Freeview Problem - some channels not working

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OnceBitten

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# 251552 30-Jun-2019 20:28

Yesterday I noticed that the 3 Life channel was not working on our freeview box - came up with no signal

So this morning I decided to go through all channels and found that the following channels had no signal

TV3, 3 Life, Bravo, Choice TV, Prime TV, The Edge and some channel Kordia? and one of the chinese channels (and the plus 1 channels for TV3, 3 life, Bravo...)

I was unable to find the manual for the panasonic freeview recorder (about 5-6 years old) so went through the menu on the remote and did an 'auto tune' - but the channels above that had no signal didn't come up and I think it just went from TV1, TV2 (1 and 2) then straight to 6 (TVNZ 1 +1).....

So I decided to do a signal test on some of the channels (see attached)

the ones that were coming up with no signal (above) had poor signal quality but good signal strength

where as TV1 had good quality and strength

I would have thought that if signal quality was an issue then all channels would be affected - not just a few..... and it seems it's the ones associated with Media Works that are the problem maybe??

does anyone know why this is? - all the channels (apart from the edge and duke) were working fine until yesterday

We've not changed the aerial or connections or anything...... This has got me completely stumped

Does anyone know why this might be - or have any possible solutions?

any advice would be appreciated

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# 2267483 30-Jun-2019 20:40

Do a channel re-scan, The Edge TV is leaving Freeview so likely Mediaworks is doing a shuffle

skewt

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# 2267492 30-Jun-2019 20:51

Could be getting some interference in the higher frequency range

Where are you located? Any new 4G towers etc popped up?

OnceBitten

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# 2267494 30-Jun-2019 20:54

skewt: Could be getting some interference in the higher frequency range

Where are you located? Any new 4G towers etc popped up?

We're in Castor Bay on the Nth Shore - I've got no idea about any new 4G towers in our area.... wouldn't know where to find out either

I'll try a channel rescan later and see if that does anything

Jase2985

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# 2267496 30-Jun-2019 20:56

sounds like you lost a MUX

what transmitter are you pointing at?

OnceBitten

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# 2267499 30-Jun-2019 21:00

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Jase2985:

sounds like you lost a MUX

what transmitter are you pointing at?

sorry - I've got no idea what MUX is and no idea what transmitter we are pointing at

The only transmitter on the Shore I know of is the one on East coast road up by pine hill

skewt

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# 2267502 30-Jun-2019 21:04

Looks like you lost UHF30+ ?

https://www.rsm.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/documents/ab6e11fc39/digital-television-channel-usage-table.pdf

skewt

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# 2267503 30-Jun-2019 21:06

You haven’t changed aerials but have you had a look to make sure it hasn’t moved in the wind?

Jase2985

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# 2267513 30-Jun-2019 21:15

MUX = multiplexer, its what the transmitter used to multiplex signals to send them out, going off what channels you have lost it could be an issue on the transmitter side

https://matchmaster.net.nz/EnterRequest.aspx

you can check out what you could be connected to there.

Spyware

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# 2267525 30-Jun-2019 21:53

6/10 for TVNZ mux is not all that healthy. Quality of all muxes would typically be 10/10. Antenna problem 100%.

OnceBitten

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# 2267526 30-Jun-2019 22:00

skewt: Looks like you lost UHF30+ ?

https://www.rsm.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/documents/ab6e11fc39/digital-television-channel-usage-table.pdf

ok - sorry I've got no idea how to read that PDF or what that information means

are you able to translate it into laymans terms?

we've not had any wind strong enough here to mover the aerial and as I mentioned in an earlier thread 2-3 months ago? we have a splitter near the roof and one side goes to our place and one side goes to the neighbours

my wife spoke to the neighbours earlier today and they never said anything about their freeview TV

Spyware

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# 2267599 1-Jul-2019 06:26

Problem should continue once its got to this stage. I'll look forward to your next thread when you've lost all reception.

Note: Transmissions you are showing are from Waiatarua. Given you retuned you most likely have no Pinehill reception at all.

OnceBitten

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# 2267640 1-Jul-2019 08:47

Spyware:

Problem should continue once its got to this stage. I'll look forward to your next thread when you've lost all reception.

Note: Transmissions you are showing are from Waiatarua. Given you retuned you most likely have no Pinehill reception at all.

ok so what's the solution - get someone out to look at the aerial and connections?

it was all working fine last week and we've had no strong wind or anything to knock / change the aerial - but I'll stand at the back of the garden to see if the aerial has moved at all or looks different

thanks

Rikkitic

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# 2267655 1-Jul-2019 09:17

Different muxes operate at different frequencies and can be affected in different ways by changes in reception characteristics. Digital TV tends to be an all or nothing proposition. Either you have perfect reception or none at all. If your reception has become marginal, some muxes might still seem okay while others have fallen just below the threshold. If nothing has changed but your reception has suddenly gone downhill, I would first look for any possible bad connections at any point from the antenna itself right down to the TV. When I checked my own antenna awhile back, the balun (part of the antenna connector) had completely rusted. If you have a splitter, that could be a source of trouble, or even just the coax plug. Things tend to get touchy at UHF frequencies.

I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage

OnceBitten

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# 2268014 1-Jul-2019 21:21

ok I had a look at the aerial this evening and took a couple of photos - and the one attached is the best one

This is from the back of the house looking south..... the only thing I noticed is to the right of the photo there appears to be a piece of the aerial lying on the roof that has come off from the top of the aerial by the looks of it.

I don't know if the piece of aerial coming off has caused the problems or not

next time I see the neighbours I will ask them if their TV reception is ok or if they are having any issues - if so it looks like we'll have to call their landlord and go halves in getting someone out to look at / fix the problem

OnceBitten

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# 2268023 1-Jul-2019 21:34

here is a photo of the splitter by the roof - I am assuming this is the UHF splitter

I had to stand on a ladder and zoom in to get this photo - as you can see one side goes to our place and one goes to the neighbours and there is also the sky aerial connection - one side goes to our place and one to the neighbours, although they have confirmed they only use Freeview

and this is where the cables enter the house - there are 3 cables, but one stops at the bottom and doesn't go through into the house.... I've got no idea what that one is or was, but the 2 that go through into the house are Sky and UHF

these are on the 2nd storey of the house and very hard to reach without an industrial sized ladder and someone who is very steady on one (I'm not good with heights)

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