Comments on: Freeview in the North West goes Welsh

By: john harris

john harris — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:27:11 +0000

i dont see what the problem is you people in england should be happy to recieve our wonderfull welsh channels.we in north wales have had your channels for years.And you see its not only an english problem we have been trying to get rid of the english channels for years but we have both and can see no problems please less! of this anti welsh tv rubbish iam reading on the forum we can read english??thanks john north wales!

By: Chris & Val

Chris & Val — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:42:47 +0000

We live in Chester and are absolutely pi**ed off with having the Welsh channels override the North West ones. our main TV (Phillips,in the lounge) recieves NW channels ok but to view them we have had to set up a “favourites” section. The one in the kitchen (Goodmans) will get NW channels, but the screen regularly freezes and we lose the volume. It’s the same with the ones in the bedrooms (Bush & Matsui).The idea of not paying our licence fee until this is sorted seems like a good one to us. Also, why don’t “radioandtelly.co.uk” start a petition to show just how many people this really affects.

By: martin anthony davies

martin anthony davies — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:00:17 +0000

Well i have only just come across! this rubbish!( We’re getting a number of reports that Freeview viewers in North West of England have lost their regional programmes after rescanning their set-top boxes. BBC North West has been replaced with Welsh regional programmes.) you people sound like a right bunch of little englander’s so whats the problem you are getting bbc 1&2wales itv wales plus s4c for years we have recieved english tv programes but unlike you bunch of tosser’s we dont make a fuss! You know, there’s nothing more interesting than seeing a bunch of racists getting cheesed off! over not being able to pick up!some english crap local tv programes.dont know if you know this but bbc 1 & 2 and itv 1 wales transmit their programes in english only s4c transmits in welsh thats all i got to say to you racists tossers across the border and thats from a very angry welshman!!!!!!!

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:00:40 +0000

Fed -up… an not a welsh speaker – I don’t need to be, Liverpool doesn’t have that many. Do the ‘powers that be’ realise that people will move away from the ITV channels in favour of local news elsewhere thereby hitting the already scarce viewing figures and then the advertising income? I am not interested if such and such a company is having a sale in Swansea!! Soon such and such company may realise that!!

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:12:31 +0000

The answer to Anonymous’ question is …The issue will not be resolved. My so who worked for the BBC says that when all regions have gone over to digital, the signal strengths will be turned up. This wont solve the problem but we can then all go out and buy new TV’s and PVR’s which will boost the economy and give the government more tax. Freeview and economic problems both solved at a stroke.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:54:14 +0000

WHEN IS THIS ISSUE GOING TO BE RESOLVED?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:37:21 +0000

I have a Philips tv with built in freeview and it makes very little difference to rescan the channels. They don't appear to be locked after a scan and I can come back to BBc1 for example, without having turned the set off and its suddenly gone to BBC1 Wales. Why can't you turn down the Welsh transmittor power gradually until the best compromise is reached. I live in Oldham by the way (on the Yorkshire borser!) and I don't speak Welsh.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:43:02 +0000

We live near Chester and have been receiving freeview channels without any problems for a couple of years. We use the small dongle devices that connect direct into the scart sockets with a little plug-in device that links with the remote control.
Everything has worked trouble free – until now when everything has become a nightmare !!!
Not only do we get Welsh (and occasionally Midlands) TV but the quality is rubbish, pixellation and break-up all over the place + our devices don't seem to be able to handle channels in the 800 range.
Why couldn't they leave things be ??? They'd probably wake up if we all stopped paying our licence fee !!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:54:57 +0000

The taxi driver in Flint was so right.

My deepest sympathies go out to the good people of North West England.

Please spare a thought for the 80% + English-speaking majority in Wales. We get nationalist nonsense rammed down our throats every day. All funded by the generous British taxpayer.

Thank goodness for BBC West.

By: Hicky

Hicky — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:39:04 +0000

Did anyone see BBC Northwest earlier this week, when a Blackpool hotel-owner was interviewed? She was having problems with the Digital Switchover in her 17-bedroom hotel. I would be really grateful if anyone could help me.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:22:18 +0000

I am in Birkenhead, and have several freeview receivers all attached to the same aerial, I thought that I would let you know of my switchover problems, in case they are usefull to anyone else. I am using a Sony SVR-S500 PVR and it has been failing to auto-scan correctly since the switchover started and is still doing so when used normally (see later in post for solution). I also use a Panasonic DMR-EX77EB DVD recorder which has re-tuned perfectly every time since the switchover, so my problems seem to be down to problems with the Sony Box.
The Sony box has shown different problems at diiferent times during the digital switchover initially picking up BBC1 and 2 welsh versions, and later it has been picking up S4C and losing several other channels which show up in the channel list, but have no picture or sound.
I have noticed on the suto-scan (there appears to be no manual setup option), that since the switchover the scan finds 10 frequencies instead of the previous 5 frequencies. The box appears to be selecting the wrong channels out of the 2 sets, and this gives me missing or very weak channels. I have found that if I remove the aerial cable at the opposite end from the Sony PVR (wall / signal amplifier end) and then perform the auto-scan I can get the autoscan to only find 5 frequencies (The strongest I presume) and that these contain the correct channels with strong signals (when the aerial is plugged back in). This involves moving the detached aerial cable end about closer or further from the socket to alter the number of frequencies fournd when autoscanning untill it finds 5 frequencies, but when the scan completes and the aerial is re-connected the reception is strong and all of the major channels are correctly arranged. (I do not know if all of the channels are there but all of the ones I watch are there and stable). Does anyone know if Sony are going to issue a firmware fix. Sorry for the long post.

