Freeview thinking I'm in a different region altogether!

princeofdundee

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My Freeview TV (Toshiba 32BL_702B) is showing Highlands and Islands as region when auto tuning for channels.

Manual tuning does not detect any more channels. I have a basic set of 42 channels, but would love to get the 100 channels (including sky news) which are showing as available on freeview in my postcode. Does the TV affect the number of channels received?

Any ideas what can I do? I tried manual tuning to no avail. I'm wondering if it's due to the TV (would a free view box solve the problem? or a booster?)

The Highlands are quite far away for the tv to think I am there!
 
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Perhaps you’re in an area with overlapping transmitters and your aerial is pointing in the wrong direction?
 
If you're having tuning issues, it's definitely worth doing a manual scan rather than an automatic one

After you put your location details into the checker on the Freeview site, click on 'Detailed View' under the list of available channels and it'll show your most likely transmitter, along with a table containing the individual frequencies you need to scan.

Firstly, do an automatic scan with the aerial disconnected to clear the current channels, then switch to manual scanning. If your TV shows signal strengths when scanning, then it should start to become apparent straight away whether you're pointed at the right transmitter and note down any frequencies that you're having trouble with.

Despite it's Full HD resolution, your TV doesn't appear to have an HD tuner which will obviously limit your channel choice to SD only.
 
Does that mean if I add a freeview box I'll get the hd channels? I did try manual scan to no avail. Dundee is far from the Highlands
 
Does that mean if I add a freeview box I'll get the hd channels? I did try manual scan to no avail. Dundee is far from the Highlands
I would make sure you can recieve all the SD channels first before you start thinking about buying an additional box. Your problem may lie with the aerial or its alignment and not the TV itself, in which case buying extra equipment won't solve your problem.

I would have thought that doing a manual scan would override any location issues. What signal strengths were you receiving for the frequencies you scanned manually and were any absent ?
 
I live in a multi storey and the only aerial I can see is v high up; getting it checked (when I'm not even sure the aerial is mine) would incur substantial costs. When retuning manually I can't find any signal in other channels..
 
Your aerial might be pointing at one of the two fill-in transmitters for Dundee (Tay Bridge or Menzieshill) that only carry the BBC/STV/ITV/C4/C5 channels rather than Angus which carries all of them.

The 'Highlands & Islands' is just a group label for transmitters, and the Angus transmitter (along with Menzieshill, Tay Bridge which receive their signal from it) is part of that group, even though it's geographically not right.

The labelling is a bit strange in other areas too, for example here we receive the Ridge Hill transmitter which is labelled just as 'Gloucestershire', even though it's actually in Herefordshire, and only serves northern Gloucestershire, but pretty much all of Herefordshire.
 
Well, Angus would generally seem to make sense for Dundee, unless you are in a specific location where the signal from Angus is blocked by something, a nearby hill or large building perhaps. Then, maybe, you are picking up another transmitter.

Do you know the UHF channel numbers for the 42 channels you are receiving, as that will help to establish which transmitter they are from?
 
Adam that sounds exactly what's happening as I live in between Menzieshill and Taybridge. So if I want Sky News, I will not able to get it because of these transmitters without moving the aerial?

What do you usually suggest in such cases.
 
Adam that sounds exactly what's happening as I live in between Menzieshill and Taybridge. So if I want Sky News, I will not able to get it because of these transmitters without moving the aerial?

What do you usually suggest in such cases.

Yes that's right, the aerial would need realigning to point at Angus. If it was pointed at one of those two fill-in transmitters when it was installed it might be that the Angus signal isn't strong enough (the Freeview checker isn't always 100%).

Does your home have a satellite point as well as the communal aerial feed? If so you'd be able to watch Sky News with a Freesat box plugged into that, and that would also give you a lot of the other missing Freeview channels.

Otherwise you can watch Sky News on Youtube as a live stream.
 
@Adam The satellite feed is an issue I've been trying to resolve. There seems to be a sat cable coming through under the floorboard but the previous owner of the property was not aware that the dish outside the tenement is his. When I connected to a sky box with a blank card (freesat by sky) it says no signal - perhaps the wire coming through though the floorboard is old and is not leading anywhere. Hard to know I cannot see where the wiring is coming from as its all under the floor.
 
