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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

I have a digital tv with freeview. I recently left Virgin TV and have retuned my telly using autotune, as instructed in the manual. I can only get BBC1, BBC2, ITV, C4,  5 on analogue, no sign of BBC News 24 either. I can get all the other digital Freeview TV and radio channels. Can anyone help or explain? Is this a local thing? Or not?

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Was that a typo?  Do you mean you CAN'T get all the other digital Freeview...?

 

It's difficult to know what the problem is from here, but these are my guesses in order of likleyhood:

 

1.  You have managed to retune properly, but you haven't yet found out how to select a digital channel to watch.

2.  You haven't done the right thing with your telly to tune it.

3.  Your aerial is not right or powerful enough for digital.

4.  You're in some funny little area that digital can't reach.

5.  Something else I can't think of.

 

Read the manual again, press all the buttons and stand on one leg.  :)

Hi, it wasn't a typo. After a bit more retuning, I have all digital freeview channels now, apart from BBC1, BBC2 and News 24. BBC 1 and BBC2 are there as analogue only, not digital. I am on the ladder.
I lost my freeview channels when they put up the mew tower & school at woodberry down. The aerial man said they new buildings are blocking the signal. So now I spend a fortune on virgin and am cross.

In  our experience it's also the cranes - e.g. if the crane on the tallest building is facing the building, then we loose the weaker free view channels! This is happening this evening (no ITV3, 5US etc - no great loss though).

Things were worse a few months ago, maybe because there were a lot of metal supports being used as they created the building frame.

It may improve when the cranes go - which looks like it should be soon.

There's also the digital switchover next spring, when the analogue channels will be switched off, in this area we are "Using the Crystal Palace transmitter, switching over in two stages on 04 Apr 2012 and 18 Apr 2012."- see http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/

You may also need a bigger or higher aerial fitted, or another option is to get a sky-type satellite dish fitted & get Freesat (with no payment beyond setting up the dish & getting the decoder): http://www.freesat.co.uk/

Oh, sorry, I see what you mean now.

 

Are you sure you get BBC3?  That should be in the same multiplex (set of channels) as BBC1, so I would be confused if you get some channels in a multiplex without all of them.

 

Some multiplexes can have a weaker signal than others, so might be missed if your aerial is not good enough to receive them.

 

Singnal strength can change with atmospheric conditions, so it may be worth trying again a few times.

Thank you very much to all you kind and knowledgeable posters.

To clarify: my TV is 18 months old. I used it when living in N16 and got all digital channels, so problem isn't the TV.

 

Biggsy, you are correct, I can't get BBC3. I am missing BBC1, BBC2, BBC 3, News 24 as digital channels.

 

Sounds like it could be the aerial.

 

I read that trying autotune without the aerial plugged in. can help as this clears the memory. When I tried this I then got ITV and C4 as digital, which I hadn't done previously.

Any futher thoughts welcome. Thanks again for all your assistance.

I would try the following product if not doing anything about the actual aerial yet:

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/digital-tv-signal-booster-36576

 

There's a Maplin shop at the bottom of Wood Green High Road - assuming it hasn't been looted!

Update: my neighbours upstairs told me their freeview is basically OK but better in their bedroom (at the back, away from the street side). I tried retuning my TV in my bedroom and voila: perfect tuning of all digital channels. Thanks for all your help.

Glad to hear you've got it sorted.

I suppose that means you're using an indoor aerial if it's better in one room than another?

I'm also using an indoor aerial for digital in one room. We're lucky to get it working at all because often a roof aerial is required for digital. It can depend on the TV/box as well. Some are more sensitive than others.

 

All very interesting. I bought new telly last April, digital, all was ok, could get all channels great but then around June, started to lose signal some of the time.

Some days couldnt get BBC channels, other days I could but not ITV or C4. BBC4 and BBC3 were sometimes ok even if BBC 1 and 2 werent.

It's still very hit and miss- can never get everything! Often have to watch TV on laptop which sort of defeats purpose of having a nice new telly with big screen. Maybe my aerial but if so, why can I sometimes get channels and other days not? 

Signal comes and goes. Any further advice welcome. Have had two people try retuning etc and no change. 

Signal strength changes from time to time due to changes in atmospheric conditions or local interference.  Some channels (or sets of channels) have stronger signals than others, so sometimes you get some and not others.  There may be some other factors too that I don't understand.  These things are weird and complicated!

Try the signal booster I mention above, or get someone to check your aerial if it's a roof or loft aerial.  Often it's just not possible to use an indoor aerial completey successfully - though I'm almsost managing it in one room myself

Also, some TVs and Freeview boxes are more sensitive than others.  Though you won't want to change your TV, you could try watching Freeview via a plug-in box - which might be better (or worse!) than the tuner in your TV.  The fancier boxes also provide the facility of recording onto a hard drive.

Thanks Biggsy. I might have to get aerial looked at first but the box might be the solution.

I thought all this new technology was meant to make life easier. I used to get a good picture with my ancient TV and all the terrestrial channels! But I know that wouldnt have survived the switch off. I bought a digital radio some years ago and that suddenly stopped working one day....  

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