Paul

By: Mike in Widnes

Mike in Widnes — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:41:23 +0000

I have found a solution to this problem which has worked 100% for me. I have found a set top box which will find the correct winterhill transmissions and put them in the correct slots (very important for me as I use my STB with a TiVo)The STB I now use is an Astratec which was originally marketed by Tesco but is no longer sold. There are however plenty for sale on Ebay at around £10. An added advantage is that this STB has a topup card slot for Setanta sports etc.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:47:03 +0000

There is lots of information on MANUAL TUNING on the digital uk website. And theirs is the best postcode checker to use with the fullest info. If you click on the 'trade view' you will get the UHF frequencies for your transmitter (which may be Winter Hill for many in NW but not everyone). This will mean the box or TV has the preferred regional service.
Winter Hill viewers who've got Wales too could also: 1) retune without the aerial in (emptying the box/TV)
2) retune again with aerial out and insert the aerial around half way through the tune. This means the kit doesn't pick up the lower Wales frequencies.
Or call Digital UK on 08456 50 50 50
They can talk you through a manual retune on the phone.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:56:04 +0000

I live in the NW area but if I type my postcode into the Digital UK I am told my TV comes from Winter Hill and I can get all channels, however if I add my house number I am told it come from Wrekin (midlands) and I can't get any digital TV.
And guess what despite me having a high gain powered aerial pointing smack on to Winter hill my signal is coming from Moel y Parc in Wales so I have to endure BBC1 Wales & HTV wales in the usual numbers
BBC1 NW etc are 799 onward.

Moel y Parc is swamping everything from Winter Hill.We even had an aerial man round, and he said that a better aerial would just give us better reception from Moel y Parc as well as Winter Hill, despite our house blocking everything from Welsh Wales, and a direct line of sight to Winter Hill - I can see it now.
Why exactly do the welsh have to have such powerful transmitters? I once spoke to a welsh taxi driver from Flint(wales) and he was telling me he was so glad that he was masked from the welsh transmitter by a big hill and so had a clear signal from Winter Hill and didn't have to watch "all that welsh propaganda shite" his words!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:32:20 +0000

You need to remove your aerial from your freeview recorder and TV and run an autoscan to clear the memory. Then replace the aerial and run manual scans on channels 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61 and 62. It worked for us.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:43:18 +0000

I know alot of people that are having this problem but its a disgrace that my 86 year old nan has this problem because telling her that her ITV is on channel 804 and C4 is on channel 8 is to much for her to remember

When is this going to be fixed??????

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:49:48 +0000

Bromborough, Wirral. Same as everyone else. Two TV's all on Welsh Channels. Normal North West channels start at 800. How about we boycott paynig our TV license until they fix it. If they think that turning every antenna to Winter Hill is the problem then they need to start sending vans out to every home in Wirral quick! What a shambles.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:58:07 +0000

I really can't tell you how annoyed I am about this. My Mum is now stuck with BBC1W, BBC2W, ITVW, S4C (inlcuding subtitles) where Channel 4 should be, and a bunch of duplicate channels I suppose I now have to waste even more time deleting.

My Mum has always enjoyed the regional news and weather reports, so to now be deprived of them for a so called upgrade has left her bitterly disappointed and me furious.

Thank you to all those who have offered solutions, however none have been succesful so far. My Mother had her new aerial fitted only 3 months ago, she has no intention of paying for Sky or Cable and both she and I would resent being forced to buy another freeview box on the off-chance that it may actually work.

This needs fixing NOW!!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:15:24 +0000

I live in the Ellesmere Port Area and previously wrote on 23 November saying that Wales BBC1&2 had taken over both my TV and Recorder. After 2 Dec it is still that way. I tried the unplugging and manual retune but all that does on my TV is to put it right for 24 hours: when I turn it on next morning the TV has retuned itself automatically to the Wales BBC1&2. It may be peculiar to Toshiba TV's I dont know. But what I do know is that its poor customer service.
All this hassle just because the Government want to make money selling the wavelenghts. Another tax by anyone's definition.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:42:19 +0000

Chester. My main tv is fine, but had to do a new installation rather than a retune. There is no improvement to the service, just a waste of my time deleting all the rubbish channels.

What is making me very , very cross though is that my Winfast TV dongle, which used to pick up every digital channel with a small portable arial upstairs lost all BBC channels except BBC3 in November and cannot now find any channels at all. And this is supposed to be an *upgrade*?