Freeview: Sandy Heath, Sudbury, Heathfield, 9 relays have extra retunes on 27th June 2012 | Digital switchover
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Sandy Heath, Sudbury, Heathfield, 9 relays have extra retunes on 27th June 2012

Some small changes are made to the transmitter network on 27th June 2012 - if you use the Sandy Heath, Tunbridge Wells, Wivenhoe Park, Woodbridge, Sudbury, Burnham on Crouch, Clacton, Felixstowe or Heathfield transmitters, you may have to retune your Freeview equipment.

Some small changes are made to the transmitter network on 27th
Published on by on UK Free TV
The following changes, in addition to those in the www.ukfree.tv link icon North and East Kent switchover completes on Wednesday 27th June event:

  • Sandy Heath: D3&4, BBCB, ArqB using transitional S1 antenna until 27th June 2012.

  • Tunbridge Wells - SDN from 13 to 27 June 2012, services will be restricted to 100W

  • Wivenhoe Park: From 20 July 2011 to 27 June 2012, Wivenhoe Park will broadcast D3+4 on C64, C54afterwards; BBCB on C57 before, C49 afterwards.

  • Woodbridge: From 20 July 2011 to 27 June 2012, Woodbridge will broadcast D3+4 on C64 before, C52 afterwards; BBCB on C57, C54 after that.

  • Sudbury: SDN will temporarily operate on C49 (at 14kW ERP) from the first stage of Sudbury's switchover until 27th June 12. Arqiva A Until 27 June 2012, services will be provided on C54 at 3,000W. Arqiva B from 16 November 2011 until 27 June 2012, services will be provided on C63 at 2,200W.

  • Burnham On Crouch - BBCA from 6 July 2011 until 27 June 2012, Burnham on Crouch will broadcast onC48 at 100W. D3+4 From 20 July 2011 to 27 June 2012, Burnham on Crouch will broadcast at 100W. BBCB from 20 July 2011 to 27 June 2012, Burnham on Crouch will broadcast on C51

  • Clacton - BBCA from 6 July 2011 until 27 June 2012, Clacton will broadcast on C48

  • Felixstowe - BBCA from 6 July 2011 until 27 June 2012, Felixstowe will broadcast on C52

  • Heathfield - SDN until 27 June 2012, services will be provided on C48 at 2,000 Watt






Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom


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H
H. Brown
Wednesday 27 June 2012 2:03PM Ipswich
1. Very little warning .....
2. Now cannot get usual channels even after
"automatic retune" without breakup.
3. Butterworth's appraisal on Freeview news
is technical gobbledegook and of no use
whatsoever to domestic users.
4. What should I do next?
5. and I'm trying really hard not to be rude or
disrespectful ......
P
Peter
Wednesday 27 June 2012 2:06PM Frinton-on-sea
My screen had total "snowstorm" on BBC 1 last night about 8pm. On switching on around 1pm today it is still the same. Amessage flashes up briefly about "All Terrestrial Channels" 27th July 2012.
J
Jonathon Green
Wednesday 27 June 2012 2:34PM Braintree
H. Brown:

"4. What should I do next?"

Assuming your device(s) are behaving in the same way mine did this morning (I live in Braintree and get my signal direct from Sudbury which is practically next door) you may well find you've ended up with a whole lot of duplicate channels up in the 800 - 900 range, in which case I've found two useful courses of action.

1: Look for a "factory reset" or "restore default settings" option. Use that and then go through your equipments normal install procedure.

2: Unplug the aerial lead, perform a scan (which will of course find nothing), save the result (if offered the option), power cycle the box (or TV), plug the aerial back in, and repeat the channel scan.

After using option 1 on the Humax STB which feeds my TiVo, option 2 on the TV, and a straightforward scan for new channels on the BT Vision box I now have a full set of channels with Film4 and ITV4 present and correct on all three devices (they went missing when the multiplex which carries them went to low power following the last retune) and am a happy Bunny!

Good luck!
H
H. Brown
Wednesday 27 June 2012 3:56PM Ipswich
Hello Jonathon,
Many thanks for your help but I have tried
both options and the "automatic search" and
still cannot access BBC 1 etc. East Anglia,
only BBC 1 etc. London.
We have line of sight to the Sudbury transmitter --- is the fault with us or them?
Regards, Hugh.
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 27 June 2012 4:44PM
H. Brown: The fact that you are receiving London programming is crucial and shows that your receiver is tuned to another transmitter - Crystal Palace. This explains why you may have poor reception; because the signals being received are from a different direction to which your aerial faces.

When the receiver performs the automatic tuning scan, it looks through UHF channel numbers (equivalent to frequencies) from 21 to 69. All of Crystal Palace's are in the 20s and 30, with Sudbury's lowest being 41 up to 60. Tacolneston's are interleaved with Sudbury's.

