Freeview box problems since analogue switchover started

P

Penners

Member
My Satellite Setup
Humax Foxsat HDR, 3 Freeview boxes, Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit) laptop
My Location
Suffolk UK
Our area (Tacolneston transmitter, Norfolk) is in the midst of the digital TV switchover. Analogue BBC2 was switched off on the 9th November and the rest of the channels are set for 23rd November.

As instructed by the publicity material, I re-tuned our three Freeview boxes on the 9th. Since then the boxes have been nothing but trouble.

When switched off standby, one of the boxes always shows a report, "Searching for software update". The progress bar gets about a quarter of the way across then just freezes (I've left it for as much as half an hour without seeing any further progress).

All the boxes keep randomly reporting "no signal" on certain channels, for a few minutes, then returning to normal.

One of the boxes is updating the electronic programme guide on a daily basis.

I should add that our aerial is only a couple of years old. I split the signal three ways to the three boxes, and up until recently this hasn't been a problem. We never turn the Freeview boxes off - just put them on standby. The three boxes are all cheap supermarket products with obscure brand names.

Is this all just an inevitable part of the switchover process? I understand that the digital signal will at some point be boosted significantly - has this already happened, or will it happen after the final analogue channels have been switched off?

Any general advice on this topics would be very much appreciated.
 
There is high pressure over the southern part of the UK atm - you may be getting co channel interference causing varying signal strengths.
 
Thanks Analoguesat. So do you think the fact that my problems started on the 9th November (the first day of this region's switchover process) is purely coincidental?
 
It could be many things, your re-scan may have pulled in signals from another nearby transmitter which whilst they are not strong enough for solid reception, may be just strong enough to scan. Both Sudbury and Sandy Heath (both fully switched) have multiplexes which would scan before the Tacolneston frequencies.
 
Thanks for that, rolfw. Is there anything I can do about that, in order to improve my own situation?
 
Pull the aerial lead out and let the box scan about half way before plugging it back in again. You might have to try it a few times.

Or just wait a few days until the pressure starts dropping and the lift conditions will dissipate..
 
Thanks Analoguesat. Given that every scan takes a few minutes for the actual scan, but then a good ten minutes to update the EPG, I think I'll follow your second suggestion and wait!

A friend who lives in the West Country, where they've already been through the digital switchover process, has told me that some older Freeview boxes have shown themselves to be unsatisfactory for reception nowadays. As all three of our boxes are about 5 years old (and were dirt cheap when I bought them), do you think I should be considering replacing them?
 
Bearing in mind that Freeview boxes can be bought for less than £20 at a couple of major supermarkets, may be a worth a try, but borrowing one from a neighbour would perhaps be a better idea. You can of course add a band pass filter to prevent the boxes scanning the lower frequency multiplexes, if that turns out to be the problem.

You could spend money on trial and error investigation, could be cheaper in the long run to call in a local experienced aerial guy to assess the situation.
 
Leave it a few days and see if things improve with the atmospheric conditions. No point junking them if its just atmospheric conditions causing the problem!!

Do a google search for your make & model to see if there are known problems with them as DSO advances.

I have to admit I gave up with DTT when the Borders went fully digital 3 years ago - we are satellite only now, I took the (damaged) aerial down after the analogue channels were turned off.
 
"rolfw" said:
You can of course add a band pass filter to prevent the boxes scanning the lower frequency multiplexes, if that turns out to be the problem
Click to expand...

Thanks for that suggestion. At my abysmal level of technical knowledge I'd probably find it easier to invent cold fusion!
 
"Analoguesat" said:
Do a google search for your make & model to see if there are known problems with them as DSO advances.
Click to expand...
Good idea, although I'm not confident that I shall find them. They're very obscure brands. However, I'll certainly give it a go, thanks.
 
Whereabouts are you in Suffolk Penners?
 
Penners said:
Thanks for that suggestion. At my abysmal level of technical knowledge I'd probably find it easier to invent cold fusion!
Click to expand...

A bandpass is simply a filter that blocks out certain frequencies. Because the tv transmitter frequencies operate in different blocks you can get little plug in units to eliminate certain blocks if they cause problems.

A very simple situation.

Suppose your tv transmitter transmits one multiples of digital channels on channel 52 55 & 58. But there is a little bit of signal present from an adjacent transmitter on channel 21 24 & 27. If you scan the box you will probably find it puts the channels from the weak transmitter on the main box numbers & the duplicate strong ones in the 800's if it doesnt discard them completely.

Putting something like a 35 - 68 (Group E) bandpass filter in will filter out the troublesome multiplexes, allowing the box to just scan the correct channels :)

If this proves to be the problem a good tv installer will be able to advise what you need.
 
That's really useful advice. Thanks Analoguesat.
 
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