Freeview: Craigkelly (Fife, Scotland) full-Freeview transmitter
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Freeview on the Craigkelly (Fife, Scotland) transmitter

Google StreetviewGoogle mapBing mapGoogle Earth56.072,-3.234 or 56°4'17"N 3°14'1"WKY3 9HW

4G at 800MHz (at800) Freeview reception issues

When 800MHz 4G mobile broadband services start there will be 1 multiplex in the higher risk range (C21-23, C30, C59-60): C21: BBCB
See How do I know if the 4G broadband will overload my Freeview? and Full UK map of 4G issue areas for details.

Transmitter fauls and engineering works



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The symbol shows the location of the Craigkelly transmitter which serves 430,000 homes.

Other maps:Craigkelly DABCraigkelly AM/FMCraigkelly regionBBC ScotlandSTV Central (Edinburgh micro region)

Radiation patterns

Radiation patterns withheld

Map key

The bright green areas shown where the signal from this transmitter is strong, dark green areas are poorer signals. Those parts shown in yellow may have interference on the same frequency from other masts.

Craigkelly transmitter Freeview broadcasts

If you have any kind of Freeview fault, follow this Freeview reset procedure first.

Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below. The rating shown takes in account the output power level and the various Freeview transmission modes and do not indicate an ongoing fault.

MuxEffective power level, aerial positionRatingModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		20,000
Channel icons
1 BBC One Scotland, 2 BBC Two Scotland, 7 BBC Three, 8 BBC Alba, 9 BBC Four, 70 CBBC Channel, 71 CBeebies, 80 BBC News, 81 BBC Parliament, 301 301, plus 14 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C27 (522.0MHz) from 311m datum.
PSB2
D3+4
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		20,000
Channel icons
3 STV (STV Central (Edinburgh micro region)), 4 Channel 4 Scotland ads, 5 Channel 5 Scotland ads, 6 ITV 2, 13 Channel 4+1 Scotland ads, 14 More 4, 28 E4, 33 STV+1 (STV Edinburgh),
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C24 (498.0MHz) from 311m datum.
PSB3
BBCB
 horizontal
Maximum256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s
DVB-T2 MPEG4		20,000
Channel icons
101 BBC One HD Scotland, 102 BBC Two HD (England), 103 STV HD (STV West), 104 Channel 4 HD Scotland ads, plus 1 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C21+ (474.2MHz) from 311m datum.
COM4
SDN
 horizontal
Above average64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		10,000
Channel icons
10 ITV 3, 20 G.O.L.D. (not free), 25 Dave ja vu, 26 Home (not free), 27 ITV 2 +1, 30 5*, 31 5USA, 34 ESPN UK (not free), 38 Quest, 39 The Zone, 44 Channel 5 +1, 72 CITV, plus 22 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C42 (642.0MHz) from 311m datum.
COM5
ArqA
 horizontal
Above average64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		10,000
Channel icons
 TV News,  TV Stars, 11 PICK TV, 12 Dave, 17 Really, 29 E4+1, 32 Movie Mix, 46 Challenge, 48 Food Network, 82 Sky News, 87 Community Channel, plus 9 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C45 (666.0MHz) from 311m datum.
COM6
ArqB
 horizontal
Above average64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		10,000
Channel icons
15 Film 4, 18 4Music, 19 Yesterday, 21 VIVA, 24 ITV 4, 41 Sky Sports 1 (not free), 42 Sky Sports 2 (not free), 47 4seven, 83 Al Jazeera English, 85 RT English , plus 21 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C39+ (618.2MHz) from 311m datum.


Regional news from the Craigkelly transmitter


BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 70km west-southwest
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.

STV News 0.5m homes 1.7%
from Edinburgh EH3 9QG, 14km south
to STV Central (Edinburgh) region - 8 masts.

