Feedback
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV For the last six years, I have answered many thousands of personal emails that you have sent to UK Free TV.
Sadly, I am unable to offer this personal service at the moment.
Until I can restore this service, please can you leave any questions you have on an appropriate page, where they will be answered as soon as possible, or below, if you can't figure out where to ask.
I look forward to your questions!
Help with TV/radio stations?
In this section
Monday, 17 September 2012
D
DEREK S8:48 PM
HOW CAN I WATCH DANCING WITH THE STARS IN ENGLAND NOW THAT WATCH TV IS NOT BROADCASTING IT. what equipment will i need!
| link to this comment |
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
K
keith whiteley9:21 AM
Iam receiving this message, "Your Sky + HD box isn't getting a satellite signal." Everything was working perfectly last night. What do I do? Thanks.
| link to this comment |
J
jb382:23 PM
keith whiteley: This message can also appear when the signal has dropped under the threshold for reception and not necessarily when none at all is being received, and so to find out which applies in your particular case carry a signal check via the menu using the undermentioned procedure.
1:- Press "Services" on your Sky remote control and you will see the main menu with "Options" highlighted.
2:- Highlight the Settings menu using the right arrow button and press select.
3:- Use the left / right arrows scroll to "Signal" and press select.
4:- The grey bars displayed will show you the strength of the signal your box is receiving.
If the strength / quality is being indicated then it "has" to be around 60% or more to produce a picture, if its under this level (50% critical) then it points to the dish being very slightly out of alignment and which in most cases is usually in the horizontal plane, a problem which sometimes can be corrected (albeit somewhat crudely!) by giving the edge of dish a slight nudge to either the left or right.
Further advice dependant on findings.
| link to this comment |
W
William5:21 PM
jb38 I have an update for you.
Ok so first of all I tried ( the piece of insulated wire technique ) where I push the "bared end" into the sky boxes (Aerial IN) socket (centre pin) and the other end "un-bared end" against the (centre pin) of the "main aerial point" on my master wall plate where my sky plus etc is also fed from.
The result is cutting my sky signal instantly (error 25) until I remove the end from the box then it's fine.
Also when I place the "bared end" into RF2 same result.
But when I take a flying lead into "aerial IN" from my master wall plates main aerial point I can still get "freeview/digital" in my bedroom TV via the RF2 but at the cost of no sky signal so basically the centre pin of the main aerial as soon as it touches any centre pin of RF2 or aerial IN my signal goes.
The outers of the " f connectors " to the outer of the main aerial point is fine no voltage on AC or DC, but when I put the multimeter across the centre pins (aerial IN on box to main aerial on wall plate) I get 17.82v DC centre pin to centre pin or 38.8V on the AC range.
It doesn't matter if I bring my bedroom TV in to the living room and try it straight from RF2 into back of it same result as the wiring to the slave co-ax point from the return port to my bedroom is not the problem it's the centre pin from my main aerial that cuts the signal.
I can have either freeview in my bedroom without going through the sky box with my main aerial or just analogue/sky signal via RF2 ( but not both ) unless I cut the box out with a splitter then I get a fuzzy sky picture and freeview in my room.
Also with regards to the magic eye that's fine when I plug it straight into my sky boxes RF2 ( the light comes on) but can't get it in my bedroom TV ( even with main aerial and RF2 in splitter ) into my return port ( to my bedroom TV point
| link to this comment |
S
Stephen P6:17 PM
Derek S - I for one could not hope to answer until you explain where you are, what technology you use, and what TV station the programme you want IS on.
| link to this comment |
J
jb389:00 PM
William: Starting with the latter which is by far the easiest to sort out, the reason that you cannot get the magic eye to work in your bedroom is because the 5-9 volts or so from the Sky boxes RF2 is either being shorted out or is being blocked by something connected with your aerial return port, "if" that is actually what its sole purpose is?
What to do is first of all do "not" have anything connected to the wall plate in the bedroom, then working from the living room switch your test meter to its ohms range and set it to about 3K (anything more than 1K ohms) check to make sure that the ohms range is working by touching the two test prods together as this should cause the pointer to indicate full scale (i.e: a short circuit) or if a digital type meter that the display zero's, once checked connect the test prods between the inner and outer on the wall plate socket and which should "not" cause anything on your meter to read or change when you do that, if it does then that indicates that either the link cable is faulty (partial short) or that the wall plates being used on this line contain some form of matching filter, and of course they should "not" if used by a Sky boxes RF2.
If however this test is clear, then connected the coax jumper from the living room wall plate into the Sky boxes RF2 then set your meter to DC (any low range around 25 volts) and check that you are getting about 5 - 9 volts or so across the bedroom sockets outlet and which should cause the magic eyes LED to illuminate if plugged in, if no voltage is indicated then the cable is either broken somewhere or its a wall plate problem, (poss filter) as your prior conducted ohms test proved that no short circuit exists across the inner and outer.
I would prefer that you sort this part of the problem out first, as its easier to work backwards.
| link to this comment |
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
D
Duncan Flack1:43 PM
Tetbury
Postcode : GL8 8UG
I wonder if anyone can help? I have BT Vision box (old grey style) and a sky + box (to which i don't subscribe). There's a satellite dish to recieve free channels which are fine but no rooftop aerial (house is very remote in a valley) so I've lost the ability to record / pause TV.
BT vision still picks up on demand and iPlayer etc - still have BT Broadband - but i can't record anymore or receive channels through BT Vision.
I can however receive the free channels through the Sky+ box. My questions is, is there any way I can transmit the free channels I receive via the dish and Sky through the BT Vision box and thereby record them, if i don't have a rooftop aerial?
Many thanks in anticipation of your replies
| link to this comment |
Duncan's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb384:31 PM
Duncan Flack: No! as all PVR type boxes whether they be Freeview (BT Vision), Freesat or even Sky cannot record anything unless it originates from their internal tuners and that being why none of them have A/V inputs, and signals cannot be transmitted in the way you have mentioned.
However judging by what you have said regarding your location I feel that your post code isn't really very representative of your true situation as the reception predictor indicates that you should have excellent reception from Mendip @ 32miles / 209 degrees from your location, however these predictors don't always take local obstruction problems into consideration.
If you genuinely cannot receive Freeview then I would not hesitate in changing over to Freesat and purchasing a twin tuner Freesat PVR, as this would allow you to watch one programme whilst recording another, or alternatively recording two different programmes at the same time.
| link to this comment |
W
William4:57 PM
Jb38 I have just Took my main aerial cable into an "attenuator" and plugged it into "aerial IN" on my sky box and my sky signal is staying and with a cable from RF2 into " return " on my living room wall plate I can now see digital/freeview and sky on analogue in my bedroom TV now without fuzzy picture but my magic eye still not lighting up when plugged in to my bedroom TV via the flying lead from my bedroom co-ax outlet
| link to this comment |
D
Duncan Flack5:15 PM
Thank you JB38. The confusion re. the location may arise because some of the houses are on top of the hill yet we are loacted at the bottom end of a valley surrounded by slopes and tall trees on 3 sides.
I can still receive the fee channels by viewing through the Sky box, but nothing through the BT one.
Looks like the options are realistically going to be buy one of the Freesat Twin Tuner PVRs as you mentioned or subscribe to Sky. I think I know whose purse I'd rather fill.
Thanks again for your prompt and helpful advise
| link to this comment |
Select more comments
Your comment please