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Freeview is digital TV using a normal TV aerial (not a satellite dish or cable TV). Freeview boxes are marked one of these: 'Freeview', 'ITV Digital', 'ONdigital' or 'DVB-T'.

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Are you using Freeview?

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Allen Stuart
Friday 25 November 2011 11:17PM London
Hi
I Have a Samsung Smart TV. It was all working fine from a communal aerial which is only a year old. I got all the Freeview channels with a good final with the exception go the HD ones which had a corrupted picture. My postcode is London NW3 4NG. I bought another TV the same for another room. The final was good on BBC but corrupted in ITV C4 etc. I plugged the new TV in the existing socket of the older one and it was fine. The next day 34th Nov neither of them worked properly on ITV. Have some changes been made that could have caused this in North London
Dave Lindsay
Saturday 26 November 2011 3:27AM
Allen Stuart: Could it be your aerial lead that is at fault? Can you swap it for another?

So your communal aerial system provides you with sockets in two rooms?
dave clements
Monday 28 November 2011 1:33AM
i have just bought a toshiba 32inch flat screen which only has one scart i have a virgin top box and a dvd/video recorder which previously was connected to the tv by a scart how can i connect the top box and the recorder to the tv
jb38
Monday 28 November 2011 7:15AM
dave clements: If your TV has an HDMI input then you should couple this to the Virgin boxes similar output using an HDMI lead, the DVD recorder using the single scart input on your TV.

If this for any reason cannot be done and the Virgin box has two scart sockets, which my info suggests it has, then you would simply couple your DVD/video recorder into the Virgin boxes AV2 scart input (maybe called VCR) socket, as the DVD recorder should over-ride the Virgin boxes output when "play" is pressed, if it didn't then just put the Virgin box into "standby".

By the way, if you haven't got an HDMI lead don't be tempted to pay much over £6.00 or so for one, as there is a lot of fanciful nonsense seen claimed for types advertised with somewhat higher priced tags, HDMI leads as frequently sold by places like Aldi or Lidl etc being perfectly OK.
Allen Stuart
Tuesday 29 November 2011 7:50PM London
Allen Stuart: Dave Lindsay, Hi tried another aerial but did not solve problem. It's getting worse the tv in the kitchen is now breaking up on ITV. It has a Sony free view box that's been fine for 4 years. Another TV a 46 inch Sony LCD that's about 3 years old is fine but that;s running off BT Vision. Am I right in thinking all the channels come down the phone line or is it just the on demand stuff. All the TV's run off a communal aerial to 5 sockets in my flat
Dave Lindsay
Tuesday 29 November 2011 7:59PM
Allen Stuart: Only the on demand stuff comes via the phone line.

You say you have BT Vision. Are you using Powerline adapters to connect the box to your router (Home Hub)? They look something like this:

www.shop.bt.com link icon BT Comtrend Powerline HD Ethernet Female Kit (055866) - BT Shop

If so, unplug them from the mains and try your TVs' reception.
Samantha
Wednesday 7 December 2011 7:42PM Great Yarmouth
Hello there,

I have a philips 42pfp5532d/05 which includes digital freeview. Since switchover I cannot get BBC channels and have to retune everytime I want to watch the Tv as it will not store.

What do I need to do? Any ideas?
jb38
Wednesday 7 December 2011 9:49PM
Samantha: If you are viewing from your local Gt Yarmouth transmitter then your signal "may" be a little too powerful, although as far as the TV not retaining stored channels is concerned you should carry out a "factory re-set" (might be called default setting on your TV) followed by an auto-tune, as this type of problem is usually caused by attempting to store more channels that the memory is capable of doing, hence when the TV is unpowered they are lost.
barry
Saturday 10 December 2011 6:21PM
i have recently moved and have a satalite dish already fitted can i plug straight into tv to get picture or do i need a decoder box or fresat ?
MARION
Monday 12 December 2011 11:41PM
I have played a dvd on my Freeview TV for the first time and now cannot find out how to return to the television channels. can you help please.
peter keegan
Friday 16 December 2011 3:17PM Camberley
although it is assumed at my location gu17 0aj that i can receive a signal from the crystal palace transmitter,the fact is in our road we cant and rely on the hannington/midhurst transmitters for our tv signalwhich is fine for analogue but not so good for digital reception with freeze and breakup depending on the weather.Can you please inform someone of this situation before digital switchover so the signal can be boosted to an acceptable levelfrom these transmitters.
Briantist
Friday 16 December 2011 3:35PM
peter keegan: You will be able to receive the public service multiplexes from the Hannington transmitter from 22 February 2012, and probably the rest of the services from 4th April 2012.
Ric Airey
Saturday 17 December 2011 12:23PM
16/17th dec 2011, yesterday ch/ film 4 ch sound is running ahead of picture action out of synch
is transmission engineer asleep or wot? grin
other channels not affected, rgds Ric
Alistair
Saturday 17 December 2011 3:27PM
I am receiving my Freeview signal from Craigkelly in Fife. A few of the channels recently have NO SOUND - Film4/Yesterday/QVC etc. Others are fine - what is going on?
Alistair
Monday 19 December 2011 4:23PM
Re my Freeview question. Later that same day, the sound returned on all channels. But I found it extremely difficult to find anywhere to complain to about this.
Rupert
Tuesday 20 December 2011 8:10AM Heathfield
Can I connect another Tv in another room to my freesat box by using two powerline sockets?