Self-help relays

DullaturTransposer20 km NE Glasgow40 homes
EdinburghTransposerSighthill area167 homes

How the transmission frequencies change over time

years1984-971997-981998-20112011-132013-182013-182019-
aerial groupA KKKKKWA K
C21C4C4C4+BBCB+BBCB+BBCBBBCB
C22SDN
C23-A
C24ITVITVITVD3+4D3+4D3+4D3+4
C25ArqA
C26-B
C27BBC2BBC2BBC2BBCABBCABBCABBCA
C28ArqB
C292
600C31BBC1BBC1BBC1
C331com7
C34com8
C39D+ArqB+ArqB+ArqB
C42CSDNSDNSDN
C45ArqAArqAArqA
C48C5C5
700C52local

orange background for multiplexes names moregreen background for transmission frequencieslilac background for power levels in watts800MHz band: 4G mobile to start in 2013700MHz band: possible 4G in 2019 more600MHz band: new or moved digital TV services more
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W
Italics for analogue, digital switchover was Wednesdays 1st June and 15th June 2011.

  • Ofcom have projected that a local television service for Edinburgh including Dunfermline could use an Interleaved Frequency on the Craigkelly transmitter using C52
  • COM7, COM8 projected for 2013-16.

Comparison of old analogue and current digital signal levels

Analogue 1-4 100kW
com7, com8, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 20kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 10kW
Analogue 5, Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*(-14dB) 4kW
Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 2kW

History of Channel 3 in the Craigkelly transmitter area

Aug 1957-Jun 1997Scottish Television
Jun 1997-Dec 2014STV plc
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Craigkelly was not an original Channel 3 VHF 405-line mast: the historical information shown is the details of the company responsible for the transmitter when it began transmitting Channel 3.


Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

firstFirst comments prevEarlier comments  ◊  Later commentsnext Latest commentslast

Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Aaron
Thursday 16 June 2011 8:16PM
Can someone help / advise:

I have re-tuned so many times since 1st June and again today and I keep loosing channels. After a full reset and scan it finds 19 TV channels, 13 radio channels & 2 other channels.

This was fine before the switch-over.

The channels I am currently receiving are:

BBC1, BBC2, STV, C4, C5, ITV2, BBC3, BBC Alba, BBC4, C4+1, More4, E4, STV+1, CBBC, Cbeebies, BBC News, BBC Parliment, Rabbit, Gay Rabbit, BBC Red Button, Springwarch and radio channels.

I live in Leith (EH6) with clear view of Craigkelly.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
Graham Ellery
Thursday 16 June 2011 8:28PM Anstruther
Hi Aaron.

I have tried everything. Good freeview pre switchover. Now lost 3 multiplexes and no sign of promised HD. Looks like switchover was designed to benefit big business (Aqiva - who interestingly will be doing the smart meters for our utilities).

Cannot get onto DigitalUK helpsite for missing channel help as it seems to be overloaded.

Will keep trying but suspect next recommendations will be:

"Is your car parked too close to the house"
"Have you just put washing on your line , if so please move"
" Does your house number have a 3 in it".

Think you get the idea. Good luck.
Aaron
Thursday 16 June 2011 8:30PM
I should add to my above post:

When I retune I have two bars showing on the screen. The top bar shows the scanning progress from 1 - 100% and the bottom bar shows the % of signal strength being received.

For the first 30% of the scan it shows a signal strength being received of 80% then for the remainder 70% of the scan it changes from 80% to 'No signal on this frequency'.

Hope that makes sense?
KMJ,Derby
Thursday 16 June 2011 9:49PM
Bruce: The Digital UK postcode checker does not offer a prediction for C39 at present, in 2012 reception becomes variable. Similarly C42 and C45 are shown as variable with a very slight improvement in 2012. It is possible that the problem is interference from the analogue transmissions from Chatton, which are shown on a service area map to deliver a low level of signal in an area to the West of Penicuik. The slight improvement to reception of the Craigkelly COM muxes would coincide with switchover at Chatton. An alternative transmitter for the COM muxes at your location is Black Hill. Use a group B aerial for best results from Black Hill.
jb38
Thursday 16 June 2011 9:50PM
Aaron: In your particular case of being in effect just across the water from Craigkelly you "may" be receiving too strong a signal, the problem being that this can cause blocking of your sets ability to receive properly.

