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Freeview modes

Four of the Freeview multiplexes (collections of channels) broadcast in one mode known as "16 QAM (3/4)", and the other two broadcast in another mode called "64QAM (2/3)".

Four of the Freeview multiplexes (collections of channels) broa
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Two of the Freeview multiplexes (collections of channels) broadcast in one mode known as "64QAM mode, FEC=2/3,", and the other three broadcast in another mode called "64QAM mode, FEC=3/4".

The " FEC=2/3" mode provide a more reliable signal than a "FEC=3/4" mode signal at the same power level, but there is a trade-off that means less digital data can be carried.

This diagram shows the current channels carried on the Freeview system. The wider the box, the more bandwidth is used to carry the pictures. The more bandwidth used for a service, the better the picture quality.

Boxes split horizontally denote channels that occupy the bandwidth at different times of the day.





The third line shows the configuration of the BBC "B" multiplex switchover which is used for HD and is in another mode DVB-T2 256QAM.

64 QAM (3/4) mode

In this mode, the digital TV signal is transmitted in groups of 64 symbols. The "forward error correction" is 2/3, and this results in a bitrate of 24M.1b/s (megabits per second). This can be used to carry up to eight simultaneous television channels.

64 QAM (2/3) mode

In this mode, the digital TV signal is transmitted in groups of 16 symbols. The "forward error correction" is 3/4, and this results in a bitrate of 27.1Mb/s. This can be used to carry ten simultaneous television channels.





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Briantist
Thursday 13 October 2011 9:47AM
Mr. E.Ellul: I am really confused by that... if your question is about getting 5* and 5USA using Freesat, you can't because the channels are not free-to-air.
Briantist
Thursday 13 October 2011 9:58AM
David Lewin: The digital switchover should have no effect whatsoever on FM/AM/DAB radio services.

The only time there are issues is the sites where a new mast has been put up and the radio services have to be moved from one mast to the other.
Alex Andrews
Monday 17 October 2011 4:41PM
We have an issue with reception on the HD channels-we live in CR6 so use the Crystal Palace transmitter.Essentially everything works fine except for HD which for about 3 months now has been intermittent.Sometimes it works fines.Sometimes it has no signal at all.Most often it either starts ok then starts pixellating or starts for a few seconds then shows no signal then starts for a second stops starts until eventually we give up.We've had the aerial okd but can't help thinking as its a low transmission we really need a more powerful aerial rather than lose the tv for a month only to be told its ok.Help please!
T Gray
Monday 17 October 2011 7:40PM London
Hello, 8 days ago various channels on my TV had lines going across them and unable to hear the sound. I've worked out that these channels are on MUX 2 and MUX A. PSB3/BBCB is not working either. I get my reception from the Crystal Palace transmitter. My post code is SE1 in London. I see on the web (http://www.ukfree.tv/txdetail.php?a=TQ339712) that Crystal Palace has low effective power level for MUX 2 and MUX A. PSB3/BBCB. Will this power level return to normal soon or is this how it will remain and I need to look at getting a new arial? I've done all the suggested reset modes and channel deletions / rescans. I live in an apartment block and so the arial on the roof is shared. My neighbours are having the same issues. Just want to find out before I ask the management to upgrade arial if not already done so. Many thanks for your help in advance. Regards, Tom
Briantist
Monday 17 October 2011 8:32PM
T Gray: The power levels at Crystal Palace are as they have been since 2003, and have not and will not change until switchover on Wednesday 18th April 2012.

I would have a look at the www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice page.
Briantist
Monday 17 October 2011 8:44PM
Alex Andrews: Can you please provide a full postcode?
Andrew Tegala
Thursday 27 October 2011 12:29PM Slough
I live in a block of flats in Slough and am unsure of the aerial system in use but there is a roof top aerial. The estate is relevantly new (2000-2001). The aerial is pointing in the direction of Hannington (to the west). Being in Slough I should be able to pick up Freeview from the Crystal Palace and therefore the London region but instead receive Meridian / BBC South programming.

Could you please advise me on what I needs to be done by my management company to rectify this situation?

