All posts by Rob
Below are all of Rob's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.Thanks for the input guys. Steve: no neighbours I know are freeview. But what is this signalling mode list? Something I clearly haven't seen.
Interestingly testing my main TV (Bravia in living room) simply still connected to sky dish I get ALL channels from SH! Connected to 32 element aerial, handheld, waving all over I still get ALL channels! So reception isn't the problem.
With the problem freeview scart box I've held it out of the top floor dormer window (top floor occupies roof space & loft is a crawl space so this is similar height and aspect I would have if mounted on rooftop). The problems persist. I am about to return the freeview box as I'm thinking it is at fault.....
I could go freesat with the existing dish but this scart mounted freeview box was so compact it was ideal for the wall mounted kitchen tv - it all stayed hidden behind the telly with no extra cables/brackets etc. Sigh!
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Briantist, Sky Freesat I understand, but my Sony is most definitely 100% a Freeview TV. I went up and physically disconnected the sky dish from the cable and still got excellent Freeview just via the run of the satellite cable! Yes, odd, but I swear it is the truth!
Disconnect the TV from the cable and I lose signal. When I connect the handheld terrestrial antenna I am getting all Freeview channels again (same EPG, same channels).
As for ROOFTOP, to elaborate on my out-of-window experience, I supported the aerial on a broomstick, out of the top (3rd)floor dormer window (a couple of metres below the roof apex) on the side of the house that faces SH. I got my compass out, calculated magnetic declination, and aligned the aerial. The aerial connects direct to the "kitchen" TV which I have moved to the top floor for testing. I only get MUX A & C.
No, Brian, it isn't ROOFTOP but as close as dammit for testing purposes. If you still feel it isn't adequate and I need a genuine rooftop aerial I'll drop it there. I'm not trying to be argumentative:)
My point about aerial waving was that if the handheld aerial (not deliberately waving) in the living room on the Sony TV can give great Freeview reception then my almost-rooftop arrangement with the same aerial out the top floor window should be more than adequate to at least test the scart freeview box on the "kitchen" TV.
I suppose this is getting a bit complicated so I'll drop it for now und give an update if I solve it.
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I'm sending it back for a replacement. Thanks for the comments everyone - much appreciated.
Steve - yes, endless factory resets and "empty" scans etc! Got it mid May and it "failed" near the end of May so the mode changes etc shouldn't be related. Tried the attenuator to no avail. Replacement should be with me soon....
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R
Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) Full Freeview transThursday 9 June 2011 10:11PM
Cambridge
Follow up to my earlier posts: returned the freeview device and got replacement. Scanned and picked up everything perfectly and immediately so the fault was with the box after all!
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Monday 6 June 2011 11:09AM
Cambridge
I got an "Ex-Pro Digital Freeview Receiver" from amazon to plug directly into the scart of the kitchen telly.
I put a pound shop set-top antenna on the end of the satellite cable in the loft as a throwaway test but amazingly got 60+ channels clearly for a few weeks (including local BBC1 etc). But a couple of weekends ago "lost" all except MUX A and C, i.e. got "No Signal".
I have been through factory reset countless times & eliminated possbility of interference.
I subsequently got a commtel 32 element wideband aerial (£12 homebase) and same results (tried various places in the loft and around the house).
I looked into what I should expect. Sandy Heath is 10 miles away with near enough line of sight. I am at CB23 3LQ.
Using manual scanning of PSB1 and PSB2 I see 80-90% signal strength but 0% quality.
The weaker MUX A & C have 60% strength and 60-70% quality so I can view them fine.
If I swing around and point north to Waltham (almost 50 miles) I can get MUX 1 and A fairly easily but obviously wrong regional channels.
I'm about to give up! Is this maybe a case of "too strong" a signal requiring an attenuator? I may pop to maplin later today...