Poor Signal Quality?

Just seen this thread. Been having this problem with my FVP5000t and Aura. I am also on Waltham. Always the channels on the same mux (Dave, Sky etc). Dave a vu is fine as it on a different mux. There seems to be no pattern to the loss of signal strength and quality. Most of the time I get the odd freeze frame on these channels with signal power showing 80% and quality 100%, although sound unaffected. I can remove these freezes by pausing the picture for a second or two, then I just get a brief pixelation. My aerial is going through an amplified splitter, with one split going to the TV and the other to the FVP5000 then from that to the Aura. Strangely, the TV has no problems at all.

Yesterday around 9pm was watching Dave on the FVP5000 and apart from the odd glitch it was OK. Then the glitches suddenly increased and eventual al signal lost. CHeced an hour later and it was back, but still weak signal.

I had thought it could be 4G/5G interference. This group of affected channels are on the higher frequency band apparently, and more subject to this type of interference . So I put an inline filter in the aerial lead to the FVP5000, but it made no difference. Al the other channels are fine when this group of channels are not working. I still wonder weather could cause it? IT does seem to happen more in the evening too. Cannot understand why the TV is unaffected. Must be something to do with the Humax tuners.
 
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geoffcc said:
Must be something to do with the Humax tuners.
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There is something odd about the tuners on the Aura. Yesterday I had no problems whilst watching 5USA (SDN-COM4). The signal/quality reading would lead me to believe otherwise, Q=30%. A slight movement of the aerial cable sorted that. But 30% and no glitches? This is COM4 not Local!

I wasn't aware of any signal problems on U&Dave at the time you mentioned. I am aware of what I can only describe as fine pixelation on Dave, Sky News and others - usually during and just after a large amount of text appears on screen or on HIGNFY when something has the red newspaper background. It happens on all my devices. Whether it happens on other transmitters. :dunno:
 
The channels I have problems with from the Waltham transmitter are carried on the Arqiva A (ARQ A) multiplex and transmitting on UHF Channel 37 (Frequency: 602.000 MHz). Apparently this is broadcast at a power of 25KW

The channels on this multiplex that all seem to suffer from the problem at the same time for me are

Sky Mix (LCN 11)
Dave / U&Dave (LCN 12)
U&Really (LCN 17 / 44)
E4+1 (LCN 29)
Create & Craft (LCN 36)
Food Network (LCN 41)
Challenge (LCN 46)
Together TV (LCN 83)
Sky News (LCN 233)

Asked AI what might cause the problem and it suggested

Atmospheric Ducting: High-pressure weather systems can cause TV antenna to pick up signals from more distant, overlapping transmitters (such as Emley Moor or Sutton Coldfield) on the same frequency. This confuses the TV tuner, resulting in "No Signal" or pixelation.

Local Electrical Interference: As dusk falls, nearby LED lights or streetlights turning on can generate electromagnetic interference. This specifically disrupts higher-frequency UHF channels (like those historically used for Arqiva multiplexes).

Planned Engineering Works: Arqiva routinely schedules tower maintenance, power reductions, or antenna upgrades overnight. These engineering works will intentionally take multiplexes off the air for short periods outside of peak viewing times .

Marginal Aerial Setup: If your aerial is slightly misaligned or uses an older coaxial cable, you may only receive enough signal during the day. At night, when signal margins drop, these weaker multiplexes are the first to fail .

My TV aerial is old, so it maybe could do with an upgrade. The randomness of the problem for me might point to 'Atmospheric Ducting' as an issue. I find it does tend to happen less in winter, but I have noticed it sometimes when heavy rain is around. Might try a new aerial
 
Arq A is a UK-wide service coded and multiplexed in the same place so any broadcast issues would be seen by all (e.g. bit starvation). Those are all 544x576i services, so sub-SD picture quality (SD is 720 or 704x576i imho).

The Freeview prediction tool https://www.freeview.co.uk/corporate/detailed-transmitter-information gives the likelihood of other transmitter related interference due to enhanced propagation... Reception through trees is another common cause of seemingly random interference (when wet or windy).

It can also be caused by lack of signal (use the unit's metering of S & Q) or too much signal (overload and signal distortion) - again the meter may give a clue when the problem happens. Or not if the device is a pita to use for S & Q measurements ;)
 
My money is on corroded aerial/cable due to water ingress. That's what happened to mine.
Those other suggestions are rather unlikely most of the time if the problem is consistent.
 
prpr said:
My money is on corroded aerial/cable due to water ingress. That's what happened to mine.
Those other suggestions are rather unlikely most of the time if the problem is consistent.
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Agreed, especially since the poster said it happens when it rains. But why does only Arq A have problems? Is it the weakest mux? Highest frequency? (water ingress affects those more).
 
geoffcc said:
My aerial is going through an amplified splitter, with one split going to the TV and the other to the FVP5000 then from that to the Aura. Strangely, the TV has no problems at all.
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Try taking the amplified splitter out and feed the FVP5000 directly. Amps cause almost as many problems as they solve. You can feed the TV from the output from the Aura if they are close enough.
 
geoffcc said:
I had thought it could be 4G/5G interference. This group of affected channels are on the higher frequency band apparently, and more subject to this type of interference . So I put an inline filter in the aerial lead to the FVP5000, but it made no difference.
Click to expand...
The correct place to put a 4G/5G filter is before the amp so it is not amplifying the high power 4G/5G signal which can cause clipping and distortion in the amp. AI ought to know that.
 
Owen Smith said:
But why does only Arq A have problems? Is it the weakest mux? Highest frequency?
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On Waltham, Arq A is on channel 37 (mine is 71%). SDN is on 29 (73%) and the other main ones are in between (76-78%). Local on 41 is at 47% but the modulation/FEC is significantly different so you can't compare.
 
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