So to avoid Crystal Palace, have the aerial unplugged for the first 30% of the scan (or until it gets up to UHF channel 35 if it gives these during scanning).

There is, of course, always the possibility that, having dealt with Crystal Palace, there is another transmitter that is favoured over Sudbury. You will have to deal with that should you find it. It is a good idea to confirm that all is tuned correctly to the desired transmitter, so as not to find out when you want to watch something that reception is poor because it is incorrectly tuned.

See here for a list of multiplexes (three PSBs and three COMs) which are groups of services (those with a bullet in the "E"/England column apply):

www.dmol.co.uk link icon DMOL Post-DSO Multiplex Channel Allocations

From Sudbury there are six multiplexes, each taking up one UHF channel. Each former analogue service used one UHF channel.

For one service from each multiplex, check that it is tuned to Sudbury by looking on the signal strength screen:

PSB1 | BBC One | C44
PSB2 | ITV1 | C41
PSB3 | BBC One HD | C47
COM4 | ITV3 | C58
COM5 | Pick TV | C60
COM6 | Yesterday | C56

Here I have given the first service within each multiplex (see the link for the full list).

For example, bring up Pick TV (number 11), and then bring up the signal strength screen. It should say that it is tuned to C60 for Sudbury. If it is C45, for example, then it is tuned to Tacolneston instead.
M
Mike Gordon
Thursday 28 June 2012 8:02AM
Last evening we lost Sky News completely. This was about 11.30 pm. Tried retuning, no luck, then checked other sets, they down, too. We get Crystal Palace signal here in UB9, but, lo, this morning, it was back fully at 80%. I assume this was part of the retune but can't find any report of our transmitters being involved.
Dave Lindsay
Thursday 28 June 2012 12:48PM
Mike Gordon: I think that this might be the inversion effect which is caused by the weather causing signals from another transmitter to reach your location.

There was definately no retune for Crystal Palace and there is not one sceduled this year or next, so under such circumstances it is NOT advised to carry out a retune as all this can do is cause the services to be lost from the receiver's memory.
C
Corin
Thursday 28 June 2012 10:40PM
"it is NOT advised to carry out a retune"

That is totally contrary to the official advice of Freeview (DTV Services Limited) who state quite categorically that regular re-tuning is not just advisable but absolutely necessary.

From www.freeview.co.uk link icon  Freeview
/ Home
/ Help
/ Retuning Your Equipment
/ How to retune your equipment


QUOTE

New channels are launched on Freeview from time to time along with other updates to the service. So it pays to retune your digital box every couple of months to make sure you are up to date.

UNQUOTE

If you do not retune soon, you may miss out on the most exciting of Freeview's latest TV stations -- Channel 47
Dave Lindsay
Thursday 28 June 2012 10:48PM
Corin: Please do not take my quote out of context!

I advised that the best thing NOT to do when there are lift conditions is retune. You may end up either loosing services or getting ones tuned in from the distant transmitter whose signal is interfering from the one you want. This could even be a foreign one.

