TV signal from Charlbury relay almost gone missing?

Mon 19 Dec 2011, 10:13

Maplin online sells it even cheaper - but yes, you need an installer....

Sat 17 Dec 2011, 21:07

Yup - get a satellite dish, sign up for either Freesat or Sky's equivalent (which doesn't require a regular subscription), and all of your transmitter problems will disappear. We have used Sky's freesat system since we moved to Charlbury, and the only time we have had a problem has been when the dish has been covered by 1) snow or 2) a piece of roofing felt that got blown over it. We have a separate box, as our TV is too old to have built-in digital, but I guess that a modern one should be able to handle it. Screwfix sells the complete kit for £130 but it will, of course, need installing.

Fri 16 Dec 2011, 19:50

Am I the only one still having this problem. Last night I had to watch TV on my computer and tonight I have not been able to get any channels although, now at 19:45, I am getting a bit of a picture on Channel 4 but it keeps coming and going. I too am on the Charlbury transmitter. Is there anything anyone can recommend short of getting a new aerial. I've been quoted £250 by Banbury Aerials. I have a new digital TV and need to recoup expense before I can fork this out. Any suggestions.

Thu 1 Dec 2011, 11:24 (last edited on Thu 1 Dec 2011, 11:26)

Having started this thread on Nov 20, I will now update my comments.
The problem I had has not recurred since that one time, and so far I have not had to carry out another re-scan of the channels as they are all back to exactly the same strength as before, even in some of the horrible misty, damp weather we have had. One re-scan on 20-21 Nov seemed to do it for me.

I am therefore assuming that the whole business was something to do with changes made to the transmitter. Even though I can not receive any more channels, more are listed, but not actually showing anything, than was the case when digital TV eventually arrived.

For the moment my problem is solved; only time will tell if it continues that way.

Wed 30 Nov 2011, 21:30

Yesterday and early this morning my reception was extremely bad. The buzzing was so loud I couldn't hear the volume on the highest setting. The strange thing is, it comes and goes, on each re-edited shot, especially on BBC. Just now, the buzzing got louder and seconds later, much better. Bizarre, but true!

Weeks ago - I rang the digital TV helpline and they blamed it on my old TV. I asked them, how come a month ago, most days were fine, so there can't be an issue with my TV/digital box.

Thank you to those once again, who have bothered to post, that you too are experiencing issues. There must be a technical problem with our transmitter with changes to our weather? I did do some research and I did read that humidity does seem to effect the transmission.

However, I'm just guessing, I really don't have a clue and would love to hear some suggestions, from those wise Charlbury folks, in the know?

Has, anyone made any enquiries? My TV license runs out end of December and I'm contemplating whether it's worth the money?

Wed 30 Nov 2011, 12:31

We too have had problems in Spelsbury. I suspect it's a transmitter fault, or maybe reduced power for maintenance. We lost all BBC channels for several hours, other stations were less affected.

Reception locally is poor at the best of times when txs are put on reduced power the signal is frequently not enough for the TVs to decode the transmissions.

Tue 29 Nov 2011, 23:47

I can see these problems ahead until we get a proper signal instead of this relay nonsense!

Mon 21 Nov 2011, 12:21

I am glad to hear I was not the only one with the problem.

Everything seems to be back to normal at the moment, so I will keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way. I rescanned last night and got back programmes, but this morning they were gone again, so I had to do it all over again.

I did a web search for any known problems with the Charlbury relay, but none were found on any of the sites I know of or could find.

I do hope this is not a symptom of the miserable, misty weather; if so this will be a continuing problem over the late autumn and winter, and I shall start to get angry.

Mon 21 Nov 2011, 11:34

ditto

Sun 20 Nov 2011, 15:21

From around 7am this morning, there was no signal on most channels, and patchy on BBC1. I have also wondered whether the recent constant buzzing, which varies in loudness, has also got something to do with the wet weather.

Sun 20 Nov 2011, 10:55

I switched on the TV this morning at about 8.00am to find no available signal from either of my two aerials that supply freeview TV to our home We get our TV from the Charlbury Relay transmission, which has been great until this morning.

Has anyone else had a problem?

Does anyone know if this a symptom of the miserable misty weather that we have today? It was fine last night up to about 11.00pm.