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All posts by MikeB

Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.

M
Made in Leeds
Thursday 27 November 2014 5:44PM

R: You could try emailing Virgin....or Made in Leeds?

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M
Full technical details of Freeview
Thursday 27 November 2014 9:34PM

Mr K S Simpson: Which transmitter are you actually tuned into?

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M
Connecting it all up | Installing
Saturday 29 November 2014 4:51PM

David Hobbs: You say the loop is connected via scart - I'm not familar with hearing loops, but can I assume that its outputs via a scart?

Your BT vision box and bluray both should be attached via hdmi - and in effect the TV acts like a giant box, with sound coming out via the scart(?) . If not, the 3.5mm jack might do it.

If you could clarify how the signal comes into the loop, and also the make/model of tv, that might help.

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alan T: A postcode and a description of your TV and others boxes, and the aerial you use would all help.

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M
Connecting it all up | Installing
Saturday 29 November 2014 7:59PM

David Hobbs: When I saw your question, I was at work, and saw a useful thread on AVforums (which I cannot find now!), which asked a similar question.

Neil has spelled out the problem - modern TV's dont use phono outputs. However, there are two solutions.

Fortunately, you have a Sony, which means you can 'split' the audio signal between the speakers and another output, in this case the 3.5mm headphone jack. A cable you can buy for a pound takes the audio from the 3.5mm jack, and converts it into red/white phono at the other end. Since its a Sony, you dont end up with nothing if you plug in the 3.5mm jack (like Samsung & LG), but you do have to tell it to split in the audio setup. Of course, leaving it to take all the audio to the 3.5mm jack is fine in your case.

The second workaround (which we found out when someone used headphones, but only afterwards told us after he'd bought a Samsung) is to use the digital optical output, and connect a digital optical cable to an Digital/Analogue Convertor (DAC), and then use phonos. Needless to say, the first route is much much easier!

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Jon: Whats your postcode? Talcneston can be a bit of a pain for lots of people in East Anglia, because of the geography on the area, but your signal problems could be a) too much signal strength, or b) a problem with your aerial. Although there can be problems with atmospheric conditions, its doesn't appear that often.

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Jon: Digital UK recokons your more than fine for Talcneston, and at 43km, its debatable if you need an amp at all. Check your signal strength. My father in law, who also lives along the East Anglian coast, thought his singnal too weak from Belmont - its of course 100% and far too strong, not helped by an amp he cant switch off.

You tried an attentuator - perhaps it wasn't strong enough.

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When I go into the website, I'm now getting the 'mobile' version. By pressing the 'settings' link on the top right of the pge, I should be able to change the view to the 'traditional' look (which is vastly easier to use on a laptop). But nothing happens - all I get is a blank screen. Basically, exactly the same as Colin1951. This in on both Firefox and IE. . The mobole version isn't bad for mobile safari, although not perfect, but its a real pain on a normal desktop/laptop.

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M
Connecting it all up | Installing
Sunday 30 November 2014 6:58PM

David Hobbs: OK - I remember the Sony 50's from 2013 - KDL W656/653 or something similar (which looked very different from the Panasonic 50in TV even though they were using the same LG panel).

Two HDMI's (I said the time it was bit skimpy in this regard..), digital optical, scart, component (YUV) and composite connections (combined, but inputs) and a 3.5mm jack.

The F450 isn't a model we sell, but Samsung soundbars tend to have much the same connections - HW-F450 2.1 Channel 280W Dolby Digital HDMI Soundbar - Samsung UK

HDMI, digital optical, and what might be a 3.5mm jack.

I think JB38 is right - God knows why there is a problem with the BT box when using the scart for audio, but apparently it doesn't like it. Your setup is fine - HDMI to the BT box, and the other to be left for the Blu-Ray. Digital optical to the soundbar.

Personally, I'd go for the cheapest and easiest method - 3.5mm jack to left/right phono's - 3.5mm Jack to 2 x RCA Phono Audio Cable Gold 1m Lead: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics - these are an example, and you can spend a pound, or six pounds, they should work OK. The phono's go into the back of the loop box. Look at the audio settings - on a Sony, you can have one stream going to the 3.5mm jack, and hence to the loop, and another going to the digital optical. This means that if your listening on the loop, the soundbar is off (but that makes no difference) and vis versa. On other makes you have to tell it which one you want to use, which wouldn't be the end of the world, but rather than switch it over each time, it should just do it.

There is a sneaky way of checking if this works. The soundbar also has a 3.5mm jack. Get a cable with one of these at each end (Poundland will have them), and see if it outputs on both optical and 3.5mm (you can try one at a time). Then try it with each bit of the system (TV, BT box, etc) - hopefully you should get all sound through the soundbar if its connected up via 3.5mm jack. Swap out that cable for the one which connects to the loop, and hopefully it should all work.

Let us know how you get on. Its a shame you dont have a third HDMI - you could have driven the soundbar via the HDMI in theory, but I'm sure the setup will work fine. Neil Bell - your TV must be about the last year that they still had phono outputs on the back - I suspect they assumed people were largely using digital optical or HDMI. If your analogue, well, they supplied something...



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M
ITV
Sunday 30 November 2014 7:01PM

Brian Hartshorn: If you put your postcode into the site (although I'm at a loss to tell you where at the moment), you can check the state of the transmitter, distance, etc. However, if your subddenly missing muxes, and you've retuned, then possibly you've a problem with your aerial - perhaps a loose connection, frayed, etc.

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