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My ITV/C4 Freeview channels have disappeared - what can I do? Is it my SCART ca

My ITV/C4 Freeview channels have disappeared - what can I do? Is it my SCART cable?

My ITV/C4 Freeview channels have disappeared - what can I do?
published on UK Free TV

It is a feature of television signals that they can be effected by the weather. Aside from the obvious damaged that can be caused by wind or torrential rain, the onset of summer can cause a more intriguing problem called "inversion".

Basically, when the sun heats up the land, the hot air can get trapped below cold air at high level. This creates an "inversion layer" which acts like a polished mirror to TV signals. This causes two problems: you can receive both the original and a reflected signal from your own transmitter (on analogue TV this appears as "ghosting") or interference from TV transmitters that are normally too far distant.

The ITV/C4 multiplex of channels (ITV-1, ITV-2, ITV-3, ITV-4, CITV, C4, More4, E4, Quizcall) use a transmission "mode" called 64QAM, and it is sadly much more prone to these problems.

So, whilst a loft-mounted aerial will provide reception at some time, it will fail at others. The only real solution is to mount the aerial (or a new Class I aerial) outside on a pole, but some people report that changing the cable from the aerial to the set-top box to the high-grade satellite cable can also help.

The SCART connection, by the way, only carries a single TV picture, not the Freeview transmission multiplexes, so if this is disconnected it will result in degradation to every channel at once.



All questions
BBC Three Linear channel re-opens1
Removing all barriers to communication between diverse cultures2
How do I get a test card with Freeview3
What can I do when my Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fau4
Can I receive UK TV in Ghana?5
In this section
My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound o1
I have now lost all signal can you tell me what the problem might be?2
I have a Durabrand cg5660-m and I need the lock key code!3
What is the Inversion Effect and why does it effect my Freeview TV reception? 4
My high gain aerial can't get all the Freeview channels I expected5
What are the aerial types about? Are they high-gain?6

Comments
Thursday, 22 December 2011
M
mike
12:25 PM

Hi, I rescanned today and suddenly Dave, E4+1 and some other channels are missing, are they still on freeview?

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mike's 1 post GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:05 PM

Allie: In addition to the info Briantist has given the link for, when you say that you found BBC & ITV on your portable are you referring to analogue reception?

If on your main device (TV or box) you found the BBC up in the 800 ranges albeit that they disappeared, but should you find anything else up there with a reasonable quality signal go into the TV's tuning menu / signal check area (whilst on the channel) and note the channel number being shown associated with the indication, as this could be used for manually tuning the channel in after having first of all having carried out a factory re-set.



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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 9 March 2012
M
Mazbar
sentiment_satisfiedGold

8:15 PM

D one simple question have you had your aerial checked out if you have a problem having it checked and repaired or replaced you could have all your channels fine.

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Mazbar's 384 posts GB flag
Saturday, 24 March 2012
S
Stan
11:58 PM

I've not had CH4, CH5,ITV, E4 and the plus ones that come with them for months. Couldn't get channels even when I re-scanned with auto update. Thought it was my weak signal so bought a new expensive aerial. Still no luck. I was so fed up, today I decided to finally rectify problem or throw the TV out of the window! Resorted to taking TV and whole shabang to the bathroom for better signal. Weak signal but still NO LUCK. As I have Sky box downstairs, hooked the faulty TV to Sky box and scan channels. Swithced Sky off (via remote not the socket) and search Digital channels, forgot to put the aerial in, which meant it emptied all the channels, then scanned channels again with the aerial attached this time. All channels were scanned and stored! Whoopee! Try it yourself. No more headache. Happy days :).

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Stan's 1 post GB flag
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
M
margaret
12:19 PM

Have tried the reset system but still cannot get back Channels 3,4,5 and a few others. Ariel is on roof, new only 3 years ago. Tyne tees area DH88AS postcode HELP

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margaret's 1 post GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:53 PM

margaret: To get the missing channels, you need to got to the manual tune function on your receiver (assuming that it has one) and tune to channel 55.

Where is your aerial pointing? Is it pointing east north east? Or is it pointing north west?

It should be pointing east north east in order to receive the Freeview channels as only Pontop Pike is broadcasting them.

There are engineering works at Pontop Pike this week which means that digital TV is liable to interruption and analogue may be subject to weak signal (although with your close proximity I shouldn't think that will be an issue for you).

You should therefore not retune your set because when the signals come back, they will be as they were before; in the same place.

As I say, you will have to keep trying manually tuning to channel 55 until they come back.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
T
tanya
7:50 PM

RM20 3AN, shared aerial as small block of flats. I get all BBC channels but nothing else. I have re-scanned and still nothing. I have an old Onn Digital box OBST01 Would I need to manually tune in the other channels?

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tanya's 2 posts GB flag
Friday, 6 April 2012
N
N
11:31 AM

I lives in Middx. UB6. Purchased the basic Sat-Top Box from Curry. Tuned; unplug and re-plug everything; and re-tuned many times. All the four main channels are ok but screen stays blank on ITV. I can see it is on Channel 3 in the Channel List.
Also, do you switch off the Box after tuning?
I ask because if I don't, the picture quality is poor on all channels.
Thanks in advance.

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N's 1 post GB flag
Monday, 9 April 2012
Friday, 13 April 2012
D
D Clatworthy
7:33 PM
London

AErial on roof but cannot get any BBC or ITV Programmes

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D Clatworthy's 1 post GB flag
D's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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