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My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound o

My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound or the channel line up is wrong

My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+
published on UK Free TV

To deal with the problem you must clear the channel list completely and then rescan - if your box has it in the menus, please the 'installation menu' to do an initial scan or a reset to factory settings or First Time Installation. You MUST delete the entire existing list of channels. On most boxes this technique can be also be used:

Try this:

1) unplug your Freeview box (or idTV) from the mains;



2) unplug the aerial from the Freeview box by disconnecting the cable from the 'RF in' socket;



3) wait 30 seconds;

4) plug Freeview box (or idTV) mains back in;



5) do a complete scan for channels - it will fail without the aerial. (This may be in the installation or initialization menu, and is distinct from any 'add channels option'). Once this is done your channel line up should be empty;



6) reinsert aerial by reconnecting to the 'RF in' connection;



7) do a complete scan for channels again.



The Freeview channel line-up provided by six "multiplexes" - each of which carry five or more TV channels, radio channels, text services and EPG data. In this diagram each ROW represents a multiplex. If you are still missing a whole multiplex (ie everything on the row) you may need to replace your aerial with a wideband type, purchase a larger aerial or you may have interference from a VCR, games console, Sky Digibox or similar.



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Comments
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
R
Rog
8:36 PM

Mark; many thanks for the detailed aerial info, but last week with the very same aerial I had no problem, I could receive all channels, apparently nothing at Sandy Heath has changed, so whats caused this?

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Rog's 9 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:39 PM

Rog / Dave Lindsay: Just purely for information purposes.

Regarding the number of complaints concerning bad reception of Sandy's commercial muxes on Ch's 48 - 51 - 52, ironically with myself now joining others with a similar complaint so I decided to carry out some checks on them earlier on, one from home and the other mobile but parked up on higher ground approximately 1 mile away, the outcome of the tests revealing both Ch's 48 & 51 being received at approximately 50% or so down on normal strength, but worse being accompanied with "very" high levels of quality fluctuation, however as far as Ch52 is concerned no signal whatsoever was picked up from it, and with no signs that it would either when the level indicators were observed over a few minutes.

By the way these tests were carried out in the Stamford area (TX @ 160 degrees from location) and for both tests amplified log periodic aerials were used, Sandy's PSB muxes 27 - 24 - 21 all coming in with a rock steady 95+% strength & 100% quality at both locations.

Although I don't feel that this reception difficulty is caused by anything related to a transmitter problem as that would almost certainly be noticed in the TX room, I do though have suspicions regarding the possibility that it might be connected with the masts aerial panels covering the 270 / 360 degree segment, as a fault having developed in that area would result in this type of problem, the degrees mentioned covering from slightly South of Northampton clockwise past Stamford to near Spalding approximately 20 miles to the East.

Still time will tell.





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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
R
Rog
9:04 PM

jb38: thanks, that's really interesting. Well, I don't think I will be investing in a new aerial just yet - will wait and see what happens, as you say time will tell.

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Rog's 9 posts GB flag
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

10:04 PM

Sarah C: Sorry Sarah, I wasn't trying to bamboozle you with figures, just showing that the signal will be stronger after switchover. As a general rule, if you enjoy reliable analogue reception before switchover in most cases you will have good Freeview reception after switchover.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:09 PM

Rog, jb38: This is interesting and I think you are right Rog, to hold off getting a new aerial.

It may be worth a shot tuning to Sutton Coldfield for these services; you may be able to pick them up off the back of your aerial. They are:

COM4=C42
COM5=C45
COM6=C39

Or Waltham:

COM4=C29
COM5=C56
COM6=C57 (this one is doubtful as Oxford uses C57 as well)

Or Oxford:

COM4=C62
COM5=C59
COM6=C55


This might be worth a shot. Then keep trying 48, 51 and 52 to see if they are available.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:30 PM

jb38: According to Ofcom, some of Sandy Heath's muxes are using the "S1 transitional antenna" until 27th June:

http://licensing.ofcom.or….pdf

These being PSB1, PSB2, PSB3 and COM6 (C48).

The others do not say that they are using that antenna; I'm not sure whether this means that they're not or that they are but it's not been mentioned.

Digital UK Tradeview says "PSB power-up" on 27th June. I wonder if this is related to the change of antenna as, according to DUK, the PSBs are at 180kW now.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
R
Reda
11:04 PM

I spoke to Digital UK today and Sutton Coldfield is getting some engineering work done so there's no TV signal ( or at least I haven't been able to get any TV channels in Coventry for a few days now.. )

They don't know how long it will take or what the works are. It's frustrating.

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Reda's 2 posts GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:25 PM

Dave Lindsay: Digital UK's database has no way to represent 'change to antenna radiation pattern' so they list it as 'PSB Power Up'. The antenna was originally built with more beam tilt - how far the main beam is angled down from horizontal - than ultimately intended. This was to protect some transmitters in the Meridian region that used the same channels before switchover. The changes on 27 June, once those transmitters no longer need those channels, are to insert pieces of rigid feeder line to change the electrical lengths of the feed to each tier of panels, which will reduce the beam tilt and therefore increase the distance covered.

I believe the parts have to be inserted into the antenna itself. If so, it will cause some interruptions as they switch to and from the reserve antenna, possibly some complete interruptions as the workers climb past the antennas. The changes may be delayed if the weather is too severe (typically too windy) to climb the mast safely.

People in the far south of Sandy Heath's coverage area may notice a small improvement. Anyone to the north, west or east of the transmitter should ignore this; it won't have any effect on their reception.

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Thursday, 7 June 2012
I
Iestyn
8:41 AM

Hi, any ideas if Mendips is down? I'm BS32 and have lost everything -no channel numbers, retunes do not pick up anything. It all vanished yesterday.

Thanks for your time.

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Iestyn's 3 posts GB flag
S
Sarah C
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:37 AM
Chatham

Quote*Sarah C: Sorry Sarah, I wasn't trying to bamboozle you with figures, just showing that the signal will be stronger after switchover. As a general rule, if you enjoy reliable analogue reception before switchover in most cases you will have good Freeview reception after switchover.*

All I wanna do is to be able to watch TV without all this pixellation and sound loss so I will be happy when this is all over - As long as I get good signal - I live on a hill quite near Bluebell hill - So in theory I should get a good signal now - But I don't even though Bluebell hill is only like 5mins drive from me... So.... I shall pray that after switchover all will be well for me - Thank You very much for your help :-)

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Sarah C's 38 posts GB flag
Sarah's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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