This effect will apply more if you are using a roof mounted aerial or a booster on your system, if you by any chance are then measures will have to be taken to reduce the signal, like by-passing any booster fitted or using an attenuator in line with the aerial lead into the set.

I know exactly where you are in relation to the transmitter, and that's the reason I mention this possibility which may, or may not apply dependant on your aerial arrangements.
Les Nicol
Thursday 16 June 2011 10:26PM
Bruce - There should be no problem in an aerial trained on Blackhill in Easthouses Mayfield Newtongrange or Gorebridge their might be in parts of Dalkeith itself and you may need to check locally from installers in the area. I surmise that the majority of aerial installations in this area are directed at Craigkelly in Fife.
Transmitter engineering
Friday 17 June 2011 4:36AM
CRAIGKELLY transmitter - Freeview BBC Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:20 on 15 Jun to 02:59 on 15 Jun Analogue BBC ONE Weak Signal from 10:37 on 14 Jun to 10:50 on 14 Jun BBC ONE Weak Signal from 08:55 on 14 Jun to 09:53 on 14 Jun BBC ONE Weak Signal from 21:47 on 13 Jun to 23:12 on 13 Jun [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Friday 17 June 2011 6:34AM
CRAIGKELLY transmitter - Freeview BBC Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:20 on 15 Jun to 02:59 on 15 Jun Analogue BBC ONE Weak Signal from 21:47 on 13 Jun to 23:12 on 13 Jun BBC ONE Weak Signal from 10:37 on 14 Jun to 10:50 on 14 Jun BBC ONE Weak Signal from 08:55 on 14 Jun to 09:53 on 14 Jun [BBC]
Colin Brown
Friday 17 June 2011 7:48AM
Im in Mortonhall and have the same problem of 'out of group' muxes (e.g. 42, 45). My complaint is that some channels in these muxes(e.g. ITV3, 5USA) which were fine before are now gone. How did they manage the switchover without thinking about continuity of service? We now have only 4 MUXs 'in range' (21,24,27,30). What about the other 12 possible frequencies between C21 and C36???
kevin
Friday 17 June 2011 10:34AM Edinburgh
Hi, I'm situated at leith links with a communal ariel on the roof. Since switchover I can receive all channels but they are unwatchable! They look as if they are scrambled, e4 is particularly bad.

The only channels that work are the new HD ones. Everything worked perfectly before the 15th. This very frustrating. Any help would be appreciated.
jb38
Friday 17 June 2011 11:32AM
kevin: As you are only approximately 7 miles line-of-sight away from Craigkelly you could be receiving a signal on the verges of being too powerful, albeit that HD can tolerate that better.

I cant see that you have any option but to try reducing the signal into your TV by purchasing a simple (minimum reduction) attenuator, these only being a few pounds.

There is always an element of hit and miss with these things, especially when using a communal aerial which will undoubtedly have an element of amplification in the system, but unless your situation improves by trying out a further re-scan I cant see anything else you can do.

Although its not by any means a 100% accurate test, but try and find out if any of your neighbours are having problems just in case its the distribution system at fault.

Max55
Friday 17 June 2011 11:58AM
I have retuned three times and even reset factory default. I have all digital channels except HD which all say no signalon on both Sony HD Box and Toshiba Bravia HD Tv.
I am in EH29 and pointing at CraigKelly any thoughts please??
John
Friday 17 June 2011 1:23PM Cowdenbeath
Well I have all the channels and all the HD channels because I have Freeview HD in my TV.

DSS
Friday 17 June 2011 1:23PM
Digital Switchover at Craigkelly has been a disaster for me. My TV will not receive channels 39 and 42 now although it got them fine before the switch. I had some idea that the signal strength was going to be boosted on DSO but in my case it has been reduced. What to do ? Any ideas ?
Jack
Friday 17 June 2011 1:28PM Balerno
Have retuned numerous times and am now resignied to the fact that DSO has resulted in even fewer channels than I could receive before. (Am in EH14).

