This is on a new thread because so many threads mention this problem that posting a reply on all of them would take up my whole day .... if it proves useful as a fix .... be my guest and cut an paste to all relevant posts .

My neighbour's Phillips Freeview TV has channels missing ..... notably Film 4 , Yesterday etc ..... (it was'nt an aerial issue because his set up in the front room was still working perfectly sharing the same aerial socket). I tried the usual rescans.....several times....... 71 stations came up but no joy on missing ones ...... then I noticed Setanta Sport was lodged in the No. 34 slot where Film 4 used to be in my set top box across the road ..... thought it might be hogging the slot where Film4 should be ...... so I selectively uninstalled Setanta Sports from the No.34 slot and .....Bingo!! ....after a rescan 91 channels popped up including all the missing ones .....Yesterday lodged at No.12, Film 4 popped into the correct No.15 slot....and Setanta relodged at No.34.
Seems to be all working perfectly now. I'm not a TV engineer but would be interested to know what was the technical reason for the log jam.

Hope this fix helps all you others out there with a similar problem.

[scribbler101]

I'm no engineer either but I suspect it may be due to changes in channel allocation confusing the software.

[tuck1]

I suspect its an early freeview tv that didnt do an auto-update. If you retuned with the aerial disconnected then with it reconnected that should repopulate the new listings correctly.

[arthursn]

I used to get that with an old freeview box, if there's a "rescan" option, try that. It may just be a dodgy freeview box, you can get a decent one for £20ish.

Do you think it's Setanta's software team who have messed up here and created this problem with their automatic advertising uploads etc.? I have a Thomson 160Gb Recording Freeview Box which I quite like but was at one time being bombarded with unwanted advertising (mainly from the lottery)clogging the hard drive-periodically the box would play up after some of these downloads and I would have to revert to an earlier version of the software to clear the problem ..... eventually found an option in the Customise section which cut out the spam-this seems to have stabilised things lately.

[scribbler101]

Sultana is toast

[tuck1]

Originally Posted by chunkyhunk51

Do you think it's Setanta's software team who have messed up here and created this problem with their automatic advertising uploads etc.? I have a Thomson 160Gb Recording Freeview Box which I quite like but was at one time being bombarded with unwanted advertising (mainly from the lottery)clogging the hard drive-periodically the box would play up after some of these downloads and I would have to revert to an earlier version of the software to clear the problem ..... eventually found an option in the Customise section which cut out the spam-this seems to have stabilised things lately.

no,but thanks.....

[Overdue]

Having similar problems... My Samsung LE32R41BD LCD TV has now lost Film4, it used to be on channel 32 but after a software update got temporarily lost then after a re-scan was found on channel 15 but although I could see what was on with EPG I couldn't get a signal. After re-scanning it has gone altogether but abc1 has appeared on channel 15. Some other channels have also disappeared like ITV2
The Humax 9200t using the same aerial had film4 on channel 32 then it moved to 15 and now it has moved to 800 along with some other ITV channels in the 800s.
Upstairs I have another digital box and film4 is still on channel 32
Do I gather that to clear the lot the best thing to do is a re-scan without the aerial plugged in? It doesn't appear to be possible just to delete a channel.
Using the Heathfield, Sussex transmitter.

Tuck1's # 3 option sounds like it could sort your problem.

Yes, Scribbler ..... heard on Beeb news about Sultana struggling to stay 'in the game' ..... losing coverage exclusives faster than OK! magazine ..... guess the Sultana software team will be down the pub soon drowning their sorrows and clutching their redundancy notices ......maybe they should set up a charity company to help sort out all these freeview sets that are playing up?

[Overdue]

My experiences of today may be of interest to others who have not got Film4 and some other channels.
I had promised to take a digital tuner up to someone else's house to see if getting digital was possible for them. Found that the weak or non available channels were some of the ones I was having problems with at home.
So when I got home I tried plugging the aerial directly into the digital TV, i.e. The aerial was not going through the Humax. Did a re-scan and the missing channels re-appeared but I still couldn't get a picture or sound on Film4.
I put an aerial pre-amp in the line and found I could then get Film4 so I re-connected the Humax in the line and found that Film4 was not getting a signal when using the digital tuner in the TV.
I then moved the pre-amp between the Humax and the TV and Film4 was then OK. I.e. it wouldn't work with the pre-amp being the first gadget in the aerial line, I had to move it immediately before the TV.
So my experience would indicate that putting the pre-amp in the loft may not be the best place for it. You also need to experiment with the variable control on the pre-amp as turning it right up wouldn't work for me.
I should just add that the Humax has always been able to provide Film4 without a pre-amp on the line.

It would appear that freeview tuners vary somewhat when it comes to signal strength.

[dsw182]

Similar sorts of issues yesterday and today with a Philips freeview box - it lost pretty much all the channels, except Five, Sky News, Dave...

Rescanning didn't initially solve the problem, so I assumed it was a transmitter issue.

A rescan just now has restored all the channels. Perhaps it was channel update that's confused a few of the boxes?

[Sals]

Hi there. I'm based in Bournemouth and a message came up on my TV a month or so ago saying I would need to retune (think its was 25th March) Having done so several times since I can't get my freeview to play along. Every time I retune I get different channels in different places. Sometime I get hardly any channels at all. Signal is always weak and when it seems to have got better the next time I tune in the signal is lost again. Can anyone shed light on whether this is the same problem as in this thread? And if so if I unplug the aerial and retune and then replug in the aerial and retune again this will solve it?

Not very techy single female in distress would appreciate any help here...

[ROYOLD]

Originally Posted by Sals

Hi there. I'm based in Bournemouth and a message came up on my TV a month or so ago saying I would need to retune (think its was 25th March) Having done so several times since I can't get my freeview to play along. Every time I retune I get different channels in different places. Sometime I get hardly any channels at all. Signal is always weak and when it seems to have got better the next time I tune in the signal is lost again. Can anyone shed light on whether this is the same problem as in this thread? And if so if I unplug the aerial and retune and then replug in the aerial and retune again this will solve it?

Not very techy single female in distress would appreciate any help here...

Quite possibly it may solve your problem - or you may need the addition of a TV booster.

There have been many problems with the Rowridge Transmitter. See the postings in this list.

AVForums.com - Search Results

[Sals]

Thank you!

I have a booster already. Will try the retune thing this eve. Not sure I understand all the transmitter stuff but will re-read and try and get my head round it.