My post code is SL1 3GE.
Briantist
Thursday 27 October 2011 1:27PM
Andrew Tegala: The region you receive depends on the direction the aerial points. You will have to ask the company to move the aerial, but it could be more complicated as it will probably be the wrong group, other people who use it will not want to watch London programmes and your system may contain amplifiers that have to be tuned to each frequency.
Mike Dimmick
Thursday 27 October 2011 5:15PM
Andrew Tegala: To be honest I'm surprised they're using Hannington at all. Slough was always considered part of the London TV region, and Hannington has restricted digital coverage to the east at present. Are there any trees or buildings in the direction of the Crystal Palace transmitter that could be blocking reception?

It is possible to combine the signals from two aerials, one pointing in each direction, but obviously that requires extra outlay.

If the system is channelised, it will currently be handling 11 frequencies (5 analogue, six digital) so there will be some spare slots on it after switchover. You only really need the three PSB multiplexes from the other transmitter, the channels on the SDN, ArqA and ArqB multiplexes are all the same throughout England.

Do a survey of your neighbours, see which service they'd prefer and if they'd be interested in receiving both. The management agent will want to recover the cost somehow, of course.

If the aerial was changed, everyone would lose reception until they retuned, so it would have to be co-ordinated carefully.

You should first check that it's not a problem of too much signal on the Crystal Palace services. What do you get on analogue? What does your Freeview box say if you try to manually tune in on C22 and C25? If the signal strength is higher than for Hannington services but quality is lower, it's likely that the signal level is actually too high - this could be considered a fault on the system.
john baker
Wednesday 2 November 2011 6:52PM
hi i had a small alba tv with built in freeview and i was able to receive all digital channels , i have got a 42inch hitachi tv with built in freeview the problem is i can not get all the channels i used to get im useing the same aerial i hav even put them side by side and swapped the aerial over the picture on teh s,all is brilliant but the same picture is all patchy on the big tv same channel any hgelp would be great thanks
Briantist
Thursday 3 November 2011 11:17AM
john baker: Please can you tell me your full postcode?
neha
Tuesday 22 November 2011 1:59PM London
hey .... i am living in an appartment nd the aerial is shared.i a built in freeview in my tv. but i m not able to receive all the channels specially itv2,channel4,5 .... what should i do about it?
Dave Lindsay
Tuesday 22 November 2011 2:19PM
neha: Can you try manually tuning to UHF channel 22 (which carries the missing stations)?

If you don't know how to do it, perhaps it will tell you in the user guide as to how to manually tune.
Jon
Saturday 10 December 2011 2:12PM
Hi

I have 2 HDTVs and a Strato set top box. I can get all channels in good quality through the set top box but only those on multiplex 1, B, C and D through the HDTVs.

I have a new aerial, new cable to a booster box and have replaced the cables from the socket to the TVs. The only remaining thing to replace is the coaxial cable in the walls.

I don't understand how I can get all channels on the set top box but not the HDTVs. It also seems to imply the coaxial cables in the wall are fine.

I live in North London and the Aerial points the same way as all the others.

Any help or suggestions much apprecited.

Thanks

Jon
Dave Lindsay
Sunday 11 December 2011 1:45PM
Jon: Have you tried manually tuning the missing multiplexes in on the HDTVs?

Different pieces of equipment are of different sensitivity.

Where is your booster? Does it provide a signal for each outlet?
Paul Chapman
Monday 9 January 2012 7:47PM London
Hi,

Great forum. I am trying to get my head around this so bear with me. I have recently moved in (SE7 8AB), I have a new aerial that comes into my lounge and - plunged directly into the telly or BT Vision box - I can get all channels. However, when I use the Digital compatible Amplifier to link up the aerial boxes in the bedrooms I have managed to get what appears to be 1, B, C & D but not 2 and A - ie. ITV, Channel 4 etc, transmitted on 64QAM according to this forum.

Given that I can get those channels when directly using the aerial can I assume that the problem is interference between the Amp and the other rooms? Should I buy the better connectors I have seen recommended? Or is it more likely a cable problem?

