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Freeview poor BBC signal
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Old 20-06-2008, 17:28   #1
alferret
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Freeview poor BBC signal

We have a communal tv aerial (mansfield) which has just been switched over to DVB.
I purchased a Agora STB from tesco. (cheap £15)
It picks up all channels but ..... All BBC channels have very low signal strength (<10%) and drop out\pixelate quite a lot, every other channel has 100% (full bar) I have tried a SLx1P booster which has made zero difference.
Any idea's?

I'm not overly concerned as we have sky in the front room and bedroom and this is a box for our girls room, it would be nice if I could get all BBC chnls for her.
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Old 20-06-2008, 17:35   #2
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Is the communal antenna a decent wibeband one? Just that analogue you can get by with low signal and the antenna just needs to be tuned to a particular section of the band (every area was slightly different freq so they didn't interfere) where as digital uses a lot more of the bandand needs a better signal strength to avoid cut-outs pixilation.

For digital and a communal set-up you need a good wideband antenna and a masthead amplifier/splitter, that way every person (or group of people) are getting a good signal.

Boosters that plug in near the TV are not only trying to boost the signal but they also end up boosting the noise caused by electrical wiring, appliances and other stuff picked up by the co-axial cable.

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Old 20-06-2008, 17:39   #3
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Not forgetting that you can't boost signal that isn't there in the first place so a booster before a 1m cable will be pointless.
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Old 20-06-2008, 18:12   #4
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

You don't have any BBC channels duplicated do you? Some STB's if they see more than one transmitter can show the same channels twice, with the second version of the channel getting higher channel numbers.
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Old 20-06-2008, 18:51   #5
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kymmy View Post
Is the communal antenna a decent wibeband one? Just that analogue you can get by with low signal and the antenna just needs to be tuned to a particular section of the band (every area was slightly different freq so they didn't interfere) where as digital uses a lot more of the bandand needs a better signal strength to avoid cut-outs pixilation.

For digital and a communal set-up you need a good wideband antenna and a masthead amplifier/splitter, that way every person (or group of people) are getting a good signal.

Boosters that plug in near the TV are not only trying to boost the signal but they also end up boosting the noise caused by electrical wiring, appliances and other stuff picked up by the co-axial cable.

Kymmy
I aint got a clue where the aerial is what sort\type etc.

---------- Post added at 17:51 ---------- Previous post was at 17:51 ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Losttheplot View Post
You don't have any BBC channels duplicated do you? Some STB's if they see more than one transmitter can show the same channels twice, with the second version of the channel getting higher channel numbers.

Nope no duplicated channels either, just poor signal from all BBC
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Old 21-06-2008, 00:19   #6
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Do you know which transmitter you should be getting your signal from? Some freeview boxes tell you where it is receiving its signal from check it is the same on bbc channels as the others.
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Old 28-03-2009, 00:51   #7
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

is it somethiing to do with bbc 1,2,3,4 sharing the same signal,making the reception poor?
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Old 10-04-2009, 21:46   #8
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Does anyone else on the system have the same problem, or is it just you. If it is the entire system then it could be either a faulty distribution amplifier or possibly swamping of the BBC digital channel by an adjacent analogue service.
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Old 10-10-2009, 11:41   #9
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

I'm having a bit of a mare, I've installed an ariel to the rear of my house, close to the roof.

The ariel is a SV9350 Outdoor DVBT Antenna, bought off Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/..._ya_oh_product

I tested the reception, got the channels I wanted, all looking good, then the next day all I can pick up is ITV3 and the shopping channels, a pretty ghastly choice.

The only physical thing I haven't yet checked, because it means borrowing the neighbour's ladder again, is the connection of the coaxial to to the antenna.

Is there anything else it could be before I go down that wobbly dangerous road again? As I said, the channels were working, the weather was clear, now it is overcast, it couldn't be that could it?

Any thoughts much appreciated.
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Old 10-10-2009, 11:45   #10
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Weather doesn't effect freeview frequencies as much as lets say sat freqs..

More than likely the coax has popped out of the connectors, the antenna/coa-ax join wasn't sealed up and has got waterlogged, or a strong wind/bird has knocked the antenna slightly out of alignment..

Also before you do anything check with a neighbour as it could be that work is being done at the transmitter...

But I will say that the antenna you bought is designed for minimal visual impact in a good signal area, or for example caravanners.. best to get a decent antenna something like:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SLx-27884D-E...5168053&sr=1-6
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Old 10-10-2009, 18:05   #11
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

This is the problem when people first see digital TV. "Oh, you get a good picture here on freeview then! ".

It works perfectly until you reach the signal theshold, then breaks down very quickly. Go into the tuning menu and check the signal quality bar.

I'm currently working off an aerial that is the wrong group for all the digital channels in my area. Mux C and D work fine down to about 30% on the quality bar, but if it rains heavily or the birds congrigate on it, just a 10% drop results in a blank screen.
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Old 12-10-2009, 10:00   #12
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Hi there,

thanks for the advice, I noticed ups and downs in signal quality over the weekend, so it is not really up to scratch.

I have cable downstairs and a 'proper' ariel on the main roof which is currently redundant, perhaps I should try connecting to that then?

What I do find baffling is that come what may QVC has a rock solid signal, why do the poorest channels do the best signal wise?

Anyway, thanks for the advice.

Matt.
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Old 12-10-2009, 20:48   #13
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Rooftop aerials are always best, so give the rooftop one a try.

Make a note of where the aerial is pointing and then look at Wolfbane's Coverage Predictor

Put in your postcode and from this you will be able to work out where you are receiving from and the size and group (Gp) aerial required. Then follow the link to the analogue coverage predictor. If the aerial group shows the same letter as the digital predictor then you should receive all the freeview channels available if the aerial is big enough. If it is different you will be in my situation of having a partial service.

The situation may change after switchover, so have a look at mb21's table to find whether the aerial will need replacing post DSO as regards the (PSB) public service and commercial (COM) mux.
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Old 09-01-2010, 23:23   #14
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

I have been having the same problem with only the BBC channels for the last couple of weeks.
Freeview sent me the following info which might help: (check your transmitter for problems first).

The channels are broadcast in six groups, with each group on a different frequency, which is why you can get problems with a particular channel group, while other groups are unaffected.

This is most likely an aerial problem of some kind, whether with the
antenna itself, the cabling or connections.

We would recommend following this procedure to clear the memory of your
digital equipment and then rescan for the channels:

Remove the aerial from the equipment and leave unplugged.
Go to the set up menu and select rescan or retune to replace existing
channels. It’ll take a few minutes, but when it’s done, it should
say ‘'no channels found’.
Disconnect the equipment from the mains power supply and leave it
un-plugged for 30secs.
Re-connect both the aerial and the mains power supply and switch the
equipment back on.
Go to menu again and select rescan or retune. You should now have all
of the channels.

If this procedure does not resolve the problem, we would recommend that
you get in touch with the Confederation of Aerial Industries (CAI)
www.cai.org.uk or the Registered Digital Installers (RDI)
http://www.rdi-lb.tv/installers.html who can give you details of one
or more members who operate in your area and guarantee their work.


Sadly I cannot do all these checks myself as I am not in the UK and viewing the Freeview box via internet streaming. I have rescanned all the channels which I can do remotely but was not able to follow the instructions exactly.

Would be interested to know if this works for anyone else having this problem. It is definitely only BBC channels that I have a problem with.
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Old 09-01-2010, 23:43   #15
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Re: Freeview poor BBC signal

Wow ... I'd love to know how that remote control and streaming set-up works!
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