Digital TV reception.

[Tim B]

I live midway between Sutton Coldfield and Winterhill tx'ers. My local relay (Fenton) is a waste of space. I receive analogue signals from S/C 5/3 anf W/H 3/5. Both major tx'ers' digital signals suffer from very quick fade and/or drop-out. The sigs vary from zero to medium, occasionally up to good.

Why does the signal vary so much. I have a high gain, wide band antenna and mast-head amp. Is it purely because of rain or am I missing something?

[Buenchico]

There could be all sorts of reasons as to why you get fluctuating signals. Towards the end of the summer, solar flares were causing many people to experience reception problems with digital signals; the current phase of the sunspot cycle continues to cause some problems.

If the flight-path to an airport lies between you and the transmitter, co-phase interference from reflected signals could cause problems. (I live near a major helicopter base and I know of local people who link reception problems to military exercises centred at the base).

Rain? Yes, it can cause problems. If poor reception only exists while it's actually raining along the transmission path then there's not much you can do. If, however, poor reception persists after the rain, it could be worth checking whether water is getting into your mast-head amplifier.

There are probably many other possibilities but the wording of your question suggests that you're probably more of an expert on such matters than many of us out here in AB-land!

Chris

[Tim B]

Thanks for your answers Chris, basically there's not much that I can do by the sound of it!

I'm sure the amp is OK 'cos when I bypass it I can't get analogue signals at all.

Another question is why is each multiplex has different signal strength from the others on the same transmitter. Nominally each mu'xer has the same output (8KW from S/C and 10KW from W/H). There are 6 mu'xes on each t'xer, usually the BBC one is the strongest by far. The others, individually, vary from zero to poor. I suspect the Beeb is tweaking hers!