I stumbled across this website more or less by accident and I don't pretend to understand the technical details. I am however interested in who "owns"/"runs" Craigkelly. Why does it not transmit the full range of channels? How or why is it allowed to transmit on lower power than other transmitters?
Mike Dimmick
Friday 17 June 2011 1:47PM
Jack: Since 2007 the transmitters have all been owned and operated by Arqiva. Before then, about half were owned by National Grid Wireless and half by Arqiva. The Arqiva half were originally set up by the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the NGW half by the BBC. Both were privatized, the IBA in 1990 and the BBC transmitter network in 1997.

Craigkelly was originally an IBA transmitter.

Permitted power levels and radiation patterns are regulated by Ofcom, but generally the broadcasters have been allowed to set whatever levels they feel are necessary. Most sites have had a reduction of 7 dB (one fifth) from their analogue signal levels, for the PSB muxes, with the COM muxes 3 dB (one half) lower than that. Some sites that previously had directional aerials to avoid interfering with other regions or other countries now have better directional properties on their new aerials, and are allowed relatively higher signal levels. For example, Rowridge only has a 4 dB (60%) cut, while Dover has a 1 dB cut (20%).

Craigkelly *does* transmit the full range of channels. If you can't receive some, that is either down to your location, or to your system setup. Digital UK's postcode checker shows a prediction of 100% probability across the board, which indicates that signal levels are likely to be high. Too much signal can also cause problems if the signals are distorted by any amplifiers in the system, including the amplifier in the TV, set-top box or PVR.

If you have an amplifier or booster, you should remove it. If not, or that doesn't help, add an attenuator to reduce signal levels, to avoid overloading the TV or box's input.

You are also expected to have a very good chance of reliable reception from Black Hill (after next week's final step there) and from Angus, while predicted levels from Durris are also high, so generally the received levels could be very high. It's worth checking that the box has tuned into the frequencies from Craigkelly and not weaker off-beam signals from one of the other transmitters. Some boxes store the first version that they find, even if it's poor, which could have happened with some of the muxes from Durris, as they're on lower channels.
Mike Dimmick
Friday 17 June 2011 2:10PM
Jack: The reasoning behind the 7 dB difference appears to be:

- For perfect reception, analogue required 43 dB of signal-to-noise ratio
- For error-free reception, digital requires about 17.3 dB of signal-to-noise ratio if line-of-sight is available (20.3 dB if not)
- Planners added 5.7 dB of 'implementation margin'
- Propogation varies over time, but 99% of this variation is within 12.8 dB of the predicted signal

Adding the required signal-to-noise, the fudge factor, and the variation, we get 35.8 dB, call it 36 dB. This is 7 dB less than the 43 dB required for PAL.

The commercial multiplexes don't have to meet the PSB multiplex requirement of 98.5% population coverage, matching predicted analogue coverage, nor do they have to make their signals reach the relay transmitters, which are nearly all fed off-air (they pick up the signal from a main transmitter and re-transmit it, usually on a different frequency). Reducing the power by half (3 dB) reduces the tolerance of variation at the fringe of the coverage area by about 5%.
John
Friday 17 June 2011 6:13PM Edinburgh
EH10 6JN - roof aerial, looking at Craigkelly transmitter.

Not quite sure why my post yesterday seems to have been deleted, but here goes again...

After good reception of all channels before DSO, I got broken/frozen picture during switchover. Since 15 June I (occasionally) get a few seconds of excellent picture and sound, but then screen goes black and a message saying "Due to technical difficulties the service you require is currently unavailable. Please try again later" appears. Screen then stays black indefinitely, though if I try another channel the same thing happens again.

I have tried the reset procedure and resetting to factory defaults.

I'm puzzled about getting an initial good picture and then nothing. Can anyone tell me whether this is likely to be an aerial problem?

Thanks!

