Constant Break-up on FreeView HD Channels (Fixed for now...)

AJones said:
However, the maintenance notice on https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Sandy_Heath has now changed to say "week commencing 27/11/2023", so I guess whatever they are doing isn't finished just yet.
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It has been saying that for many months now. The w/c is just the current week date... carp Freeview way of presenting info as they really need someone to interpret the Arqiva Planned Work Messages (assuming they even see them).

I note there are an awful lot of major transmitter sites with the same work going on... including Crystal Palace and Rowridge (again). That seems most improbable as Arqiva won't have that many staff (or contractors) trained to work on the components that will give those sorts of effects when switching happens.

BBC Distribution will negotiate with Arqiva over some of the more likely to be obvious to the viewer works wrt times for switching (which should only be brief).

Fringe area reception issues are possible if working on reserve antenna (with switch to/from main at start/finish of works). I'm not fringe. That would still be indicative of a sub-ideal receive antenna installation in many cases.
 
Last.To.Know said:
Anyone else having problems from Sandy Heath?
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Yes I've had two instances of breakup on all HD channels. I knew it wasn't the HDR Fox T2 as my Sony TV showed the same thing. Most recent instance is in Planet Earth III recording on 26 Nov. It's very annoying, I've had perfect reception for years.
 
I have 2 HDR Fox T2s (used to have 3, but one has gone to a better place). Each is linked to a different LG TV. The TVs use the aerial out on the T2s for their aerial in. I live in a rural area with problematic Freeview reception. Over the last few weeks we have had lots of picture break up viewing live or recording on the T2s - particularly on HD channels. Yet no problems on the TVs even though their aerial cables loop out from the T2s. Its only a mild nuisance as I use the T2s incresingly less frequently and also now have Sky, so I haven't yet bothered with checking signal strengths or trying manual tuning. I'm curious though. Is it likely caused by the T2's tuners being inferior to those on the more modern TVs or having simply degraded with age (bought in 2011 and 2012)?
 
I wonder whether this is actually the error correction being better in modern hardware. The tuners themselves might not necessarily be less sensitive, just that newer hardware is able to tolerate more data corruption. I guess it might even be the case that the transmission system is relying on that to pack more in.
 
Black Hole said:
I wonder whether this is actually the error correction being better in modern hardware. The tuners themselves might not necessarily be less sensitive, just that newer hardware is able to tolerate more data corruption. I guess it might even be the case that the transmission system is relying on that to pack more in.
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That would certainly be consistent with what I'm experiencing. My neighbour has an old, small, Samsung TV he no longer uses. I'll borrow it this weekend and connect that instead of one of the LGs and see how that works.
 
Update. My neighbour's "spare" TV was a Sony not a Samsung. Not sure how old, but it had no HDMI connections - had to dig out a Scart cable.

I first confirmed nothing was changed with the T2 I chose and the connected LG TV. Picture was unwatchable on T2, but fine on LG whether aerial was looped out of the T2 or connected directly.

Connected the Sony instead and had to first autotune channels. Picture breakup was bad on the Sony whether aerial was connected directly or looped via T2 - not quite as bad as when watching on the T2 itself. Nothing conclusive, but consistent with the possibility that more up to date tuners cope better with weak/fluctuating signals, which seems no surprise. I should have admitted earlier that I retuned channels on both T2s over the past 3 weeks while reception was poor. I know that this is generally unwise, but as they were at least temporarily unusable I couldn't resist tinkering.

While it would be somewhat interesting to know the related experiences of others, it probably isn't worth taking further. As mentioned earlier, I got Sky (by Satellite) as there is so much interference and transmitter overlap where I live (Vale of White Horse). We are a mile from the nearest road with poor broadband so streaming options are a little limited. We anticipated similar issues when we moved here and there are lots of other benefits in being surrounded by fields and woods.
 
I’ve had a similar problem recently. It started with BBC SD channels intermittently scrambling badly both on live and recorded programmes. I thought it would be a good idea to retune but, having just found this forum, I now realise this wasn’t a good idea as the problem seems to have spread to many other Freeview channels.
I understand that it’s not possible to retune properly while reception is bad, so what can I do to remedy the problem ?
 
Black Hole said:
Correct.

Nothing, unless you happened to back up the channel.db file before retune (possible via the hidden service menu)!
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Sadly no! I’m getting good reception on everything this not though signal strength is only around 45% on all channel groups except 35 which is zero. Does this mean I’m tuned to the writ transmitter? Should I try retuning now?
 
I intended to post an update here but have been slow to get around to it as it involves admitting to some sloppy reasoning and complacency. I have described the “test” I carried out using our only near neighbour’s old Sony. I gave up at that point. At Xmas however we went over to them for a festive drink and noticed that the reception on their TV was good. A few days later I took my Humax across, attached it to their TV, retuned and reception was more than acceptable. I then got a local aerial engineer who doesn’t charge if a solution isn’t provided to investigate. He found an intermittent power supply issue with the ancient Amplifier in our loft. He replaced it and all is now good. Not perfect because of our location, but just occasional breakup for 30 seconds at most even on HD channels that were previously unwatchable. The actual replacement is pretty much plug and play but the engineer claimed that understanding local conditions and a customer’s precise location and aerial type helped identify the most suitable Amplifier. Possibly flim-flam but it made parting with £145 in total less painful and the hummy is back in service. May not be the solution for Alistair but worth a check.
 
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catnap said:
The actual replacement is pretty much plug and play but the engineer claimed that understanding local conditions and a customer’s precise location and aerial type helped identify the most suitable Amplifier.
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The only choice to be made is the gain of the amplifier. They all should be double screened and they all amplify the same range of frequencies. The aerial type is irrelevant.
 
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