Question Reason for "London" Freeview?

Shoxt3r

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Hi all,

Have just moved house from Faversham to Sittingbourne in Kent. In Faversham we used to get BBC Kent news and services using both terrestrial and the new digital signal but since only moving around 6 miles closer to London the only option is to get BBC London and we're not sure why? I've tried multiple times to retune and although the box gives the option to choose Sussex, Kent or London as our closest location, this choice does not have any bearing on the services we receive, no matter what we choose.

Is this down to our location or a problem with our Freeview box/service? Is there any way to rectify this issue ourselves without resorting to getting someone in to look at it or getting another service like FreeSat or Sky (i.e. still getting Freeview for free!)?

Cheers,

Shoxt3r
 
Predictions for a Post Office postcode in your area: Coverage Checker - Detailed View Change the addres to your own to get accurate predictions of your reception.

Choosing Kent should make the receiver use Bluebell Hill, Sussex use Dover (probably) and London use Crystal Palace... why it doesn't may be down to poor quality reception on those (although it does see them) perhaps?

Check for channels stored in the 800s where you might find the wanted regional BBC and ITV variants have been placed?

Try a manual tune of only the Bluebell Hill frequencies? As it's probable that your aerial is pointing to Crystal Palace. However, if it is a group A aerial for CP then it may not work dreadfully well at the higher frequencies for Bluebell Hill and might explain why London keeps being defaulted to if Bluebell Hill is weak or full or errors.
 
Hi Rodders,

Thanks for the reply.
I used the Coverage Checker and came out with the following:
upload_2015-10-19_12-42-15.png


So weirdly we should be getting Dover which I would guess uses the Kent services. I'll try giving it a manual retune when I get home.

Also, looking at the aerial (which is attached to the outside of our shared chimney stack with next door) it seems that it's pointing west, i.e. towards London - could that be part of the issue?

Cheers,

Shoxt3r
 
Dover was the spectrum planners' <expected preferred source> for analogue/before DSO... the numbers with the coloured bands will determine which transmitter(s) are actually the 'best' for predicted reception.

The transmitter used in any location might differ from the prediction by user choice (e.g. "I want London") or local obstructions (e.g. tall trees or a taller building blocking signals) or because an aerial installer was just lazy and never bothered to measure all the signals available.

Dover has fewer HD muxes so a restricted service and would need a new antenna (aerial) installing - any new aerial should be wideband and therefore could receive from any of the listed transmitters. But Dover would not be my choice based on the predictions for the postcode I gave. (It could well be different for you of course.)

Bluebell Hill (BBH) has the same 8 mux services as CP and is in a very similar pointing direction to CP (256 cf 276 for you... well within any aerial's acceptance beam angle). Both Dover and BBH are Meridian ITV and BBC SouthEast news I believe.
Have you checked the 800s and/or tried manual tuning / adding channels from Bluebell yet? What signal strength and quality figures does your receiver show for both CP and BBH muxes? These may be helpful in further diagnosis.

BTW I suspect you meant you had Suffolk as a choice when you wrote Sussex - which is Anglia ITV/BBC Look East from Sudbury/Rouncefall.
 
Wow, great, thanks for the detailed feedback!
Unfortunately having looked for the "800" channels last night it doesn't appear we have any - only the radio channels and then it drops off. I've also looked at the menus of my Bush freeview box (a very basic one, shown here:Bush BU11FVZS2 Twin Scart LOW Energy Freeview Digital SET TOP BOX Black | eBay) and none of them have an option for menu tuning; only an initial set up one and the ability to re-order the channels we've already scanned for.

Any more thoughts? And sorry yes, I though Sussex didn't sound correct when I typed it - Suffolk is correct :)

Cheers,

Shoxt3r
 
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http://www.argos-support.co.uk/ctrl-data/uploads/files/5322068.pdf is the manual for it and there is no obvious manual tune option... so you are stuck with London by it's poor design: in theory choosing Kent should get you what you want! {I assume you have tried 'first time install' and have also left it disconnected from the power unit for a good time to ensure it's reset fully?}
You might try calling the Bush Helpline Technical?? (check synoto0870 for an alternative to the 0845 number).

It's possible that starting the retune process with the aerial unplugged until about 1/3 of the way through may make the box find a Bluebell Hill frequency first and miss out CP... but it could be trial and error to get the right moment to reconnect the aerial. (You may end up with too few channels stored)

Or buy a different box (ensuring it has a manual tune option)? Check out charity shops or other second-hand places if needs be?

It's an old DVB-T SD-only box... replace with a decent DVB-T2 HD capable one - or better a recorder if you can afford it? In the not too distant future we will be migrating to DVB-T2 so you will be ready for that.
 
Yeah, originally I didn't have any problems when I was back in Devon as we only had one transmitter to my knowledge, at least in the local area. I've tried first time install multiple times without joy and each evening we turn it off anyway. Thanks for the advice about calling the helpline!

I'll give the retune/unplugging combination a go as a last resort but like you say ultimately I think we need a better box anyway - maybe I can tempt my girlfriend to spend her free, newly acquired Currys giftcard on a new box!

To be honest though I think eventually I'll be replacing the "HD Ready" TV we've got with one that has built-in Freeview which will hopefully mean we won't have these problems. My original thought with built-in Freeview was that it was just something else to go wrong and so decided to go for separates - this was way back in 2007, however.

EDIT:
Confusingly Currys have two boxes which may be of use?

Freeview?
MANHATTAN HD-T2 Freeview HD Box

Freesat?
MANHATTAN Plaza HD-S2 Freesat HD Box
 
Some of the crappier freeview boxes demonstrate a complete lack of intelligence when they have visibility of more than one transmitter.

The better ones will allow you to override by region, signal strength, or even manually pick and choose channels from all those available.

If you're going to be replacing the TV in the near future, there's not much point in buying another freeview box at this point though?
 
Haha yeah it would appear so! I had a cheaper one before and it gave more options than this Bush - all dependent on the software inside I guess. On the other side when Freeview first became available in Devon I bought my parents a Sony box and it was perfect (for about 3-4 years then it failed).

Yeah I'm still debating whether to get a TV, it could be in the next 6 months or it could be another 2-3 years really.

If I do decide to replace the box would I be able to get the Freesat box or should I just stick with Freeview?
 
Have you already got a satellite dish?

The channel lineup between freeview and freesat has some subtle but important differences - especially with HD stuff. I'd compare the two channel listings and see which one suits you best.
 
I'd recommend investing in a modern HD PVR so you can record and watch stuff at your convenience. Your HD ready TV will work very well with such a device - probably very well indeed and allow you to put off buying a new TV longer.

Freesat - Subscription free HD Satellite TV through a Digital Box needs a dish and lnb for its signals... twin/quad for a PVR. But the boxes have tended to be a bit more expensive than... Freeview | Home If you have the connections available now freesat would be a reasonable choice.

Freeview will work with your existing aerial... and will probably allow either/both regions to be picked up (unless something very odd is going on with that aerial). I'd certainly not recommend paying money to change the aerial to point elsewhere (Dover) - unless your home is the only one pointing towards London in the locality!

YouView boxes are Freeview based devices that also allow catchup via an internet connection. {You don't have to have BT or Talk Talk as ISP, but a generous/unlimited data use is wise.} They can often be picked up cheaply second hand as plain receivers (and also PVRs).
 

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