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What Has Happened To Freeview Hi Definition Channels?

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Questman | 17:24 Mon 26th Mar 2018 | Technology
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Since last week I have lost some high definition channels from my Phillips digi boxes and TVs.
I know that there has been a change happening with Freeview but I have retuned all my equipment, both TVs and digi boxes but to no avail.
I can get Channel 101, BBC to 105, Channel 5 on some equipment but not BBC News on 107 nor Al jazeera or RT on 113.

Does any member have the same or similar problems, or solutions?
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In an ideal world, the lengths of the elements on your TV aerial should be precisely measured to 'resonate' perfectly with the incoming frequency. However Freeview channels are transmitted in 'bundles' (called 'multiplexes') with each multiplex using a different frequency. As there are 9 main multiplexes (combining together to provide coverage of all the principal Freeview channels) you theoretically need 9 different TV aerials on the roof of your house.

That's clearly not practical, so we actually use aerials which are only a 'rough match' to each of the different frequencies that they're required to receive. To make things worse though, unless you've had a new aerial installed since the digital changeover, the aerial on your roof was never designed to resonate with any[i of the Freeview frequencies. (Analogue TV was transmitted in an entirely different frequency range). So it's unsurprising if it struggles to do its job properly.

When the digital changeover occurred it was predicted that around a third of all households would need a new aerial. It turned out that far fewer actually did but it should be no surprise that what most people have now got on the roofs of their houses are actually little better at receiving Freeview transmissions than a bent coat hanger might be.

Channels 107 and 113 (among others) are transmitted by the 'COM 7' multiplex, which has now moved frequency in some areas. (That's occurred as part of a Europe-wide telecommunications agreement, designed to free up part of the radio spectrum for use by mobile phone services, etc). Your aerial resonated fairly well with the old frequency but, it seems, very poorly with the new one.

You [i]might] need a new TV aerial but, in your situation, most people get away with simply installing a signal booster, such as this one:
http://www.argos.co.uk/product/5713543
(You'll also need a fly lead to go with it: https://www.screwfix.com/p/fly-lead-coaxial-plug-to-plug-1m/41720 )

Once you've installed a signal booster, carry out a further retune of your devices. (NB: If you're offered a choice between 'adding' channels or 'replacing' them, ensure that you select 'replace'. It's important that you force the device to wipe all existing channel information and to then go through the set-up process as if it was a first-time installation).
Which transmitter are you - I've no problems here (East Midlands, Sandy Heath)

You may need to force your boxes/TVs to do a full frequency scan rather than just re-scanning based on your existing settings - the frequencies used have changed.
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Thanks Buenchico for your details explaination and thanks Sunny-Dave.
Since my previous question I have found a way to "force" my TV to retune to channels 106, 109 & 113 etc but not so with my old Phillips digi boxes. I fear I will need to do a factory reset to achieve this. Don't want to as I will lose all the saved programs which I haven't found time to watch yet.
My roof aerial is less than 2 years old and was installed when I moved to a new home. I'm in North West London NW4 region.
I'm a bit of a TV freak in that I have 4 TVs each with it's own digi box. I may try factory resetting one of them to see what happens.
I'll report back after if anyone is interested.
My BBC News is 231 and RT is 234, can't find Al Jazeera anywhere.
^^^ Those are the correct channels for BBC News and RT in SD (standard definition), Cashier.

Al Jazeera only transmits in HD, so if you've only got a 'Freeview' TV (rather than a 'Freeview HD' one), you won't be able to receive it.

Similarly, you won't be able to receive any other channels using the 'COM7' or 'Com8' multiplexes (which use HD technology), even if those channels are actually SD ones:
https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/multiplexes

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