newbie / non-techy alert!
I did an auto retune the other day, to bring 5HD on (we never had it till now). Since then, all our HD channels are dropping out, with a blackscreen message alonng the lines of weak signal.
All the HD channels are on channel 40. Alleged strength 81%, quality 100%.
I think we auto-tune to Sutton Coldfield transmitter and DigitalUK suggests this is our best option.
In my dim and distant memory (end 2015 when first purchased), we had picture problems and I seem to recall finding information advising me to retune to a different transmitter to the one the Humax autotuned to (at that time). I succesfully did this in the past, and had no problems since, until the auto retune the other day.
For the life of me I cant see an obvious better alternative to Sutton Coldfield.
I dont know if I need to tune to a different transmitter (although the strenght and quality of existing would suggest no problems, but this is not what I am experiencing).
I dont think it was Ophelia, as we didnt experience it too much in Coventry.
Can anyone help with this? Does it even make sense?!
My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » HDR 1800T, 2000T
HDR 2000T- HD channels very poor
(11 posts)-
| Tue 17 Oct 2017 21:59:35 #1 |
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Check your best transmitter using the detailed option here.
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/operations/about_the_coverage_checker
You may have a problem with your aerial or coax cabling. Loss of specific Mux can be down to water in the coax downleads perhaps due to the plastic cap on the aerial connections being displaced.
It could also be down to interference from your HDMI cables with the rf coax connections. To check this connect your box by scart and disconnect the HDMI cable at both ends.
If you have a stable pictures via scart.
Seperate the hdmi and coax cable as far as possible.
Replace the coax interconnects with double screened satellite cable WF100/PF100.
Try a different HDMI cable.
| Wed 18 Oct 2017 9:41:38 #2 | -
Thanks, we will explore these solutions and update in a few days.
| Wed 18 Oct 2017 19:58:40 #3 | -
Hi mandimoo.
Can you tell me if your BBC4 HD and BBC News HD is working please? I have never had any problems with those but I have constant problems with BBC 1 HD Channel 4 and 5 in that group(Channel 30 PSB3)
They did work for months at one point but I keep getting weak signal and drop outs now. My signal strength is only 51% on those now but the quality and strength keeps dropping out to zero with the black screen message. Sometimes I get no picture at all
Its probably a transmission or aerial problem but I cant get the aerial changed because I dont own this property
| Tue 24 Oct 2017 5:03:07 #4 | -
Ive just done another retune and my PSB3 is working fine on channel 54.
Ive just realised by looking at the webpage that winter Hill does not broadcast on channel 30 so Ive picked that up from somewhere else and its no wonder that channel wasnt working with a very weak signal
This has been driving me mad and Im not as scatty as this makes me seem. Im sure they have been tinkering at the transmitter end because Channel 54 was working fine for months and then went funny with a weak signal. All of this ties in with constant reports that there may possibly be weak signal from Winter hill. So on the last retune I thought they had moved it to channel 30 because I was probably picking up channel 30 from a more distant transmitter
Last night channel 31 just went off at around midnight. It was extremely windy but I dont think that has anything to do with it. I had to retune several times today to get that back. Channel 31 has always worked for me so why did I get a blank screen last night?
So ALL my channels are now working fine proving its not the aerial or cables here. I wondered if the 2000T is failing like a glitchy computer board but why would it work fine for months
It has all been driving me crazy. I would love to know what they are doing at winter hill and if they just switch things off or power down to work on the transmitters or switch over arrays.
All this retuning should not be necessary and I just think that the whole management of the airwaves and number of TV channels has got way out of hand.
Best wishes to everyone on the forum
Martin| Thu 7 Dec 2017 17:18:34 #5 | -
Do you have trees close to your property in the direction the aerial is pointing ?
| Thu 7 Dec 2017 17:21:54 #6 | -
Hi Yes I do but they are on this side and I think the Aerial is pointing the other way. Its a large 3 storey building with lots of flats.
I will look into that though as the trees are higher than the building but I dont think they obscure the signal path. Thats interesting how they might affect it though and some further investigation may be required.
Its only PSB 3 that has been affected though and it has worked for months and it working fine now. Ive checked the 4G situation and even had the filter sent but it was only briefly tried as it made no difference to anything.
Maybe blowing trees do mess up the signal
| Thu 7 Dec 2017 17:30:22 #7 | -
I have trees behind my property in the direction of Sutton Coldfield even with a high gain aerial and a tall mast whenever the wind blows the signal breaks up especially when the foliage is wet. My theory is it's close up multipath reception. No issue when it's calm. Fortunately I have a weaker transmitter in the opposite direction (Lark Stoke) using this I get 100% quality with a log periodic mounted in my loft. I am convinced it's a aerial problem. Can you watch Freeview using your TV tuner at the time you get the problem ?
https://thtreeservices.co.uk/do-trees-block-satellite-tv-signal/
http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/reference/resources/trees-and-uhf-reception.pdf
| Thu 7 Dec 2017 17:59:25 #8 | -
Yes it could be close up multipath. There are some very large trees about and one was recently felled because it was leaning over at a dangerous angle.
I only had a problem with one HD group and there must have been 80mph winds last night when channel 31 went. Its been very wet and windy before however and BBC 4 HD was rock solid throughout
My Humax tuner is better than my cheap Samsung TV. Everything works ok with SD channels but the TV is rarely going to pixelate long before the Humax registers a problem. I always watch through the Humax tuner now
The most confusing thing is that it has worked fine for months in the summer when the trees would have been thick with foliage. Its the intermittent nature of the problem which is confusing. I say intermittent but channel 54 was terrible and unusable for several months since the summer. In a way it was lucky that there is also a BBC 1 in standard definition so I reverted to watching in SD
Anyway its all working fine now fingers crossed
I will be getting a 4K set soon so it should have a good enough HD tuner to compare with
| Thu 7 Dec 2017 21:04:31 #9 | -
Well its been working for weeks now on PSB 3 so I think we can rule out an intermittent problem, cables or multipath.
Thats what threw me and kept thowing me. Didnt work when I first got the box then worked for months, Then didnt work for a month or so and now is working again. I know enough about setting up and retuning. I will check all wall plates and connections but problems like that dont usually rectify themselves for weeks/months of viewing then fail again
All the while the Winter Hill page reports possible weak signal but nothing specific. I reckon they have been working on a relay or generally messing about with the transmitter as it is on a band due to be relocated
| Fri 12 Jan 2018 0:56:40 #10 |
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