Suddenly lost all freeview channels

[andyjenkins]

I've had freeview working on my daughters TV for the past few weeks without fault, although I can't remember what the signal strenth and/or quality was like according to the Sagem Freeview box.

However, last night - everything went, not one channel by one, all of them - immeadiately. Kinda points to a hardware failure don't you think?

Checking signal strenth this evening shows 90+% quality, but around 50/60 signal strength - that should be enough to at least pick up *something* right?

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by andyjenkins

I've had freeview working on my daughters TV for the past few weeks without fault, although I can't remember what the signal strenth and/or quality was like according to the Sagem Freeview box.

However, last night - everything went, not one channel by one, all of them - immeadiately. Kinda points to a hardware failure don't you think?

Checking signal strenth this evening shows 90+% quality, but around 50/60 signal strength - that should be enough to at least pick up *something* right?

Have you tried a re-scan...kills 99% of faults stone dead

[andyjenkins]

Yeah, a couple of times .. daughter had 80+ channels (including radio) as of yesterday evening, but then boom - 0. New scan just says no channels could be found, not TV nor radio.

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by andyjenkins

Yeah, a couple of times .. daughter had 80+ channels (including radio) as of yesterday evening, but then boom - 0. New scan just says no channels could be found, not TV nor radio.

If your Analogue channels are off the same aerial and they are still okay I would suspect the box is indeed faulty.

[ROYOLD]

Signal strength in these freeview boxes is all relative to what the manufacturer of the box decides. For instance my Digifusion PVR requires a minimum of 65% signal before it will pick up anything. I also have a Sagem freeview STB which I have disconnected so can't remember what signal strength it gave.

If the aerial signal is missing or low you usually get a warning banner saying "No signal" or something similar so it may indeed be the STB failure. Can you not try this box on another nearby aerial (relatives maybe).

[the3rdchildren]

My freeview dropped a number of channels last night, and the other boxes in the house have funked out as well. E4 is one of the channels we're missing. A rescan today picked up several more channels than I could last night.

We're in the Watford area if it helps, possibly a fault at FREEVIEW HEADQUARTERS?

[andyjenkins]

I'm in MK, and from what I can remember when I setup - I'm receiving off the Oxford transmitter, not Watford.

I'm not sure if any of my neighbours have freeview, but its worthy of a check. Relatives is not an option - I live 150 miles from them

[gurka]

Hi, you could be unlucky in the sense that your local digital transmitter may be on reduced power, check this site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/today.shtml it may only be temp

[jonvhs]

how strange - my Sagem box lost all it's channels lat night too . A rescan has found 7 channels , but the interference is so bad I can't watch them! And I'm only 2 miles from the Crystal Palace transmitter...
Could it be a Sagem-out-of-warranty-self-destruct-bug ?

[cooperda]

Originally Posted by jonvhs

how strange - my Sagem box lost all it's channels lat night too . A rescan has found 7 channels , but the interference is so bad I can't watch them! And I'm only 2 miles from the Crystal Palace transmitter...
Could it be a Sagem-out-of-warranty-self-destruct-bug ?

Isn't it the Crystal Palace Transmitter that has started the HDTV trials?

It could be those MPEG4 signals affecting your box?

Cheers, Dave C.

[jonvhs]

I hope so - was about to throw the box in the bin! Any ideas for a cheap/half decent new one anyone ?
Cheers
Jonvhs

[andyjenkins]

Guys .. my problem is at an end. For some reason when I was looking at the problem last night I neglected to reboot the Sagem. A reboot today - and all the channels are back. Just in time for my daughter to watch eastenders.

I'm the best daddy in the world now Hope the others have similar good fortune.

[SamRadford]

The Sagem, in common with other Freeview boxes, does require you to pull out the little power supply connector from time to time. It suffers picture freeze, picture "dithering" and various random effects such a you've described. I'm just waiting for the "BSOD".

I suspect that part of the problem might be interference spikes from the mains supply getting into ordinary aerial cable (use double-screened cable) and wall plate (use fully-shielded).

Also, a loft aerial can pick up massive interference from the wiring in the loft and that's a tricky problem to overcome. Keep the aerial and cable away from mains wiring.

[beerhunter]

I think that lots of STBs need a cold restart (reboot) from time to time because their software uses resources which are not released. Back in the earlier days of Big Iron (Mainframe) Operating Sytems we had to IPL (Initial Program Load - that is to say reboot) them about once a week. PC didn't suffer much because they were switched on and off so often. A STB is only another computer.

[frankmcg]

I'm on the Crystal Palace transmitter and lost all my Multiplex 2 and A channels the other day too.

Using an integrated digital TV and have tried rescanning several times but it just says signal quality 0 for those channels. Any ideas as signal strength is 9 out of 10 on everything else so seems unlikely to be an aerial problem?