Channel 4 Freeview Problem

[woody123]

I have a Philips Freeview box which has given excellent service for around 18 months.Recently I've had a problem with the picture freezing or"blocking".It only affects Channel 4,Film 4 and ITV1.ITV1 suffers most of the time while CH 4 and Film 4 only seem to suffer from around 1.30 to 6 in the afternoon,usually when I'm trying to record a Randolph Scott that isn't in my collection.

Anyone else having/had the same problem? I don't want to fork out for a new box if it's just down to poor transmission quality.

[GoggleboxUK]

Are you using a shared aerial? These are becoming more commonplace since the digital switchover occured and are prone to needing attention to the signal amplifier within the main control box.



This kind of problem occurs when multiple outputs occur which may explain why you're having problems at specifically peak viewing times.

[Nick Dando]

I've always found that picture breakup is rife with digital. Anything that is fast moving and small causes all sorts of problems - grasses or reeds in the wind, mist and fog. Perhaps it will improve when the transmitters are switched up to full strength, though I doubt it.



I did find an improvement when I changed from a standalone Pioneer decoder to an integrated Panasonic hard disk/DVD/VHS combination, but there are still problems with the recent Ray Mears' programmes on ITV1. Channel 4 has always been weak, right from when I started with digital in Shropshire. I'm now in the East Midlands/Anglia/Yorkshire area and I've chosen to go with East Midlands, as I feel it serves me better finding out what happens in Leicester and Derby rather than Norwich.



Perhaps the trouble with Woody's reception is caused by the engineers testing the systems when they think not many people are watching?



Nick

[Arfur Teacake]

This week has been pretty bad for weather interference, I lost a couple of my favourite FM wireless stations too but they have come back now.

[Number Six]

name='Arfur Teacake' timestamp='1287743854' post='485059']

This week has been pretty bad for weather interference, I lost a couple of my favourite FM wireless stations too but they have come back now.

Weather certainly seems to affect my reception, especially rain. And lorries thundering past!!

[Dame Starry]

I've had less problems since I ditched my stand-alone Hitachi receiver and acquired a TV and recorder with built-in Freeview+. My biggest problem was speech and picture regularly going out of sync - rectified by changing channels.



I only have an indoor digital aerial - but I'm on my second one as the booster went on my first within 2 years. After one enforced retune, I found that I had to adjust and re-site the aerial.

Outside factors including the weather cause the picture to pixelate and I have found that the ITV and C4 channels are always the first to be affected where I live (Middlesex/Surrey borders) - they seem to have the weakest signal.



Check on the Freeview Website which will give you the latest informationfor your postcode - even down to the transmitter that serves you.

[woody123]

Thanks for the replies.I know about the weather factor as I used to have big problems with Sky if we had heavy rain,thunder or two sparrows flying in close formation.The current problem seems to be unaffected by weather.I'm not using a shared aeriel.The idea that it may be the broadcasters monkeying with the techy stuff at their end could possibly be a part of the problem.I'll just have to hope that CH4 repeats some of the old westerns I've missed.

[Juniper]

Has any one come across the problem of no channels appearing at all? I just bought a new digital set box (after the old died) and it is missing half the stations - for instance it jumps from BBC2 to BBC3. The previous set was fine.

[batman]

Sounds like it needs re-programming.

[dvdman]

Sounds like it needs re-programming.

i agree there batman