Please explain how this is beneficial...
M
Mark Fletcher
Friday 29 June 2012 12:04AM Lytham St. Annes
I always retune at least once a week minimum,sometimes i have to perform wee tests where i have no option but to delete my current set up to assist others on this forum,for example retuning temporarily to another nearby transmitter and checking if that particular mast is functioning as it should be.I always take my set-top box,set-top aerial and amplifier with me everywhere i stay for a week or more.Last week i stayed in Barnsley,S71 5BT location (my brother's rented abode),conducted tests and only Emley Moor broadcasts were available albeit indoor set-top aerial reception (with/without booster) there was mostly unsatisfactory with occasional pixellations on all mux's.No Belmont,Winter Hill or even Bilsdale there.Now on my hols (between 23-30 June 2012) in St Annes on Sea,FY8 1HW location,had to retune due to different regional programming,the establishment im staying at is served with a communal aerial aimed at Winter Hill,perfect reception there,yet BBCA (BBC1 Wales) from Moel-Y-Parc on frequency 45 (in the 800's) largely badly pixellated yet no signal with amplification.
Yet with my set-top aerial in without signal booster first,nothing from Moel-Y-Parc whatsoever but once the amplifier was powered on my set-top aerial once i found that sweet spot picked up both the BBCA on fr 45 and D3+4 (ITV1 Wales/S4C) on fr 49 multiplexes from Moel-Y-Parc mast perfectly 100% quality,69% strength both,even BBCB (HD) mux on fr 42 0% quality,69% strength despite my set-top box being non-HD can be attainable in my current temporary location.But the commercial multiplexes from Moel-Y-Parc however was less satisfactory SDN on fr 51,ArqA on fr 52 and ArqB on fr 48 all were badly pixellated,this was with my set-top aerial/amplifier on.
So yes it does pay to retune ones set-top box every week minimum,and obviously i have to retune yet again upon my arrival back in Halifax soon as Winter Hill transmissions there are rather unsatisfactory and no way will Moel-Y-Parc be available there.
R
rrpgjGuPpiFvXQSTY
Friday 29 June 2012 12:39AM
L6q1ou phenwebs.txt;3;6
K
KMJ,Derby
Friday 29 June 2012 5:41PM
The best advice is surely to do a retune if and when you wish to make a change to the services being received. Personally, I retune when there IS tropospheric ducting, in order to find out what is available, but as Dave Lindsay says, this would clearly be inadvisable for anyone trying to find lost channels. Retuning is also unnecessary for an old lady (for example) who sticks to news and soaps for her daily viewing and would not watch any extra channels even if she had them. Likewise, viewers who live in overlap areas with resulting difficulty in getting the correct frequencies tuned in might prefer to leave well alone.
D
DrPoOcSbBCHqz
Friday 29 June 2012 5:52PM
phenlukas.txt;1
M
mr clark
Friday 29 June 2012 8:10PM
i live in halstead and after the retune on the 27 june i had 122 channels. today i have 38 tride retuneing again still nuthing
L
link
Saturday 30 June 2012 6:03AM
GeuCMo Beautiful view. Adore the separate seconds dial, and particularly adore these two blue hands! Reminds me of the view I utilized to adore, and that I nonetheless believe is stunning, the Chronoswiss Orea; verify it out right here:,
J
Jimbo
Saturday 30 June 2012 11:50AM
I live in Colchester, since Wednesday I have lost all but a few channels. I can receiv the ITV ones but no BBC. Returned both tv and bt vision box, is there a problem with the teamster or something.
K
Katharine
Saturday 30 June 2012 12:13PM
Seem to loose channels on each freeview return at the moment, lost ITV from channel 10 on Wednesday and never been able to get it back, receive from Sudbury is rotten weather anything to do with it?

Thanks
Dave Lindsay
Saturday 30 June 2012 1:41PM
Katharine: See the posting I've just made to Jan Gibson who is also using Sudbury:

www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview reception - all about aerials | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

Your aerial may need replacing if it is a Group B one. Before Wednesday, the COM4/SDN multiplex which carries ITV3 was on a frequency within Group B and now it is not, so that could be your problem.

Try manually tuning if your set allows. I've covered this in the posting linked to above.
S
Susan
Tuesday 3 July 2012 4:01PM Colchester
Having been out of the country on 27th June, I returned home to find many of the previous digital channels missing, i.e. ITV3 5* and 5USA amongst others. Today I attempted to retune, using information found on this site. First I defaulted to the factory settings on my Freeview TV, then I removed the aerial and wiped out all the settings. I then did another auto scan which picked up 63 services (as opposed to the earlier 32 services). These included channels such as Sky Sports and Film 4, but still no sign of ITV3, 5* and 5USA. So I went through the whole procedure again to see if I could pick up the missing channels, but now I can only get the 32 services that were available earlier today.

Any explanation or advice would be appreciated. I live in Colchester and the Digital TV website tells me that I receive service from the Sudbury transmitter.
Dave Lindsay
Tuesday 3 July 2012 4:27PM
Susan: The Commercial (COM) services changed channels from Sudbury last Wednesday.

See this page for a full list of services by multiplex (those that have a bullet in the "E"/England column apply):

www.dmol.co.uk link icon DMOL Post-DSO Multiplex Channel Allocations

A multiplex is a single signal.

Try attempting manual tuning for missing multiplexes, if your receiver allows:

COM4 | ITV3 | C58
COM5 | Pick TV | C60
COM6 | Yesterday | C56

Failing that, perhaps your aerial needs replacing. See the posting I to Katharine immediately above yours in which I linked to another posting of mine which explains.
S
Susan
Sunday 8 July 2012 5:08PM Colchester
Dave - thanks for your help. I'm now trying to decide whether to replace the aerial or install Freesat.
M
Mark Fletcher
Sunday 8 July 2012 8:03PM Halifax
Susan.If you decide to replace the aerial then you need a group E brown tipped semi-wideband aerial preferably a Yagi 18E,as well as new copper-copper black coloured co-ax cable and new brass co-ax aerial plug.
B
Brian Saunders
Monday 16 July 2012 10:35PM
Has anyone else, owning a Panasonic TV, had a problems with tuning in to the Red Button service?
Both my neighbour and I own Panasonic Viera models but neither of us can get this service on any of the normal BBC channels.
I have been chasing Panasonic since March (when our digital change over took place), before that it was OK.
Panasonic admit to the problem on our sets and have a gizmo to correct it. Trouble is, they say, there is only a few of these available and they are relying on customers to return them once they have activated the necessary changes, before they can send them out to someone else! We would like to correct this problem before the Olympics start but!!!!
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