If not, how else can I do it?
Briantist
Tuesday 20 December 2011 8:11AM
Rupert: You need to get another Freesat box and connect it to your dish.
babs
Saturday 24 December 2011 8:29PM
I have bought a smart samsung tv but every channel is poor and badly corrupted. Auto tune or manual fine tuning does not work. The picture on my old tv was perfect. Help me please!
jb38
Saturday 24 December 2011 9:11PM
babs: As the query you are making involves reception its impossible for anyone to give advice without knowledge of your location, this preferably in the form of a post code, as once known it enables your reception possibilities to be assessed with reference to whatever station you might be receiving from.
Dorothy
Monday 26 December 2011 8:23PM
can't seem to get Dave channel on my TV after 6.00pm. Anything I can do about this? We used to be able to get it 24 hours a day!
Bill W
Tuesday 27 December 2011 11:59AM Towcester
Does anyone have any information on how/when to check on software updates for a Tevion 48405 Set Top Box? The supplier's service agent cannot help and is dismissive of any need due to the newness of the STB (Aug 2011).

The user manual gives no such information other than the fact that there is provision via the Tools Menu to achieve this, namely Upgrade by Air or Upgrade by Media. If opting for the former, a search commences immediately despite "greyed out" screen options for inputs as follows:
Frequency: 000.000MHz
Bandwidth: selectable 6,7 or 8MHz (default 8MHz)
Download PID: 0000
Start
Althought the menu options are initially all "greyed out", pressing Exit then accesses them - but with no instructions on what, if anything, needs to be input and/or when, and the user manual gives no details. However, if no action is taken (ie, Exit not selected) the search continues but results in an Invalid Information message. Pressing Exit accesses the above menu items but, if no frequency or PID info is input followed by Start, the result is as before (Invalid Information). Clearly, SOME information is needed for these parameters

If Upgrade by Media is selected, a USB device must first be connected - but the user manual again gives no details of how the software is obtained.

Any advice on the above (or on this particular STB) would be welcomed.
Peter Wright
Thursday 29 December 2011 5:33PM
Hi everyone,

I would be obliged if you could help with a Freeview question.

I have an LG television with built in Freeview / Freesat and a satellite dish.

I recently tried to re-tune Freeview for the first time but now have 5000+ channels showing on my channel guide, most of which are duplicates. Can anyone advise me where I might have gone wrong when retuning? thanks.
jb38
Thursday 29 December 2011 8:57PM
Peter Wright: Without knowledge of your location (post code) something which would have been of great assistance in determining as to whether or not you are capable of receiving signals from more than one station, as what you have reported suggests this is happening, however what you should do is scrub everything stored by carrying out a factory reset, maybe called a "first time scan" on your set, then after carrying out another auto-tune you should (or might) see a box coming on requesting your region, its this facility that will allow only the region selected to be stored and discarding anything else picked up.

If though after doing that you still end up with an excessive number of programmes being stored, then the only way of getting over the problem is by re-tuning the TV using its "manual tuning" facility, this being done after having carried out a further factory reset.

The multiplex channel numbers to enter being given on receipt of your post code.
Santanu
Tuesday 3 January 2012 9:37PM Kingston Upon Thames
I just moved to UK and find a old Sony CRT tv in my rental apartment. I like to use this for some time before buying a good LCD TV with in-built Freeview Tuner. Now I am thinking to Buy a SCART Freeview adapter to see freeview channels. I can see I need to buy a DVD player/recorder also. Now I don't want to cluter my TV area with so many boxes. I can see the DVRs are coming with built in Freeview Tuner. I know they are being used to record TV programs. Can I use this DVRs to watch Freeview channel in my OLD CRT TV?
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 4 January 2012 12:10AM
Santanu: Switchover in your area occurs in April, so you have until then before which you must do something.

In answer to your question, yes you can use the CRT TV with one of these boxes. If the box has one tuner, then you only be able to watch one channel at a time, and you won't be able to record a different one. Or to put it another way, if you're recording something, the only channel you will be able to watch is what you're recording (if you have only one tuner).

