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Freeview retuning from Sept 30th

23 replies

LIZS · 27/09/2009 12:22

Why do we keep seeing ads telling us to retuen the box on or after Sept 30th. Is it a national thing or just regional as part of the switchover. Will the channels for which we don't currently receive a strong enough signal suddenly be ok ?

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LIZS · 27/09/2009 12:41

Just found this . Can't see my mum managing it on her own though [sigh]

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WebDude · 27/09/2009 12:43

When the analogue transmitters are off they are changing some of the digital channels (as there will be new gaps in the 'busy' channels) and from the info I saw about Winter Hill (Granada area) pushing the power up from 10 KW to 50 KW (the analogue transmitters run at 500 KW for BBC1/2/ITV/C4 {and lower for Five on both analogue and digital at present}).

Online there's a postcode checker which should explain what changes take place where you are. It should mean improvements for most people.

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WebDude · 27/09/2009 12:50

Well spotted - seems your link is the correct one (it's difficult to tell, because different regions are changing and their dates overlap - I've no TV at present so would not have seen the messages as my Freeview box is in the garage for use later).

On the link I gave, it says:

28/10/09 "BBC2 analogue is switched off. You will need to re-tune your digital equipment to pick up the available channels."

25/11/09 "The remaining analogue channels are switched off. You will need to re-tune your digital equipment again to pick up additional channels."

So looks like some people will have to retune their Freeview box several times, some now, some may have a longer gap than people in Granada, as the switchover goes on into 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Lots of filthy lucre for Sky, no doubt, as it will be a reason many families finally switch! (Unless they go the FreeSat route, as I'm thinking of doing, for a chance to see High Def TV.)

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edam · 27/09/2009 12:53

Just more faffing about. Last time we retuned our TV, all the channels went haywire - Beeb 2 was on 13, Ch 4 ended up on 41 or something and we never found Ch5 (although that's because we never watch it, but I do like to check occasionally just in case).

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TimeForMe · 27/09/2009 13:11

According to an ad in today's paper (sunday mirror)it has to do with freeview getting ready for the change over and it's not a case of a simple retune we have to restore to factory settings.

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WebDude · 27/09/2009 13:51

edam perhaps you are in a fringe area - here I'm on the edge of Central and Granada (and HTV though rarely have I seen much more than 'snow' when looking for signals, when I had a TV).

Method I used to ensure I only got the Granada transmitter was to unplug the aerial from Freeview box while it scanned the low numbered channels (up to about 40) and then plugged in aerial.

If I didn't do that it would show BBC1/2/ITV etc at poorer quality from Central, and then have 'duplicate' copies for BBC1/2/ITV with channel numbers over 800 (to keep them separate).

I just found it easier to force the box to get the Granada ones first and then go back for the ones from Central (just in case I was watching the Snooker and the Granada area BBC transmission went down, so I could switch to the 800s copy and still see something going on!)

TimeForMe probably easier to say 'go back to factory settings' because otherwise the box would know where it used to get BBC and ITV etc, and simply 'add' the 'new' stations on the new transmitted channels, giving them a bunch of different numbers (in the 800s) on the Freeview box, to really confuse people! EG user finds nothing on '3' or whatever, but local ITV news on '803' instead of '3'.

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whomovedmychocolate · 27/09/2009 14:02

Am I the only person who has to retune every eight weeks or so anyway?

Wouldn't bloody surprise me to find I was actually. They keep moving the signals! We have no reception at all when it rains, no analogue and can't get satellite or cable because we live in a listed building in a conservation area miles from anywhere. We are officially banjaxed

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LIZS · 27/09/2009 14:04

We actually receive BBC 1,2 3, Cbbc and news 24 only when the weather is dodgy in the evening atm. I'm hoping this might sort it out! Of course it could just be the cr@p Argos basic box - our old ALBA one never had that problem.

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whomovedmychocolate · 27/09/2009 14:12

We don't have a box, we have a Sony Trinitron telly! It has it built in. But when it rains or the wind blows or even a lorry goes up the road, we lose signal

I'm told it might get better when they turn off the analogue signal but it may also get worse and there is no way of predicting it

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edam · 27/09/2009 15:20

web, wouldn't have thought so, we are not far outside the M25 and get London programmes from Beeb and ITV. (Maybe the cut-off point between London and the next TV region is is near us, though? No idea.)