@Adam The satellite feed is an issue I've been trying to resolve. There seems to be a sat cable coming through under the floorboard but the previous owner of the property was not aware that the dish outside the tenement is his. When I connected to a sky box with a blank card (freesat by sky) it says no signal - perhaps the wire coming through though the floorboard is old and is not leading anywhere. Hard to know I cannot see where the wiring is coming from as its all under the floor.

Ah that's a pain! If it worked, the Sky box would give you Sky News just like a Freesat box would, even without the card.

It could be that the cable is broken/not connected, or that the dish itself isn't aligned properly or the LNB is broken. Can you reach the dish? Just thinking if you had a length of cable you could connect it to it to see if it's working or not, and then you'd know whether the dish needs realigning or just a new cable pulling through.

One quick thing worth checking - the F connector at the end of the sat cable coming through your floorboard. You want to make sure that the outer metal braiding of the cable is touching the metal of the connector, but also that none of it is touching the inner core part of the cable (short circuiting it). I've been got by this before - you get no signal if either of those are the case.
 
I wonder if experimentation with an indoor aerial might be worth a go, if only to prove the current aerial alignment? Streaming the required channels, or some of them, might be an alternative. The big problem with communal systems is that you have no real say or control over their setup or provisioning, although it might be worth contacting any management company or freeholder for help.
 
It could well be the feed coming out of the floor is a cable TV feed not a satellite feed. Not that that would help you though but would explain why a sky box does not work.
 
@Clem_Dye I had a go at purchasing an indoor aerial but with the quality of these products varying I've not had success. Any particular brand/model you recommend without spending a fortune since it might not work?

@A1944 @Adam The channels where I'm getting signal are 32 / 41/ 47 - should I maybe change the frequency on the TV? Any ideas welcome.

@Winston - hard to know what this is - not sure there was ever cable tv in this part! @Adam, I had a good a stripping the cable and trying to fix it but its still says no singal. The main issue is that although I see a dish in the graden, it might not be connected to my property.
 
32 = Tay Bridge Local TV mux
41 = Tay Bridge BBC SD mux
47 = Tay Bridge D3/4 (ITV, C4, C5 SD) mux
44 would be the HD mux from that site if the TV had a DVB-T2 tuner.

Tay Bridge is there to fill in an area of Dundee near the river that can't see much else due to the terrain. The transmitting tower is on the southern side of the bridge.

A close by postcode (of a shop, school, church etc.,.) within 100 m or so of your own will allow us to see the approximate predictions; but that may not help much if it's impractical to install a new aerial?
 
Aneka Convenience Shop DD2 1RZ is just up the street. The problem is that the aerial is communal and impractical to install; but if you think an indoor areal (any particular brand?) may be effective, it may be worth a try.
 
Indoor / Set top aerials - A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials is one respected professional aerial man's view of room aka set top aerials.

Aneka's predictions are better for Angus than Tay Bridge. Signal strength is also higher.

If you are on the North-facing side of your building, and not low down the hill of Seymour Road and not pointing through a neighbouring building, and on a higher floor... then a room aerial could work.

Either one that looks like the one on Justin's site (ATV aerials) or a small outdoor log periodic if it can be placed out of the way (on a shelf or bookcase, perhaps)?

Big worry is if the signals rapidly get worse as you go down the hill towards the river. Or even a fair way east or west from the shop. Buildings may be the biggest killer of signals (that's why aerials are mostly outside on roof tops - to clear other buildings).

If you and other residents can lobby the Factors to upgrade the communal system it would be the best for all. It's highly likely that - a long time ago, now - ghosting on Angus was why Tay Bridge was used. But digital is less troubled by reflected signals that caused ghosting on analogue.
 
On Google Streetview it looks like a lot of those tenements further down the hill have two aerials - one vertically polarised pointing at Tay Bridge, and a higher gain horizontally polarised one pointing in the direction of Craigkelly.

The postcode checker shows Craigkelly is possible but only for the frequencies carrying the same limited set of channels as Tay Bridge carries, so that's not any help!

If you're down the hill and on the ground floor, you're probably unlikely to be able to pick up a usable signal for the missing channels (including Sky News) on an indoor antenna from Angus unfortunately.
 
Rodders, I'm more towards the bottom of Seymour St... So down the hill.. west facing, ground floor.

If you're on the ground floor of a block of flats at the bottom of a hill, not facing the nearest transmitter and a previous indoor aerial you bought didn't work, I wouldn't waste any more time and effort exploring that option, TBH.
 

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