BTCC on ITV4...or not

[adstubbs]

So, has anyone else in the lost ITV4 as a result of the digital retuning on Wednesday? I'm in Hemel Hempstead, picking up the Alexandra Palace transmitter, and ITV4 no longer appears in the channel listing on my TV (6 month old Sony) or my digibox recorder. I know that a small % of households were expected to lose ITV3 and ITV4, but I somehow didn;t expect them to be within 30 miles of London!! Just to rub it in, I can still get ITV3, and I don;t think I've ever watched that channel Somewhat annoyed as this means I can't watch the final rounds from Brands - I'm marshalling there this weekend, but it's nice to be able to come home and watch what happened elsewhere on track, especially when they're running on the GP circuit.

(Mods - if this is better in Armchair enthusiast, please feel free to move)

[The SpeCTator]

Yep me too, Sony 5.5 years old, phoned Sony and they say the set was not built to handle this sort of change. Offered me a £50 voucher of a new one!
What really pi$$ed me off is they knew the TV would not be able to handle the updates and they have my name and address on the 5 year warranty but did they write and inform me that the set would be useless on midday 30th September for all bar the main channels? Did they heck, Sony sucks

[brands hatch]

Luckily i can still get it ( i live in kent) ....and my Sony TV is less than a year old. The only thing that changed was that it is now channel 24 rather than 28 on my box.

It seems you are unlucky enough to be in that small percentage that have lost it

[ascarracinguk]

if you dont manage to retune it in time you can always watch it live over the internet on the itv website

[crmalcolm]

It appears your problems lie with Alexandra Palace only being a relay transmitter.

I'm guessing you're using that feed as the Hemel Hempstead feed is not being picked up by your antenna.

Some assistance can be found here - with particular note to be paid to mounting the antenna vertically as opposed to the more common horizontal.
It might be worth trying to point directly at Crystal Palace, info here

[adstubbs]

Thanks all for the suggestions - have been trawling a few sites in my lunch break to see if there's a fix, might just be the aerial pointing the wrong way. Will try a few things later before giving up.

[duke_toaster]

Originally Posted by The SpeCTator

Yep me too, Sony 5.5 years old, phoned Sony and they say the set was not built to handle this sort of change. Offered me a £50 voucher of a new one!
What really pi$$ed me off is they knew the TV would not be able to handle the updates and they have my name and address on the 5 year warranty but did they write and inform me that the set would be useless on midday 30th September for all bar the main channels? Did they heck, Sony sucks

Is that a TV with a built in Freeview box? The telly is fine, just buy a new Freeview box and plug it in. If it's got a built in Freeview box and it's nearly six years old] perhaps that's why. They're moving it around so they will be able to do Freeview HD (which will start in December but there probably won't be enough boxes).

If you're having problems, one tactic is to unplug the box from the antenna, rescan it (it'll get nothing), plug it back in and then rescan it. I didn't need to do that as all Freeview hardware I've used worked exactly.

There's a really good forum for TV technical stuff but the regulations prohibit it being posted, but if a moderator OK's it I'll post the URL (I'll PM it to anyone who I haven't PM'd it to - apart from certain elements it does have a fair selection of idiots).

[h4887]

My Humax box has lost ITV4 on Channel 28, but I've found it on 802

[adstubbs]

Hurrah and huzzah! Tried one of the methods suggested on the site suggested by crmalcolm, namely - unplug aerial lead from digibox, run the first time install from the menu so it wipes all stored channels, then re-connect the aerial and do it again so it picks up all channels with their new allocations. Result - ITV4 is now back, timer is set for recording on Sunday, one more happy marshal at Brands Hatch this weekend.

[crmalcolm]

Glad you got success.
Welcome back to the world of BTCC on TV at Brands GP!!!!

[The SpeCTator]

Some good ideas here thanks.
So far have purchased new digi box, but no success as wiring is too complicated as we have satelite, video, dvd, booster all connected, its like spaghetti round the back. put the digi box on another TV in house and it does not pick up ITV4, probably because it is downline from entry point!
Cant watch on internet as will be at Brands
Hope a friend can record for me.

[nickyf1]

I have now lost ITV4 too

Surely ITV want their channel to reach everyone?? I live in the middle of the biggest damn city in Scotland, surely I should get it somehow!

[Piglet]

For anyone with a Humax box the key is to use the "default settings" option on the installation menu rather than the "auto scan" option. You will though lose any schedule recordings and any channel lists that you have set up. (the other key is that unless you've changed it, the PIN code is 0000 )

If that doesn't work try the suggestion above regarding unplugging the aerial. The default setting option worked for me.

The thing to understand though is that SOME relay transmitters won't now be putting out some channels (I think ITV3, BBC4 and Dave), I think that's a "feature" that they forgot to advise people of!

[awrb]

Well I've just realised I've lost ITV4 on my Sony DVD recorder. I've tried the unplugging the ariel trick, but that hasn't helped. I've checked and I'm supposed to be getting all the channels in my area. Damn technology.

[Joe Taylor]

Anyone else having problems with the stream from the ITV website?

[ascarracinguk]

yep not workin for me either.....oh bugger

[Peat]

It's working for me, but i have had trouble with it in the past.

[awrb]

Okay, so I didn't manage to get ITV4 on my DVD Player before I went to work, so how can I watch the races now. I've tried ITV web player and it's not on, and it's still the Rockingham races on the side of the ITV BTCC page. Is there anywhere they are on yet or does anyone know how long it normally takes ITV to put them on?

Damn Freeveiw.

[ascarracinguk]

theyre usually on within 24hrs, so check back tomorrow night..well worth the wait..great racing but i have to say vauxhalls tactics were disgusting

[awrb]

Well they better hurry up! I was so gutted I had to work this week and then couldn't record it. Can't wait for them to put it on though. Sometimes I hate technology.

[mattt]

about half 3 on a tuesday afternoon they usually repeat the races.

Dont quote me exactly on times though

[awrb]

Originally Posted by mattt

about half 3 on a tuesday afternoon they usually repeat the races.

Dont quote me exactly on times though

WHAT!!! I can't wait that long. BBC manage to get it all sorted within a few hours.

[sceptic]

The races will be online on Monday, and are shown on ITV1 on Monday night.

[mattt]

Originally Posted by mattt

about half 3 on a tuesday afternoon they usually repeat the races.

Dont quote me exactly on times though

This isnt the online bit.

Its the TV highlights on ITV4. And I was right it was half 3 or at 0020 tuesday morning

[adstubbs]

Despite my earlier optimism, ITV4 showed a black screen on Friday night, another full retune resulted in it disappearing completely once more, and nothing I did would bring it back. Pants. Will look our for the repeat on ITV1 as I really want to see what was happening elsewhere (Post 18 on the GP loop is a great place to see racing, but not good for having a clue about what's happening on the rest of the circuit).