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foxinsocks · 27/09/2009 15:25

my digital signal has improved so much I can actually get digital radio in the kitchen (for the first time ever)

was talking about this the other day with some engineers. They were saying how, as they turn the analogue system off, the digital signal will become stronger. We managed to tune into digital radio the whole way back from Cornwall this time (with a portable dig radio in the car) and that's the first time we've been able to do that. I THINK (and someone from the SW will be able to confirm) that parts of it have already been switched over (or about to be) which is why the signal is so strong down there.

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WebDude · 27/09/2009 19:22

South-West and Borders (Cumbria/S Scotland) are shown as complete on the map on that Digital UK site www.digitaluk.co.uk/whendo_iswitch/

Sky is offering deals for Granada, Wales and people served by transmitter group in one part of the South-West www.sky.com/granada and www.sky.com/wales have small print that says their free box deal only applies in those three areas.

(NB Box free, but minimum monthly rental of 25.50 for a year, and installation cost of 30 quid, and presumably when VAT goes back to 17.5 that'll be passed on.)

Guess they will do leaflets in other areas over the next few years. First offer was for box at 49.99 I think. Only latest one offers boxes (normal and HD) for free.

edam That website indicates whether other signals are likely to be found. Clearly there's a chance for you to get Anglia, Central, or Meridian (if you are to the south/west)

foxinsocks the radio is completely different set of frequencies, but might have had some work done to improve DAB in the area you drove, as there seem to be various amounts of radio transmitter work going on as well as the TV transmitter work (often in similar locations, hilltops etc)

LIZS - just wondered whether that postcode checker thing shows you should be able to get more signals? They have a link with the name of the transmitter that serves an area, and then there may be a link saying alternative transmitters.

wmmc Sorry, no idea if that TV is just 'fussy' but dooyoo.co.uk might have comments from other owners. Is there no analogue because of location such as South West (your face on profile made me think that!) or Borders ? Or just surrounded by trees/ hills and poor signals as a result ?

I just checked the situation for The Wrekin (Central) and Winter Hill (Granada). Those are two "main" transmitter sites, with other chains of repeaters fed from them.

Two of the (several) changes spread over a number of weeks will be adjustments to transmitter channel numbers but more will change the directions of aerials, to cover different areas (towns), so all is not 'lost' as far as the situation for those currently getting a fraction of the full set of channels.

Of course some of the channels may not be wanted (Television X, Babestation, Russia Today !) and others might be desperately wanted but simply not in range. I've not seen figures for 'complete coverage' as far as Freeview, but FreeSat would go higher - only a small number of places are going to have hills and trees or other buildings which would be well above the home and affect a satellite signal.

Understood that there'd be problems with a listed building, but there have been garden-level satellite dishes available for years, and if you want to have the fuller range of channels - perhaps a hundred useful ones, compared with under 50, and in some cases under a dozen - then an outdoor dish not in view of the street, and a FreeSat box, might be a solution.

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WebDude · 27/09/2009 19:25

Rats that web link got messed up - maybe try this one for the 'When Do I Switch' section for postcode check and transmitter info.

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LIZS · 30/09/2009 08:36

Bump - today's the day !

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chrysanthamumm · 01/10/2009 11:09

Hi - okay so I retuned (I think - followed instructions on bbc.co.uk and all seemed to go through okay) but I still just got the message to retune when I switched the freeview box back on. Anybody else getting this - does it mean it didn't work? Everything still seems to be in the right place including all impt CBeebies!

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busybutterfly · 01/10/2009 12:53

edam we had exactly the same problem with channels being all over the place but when I retuned yesterday they all went back to the right order! Hurrah!

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friendly · 06/10/2009 21:56

Our signal for itv channels went bad about a week before the retune. Retuned and now we don't have ITV1 and 2 Channel 4 and 5. Why is this? Does anyone have an idea please?

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friendly · 06/10/2009 21:59

Just checked the website for switching and it said 2012 for me in Brighton. Maybe I shouldn't have retuned! Although all the ITV channels were breaking up a week or so before the great retune.

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LIZS · 06/10/2009 21:59

try again friendly , I lost all those at first attempt then recovered them .

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friendly · 06/10/2009 22:30

Thank you. Off to bed now but will try tomorrow.

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WebDude · 06/10/2009 23:00

friendly - the change on 30th September was for everyone...

Brighton eh, I lived in Portslade for quite a long time!

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friendly · 07/10/2009 13:18

Thanks again. retuned this morning and everything back and in the right order. Fantastic! Webdude - just been to the petshop in Portslade!

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WebDude · 07/10/2009 22:56

Ummmm... 20 years since I lived there, and 12 years since last visit (for brother's funeral) so sadly don't know many of the possible remaining shops...

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