Richard
Friday 17 June 2011 6:26PM
Les Nicol: Thanks for help. We are a couple of miles from West Linton village to the SE in fairly open country. Checked with DigitalTV, they say we should get good reception from Black Hill but it seems unlikely to me. Trying this after 22/6 seems like only option, if Freesat won't give Dave; also we're in a listed building so can't put up a dish anyway. Incidentally we could never get Channel 5 before, at least we can now get that. Doesn't seem fair though that there is a two tier service, we all pay the same licence fee.
DSS
Friday 17 June 2011 6:32PM
Mike : I think I understand most of what you are saying but I'm still struggling to understand why the number of Freeview channels I'm receiving now is less than what I received before Wednesday.
I know Craigkelly transmits all the channels because pre-switch I got most of them. When I look at uhf channels 39 and 42 on my TV manual tuning facility the signal quality does register but is so low that the tuner rejects them.
I really don't know what I can do to get over this problem which seems to have arisen because of the switchover on Wednesday.
Will
Friday 17 June 2011 7:13PM
Colin Brown: There are other transmitters nearby which use other channels in Group A.

For example, the Durris transmitter to the north in Aberdeenshire uses channels 22, 23, 25, 26, 28 and 29. Craigkelly therefore cannot use these channels otherwise there would be interference.
KMJ,Derby
Friday 17 June 2011 8:28PM
John: It is likely that your signal is now too strong. The Digital UK postcode checker gives near perfect reception from Craigkelly, Black Hill and Angus at your location. If you have any amplifiers on the aerial remove them. If not, try inserting an attenuator in the aerial feed.
John
Friday 17 June 2011 9:25PM Edinburgh
Thanks KMJ - that will be a first! Signal strength on the on-screen 'meters' looks about 50% - ie a green bar extends about half way across its box. But I'll give an attenuator a try.

Colin Brown
Friday 17 June 2011 9:49PM
Will: re Craigkelly limitations. Thanks,I am aware of the your point on other transmitters using channels but I repeat only 4 MUXs in range is a bit limiting. Even your own example of Durris shows 6 MUXs in range (all below 30). Dont want to be meow but how come we cannot have one of these for Craigkelly so at least we both have five in range!

And the bottom line for lots of the recent comments here is that the advertising of 'Just retune to get your channels back' is not that easy if they have moved the new MUXes out of range! Aerial installers in Edinburgh must be loving installing dual A and B aerials or wideband aerials.
staff
Friday 17 June 2011 10:28PM Falkirk
What a disappointment!!! FK2 0TJ. After eagerly waiting months for the DSO I find that I now only recieve CH24 and CH27 on each set in the house. Wide gain aerial installed. Postcode checker said I could expect very good signal. What is going on?? Is this the best we can expect in this area?? Can anyone help??
staff
Friday 17 June 2011 10:32PM Falkirk
Oh, aerial is on the roof. Tried all possible re-tunes, software updates etc.
What must i to do??
Transmitter engineering
Saturday 18 June 2011 4:33AM
CRAIGKELLY transmitter - Freeview BBC Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:20 on 15 Jun to 02:59 on 15 Jun Analogue BBC ONE Weak Signal from 10:37 on 14 Jun to 10:50 on 14 Jun BBC ONE Weak Signal from 08:55 on 14 Jun to 09:53 on 14 Jun [BBC]
jb38
Saturday 18 June 2011 8:08AM
staff: I would have thought that Blackhill would have been a better bet for your location, albeit that I know there are pockets within the area where Craigkelly is better.

I would leave things as they are at present until after the 22nd of this month when Blackhill has completed switchover, after which you should delete the channels stored in your sets by carrying out a first time scan "without the aerial being connected", then once completed re-connect and carry out manual tuning on 46 - 43 - 40(HD only) - 41 - 44 - 47, these being Blackhills channels.

I purposely did not suggest finalising with a "first time scan" as your aerial will be pointing at Craigkelly and that will upset the results, but should you receive the channels listed it would be worthwhile swinging the aerial around to Blackhill, as the fact that you would be picking them up with your aerial facing the wrong direction indicates a powerful signal being received.
jb38
Saturday 18 June 2011 9:28AM
Staff: On having a further check on your location I feel that you "may" possibly be in the same situation as many people are in the Northern sides of Cumbernauld, that of being a bit too close to the hill that separates them from the transmitter.

