Question New TV, cannot get Freeview HD channels

Jrutherson212

Novice Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2018
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Points
2
Age
34
Location
Scotland
Hi gang,

Firstly I am not a huge watcher of the television but recently I bought a new TV, this one to be exact:

https://toshiba-tv.com/uk-uk/55t6863db

And after doing the initial setup I noticed I'm not receiving any HD channels. The TV is connected to a digital aerial(?) Outside of my flat with a single male to male cable. According to freeviews own site I should receive 95 Freeview channels, 13 HD and 30 radio stations. But in reality I receive 79 Freeview channels, 0 HD and 25 radio stations. I'm really not clued into this kind of thing at all so any help would be appreciated. When googling the problem a lot of people point the finger at transmitters, I'm located in Aberdeen, with an AB11 postcode should it be relevant
 
Flat: suggests a communal, shared, aerial to me? or is it your own aerial solely feeding your dwelling? Have you asked your neighbours about their TV reception? (Especially if a shared aerial). Communal aerials are usually the responsibility of the building factors.

Most likely transmitter received in Aberdeen is Durris (near Banchory). The digitaluk site says 110 channels 11 HD. This is their detailed prediction for a post office in the AB11 area Coverage Checker - Detailed View (consumer view gives TV channel info). NB I think they have still to update and add that Quest is now in HD so their figures for the programme channels may well be wrong (which is a poor show really, from them). Change address to your own, and do say if you are not watching Durris.

Does your TV have a means of displaying signal strength and quality against the received frequencies? If so what do they give for every received multiplex frequency? (It may give us a clue as to what is happening).

Try a different fly lead from wallplate to TV set.
If it's a hand made lead (rather than moulded plug lead) check over the plugs and re-make them if at all suspect. How to attach / wire up plugs & aerials while not the ideal way to do it is probably the easiest and works well in most cases.
Keep hdmi leads away from the aerial cable... signals from hdmi kit can cross-couple into the aerial cable and interfere with some frequencies. (Disconnect hdmi leads at both ends if trying to eliminate interference sources).

It may also be worth trying to manually tune the three HD multiplexes (frequency channel 22, 55 & 56) to see if the TV's metering shows anything up? You may need to find/read the manual for the set to do that if it isn't easy to find in the menu system.

There could be an aerial-related reason for no HD channels; mainly if yours is a very old aerial or a post DSO one and a group A. But I'll leave that for now.
 
Hi, thanks for the response.

As far as I'm aware it's a communal aerial, I had a look at the outside of the building and can only see one old style aerial but four satellites. According to that link I am watching Durris, S & M are green and 100 in every column and N is greyed out and varies from 20-60 hopefully you can see that here:

Imgur


I'm not quite sure what you mean by multiplex frequencies but is it this? Each one has a constant signal level of 78 and the quality jumps from 40-50~

Imgur


The aerial cable I am currently using has a male lead fixed to both ends and was made that way. I created my own using aerial cable from the cupboard and two male heads and received 46 SD channels and 15 radios, as opposed to 79 SD and 25 radios with the original cable.


I also have a single male satellite connection on the wallplate where the aerial plugs into, is it worth buying a cable to try that or is this only for sky boxes?
 
I also have a single male satellite connection on the wallplate where the aerial plugs into, is it worth buying a cable to try that or is this only for sky boxes?
No, don't bother. As you have suggested it is most likely for a satellite receiver. (Not just limited to Sky.) Unless of course you are going to plug it into a satellite receiver.

Ah, I see that your TV does have a sat S2 receiver although it does not say it is "Freesat". Might be worth a try. Most of the channel lineup is similar, but with a lot more junk channels on the sat.
Freesat is just the EPG and puts all channels into a fixed order, but a 'standard' free to set just numbers the channels in the order that it comes across them when you tune it. (Lots more help available if you chose to go down the sat route.)
 
Thanks for the reply, I've bought a Satellite cable just to give it a try but in an ideal world I'd like to have everything working on a regular cable. I'm under the impression I would need to pay for the satellite activated or is that something to do with Sky?
 
No you don't have to pay for Freesat, but Sky is a pay option. All the major channels that are available on Freeview (terrestrial) are available for free on free to air satellite. It's exactly the same sat as that which transmits to Sky boxes. The only difference is that the Sky boxes can decrypt the encrypted content that is exclusive to Sky (and other pay providers).
So, for instance, the BBC1 that you get on a Sky box is exactly the same transmission that you get on a free to air or Freesat box. But as I said earlier, there are a lot more channels on sat, but a lot of them are what some people call 'junk' channels.

Without trying to insult you, you do realise that you will have to switch your TV to the satellite tuner if you connect the satellite cable, don't you? You cannot use the sat connection to tune to the terrestrial (Freeview) signals.
 
Have you asked your neighbours about their Freeview TV reception?

Have you enquired with Factors about any problems that they know about?


