcely more than the regular terrestrial channels. In particular, there was no Talking Pictures TV, which is the channel I watch most often. This is a deal breaker for me; I will have to stick with Virgin; I have wasted £200 on the aerial and hope I can either return or sell my Manhattan box.

Only then did I do the research I should have done at the start and discover that channel availability varies according to region. Our transmitter is Montpelier (Bristol) which is a sub-transmitter of Mendip and has only a restricted range of channels.

Does anyone know why some transmitters give more channels than others? Is this a permanent situation, or is there an intention to make all chennels availeble to everyone in the future?

clive0510

well it is free after all.

Ayr_Rage

I am also on a repeater and as far as I know there are no plans to upgrade it to the full set of channels that are broadcast on the main transmitter.

Such is life.

All the information is available online and your aerial supplier should have had the information as well.

spikejrt

I would say could you get Freesat, but I suspect you wouldn't want to shell out for that given the investment in Freeview.

The relay transmitters (as they are known, which is what your transmitter is) have for a long time only broadcast 3 of the 6 Freeview multiplexes - it's sort of how it is and I don't think it'll change anytime soon. I'm not sure why it is like that, I'm sorry I can't shed any more light on it.

If you haven't seen this link, it may be of some use:

https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Bristol_Montpelier

Redlander

spikejrt said:

I would say could you get Freesat, but I suspect you wouldn't want to shell out for that given the investment in Freeview.

The relay transmitters (as they are known, which is what your transmitter is) have for a long time only broadcast 3 of the 6 Freeview multiplexes - it's sort of how it is and I don't think it'll change anytime soon. I'm not sure why it is like that, I'm sorry I can't shed any more light on it.

If you haven't seen this link, it may be of some use:

https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Bristol_Montpelier

Thanks. I think the answer is here https://ukfree.tv/article/1107051883/Will_there_ever_be_more_services_on_the_Freeview_L

Serves me right. I should have researched this.

35har1old

Redlander said:

I thought I would save some money by ditching the TV part of my Virgin service and getting Freeview instead. I paid £200 to have an aerial installed and bought a Manhattan Freeview box costing £169. Then I tuned into the channels and got a nasty shock; I was expecting the whole pageful of channels that are displayed under "Freeview" in Radio Times; instead, there were scarcely more than the regular terrestrial channels. In particular, there was no Talking Pictures TV, which is the channel I watch most often. This is a deal breaker for me; I will have to stick with Virgin; I have wasted £200 on the aerial and hope I can either return or sell my Manhattan box.

Only then did I do the research I should have done at the start and discover that channel availability varies according to region. Our transmitter is Montpelier (Bristol) which is a sub-transmitter of Mendip and has only a restricted range of channels.

Does anyone know why some transmitters give more channels than others? Is this a permanent situation, or is there an intention to make all chennels availeble to everyone in the future?

Freeview Channel Checker | Freeview

https://www.freeview.co.uk/freeview-channel-checker

Just used this 133 Channels was the answer i got. IT also tells you what transmitter you should be on perhaps there is more than one and your aerial is not align to that transmitter.

Its just like it is with mobile phone black spots just your location

Have you tried 

One For All 4-Way TV Signal Booster - SV9604  I know its another £17 to spend in ASDA but if you where careful with the packaging i am sure you could take it back if it did not increase the number of channels

 

matelodave

It would only work if the antenna was pointed at the main transmitter (which it probably isn't if its receiving from the repeater)

You may not have any signal worthwhile boosting depending on your location (that's why they put in repeaters) and if there was I guess the installer could have done that instead.

The TV would also require retuning to receive channels from the main transmitter

Mister_G

OP - your aerial installer should have told you this.  It may be worth asking him if, with a better aerial and amplfier, he may be able to get sufficient signal from the Mendip main transmitter.

Freesat would be the only other option.

The reason that the relay stations only carry the three multiplexes is the lack of frequencies available for terrestrial tv.  Recently the broadcasters had to give up a fair chunk of their spectrum to the mobile phone operators, so you are not likely to see any change to the current situation.

35har1old

matelodave said:

It would only work if the antenna was pointed at the main transmitter (which it probably isn't if its receiving from the repeater)

You may not have any signal worthwhile boosting depending on your location (that's why they put in repeaters) and if there was I guess the installer could have done that instead.

The TV would also require retuning to receive channels from the main transmitter

If he had to buy a Freeview box perhaps the TV does not have Freeview built in,

Neil49

I'm also on a repeater (Malvern) and have a Manhattan t3-r box.

I've just checked for Talking Pictures (Freeview channel 82) and it's there.

Possibly it needs an aerial amplifier to pickup any weaker signals (I need one because of poor reception) so maybe the OP should get an expert back in to check what can be done. 

baser999

We watch Freeview via a Humax box, which we’ve had for years. We have Talking Pictures and watch it often. I retune the box regularly, and delete dozens of channels that we’ll never watch. 

Assume that you’ve tried that with your box?