Hello;
I am going to post a couple of questions on different pages of this excellent site; related to trying to figure out the cause of an intermittent loss of some programmes by my mothers TV.

It is an Avtex L270DRS; usually used by people in RV/Caravan type of situation, but installed in her house because we could not find any other TV with the right size to fit the available space at the time of purchase.

I now understand from posts on eg https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/avtex-not-picking-up-stations.240738/ that for the tuner part at least, it is a device for watching "Free to Air" programmes, and has not licenced the use of the EPG.

So I thought it worth asking the viewers of this forum if anyone has experience of manually tuning the satellite part of an L270DRS to specific transponders ?

The L270DRS is fine for most terrestrial DTV programmes and the EPG that is available when tuned to a terrestrial .

The last time I tried an automatic / full for satellite programmes, the set did pick up lots of different (the was set up by an experienced installer), but absolutely no sign of them being in the usual LCN order for the preset numbers that are published in eg Radio Times; maybe I was unlucky in picking a time to do this that co-incided with the programme/channel shuffling that has been going on...

I will go back to Avtex support having recently discovered the above post; they are quite helpful when you can get the right contact on the 'phone ; statements they have made in earlier discussions are that the L270DRS is fine for people who re-tune every few days due to moving location regularly.

thanks &
regards,
Charlie.

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Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) Full Freeview tra
Saturday 30 December 2023 10:06AM
Pershore

Hello;
I am going to post a couple of questions on different pages of this excellent site; related to trying to figure out the cause of an intermittent loss of some programmes by my mothers TV.

This question is related to observations from my own stuff, located about 3 miles away, that I am using as a comparison point / debug tool.

At WR10 3EW, external pole mounted , horizontal, pointing approximately at 270 degrees.

Inside, a box (installed at the same time as the antenna) provides the signal to a new-ish PVR (meaning bought ~ 4 months ago, but physical design is maybe 5 years old ?? ) ; and an old TV (Panasonic TX-L32G10B) is connected to both the "RF loop " and the HDMI output of the PVR.

I am aware that the TV tuner will not pick up the HD ; that is OK.

The PVR is internet connected ( & iPlayer, players work as expected), and should be updating it's software automatically (but the system info menu says it is up-to-date at April/May '21); the TV has an ethernet port, but cannot/will not use the ethernet unless it is also connected to a dish (which I do not have) ; any software in the TV will have had to have been done "OTA".

Both tuners find a set of programmes broadcast by the ; I am a "bit surprised" that they are not picking up the transmitter, but I can discuss that with the aerial guy (I am happy to let him climb up and check aerial orientation etc).

According to Ridge Hill (including relays) | free and easy for 21 years we are in a "cyan" area; the signal info sections of both PVR and TV indicate > 70% RSSI for all programmes that I have checked and 100% quality ; the weather has to be "very bad" to affect reception.

What I cannot understand, and would appreciate any views from the forum here are why the PVR is not picking up some programmes (shown as preset number == ?LCN? below, not listed on PVR EPG, cannot be shown using the number directly), whilst they are shown/viewable on the Panasonic device when I select 'TV' (ie screen shows what it's own tuner can decode from the RF in, assuming there is no "software mix-up" of HDMI vs RF inputs in the TV).

Are there any other possible causes other than "PVR software bug" ? (eg could the PVR be getting the EPG information from the internet, vs the Panasonic that can only get the EPG from the broadcast data, so it could be an "EPG content issue") ?

Multiplex. PVR missing programme Panasonic tuner reaction
SDN 68, 277*, 286, 287 277 = blank screen, 286 = message re internet connection needed
ArqA 65** 65 plays as "That's Christmas"
ArqB 56, 61, 63 56 plays as "That's TV
BBCB 205 none expected

277* means PVR gives warning message about proceeding to view non-regulated internet content ; does the lack of a link for 277 (from Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter | free and easy for 21 years )">Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter | free and easy for 21 years to a page equivalent to eg Absolute Radio | free and easy for 21 years mean that the UK Radio Portal (and any other programme with no link) is an internet stream only service ?

65** means that "That's Christmas" should be showing, as confirmed by the "which channels from this transmitter" section of Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter | free and easy for 21 years ; and is shown on the Pansonic device ; BUT on the PVR, it is showing the "That's TV" programme that should be visible on preset # 56 (which is completely missing from the PVR).

thanks &
regards,
Charlie.

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C's Freeview map C's terrain plot C's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) Full Freeview tra
Monday 1 January 2024 11:50PM
Pershore

Steve, Chris;
many thanks for these ; let's take "out of the " ; as my TV+PVR only receive the COMs from (on Channels 24, 27 & 21+).