You can get boxes that have a DVD drive, a hard drive and two tuners which means that you can watch one programme whilst recording another, or even record two programmes at the same time (though you won't be able to watch a third as it's been broadcast).
Janne
Saturday 7 January 2012 11:58PM Edinburgh
My question is similar to Santanus. I recently moved to the UK (EH6 8JU)and now I've got a CRT TV and a DVD-player. I am not used to digital tv and all the boxes you can get, so I would like to find out how it all works before deciding what to go for. I'm first of all looking for a cheap solution to watch tv, it doesn't matter if I can record. What do you recommend?
jb38
Sunday 8 January 2012 7:55AM
Janne: If your CRT television has a scart socket on the rear then any in the range of Freeview boxes you will see advertised in places like Argos or in your local stores will be suffice for your needs, as all you require to do is couple the box into your TV using a scart lead.

If though your TV doesn't have a scart socket then you will require a Freeview box that has an RF modulator in it, this to enable the box to feed its signal into the TV's aerial socket rather than via a scart lead.

That said, your location of being not too far away from Leith should receive a good signal from the Fife transmitter called Craigkelly, you might even see it sitting high on the hill if you look across the water, as from its location you can see all of your area quite clearly.

Needless to say you will require a suitable aerial for the Freeview box, nothing too elaborate or you might suffer the effects of signal overloading, as indeed a number of people have done in the Leith area when the transmitter went over to high power operation.

Have a check with your neighbours with regards to what their aerial arrangements are.
Janne
Sunday 8 January 2012 5:16PM
Thank you very much for the quick answer. I just got a digital box, plugged it in and it works fine!
Chris Stratford
Monday 16 January 2012 2:24PM Billericay
Hi,

Since Christmas 2011, we have been unable to receive ITV/Channel4/Channel on digital. When we select these channels on the remote for the PVR (Humax PVT9300), the picture is broken. If then we turn the PVR on & off at the mains, we get a normal picture. Post code is CM12, we have a digital aerial and signal booster. BBC channels work perfectly, so I am inclined to believe it is a fault with the ITV signal.
jamespharoah
Saturday 21 January 2012 3:08PM
my wife has a digital tv in the bedroom. something went wrong, we thought it was the aerial but i have looked into that and tried to retune it. all i am getting on it s PAL MONO 9channels, but only 3 come up with poor reception. how do i get it back to normal?
Gordon Cragg
Saturday 21 January 2012 4:11PM Telford

Hi, Brian,
Although I live in Telford, in the Midlands, being on a North facing hill my strongest signals come from Winter Hill.
If I scroll down from channel 1 (BBC1 North west) I get channel 808 which shows BBC1(Midlands) with the same quality.
My next door neighbour with the identical aerial setup, but with a CRT set cannot get any of the 800's channels.
Any ideas why this happens, and where is my channel 808 coming from?
Puzzled!
jamespharoah
Saturday 21 January 2012 4:35PM Morpeth
bedroom tv, first we thought it was the aerial blown out of position with the wind, so we bought a new indoor aerial, did the restart autoscan but only getting analogue tv settings, it says it collects 12 channels, but only 3 come up and still not full picture in the PAl mono position
jb38
Saturday 21 January 2012 5:44PM
jamespharoah: On checking your reception possibilities I would say its lucky if you get much at all if using an indoor aerial, that is if you are meaning a "same room" type, as both stations within range Pontop Pike and Chatton are at 22 & 25 miles respectively away, and with both stations still being on lower power prior to switchover next September.

Maybe you could clarify on the aerial being used.
Dave Lindsay
Saturday 21 January 2012 8:23PM
Gordon Cragg: The clue as to where it's coming from will come from your receiver as only it can tell you what it's tuned to!

Go to 808 and then look at the signal strength/quality screen. On there it will tell you what UHF channel number (frequency) it is on. If it's 43, then it's coming from Sutton Coldfield and if it's 26 then it's The Wrekin.

If you prefer to watch West Midlands TV, then you should have your aerial replaced with (or an additional aerial fitted) for a transmitter in the area, possibly Sutton Coldfield.
wendy marilyn johnson
Sunday 22 January 2012 7:03PM
please help. I am a 65 year old lady living in Wales so all digital. I have Sky+ (not HD) and yesterday a new samsung smart TV. I connected aerial to the TV and the TV to SKY+ with the scart lead. SKY+ fine but I can't tune into any freeserve - tried manual and auto tuning and did eventually get BBC1 but nothing else. Have I connected it up wrongly.
jb38
Sunday 22 January 2012 7:50PM
wendy marilyn johnson: Assuming you are wishing to view Freeview on your TV as well as having the alternative of Sky+ as well, its really a case of what type of aerial system you are using on your TV coupled to your location, as if you received BBC1 then there should also have been BBC2 as well as other BBC channels, so did have your TV set on DVB (digital) when you tuned it?

The point is, that as your query basically involves reception you really have to indicate your location, this preferably in the form of a post code as it will enable your expected signal levels to be checked on, and from what transmitter.