Hope I have explained this sensibly, hope someone can help, thanks,

Paul
Dave Lindsay
Monday 9 January 2012 8:00PM
Paul Chapman: If I were you I would connect the incoming aerial directly to the feed to the TV which is unable to show Mux 2 whilst connected via the amplifier.

It may be that the loss is too great in the lead that feeds the socket in the bedroom. You might be able to overcome this by increasing the level of amplification.

If all else fails, you could try tuning the upstairs TV(s) to the equivalent multiplex from Sandy Heath (Ch24) or Sudbury (Ch41). There's obviously no guarantee that it will work, but it may be better than nothing from Crystal Palace.
Dave Lindsay
Monday 9 January 2012 8:11PM
Paul Chapman: I would use an analogue TV upstairs and see what quality picture you get and compare it (using the same TV) to the signal that you are putting into your downstairs TV and BT Vision box.

So get an analogue TV, try it downstairs directly from the aerial, then with the amplifier fully connected and the analogue TV connected to what would be fed into the BT Vision box. Then take the same TV upstairs and connect to the bedroom socket.

Whilst it's upstairs (indeed whilst it's downstairs as well) you could compare the signal via the amp (split) and with it directly from the aerial.

Is there more grain on the upstairs picture? Does moving connectors around immediately make a change? If the bedroom has a wall socket with a separate fly lead, then try a different fly lead and see if there is less grain on the analogue picture.

With the analogue with the least grain you can get (e.g. having changed the fly lead), try and tune in the upstairs TV (if you haven't done so already). Indeed, you could perhaps take the upstairs TV downstairs to tune in Mux 2 and then return it to the bedroom.
jb38
Monday 9 January 2012 9:45PM
Jon: If I could just ask for a point of clarification, what type of multi-outlet powered splitter are you using? and forgetting about the bedrooms for the time being, what results do you get if you connect the aerial into the splitter and use "any" of its output sockets to connect back into the TV in the same room?, or is it when you do that problems occur.

The reason I ask is that I cant quite determine if you have tried that or not, or are purely referring to the results observed from TV's in other rooms.
Lynne Sayers
Saturday 14 April 2012 6:36PM
Hi
I am trying to help an elderly neighbour with her tv in her bedroom. She has bought a digi box for this tv and we have tuned her tv and she gets everything but ITV, Channel 4 and 5. If we plug the tv into the ariel downstairs the digi box and tv picks up all channels. Cannot fathom it, can you help?
Dave Lindsay
Saturday 14 April 2012 6:56PM
Lynne Sayers: Can you give some more information such as location as it is impossible to be very specific. Is the aerial used for the bedroom the same as used for (I presume) the lounge?

What I will say is that if your neighbour is served by any of the London transmitters, then this will likely right itself on Wednesday.
Terry
Friday 8 June 2012 12:43PM Lytham St. Annes
Hi,I live in post code area FY8 2RB and have recently purchased a Sony DVD SVR-HDT500 so that we can record and watch HD programs.The problem is that HD programs are breaking up and sound going out of sync,the shop where it was purchased has said it is a problem with the signal quality and the cable was letting in water,i have had new cable and also a connector was fitted to reduce signal strength which seemed to cure it for a couple of days but the problem is back. This is an intermittent.
jb38
Friday 8 June 2012 5:20PM
Terry: Although you are located at 24 miles away from Winter Hill you could still be receiving a signal thats on the verges of being on the high side, and that will always affect HD transmissions before SD.

I notice you mention that you have an attenuator fitted, is this a variable type or is it fixed, and if the latter what db level is printed on it?
Bryn Howells
Tuesday 12 June 2012 8:48AM
Hi,

I live in Nottingham, post code NG72PG.

Last night (11/06/12) my icecrypt PVR box suddlenly convinced itself that it had lost all channels. When this has happened before I've simply switched iit of for 10 mins and retuned, and then everything is fine and back to normal.

However on this occasion when retuning, depsite all the channels I normally recive (which is basically all of them) showing up during the scan, when the scan is complete I can now only get the BBC channels to view (the tv guide/channel list show only the bbc channels there). I have tried re-scaning multiple times.

