TV reception problem?

[Lizd]

Just wondered if anyone else lost ITV and Channel Four last evening? Still an issue today despite my best efforts to retune tv. Thanks.

[Bic Basher]

ITV and Channel 4 both normal and HD are fine here on Freeview.

[Lizd]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Annasfield]

Mine have gone too.

[Lizd]

Thanks for responding. Just tried and still no ITV, Channel Four, Channel Five. Can't seem to find any info/help on the Internet. Any ideas?

[Bic Basher]

Are you able to manually tune the tv in using frequency numbers? The UHF number for the multiplex with ITV and C4 is 26.

[Lizd]

Thanks, tried to manually tune but couldn't get Channel 26 to appear on the list to tune or scan it. Really appreciate your help.

[Lizd]

Hiya! Got Channel 26 and scanned it but the signal quality is virtually zero. If the Itv and Channel 4 do appear on the list then the reception is so poor that there audio only which keeps breaking up. I guess I'll need to either wait for the signal to return or.......? If I do find the answer then I'll post it so that others will not waste their time like me!

[ianr]

There is no reported problem at the transmitter: https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Crystal_Palace. There are only these two reports of a problem. That suggests something very local to you affecting reception of the signal. If you have an indoor aerial, I assume you've tried changing its orientation. I did have to rotate mine a little to get that multiplex clearly. Perhaps you two could check with each other to see if you're closely located or along the same bearing from Crystal Palace, or even have the same TV or Freeview model.

[Lizd]

We have a digital aerial so I'm not quite sure how to reposition or even check it?! We had all channels functioning perfectly till Sunday. Given up for the night, the channels reappeared on the list and there were some intermittent on screen images but they kept fluctating. I have a Samsung smart tv (3 years old) which has internal freeview. Thanks for your advice, much appreciated.

[Bic Basher]

Lizd, does your digital tv also receive HD channels? ITV and C4 may work for you that way? They're on channel 103 and 104 on Freeview.

Another alternative is if you have the ITV Hub app on your Samsung TV, you can watch ITV via that live or through a Now TV box or Amazon Fire stick.

[ianr]

It's less likely that anything will affect a fixed external aerial. You could check with your neighbours, especially any in the same building, whether they've exerienced a similar recent problem with that multiplex or know of any recent possible source of interference. Have a look through a "Possible causes of interference" checklist like this one. https://at800.tv/useful-guides/. I'm not recommending the filter btw; it's just that it's a clear guide. If you do find that others in the wider neighbourhood are experiencing similar interference, I'd be wondering whether a local 4G telephone base station had recently changed its behaviour.

[Lizd]

Thank you for the advice. I have come home from work to find the channels restored although channel four has a weaker reception.

What was that all about? Hopefully, no further issues. Really appreciate all help offered.

[Annasfield]

Mine are back tonight too. How strange!

[Bic Basher]

ianr's 4G mast suggestion seems the most plausible considering how uber local the issue was.