The image of installation shows only 4 multiplex frequencies received... (From the other image, the grey numbers are frequency channel numbers). One of which is the low power local TV multiplex on frequency channel 41 that blows my grouped aerial theory out of the water. You are missing two DVB-T ones and the three DVB-T2 ones. Does the TV have an option for tuning in DVB-T2 mode separately? (It would be unusual in such a modern set that meets the Freeview spec.)

You have reception on 25, 26, 28 & 41 only (?). Missing frequencies are 22 (-T2 BBC B), 23 (-T SDN), 29 (-T ARQ B), 55 (-T2 COM7) & 56 (-T2 COM 8).

As the results are worse with a different fly-lead I suspect an aerial distribution system fault. Probably one for the Factors' contractors to resolve - much easier to get attention if others in the block have the same issue. It might just be a dodgy wall plate connection or cable leading to it, or something elsewhere in the communal system. I don't want to ask you to remove the wall plate to check connections, as that is part of the communal system.

While your TV has a satellite input it is not listed as a freesat make https://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/televisions/ so won't use the proprietary EPG and Logical Channel Numbering which will make it a bit more difficult to set up and keep up to date. There is a small chance you may need to apply to the Factors to have the satellite connection on your wallplate 'activated' by connecting your dwelling up to the satellite system on the building? Generally most installs have a feed from the freesat/sky satellite provided as well as the terrestrial aerial feed.
 
Thanks for the replies. I tried using a satellite cable instead of the regular cable aerial and tuned using the first satellite on the list but like TJT1 said I received a lot more channels (251) but they were the same channels I receive with the regular aerial cable. I was receiving the HD channels via this method but they had (encrypted) next to them.

If there is an option for tuning specifically DVB-T2 I can't find it and I've consulted the manual online. I've not really made any progress within the last week other than using the satellite cable. I'm just confused as to why I can receive seemingly all SD channels but none of the HD ones if my TV is capable of DVB-T2
 
I repeat:
Have you asked your neighbours about their Freeview TV reception?
Have you enquired with Factors about any problems that they know about?


I truly doubt that the satellite BBC HD channels had 'encrypted' by them, nor STV HD, C4 HD or C5 HD as they are free to air. Many $ky channels will be found to be encrypted SD & HD of course.

Try manual tuning the multiplex frequencies for Durris and report the signal strength/quality reported by the TV for every one. There are nine in total:

They are frequency channel 22 (-T2 BBC B), 23 (-T SDN), 29 (-T ARQ B), 55 (-T2 COM7) & 56 (-T2 COM 8). You have auto-tune reception on 25, 26, 28 & 41 already but the numbers would be useful.

Try calling Toshiba (or your retailer) for advice/help: https://toshiba-tv.com/uk-uk/support
 
Hi,

I've spoken to the lady who lives across the hall, she didn't seem happy that I was asking questions about reception but she is using a Sky+ Box and receives HD channels. I managed to grab a picture of the Satellite tuning having a HD Channel appear as encrypted:

Imgur


As for the frequencies I've made a table from what I saw on the TV.

Imgur
 
Using $ky = not using Freeview aerial. Therefore you need to find a neighbour who is.

Your TV is behaving oddly on satellite tuning, as C4 & 4seven are on one transponder and are not encrypted, neither are they duplicated on Astra as encrypted channels... Can you select those channels and view them or not? Can you find any BBC channels HD or SD to view in satellite mode? {BTW the others are $ky encrypted channels).

Freeview: those numbers are frankly quite weird, too. 106% quality! Highest strength also on that (the lowest power) mux, although a mode that is 'easier' to receive so the metering may just be showing that?

A call to the set maker's support line may be in order? It may be a rogue set? A full factory reset and first time install (ensuring UK / Great Britain is selected as country) might be worth trying?

If things remain exactly the same a call to the building factors to request a check of the feed to your flat would seem sensible?

{Communal systems can sometimes output too high a signal that give unpredictable results. A simple attenuator will fix, but the system should be delivering the correct level to all outlets (between 45 to 65 dB ref 1 microvolt). Equally it is possible that the system is delivering too little signal on some frequencies (hence the low levels on some).}
 
If she is using Sky, there is little point asking her about Freeview.
Without checking, it appears that your TV is not a Freesat one but just has a free to air sat tuner. When you were trying to tune in the sat, did it ask you for your postcode. A Freesat TV/Box will do that.

If you are not sure of the difference between Freesat and free to air (FTA) sat, it's worth finding out.
Freesat does not transmit any programmes. It is just the EPG that logically (some say) arranges most of the FTA programme material into a useful? order and provides a 7/8 day EPG.
An FTA sat TV/box arranges the programmes in the order that it comes across them during tuning and will include all regional variations (which is probably why you are seeing multiple BBC you are seeing.) It will also tune the encrypted stuff from Sky and others.

It would be better to bottom out why you are not receiving all the terrestrial (Freeview) multiplexes rather than confusing the issue with talk about the sat side of things.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom