Missing Freeview Channels

[whurules]

I am absolutely at the end of my tether and wondered if anyone could help me,i am missing some channels mainly off the c28 frequency ,an aeriel man has been and changed the aeriel ,i think we have access to more than one mast so was advised to manual tune ,did that with no difference .we are in cumbria with caldbeck mast and have totally run ouf of ideas cant think of anything else go try,so any other suggestions gratefully received

[Buenchico]

Your aerial fitter seems to have replaced one aerial with poor 'resonance' on 529.8Mhz with another one with the same problem. (Theoretically you need a different aerial for every frequency you need to receive. That's clearly not possible, so all aerials provide only a 'rough match' to incoming frequencies and are better at receiving some than others).

The multiplex [= 'bundle of channels'] on 529.8Mhz contains E4, ITV, ITV+1, ITV2, Channel 4, Channel 4+1 and Channel 5 so it's likely to be those channels which are giving you a problem. (Interestingly, you get ITV from Border but ITV+1 from Yorkshire).

A simple aerial booster should fix your problem. Most major supermarkets sell them but this one (although slightly dearer) offers better 'gain', so it's what I'd go for:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/1-way-aerial-amplifier-rt67x
(Indeed, it's what I use myself!)

[whurules]

Thank you for your help, Caldbeck transmits on uhf channel 25,28,30,23,26, and 29 but when we scan it only picks up stations on channel 25 and 23 despite the new aerial which is a PHILEX 48 ELEMENT? Said to be the best? any further suggestions please? we already have a booster fitted and the signal strength is very good.

[Buenchico]

Try a rescan with the aerial disconnected. (That should clear the list, so you can start afresh). Then switch off all electrical appliances which might possibly be a source of interference (such as a Sky box, games console, PC, printer, etc, etc). Then re-insert the aerial and scan again.

[whurules]

Will give your suggestions a try, thank you very much for your help.

[Buenchico]

Just a thought:
Only a cowboy aerial installer would fit a new Freeview aerial without changing the cabling as well. So, have you actually got decent quality co-ax between your aerial and your TV? If not, it could well be the cause of your problem.

[Buenchico]

A cowboy aerial fitter uses existing cable, roughly lines up the aerial by looking at those on neighbouring properties and gets the householder to check a few channels. To be fair, that probably works perfectly well on over 95% of installations (which is how they stay in business) but it's far from 'professional'.

A decent aerial fitter will first strip out the old cable and put in a good-quality replacement. Then he'll use a compass to initially line up the new aerial, followed by using a signal strength meter to get precise alignment. Finally he'll spend quite some time checking that the TV set receives all channels (taking particular care to ensure that he's checked on the signals from all of the multiplexes broadcast from the relevant transmitter).

I've no figures to prove my conjecture but I'd estimate that well over 70% of aerial fitters fall into the 'cowboy' category. Using a CAI member greatly increases your chance of getting the job done properly:
http://www.cai.org.uk/members/member-search