Now TV Smart Box - Freeview channels missing

[Anonymous User]

I set up my box today and noticed in the Freeview section that BBC 1 and 2 are missing - the channels start with ITV. Scrolling through, I found BBC 1 HD and BBC 2 HD located after the Horror channel. 

Ideally I'd like to have BBC 1 and 2 at the top of the EPG. Better still I'd like my regional BBC 1 and BBC 2 HD at the top of the EPG. 

I can't see my local station or the non-HD versions listed anywhere in the channels found.

This box is replacing a BT YouView box which picked up the above missing channels.

Any ideas please?

[schnapps]

If anybody is interested i have linked an article below about "Good Reception Guide" for Digital TV within the UK which is worth a read with some useful advice if you use an over the air TV aerial.

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/help_and_advice/reception_guide

[Andy]

I think NOW TV need to really look at this issue seriously now. People shouldn't have to buy filters or splitters to filter out secondary transmitters when a simple option to specify which transmitter you want to lock onto could be made available (or more accurately an option that reliably appears in such circumstances).

[dr_necessitor]

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@Andy wrote:

I think NOW TV need to really look at this issue seriously now. People shouldn't have to buy filters or splitters to filter out secondary transmitters when a simple option to specify which transmitter you want to lock onto could be made available (or more accurately an option that reliably appears in such circumstances).

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Agreed but I doubt it will happen. I flagged this issue during the beta trial. Nothing was done.

[schnapps]

Agree, NowTV Technical Team need to investigate this further with a fixable solution if deemed to be an issue.

Where there does seem to be a few post under the smart box section on the community forum where new owners have experienced losing Freeview channels after the initial setup of the box, where they have to continually re scan the TV tuner on the box to get the channels back.

Thankfully, my smart box picks up two local transmitter stations when undertaking the automatic TV channel scan on first setup, where the box (touch wood) has been one hundred percent Rock Solid and never drifted to the second weaker TV transmitter available.

I can imagine this must be so frustrating for customers that keep losing a number of Freeview channels on their box and the need to continually re scan the channels or trying a half hearted fix which the customer have to do them themselves by experimenting with RF accessory components in an attempt to filter out / remove the weaker transmitter stations reception from the box.

Also, It a shame the smart box doesn't offer the customer the choice of both manual tuning together with the automatic option that you find on most Freeview based products. 

[Anonymous User]

I'm having to retune my box every 3 days, ridiculous in this day and age.

Tried the splitter thing, but that weakened the main signal as well.

Is there a better fix, or does it go back to Amazon?

[Anonymous User]

A solution that works is to use a 'filter band-pass'. My transmitter is Emley Moor with an aerial group B, so I have this filter. 

To find your transmitter group, go here.

[jobbie8]

I've just had to retune mine this morning, for the first time since I put the slitter on. BBC ITV channels had drifted to the weeker transmitter 'Bilsdsle' and I had no HD channels at all.

I retuned with all channels coming back and on the correct transmitter 'pontop pike'.
It's a frustrating problem.

[Anonymous User]

Hi @jobbie8

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

Are you still experiencing issues? Would you be able to explain a bit further what happens while you're using the Freeview channels?

We'll look into this further for you.

Thanks

Rob

NOW TV Team

[Anonymous User]

Yes - It's going back.

It's a pity because it works well when it works

[jobbie8]

@Anonymous User
Thanks for your reply.
When I turned the NowTV box on, from sleep mode, this morning, the channels were breaking up.
I knew from my experience with the box that during the night the box had 'drifted' onto the weaker transmitter in my area, Bilsdale.

The box should be tuned to Pontop Pike transmitter. Either when my box updates an app or maybe looks for an update or the box just loses its memory???
Do the Freeview channels get retuned when this happens?

This problem was daily before I added a splitter to try and reduce the weaker signal. But I've had to retune a couple of times in the last week.

I go into the tuner menu and can see the signal level is mostly at 19% and showing the weaker Bilsdale transmitter frequencies.
On Pontop Pike I get 100% on most channels.

I've had an engineer check my airel, all is fine.
There is no option for manual tune or to choose a transmitter when tuning in the freeview channels.

[Anonymous User]

Hi @jobbie8

Really sorry to hear about the troubles that you have had.

Let me speak to our tech teams regarding this as it shouldn't be happening like you and others have explained on this thread.

Once I get an answer I will come back to this post.

Cheers

Andy

[jobbie8]

Thank you @Anonymous User

[jobbie8]

Thanks for letting us know @Anonymous User

[Anonymous User]

I have an issue whereby the Freeview HD channels keep breaking up when connecting my NOW TV Smart Box to my cloest transmitter (Wenvoe).  When retuning the channels it gives me the region option at the end whether to select Wales or England - click on Wales and the channels break up, however click on England and they're spot on (another thing I've noticed from selecting the Wales option is that some logos of channels in the TV guide don't appear, whereas with the England option all of them are there).

Is there anyway of manually selecting another tuner as I'm keen on having the Wales regional channels?

[Andy]

@Anonymous User Welcome to the forum. No, it's not possible at the moment, the problem of the NOW TV Smart Box wandering to different transmitters and the problem this causes has been mentioned quite a few times on the forum though so hopefully this is something NOW TV will look to implement in the future.

[Anonymous User]

using the Now TV box with an indoor aeriel. Up until yesterday had about 34 channels and still no BBC channels. Come on Sky this needs to be sorted, ally of unhappy customers....... any solutions would be most grateful.

[Anonymous User]

Hi , strange thing happened , freeview channel have disappeared from my smart box , I can't even see the option to watch freeview , completely gone , menu and all , will let me scan for channels and finds channels but then no where to watch them , any help

[Andy]

@Anonymous User

That's a strange one. If you haven't already I'd suggest doing a factory reset of the box, this will also force the software to be downloaded again. You'll find the option under Settings > System > Advanced System Settings > Factory Reset (and then enter the code shown on screen to confirm). You'll need to set up the wifi/Ethernet, enter your NOW TV details and do a scan again as part of the process.

[Anonymous User]

Agreed it's strange , that did the trick though

Thanks for taking the time

[Anonymous User]

Hi I have lost my free view channels on my smart box, having read your forum I completed 2 factory resets and searched for channels but still no luck. Any other ideas?

[Andy]

@Anonymous User

Welcome to the forum. The above poster couldn't get to the Freeview channels as the menu sections on the homescreen had disappeared. Is this the issue you are having, or is it that you can see the Freeview channels listed but none of them are working (all blank picture)? If it's the latter, then it sounds obvious but can you check the aerial connection to the back of the box and make sure it is secure, and if possible check the aerial connection direct into a TV to see if it can pick up the Freeview channels from the aerial correctly.