All posts by Charmian
Below are all of Charmian's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
No digital signal since about 2.25 pm today. I live in Faringdon. What are we supposed to do now? I have also paid out twice to get a good positioned wideband aerial and cabling in Faringdon. All was well for a while but while the warm sunny weather lasted I had no ITV digital reception at all except for ITV3. Once it clouded over, the ITV reception came back and has been fairly good until yesterday's fire fiasco, but is now ok. Coincidence, or atmospherics? I am very impressed with all the technical know-how you all seem to have out there. I wonder how the rest of us non-techies are supposed to wade through the mire!!!!!! Most of what you are talking about is complete Greek to me. The most information I have been able to glean from my aerial guy is that the channels are "grouped" which accounts for better reception on some than on others (at least - that's what I understood him to mean). As ashchalpal has pointed out - I have spent a fortune having my aerial changed (twice) and even some time after that was without all ITV channels for several weeks but they all reappeared a couple of weeks ago for no reason that I could see and reception is more or less ok at the moment! I have also virtually no reception at all on ITV1, ITV2, Channel 4, 5 and related channels since switchover this morning. Mind you, ITV reception has not been brilliant for the last two or three weeks - for no reason that I can see. I am just hoping all will be worth it on 28th September, otherwise satellite will be an expensive option. Having commented earlier that I had virtually no reception on any of the ITV and related channels (except ITV3), (I live in Faringdon, 17 miles from Oxford and am served by the Oxford transmitter) I did get some reception tonight, though a bit iffy and bitty and it died again eventually. I was surprised though by the local ITV news, as instead of getting Meridian as usual, I got West Country!! I thought the ITV streams had not been dealt with yet until 28th, so why the change?? Mark Lunnon: My channels are also all correct now, ie ITV signal (what there is of it) seems to be coming from Oxford transmitter. Mux 2 still very poor, but there is some signal there and all the channels are there, so am leaving it now until next retune, and watching ITV on the internet!! Interestingly, my ITV channels have miraculously returned today. We are still only half way through the switch over and I have done nothing to my box since last Wednesday. Would this miraculous restoration of ITV channels have anything to do with the fact that other areas (ie West Midlands) have now completed their switchover and multiplexes may have moved, or am I being totally naive here? I am a complete technophobe, I know, but there seems to be absolutely no rhyme or reason as to why I had absolutely no watchable ITV yesterday, and yet it is almost perfect today. Hi!
Returned home today from 2 weeks holiday abroad (I did think of you all retuning on 28 Sept) and retuned my own TVs about an hour ago. (I live in Faringdon, by the way and receive transmission from the Oxfor4d mast). PSB1, PSB2 and PSB3 with all aassociated channels are great, but SDN, ArqA and ArqB are pretty grim, and I njow have either no reception or flashing on and off on programmes for these wavelengths (can't watch my favourite QVC or the Jewellery Channel!!!). Do I understand that these will be sorted when further retuning is necessary next April? I can see from the diagrams on the web page that the frequencies are all very low on these. At least I have good ITV1 reception now - got very tired of watching Corrie on the internet all the time!! Sorry I am so completely untechnical (I am sure there are plenty of other ladies who aren't!!!), but I am just wondering if it is worth leaving it alone with what I have and waiting until April.
Thanks in anticipation of a non-technical answer.... Paul - Yes they did. The only problem I had before was with Mux 2. Chris - many thanks for your help. Actually, the problem has now righted itself on my main tv and I am receiving all channels steady and clear. The three channels I mentioned previously are still not working on the set in my bedroom, though I have the same make and model of settop box and it is obviously working through the same aerial so makes not much sense to me. However, I hardly ever use that set so am not bothered. The main thing is all is now ok on my main set. Thank you for taking the time to help and I will note your comments. Hi, anyone out there. I note comments that the power will increase on the Oxford COMs on 18 April. Does that mean that I will need to retune my TV after that or will it just steady things down a bit? My reception (SN7 7HY) is generally very good on all channels, but high pressure is causing break up on some channels at the moment - like everyone else. Dave Lindsay: Many thanks! Have been away since 10 April, so have only just checked the post-April 18th situation - all my channels seem fine (SN7 postcode) but have just realised that I don't have Channel 62 (TV Stars) on my digital tv downstairs, although it appears through the set top box connected to my tv upstairs. Not that there is anything on Channel 62 - it just says "coming soon". Very odd. Ihave all the other channels I am supposed to have and good signal strength as well. Does anyone remember the days when we all watched analogue with only a few channels but no problems at all........?? Wasn't it great! No problems with adverse weather conditions, or picture breaking up, or no signal and just a simple aerial... I could go on, but I won't. jb38: Many thanks for that. I can get both Pick TV and Dave - and when I checked on my digital tv this morning, TV Stars is now there as well, though it has not actually started yet - coming soon. So it looks as though all is well. I probably won't want to watch it anyway - I just wanted to make sure I actually receive everything I am supposed to!! I will also remember your tip about the factory reset in case of need. Thanks again. Not thrilled with the prospect of another retune on 29 May because of 4G. It would be nice if they sorted out one thing at a time, as although my reception is pretty good, I still lose channels in certain atmospheric conditions occasionally. Not being technically minded, quite frankly if I lose this, that and the other channel, I would not know where to start! Bring back the days when you could call in an engineer to sort it out for you instead of being expected to understand it and sort it out yourself! I suppose this is a way of getting people to pay for Sky or cable as opposed to watching Freeview. I do appreciate that there are people here doing their best to help with other people's reception problems, but am I alone in not understanding what they are talking about??? Michael: Try finding one!! Not so easy - they're mostly Sky engineers or aerial fitters. jb38: Thank you very much for your help on this.
We shall see what happens on the retune (which I can do as new installation) but the ITV3 band (or mux, or whatever it is called) is the one that I tend to have problems with, so we shall wait and see.
I note your comments about the aerial. Not sure what type it is, but that can be easily checked if necessary. Many thanks again. jb38: I can certainly report back after 29th. 
BBC must improve online offering - …
Ariel - BBC Trust: Online must impr…
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/m…
Google TV: silent but not forgotten…
Ofcom to crack down on sloppy subti…
The quality of live subtitling Impr…
Half-way mark for digital radio lis…
DTG :: News :: Talk Talk reports ne…
BBC iPlayer - Help - Frequent quest…
Show: 