If there is any advice you can give me it would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Bryn
shirley
Wednesday 12 September 2012 6:57PM
i have a 10 month old LG tv with built in freeveiw after retuning for the switchover my channels are all mixed up and i only have 13
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 12 September 2012 7:52PM
shirley: If you could not get Freeview before switchover, then the only channels you will have now are the BBC ones. Without knowledge of where you are it is difficult to give any answer.

Which channels are you referring to being in the wrong order? Is it BBC One analogue that now appears on analogue button 2?
tracey
Sunday 16 September 2012 11:33AM Middlesbrough
I have lost my itv and other channels. I have tried auto tuning it a few times but am still missing a few channels. Please help. My postcode is ts6 8ar.
Mark Fletcher
Sunday 16 September 2012 8:35PM Halifax
Tracey.Middlesborough,TS6 8AR.
Are you receiving programming from Pontop Pike most likely,or less likely Bilsdale mast ?
You may have to reset your affected appliance as such by unplugging from mains,unplug aerial then 1 minute later re-plug in the appliance concerned and leaving the aerial out still do a full auto scan,the result nothing is picked up by clears your appliances memory.Now replug aerial back in and if the affected appliance allows this time perform manual scanning it should work.
As far as analogue is concerned only BBC2 analogue so far has gone forever,BBC1 analogue as relocated to frequency 64 but this along with ITV1,Channel 4 AND Channel 5 analogue will all go for good in the early hours of Wednesday 26 September 2012,DSO2.
Debbie
Thursday 25 October 2012 12:20PM Beckenham
As Tracy comments, I did a retune to try and get back ITV2 + 1, however since then I cannot get any ITV channels (apart from ITV2 +1!), Channel 4, 5 and many other ones. I have tried retuning a few times but still the same. The TV has built in freeview. My postcode is BR3 3JQ - how can I get those channels back?
Dave Lindsay
Thursday 25 October 2012 12:27PM
Debbie: If your receiver allows manual tuning, then do a manual scan of UHF channel 26.
John Smith
Friday 16 November 2012 5:54AM
Ever since the beginning of November I have lost many of my Channels ( itv3, itv4, viva, film 4, yesterday,47 etc). I have tried retuning and swapping televisions to no avail. The reception on channels that remain is poor, with frequent pixelation and loss of picture. I live in
SP 5, which I believe is knighthood for poor reception. I would appreciate any advice .
Martin Lucas
Tuesday 27 November 2012 2:21PM
Since switchover my ITV and Channel 4 programmes are breaking up. The picture becomes pixiliated and the sound is intermittant. I live in Belper, DE56 and tune into the Sutton Coldfield transmitter. I've tried to manually tune to channels 46, 39, 42, 43 & 45, but still the same result. My TV is a JVC and I can only enter the frequency not the channel number. Can you help?
Dave Lindsay
Tuesday 27 November 2012 3:14PM
Martin Lucas: Each channel number has a frequency in MHz and these are shown on the transmitter page, so follow the link to Sutton Coldfield.

Belper has its own transmitter (again, click the word Belper to see its frequencies) so you could always be tuned to that instead. It uses higher channels so you may be able to avoid it by unplugging the aerial near the end of the scan.

Belper is a relay of Waltham and therefore provides East Midlands programming.
Adam B
Tuesday 27 November 2012 3:23PM
Martin Lucas:
Channel number to MHz conversion:

Multiply by 8 and then add 306.

Example CH46

46 * 8 = 368 then + 306 = 674 MHz.
Sam D
Saturday 1 December 2012 10:50AM
Hi I live in postcode area HU32HP
On thurday I got a new toshiba tv with built in free view. Before that I was using a freeview box which picked up all the channels but since plugging the new tv in the only channels that are getting picked up are the bbc channels which are still poor quality, I've also tried plugging my freeview box into the tv but that's not picking any channels up at all now
Dave Lindsay
Saturday 1 December 2012 11:13AM
Sam D: Royal Mail lists 47 addresses within that postcode. On Google I can see a tower block and that is it.

If you are using a communal aerial system, then if it is that which is at fault, then you need to notify whoever is responsible which might be your landlord.

If neighbours are also affected, then this obviously adds considerable weight to this being a possibility.

It may be that only some neighbours are affected.
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