What's your UK Freeview DVB-T signal strength? (1 Viewer)

doveman

Portal Pro
February 12, 2008
2,326
178
Home Country
United Kingdom United Kingdom
I thought it would be useful to have some information on what signal strength users are getting with UK Freeview DVB-T (now that the retune has finished, I think!) so that other users can see whether their signal is unusually low, which could explain some issues they might be experiencing.

For this to be meaningful, you'll need to include:

1) Which transmitter you're receiving from

2) The make and model of your tuner card(s)

3) Signal strength for each channel. I propose a selection that are either particularly strong or weak, such as BBC1 (generally strong), BBC4 (sometimes weak/borderline) and Channel 5, but let's discuss this a bit first as I'm sure there's users who have a better idea about this than I do. I'm not sure it makes much difference, but perhaps it's an idea to also mention whether you measured the strength using Manual control in TV Server config, or from within Mediaportal itself.
 

jameson_uk

Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • January 27, 2005
    7,258
    2,528
    Birmingham
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    Also the signal strength reported by a lot of cards is set in the drivers and might not actually represent actual signal strength.

    I think it is my Hauppauge Nova HD S2 actually reports a signal strength of 84% if I physically remove the cable and I believe it was my old Pinnacle 7010ix which would never actualy report more than 92% signal strength even though another card (my peak dual DVB-T) reports 100% with the same cable
     

    doveman

    Portal Pro
    February 12, 2008
    2,326
    178
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    such as BBC1 (generally strong), BBC4 (sometimes weak/borderline)

    Is this your experience or an example? Generally BBC1 and BBC4 are on the same mux, so the signal strength should be the same.

    That has been my experience. BBC1/BBC2 would be fine but BBC4 (and I think BBC3) would break up, etc. I haven't compared since the Freeview retune or having my aerial upgraded though (not that I think the latter has helped much!)
     

    doveman

    Portal Pro
    February 12, 2008
    2,326
    178
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    Also the signal strength reported by a lot of cards is set in the drivers and might not actually represent actual signal strength.

    I think it is my Hauppauge Nova HD S2 actually reports a signal strength of 84% if I physically remove the cable and I believe it was my old Pinnacle 7010ix which would never actualy report more than 92% signal strength even though another card (my peak dual DVB-T) reports 100% with the same cable

    Yes, but I think that's the value of compiling this data. Not as a substitute for measuring signal strength properly with a meter, but to show which cards influence (negatively or positively) the signal strength and so that people with the same cards can get an idea of whether their reported signal strength is "normal".
     

    revs

    MP Donator
  • Premium Supporter
  • February 1, 2007
    1,274
    72
    The Sauce of Worcester
    Home Country
    Wales Wales
    Definitely a card specific metric:

    My Hauppage DVB-T shows 100% for both strength and signal (after re-doing the wires last night, up from ~80 and found a dodgy connection)
    My Pinnacle DVB-T shows about 70% for the same aerial.
     

    doveman

    Portal Pro
    February 12, 2008
    2,326
    178
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    Thanks revs, that is interesting, but could you expand by giving the name/model number of your cards and confirm that the stats you quote are for all channels or just for one, whether the 70% is for both strength and signal and which transmitter you receive from.
     

    elliottmc

    Retired Team Member
  • Premium Supporter
  • August 7, 2005
    14,927
    6,061
    Cardiff, UK
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    Also the signal strength reported by a lot of cards is set in the drivers and might not actually represent actual signal strength.

    I think it is my Hauppauge Nova HD S2 actually reports a signal strength of 84% if I physically remove the cable and I believe it was my old Pinnacle 7010ix which would never actualy report more than 92% signal strength even though another card (my peak dual DVB-T) reports 100% with the same cable

    Yes, but I think that's the value of compiling this data. Not as a substitute for measuring signal strength properly with a meter, but to show which cards influence (negatively or positively) the signal strength and so that people with the same cards can get an idea of whether their reported signal strength is "normal".

    A much better measure is if you have good reception, or continuity errors in the TsReader/TsWriter logs.
     

    porky996t

    MP Donator
  • Premium Supporter
  • May 21, 2008
    1,016
    81
    Bolton, Lancashire, England
    Home Country
    England England
    If I remember correctly, when the retune took place here (winter hill TX & Granada region) I had huge probs with certain channels. Turned out they were transmitting at low power temporarily. It drove me mad until I found out what it was.

    Sent from my TITAN X310e using Board Express
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Top Bottom