What I suggest you do is this, rather than wait until after the 22nd try the test now on one of your sets but just using 46 & 43, or alternatively have a look in the 800 ranges of your sets EPG as you may find that BBC channels etc from Blackhill have already been stored there, and if you do see them check the signal strength (+ Ch number) they are being received at, this done within the TV's tuning menu area.
staff
Saturday 18 June 2011 11:46AM Falkirk
JB38. Thanks for the info. I tried manually tuning ch43 - ch46 as you suggested and it looks like i pick up ch46. ch43 signal strength is much lower at the moment from Blackhill and with my aerial pointing in the opposite direction that would explain why i am not recieving it. I will wait til after 22nd and re-tune and hopefully i will be sorted out. I am glad someone out htere knows what they are talking about. I tried the helpline number at digitaluk but it seems they are only good at explaining how to re-tune your receiving eqpt!
jb38
Saturday 18 June 2011 12:53PM
staff: No problem staff, pleased to have been of assistance. The reason I made the addition to my original posting was that I remembered when driving along the M9 and looking across Falkirk (towards the Westerglen radio transmitters) that the Blackhill mast was screened behind the hill, this being why that even although it's nearly half the distance away from you compared to Craigkelly it didn't take up the main EPG positions on your TV, that is even although it's transmitting at 100Kw compared to Craigkelly's 20Kw, at least on the MUX's you do receive, as the ones you don't are only on 10KW.

Anyway maybe after the 22nd of the month you could come back with your findings, especially on channels 41,44 & 47, as if they are all around the same strength as 43 & 46 and appear to be stable at these levels, then swinging the aerial around to face Blackhill would give you maximum channels.
Will
Saturday 18 June 2011 3:13PM
Colin Brown: I can only assume that if Craigkelly swapped a channel with Durris, there would be a clash with another transmitter.

I agree that Digital UK has provided poor information on the Craigkelly DSO. I think a lot of us could see this coming. In their adverts, they kept saying that people would receive more channels after DSO but failed to mention that a lot of people would need to replace their group A aerial with a wideband aerial for this to be the case. Naturally, a lot of people are now asking why they have now lost channels.

As you say, aerial installers in Edinburgh will be laughing as they exploit this confusion.
Les Nicol
Saturday 18 June 2011 5:20PM
Richard - If the Blackhill option doesn't. resolve much for you and you state your in open country,but can't put a dish on a listed building,you could explore a ground site as an option. Dishes can also be had that are made of clear perspex and are considerably more asthetic than those that are glaringly obvious and mounted on buildings.
I reside in Dumfries & Galloway,this area covered by the Border ITV region. Switch over was anything but satisfactory here - (this was the first area to go digital) - unless able to receive direct transmissions from Caldbeck or Selkirk. Most of Dumfries & Galloway is covered by relay "lite" transmitter output thus giving very much a second rate service. Similarly this applies to large areas of Cumbria inspite of the fact that Caldbeck is a main transmitter for the North West of England. In short, for many to obtain a satisfactory service the optionsa are SKY pay per view or the FSFS - freesat from Sky or the supported "Freesat" non subscription service offered by the BBC and ItV which does give overall a much improved option over the limited terrestrial digital service in this area.
It seems to me that not much has been learnt from the earlier presenting problems that have been thrown up as the switch over has progressed to other broadcasting regions. Publicity in terms of likely issues and how to resolve these if at all possible at a subscriber level has been frankly very lacking and but for independently run sites like this -thanks to Brian Butterworth and others - has left many people out in the cold. From the many comments I see on this site has left many frustrated and angry people trying to make sense of the ongoing switch over process.
Trevor
Saturday 18 June 2011 5:31PM Edinburgh
Today I and several people I have spoken to have warnings of low signal strength especially on stv and break up of picture - why is this - is it permannet
Les Nicol
Saturday 18 June 2011 7:09PM
In my previous post it was amiss of me not to example presenting problems that should have been more widely publicised after the initial switch over. e.g:- The impact of Masthead and or domestic plugin boosters on digital transmission reception Fit for purpose issues with some "Freeview" receivers, doesn't seem ( I'll stand corrected on this one if I'm wrong) to have been the same quality control standards applied as there has been with "Freesat" on receiver manufacturers prior to release of same. Little or no information on the more critical line of site aspect with digital transmissions over terrestrial. In this area no balanced Satellite reception options SKY in relation to "Freesat" Sky very much promoted over "Freesat" by Digital UK.
brian
Saturday 18 June 2011 8:04PM Broxburn
Hi there in Broxburn here, I have a loft arial, prior to switch over I received all channels from Craigkelly transmitter, now we no longer receive stv, 4, 5, sky news and the HD channels and possibly few others. Would my best bet be to wait until 22nd and try Blackhill also? Or will I have to consider buying a wideband arial? Pretty disappointing it has to be said.

Brian
Les Nicol
Saturday 18 June 2011 8:27PM
Brian - Loft aerials are not really suitable for Digital Terrestrial reception. you should have am external aerial fitted. I would also check with a local aerial rigger the best option for you as it might well be in Broxburn that reception from Blackhill is the better one.
Transmitter engineering
Sunday 19 June 2011 4:32AM
CRAIGKELLY transmitter - Freeview BBC Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:20 on 15 Jun to 02:59 on 15 Jun [BBC]
Bruce
Sunday 19 June 2011 8:10PM Dalkeith
Thank you for the responses. I'll leave things until the 22nd (if that's the latest stage of changes) before looking into things more closely (and trying to get my head around something that seems complex to a layperson!).

If I could ask one (hopefully!) simple question.

Is it possible that even if your set top box etc is showing a "weak" signal strength, the reality could be that your signal is too strong and you require an "attenuator"?
jb38
Sunday 19 June 2011 9:04PM
Bruce: In some cases that might apply, but in my experience not that common and once again dependant on the particular TV or STB being used.

A test that sometimes works if doubts of that nature exists is, go into the devices tuning menu - signal strength / quality check area, once there keep observing the indications whilst the aerial plug is "very slowly" removed from the socket, if just at the point the plug leaves the socket the strength / quality indicators zoom to the top of the scale before collapsing to zero, that could indicate the possibility of an excessively strong a signal.

It shouldn't be taken as a 100% accurate check though, as it can be dependant on the actual set its being tried out on, but in general terms if a signal is grossly excessive then sometimes a signal indication can still be seen with the aerial plug "fractionally" (a hairs breadth) removed from the socket.
Bruce
Monday 20 June 2011 8:30PM Dalkeith
This may or may not be a complete coincidence, but since the "Transmitter Engineering" post above my last post, my reception has improved considerably for the Ch39 channels (now scoring around a stable 4 out of 10 on the reception scale).

Hopefully there are conscious efforts to improve matters (rather than this being a fluke).
Mike
Monday 20 June 2011 8:59PM Lasswade
Here in EH 18 1LX (Lasswade), we too have just experienced DSO (Disastrous Switch Over).

Our external roof-mounted aerial is some 10 years old and may not be ‘digitally’ compatible, but I am having difficulty establishing whether it is the source of our problems. It was installed, together with an amplifier in the loft, to run TVs in several rooms of the house. Switchover took place here on 1st and 15th June, and digital reception on our 3 Panasonic TVs was totally satisfactory BEFORE and AFTER the 1st June. However, after the 15th June the TVs have difficulty detecting available channels, showing a quality of only 10% (red) and strength varying between 50-100%. Those programmes detected are completely unwatchable due to break up of sound and picture. I've tried a variable attenuator to reduce the signal strength, which it does but without improving the quality.
Yet strangely our Humax PVR 9300T digital recorder delivers acceptable programmes from the same aerial with an indicated quality of 100% and strength of 75%.

Can anyone suggest how the PVR succeeds where the TVs fail, and what might be the cause of the problem?
PS Like Bruce, I have just noticed that reception is now improving, but the indicated signal quality is still low (red to yellow).
Mike Dimmick
Tuesday 21 June 2011 6:49PM
Mike: Different equipment has different limits on what it will accept, and behaves differently if more than one transmitter is received.

Digital UK's predictor suggests a good probability of reliable reception from three transmitters: Craigkelly, Durris and Angus. They're all in kind of the same direction - Craigkelly slightly west of due north, 341°, Angus slightly east, 6°, and Durris a bit further clockwise, 20°. Aerials do have a fairly wide acceptance angle - the larger the aerial, typically the smaller the angle - so the TVs could be picking up one of the further transmitters. It's likely to be Durris, as that has the lowest frequencies, though I would have expected it to pick PSBs from Craigkelly and commercial channels from Durris.

The Durris commercial multiplexes only moved to this location on 15 June, their temporary locations were on much higher frequencies.

If the TV offers a choice of region, ensure you select Central Scotland rather than Highlands and Islands. If you can find a status screen, check that the UHF channels match those from Craigkelly, rather than one of the others. See Digital Region Overlap for other thoughts.

Check that you do need the amplifier, and if you're adding an attenuator, add it before the amplifier. Amplifiers should normally only have just enough gain to offset the losses in the splitter and cabling, if the basic level from the aerial is correct.

On pure distance alone, I would expect the signal levels at your location to be very high, but you're in a fairly deep valley, which means that you're relying on refraction over the hills. Still, excessive amplification can still cause problems.
Derek
Wednesday 22 June 2011 7:15PM Edinburgh
I'm in Leith. Craigkelly signal on channel 24 turns out to be too strong (confirmed by slowing removing aerial as suggested above). Aerial half out and I go from 0% quality to 100% quality.

Looks like I need an attenuator then...! Hope this helps someone. I pity the non-techs out there - everything was fine before the "upgrade".

Derek
Colin Brown
Wednesday 22 June 2011 9:55PM
re my previous posts .. I have had to relent and now have good reception on all MUXs from my shiny new wideband aerial. Unfortunately the decision at DSO to have Craigkelly as one of only about 5% of transmitters to be wideband has cost me over £100 - not quite a simple retune eh? I wonder what the total cost of this decision is to folks in Edinburgh. Lucky you folks on Blackhill etc.
Stuart
Friday 24 June 2011 2:09PM
Mike (1): In my experience Panasonic DTT equipment can have an unsatisfactory tuning routine. I've had a Panasonic Freeview box and DVD Recorder, and I've heard from others with Panasonic TVs.

This equipment finds a multiplex from a distant transmitter during the early part of the channel scan and then ignores the identical multiplex from your desired transmitter.

So it's quite likely that you are getting Durris multiplexes in place of Craigkelly.

One answer to the problem is an attenuator to weaken the signal to the point where unwanted signals are not detected but the wanted signals are still powerful enough. After a scan you can remove the attenuator if necessary. If you don't have an attenuator any way of weakening the signal would do.
Aaron
Friday 24 June 2011 4:35PM
(I am in Leith, EH6)

An update on my previous post about only getting the BBC channels, STV, 4 + Five since DSO.

I had the aerial guys round today to look at our communal aerial. Apparently we only had a 'grouped aerial' so they replaced it with a wideband. This has sorted the problem and now get all channels but we still get a week signal so we might loose channels in bad weather. The cabling and junction box all needs replacing apparently......this could cost a lot of money all due to this DSO.
Jack
Saturday 25 June 2011 9:38AM Balerno
I'm in EH14 and get my Freeview through a DVD recorder. It now seems I'm ony getting ITV3, Quest, 5*, 5USA etc on alternate days. Tuesday and Thursday perfect picture. Wednesday and this morning, "no signal". I did wonder if I've got too stong or too weak signal but how could either be the answer when I'm getting these channels intermittently? Anyone got any ideas?

Just wait until DSO hits London. We'll never hear the end of it!
Jack
Saturday 25 June 2011 10:36AM Balerno
Bruce
Tuesday 12 July 2011 7:42PM
As an update at my end, the CH39 reception that had improved in late June has now reverted to being unwatchable. There have been no adverse weather or climatic conditions that could be influencing this that I can imagine.
Bruce
Sunday 17 July 2011 7:26PM
Thanks very much for the link. I had no idea about things like games consoles, recorders etc causing interference. I shall investigate!



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