Steve, your "reading between the lines" is nearly correct; except my mother's TV is tuned to Lark Hill (I will put details in a separate post) and I am not contemplating moving my to pick up a different for purposes..

The list of "visible" transmitters according to Freeview | All your favourite TV shows, all in one place and all for free confirms that Ridge Hill is "correct" at WR10 3EW, from the ground, the aerial seems to be at a bearing of 230 - 240 degrees; vs coverage checker report of 253 for Ridge Hill and 280 for Malvern (and I think the Malvern transmitter is not on the top of the hill, so it is even less likely that I will get any from it).

I reviewed the references provided, and things are a lot clearer thanks (but I think Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview could "maybe benefit" from an indication of which LCNs are not full-time and can "switch" to ..).

I am well impressed that your website has the Panasonic manual on it; I will be even more impressed if is available from the internet 15 years after the product was released.

The offset in a couple of the Panasonic presets that was visible the other day seems to have corrected itself; it is showing everything it is expected to according to the freeview channel listings, given it is not HD compatible or internet connected.

The PVR has a couple of "disconnects" for the presets 56 - 70 ; these may be cleared by a "complete Freeview reset", & maybe a software if the manufacturer supplies one; but that will have to wait until after the holiday TV recording/watching festival is finished.

thanks again &
regards,
Charlie

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C's Freeview map C's terrain plot C's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) Full Freeview tra
Thursday 8 February 2024 12:21AM

Hi ; can anyone here confirm that the eng. works are causing intermittent audio + loss for the PSB2 set ? Loss is for a few seconds ; period between the losses varies a lot.

Drops were present Tuesday pm + (late) Wed pm.

thanks &
regards,
Charlie

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Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) Full Freeview tra
Thursday 8 February 2024 8:17AM
Pershore

thanks Chris. SE : I am at WR10 3EW; same kit for a long time (except for a new PVR last August), that includes outdoor antennae that is quite high up, with signal to run the signal into different rooms. The drop-out behaviour seems "new this week".

I checked the signal strength reported by the PVR (that is the main , since the TV is old..) ; ITV1 + 4 were reporting 90/100 (strength/) ; vs eg Dmax that did not exhibit the drop outs and reports 62/93.

Understood re Arqiva not giving details ; & thanks for the link to restoretv; I will take a look.

thanks &
regards,
Charlie

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C's Freeview map C's terrain plot C's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) Full Freeview tra
Sunday 25 February 2024 2:13PM

Hello Chris SE;
for the delay here; I do not get a notification mail of thread , and the intermittent drop outs have stopped for now (or the reaction of the PVR to those interruptions has changed, there are other signs of "bizarre" behaviour due to something not right in the PVR, potentially triggered by degraded RF signals).

I did not realize your site adds the links to my post with the coverage map and terrain plot information; that is really impressive.

I am tuned to ; no near-by trees on the line of site, but the ridge of the neighbouring property (thatch, with wire gauze along the ridge) looks awful close to the LOS. The terrain plot shows the LOS just missing the ground about 1 mile from here; that is the edge of a hill/ridge that does have a lot of tree cover. Some of the neighbouring properties look like they are lined up on or .

My work domain means I have some understanding of RF and propagation/ issues, as well as transmission/coding aspects; & your comment re possible interference has got me wondering... is there any chance that Wifi access pointer/router signals (@ 2.4GHz & 5GHz) can interfere with the TV signals in the 500-600MHz range due to some sort of intermodulation in the TV box ? Or radiated noise from an ethernet ?

Because the TV booster + 2 Wifi Access Points are located within about 1 metre of each other in the space..most of the time, the Wifi will be just sending the beacon signal (100 msec interval between brief "squawks"). But there are effectively 4 different transmitters sending these beacons, not synchronized to each other..

I used to have a Vodafone 3G signal booster in the loft, but never detected signs of it interfering with the TV..

Re "normal signal levels"; I just checked, and see the following (no rain, no wind, visibility good but not perfect):

PVR TV (via PVR RF loop).
BBC1 90/100 10/10
ITV 90/100 10/10
QVC 70/100 10/10
Dave 66/100 10/10
Quest 66/85 10/10
BBC1 HD 82/100 N/A

If I watch the signal level screen on the PVR long enough, most of the numbers will vary a few points.
The PVR states explicitly that recordings/settings can be "disrupted" whilst checking the signal strength page; the TV (about 10 years older than the PVR) over-lays the signal strength info on the ...

I will look for an opportunity to borrow a newer TV, to compare figures, and also maybe set up the TV so signal strength can be observed directly at the same time as the PVR signal..

regards,
Charlie

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