If you don't wish to give your exact code then choose one from a shop / post office near to your location, as if too far away the signal levels predicted will not be accurate.

By the way as your Sky+ box is coupled into your TV via the scart socket nothing else need be connected, as if the Sky box is put into standby it should allow the TV's Freeview screen to come back on, likewise off if the Sky box is taken out of standby again. (i.e: Automatic switching)

Maybe you could also give the model number of the TV.
Gordon Cragg
Monday 23 January 2012 1:40PM Telford
Gordon Cragg:
Dave,
Thanks for the information,I have followed your advice, since my last posting the station numbers have changed again, to 837 for BBC1 etc. this is on channel 26 from The Wrekin, I am now also receiving S4C & BBC1 Wales on channel 49 from Moel Y Parc.
In my simple mind I thought it was all coming from Winter Hill, you live and learn!!
Nicki Hardy
Tuesday 24 January 2012 6:10PM
I have just been given a nearly new LG LCD HD TV replacing an big old Sony IDTV set. We have a Sony DVD player/recorder (quite an old model but I beleive it has a digital tuner in it) which used to pick up all Freeview channels from the TV and record them as long as we were not watching any other channel.
I've spent hours trying to tune the DVDR into the new LG TV but only seem to receive Channels 1-4.
Any ideas what I'm doing wrong??
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 25 January 2012 12:39PM
Nicki Hardy: What is the model number of the Sony DVD player/recorder? This is so that the specifications might be checked, and in particular whether it does have an inbuilt digital tuner.

You say that you could record from the TV, as long as you were watching the channel you wanted to record. This suggests that you might have been using the tuner within the TV to record from, maybe connected via scart and hence the signal was being carried along the scart lead FROM the TV to the recorder. If this is so, then there is no tuning to be done, you need to switch over to the scart input as you did previously. If you have done so, then perhaps you have plugged the scart lead into the wrong scart socket on the TV (into one which does not send the picture out).

The model number of the TV might also be helpful.
Alex
Wednesday 25 January 2012 4:09PM Glasgow
Every Wednesday, my Humax 9150T freeview recorder stops working properly, and won't respond to the remote control. If I unplug and restart the box, it works for a short time until the EPG starts to fill up, when it again sticks on whatever channel I happen to be on at the time. This also happens to my mother-in-law who has an identical machine in a separate part of the city. My postcode in G61 1PX. Is this due to transmitter faults, weather, machine updates or something else? Thanks in advance.
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 25 January 2012 4:37PM
Alex: Your machine is on the list of devices that have updates being broadcast.

See this posting I made previously on this topic (and those of two people experiencing similar issues):

www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview intermittent interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

If you switch your machine off at the wall overnight, then leave it on.

It could be that you are infact switching it off whilst it is updating, thus preventing it from doing a successful update meaning that it tries again the next time it's broadcast.
chad
Friday 27 January 2012 11:30PM
my brother has a 37'' toshiba tv that had built in freeview with all the channels except channel 5 + 1 so we installed it and it worked then a messenge came up and i clicked yes by mistake and it went to auto tunning causing the freeview channels to go cant fix it. its like the channels had been deleted. cant go back to normal help please!
jb38
Saturday 28 January 2012 7:46AM
chad: Press the set up menu and scroll down until you see "factory reset" then press it as this will enable you to start afresh, then once completed carry out a first time installation using auto-tune and that will recover all the channels including Ch5+1 which is Ch44 on the EPG list.
stephanie
Tuesday 31 January 2012 1:52PM
Hi i have just moved into a new house and have 5 tv aerial points. I have a loft aerial one for all from argos and bought a splitter but no signal is received except on one tv. What equipment do we need??
jb38
Wednesday 1 February 2012 12:03AM
stephanie: As your query concerns reception its impossible for anyone to advise unless your location is known, preferably in the form of a post code, as that enables the signal levels expected in your area to be assessed.
Anthony Maskrey
Wednesday 1 February 2012 7:45PM Bourne End
Postcode SL8 5TU

I receive Analogue TV from the Wooburn Tx on a 4 year old Sony TV.

Since shortly before Xmas we have had horizontal lines that drift up or down the screen. They are fairly transparent and more noticable when there is a dark background.Extremely irritating.

Current recording show these lines, but older ones (pre this problem)have a clear screen, indicating to me that there is not a problem with the TV.

Can it be to do with the transmitter or my aerial?

Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
jb38
Wednesday 1 February 2012 11:31PM
Anthony Maskrey; Are you getting this on all channels or only some? and if the latter then what channel is it affecting.
krish madray
Friday 3 February 2012 3:05PM
I have no areal point in my room. The house is running virgin cable XL package. My TV is a Sony Bravia HD with built in Freeview. Is there a solution throught the internet service?
Thanks



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