All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
CJ: It doesn't mean that any new building has had an effect - causation is not certain, just a possibility, and why would they be just the BBC channels? It could be that the aerial system has developed a problem, perhaps a loose connection, etc. And check that the booster is working fine.
However, you do have an alternative - your reception, according to DigitalUK, is almost as good from Oxford as it is from Mendip. You could just change the direction the aerial faces and see if its OK.
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Laurence Hughes: Sky boxes only have a scart output, so only SD rather than HD, no matter what your TV can show, thats all it can supply. Sky HD boxes have HDMI and scart, but since your seemingly fine with the free channels, why pay them at all?
To be perfectly honest, if you've bought a flat screen TV, it should have a Freeview tuner in it, and hopefully, a Freeview HD tuner (if you can supply the make and model number, we can check). If you have an aerial, just connect it up, and if you have a Freeview HD television, you'll get all the channels, depending on your location.
If you have a TV with Freesat (mid and high level Samsung's and a single Panasonic) or a generic sat tuner (Sony/LG), you can just use that instead of the Sky box. Or you could just replace the Sky box with a Freesat box, which start around the £45 mark (Manhattan) or £75 for the Humax version (which is a decent brand). They even allow you to get Iplayer, etc.
You can of course buy a Freeview or Freesat recorder, which will also allow you to watch the HD channels, and record at the same time - they start about £150 for a decent brand like Humax or Panasonic.
If you can tell us what the make and model of the TV you've bought, we can tell you the easiest and cheapest way of getting HD, plus if you have an aerial, your postcode (which you can just put into the site, it will then supply all the data), so we can find out what you could get with a normal aerial, and how many cables come out of your dish (or how many connections you could have).
To be honest, spending money on Sky when your only using Freeview makes no sense, and if you have to buy another box, upgrade your dish, etc, it will probably save you money in a year or two.
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ANDREW ADAMSON: If you look at the Sandy Heath page, it says 'SANDY HEATH transmitter - MainPossible service interruptions' . Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter
However, thats probably not going to be for very long. If you get to 7pm, and its still dead, then its you. You haven't given a postcode, so we cant say anything about 4G, but since 4G interference seems to be very rare anyway, I wouldn't worry about it.
Sounds like your system is crook, and you need to check the signal path.
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Laurence Hughes:
Celcus....so no, you wont have Freeview HD, just a DVB-T tuner (its why it was the price it was). So you going to need another box, either Freeview HD or Freesat.
If you look at the Digital UK link yourself, you can see its not just Dover which is a bit patchy - your basically in an area which is a bit spotty for all the transmitters, although since you are pretty close, check your signal level isn't too high, rather than too low.
Ok - so you have a dish, but with only one lead coming out of it (which makes sense if you've being using Sky for years). You dont need to change the dish, just the bit that sticks out of it. If you have a look at something like Satcure's website, you can get all the stuff from there (Ebay will be cheaper, etc). Every sat. tuner needed to have an LNB at the end of the dish. You've got one tuner (in the Sky box), and so, one LNB. If you have Sky Plus, you'd have two LNB's, and so on.
Best thing would be to buy a Freesat PVR (the Humax would be my choice), and then change over the single LNB for a quad LNB. Add some extra cable, and your away. Yes, you could just get a twin LNB, but since your up the ladder anyway and the difference in cost is marginal, go for the four. That way, you could add an extra feed for another room, or perhaps if you get a TV with Freesat, etc, you then use the PVR for recording two channels at once while watching a third.
Cost? Quad LNB from Satcure - Quad-output universal Sky LNB - 10.99 plus a little bit for an adpater, plus VAT etc. Some extra cable (WF100 or similar) and ends. And a box. The 500gb Humax is £169 Buy Humax HDR-1000S Freetime Smart 500GB Freesat+ HD Digital TV Recorder | John Lewis
That would do you very well, the Humax does all 4 channels on demand (and is of course a one off cost), and there are of course a fair number of HD channels. Hope that helps.
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Lawrence Huges: Follow JB38's advice - buy the PVR, and when the weather is better (I know what you mean about ladders), then swap out the LNB's. OK, you spending a bit more money out initially than you need with just a single LNB, but its more cost effective in the long term.
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Paul: Assuming you dont want to go back to Sky, a Freesat PVR is the easy choice. About 169 quid for the current Humax 1000S, and an easy swapout for the Sky HD box.
If you cant be bothered to record, then you can get a Freesat receiver (albeit one that will get you Iplayer, ect) for as little as 50 notes.
Do you have an aerial? If so, then that increases your choices a lot, and if your after a new TV anyway, then that might throw up so choices, since many will have a sat tuner of some kind.
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Mike Gordon: It sounds like something in your system is dying, but not yet dead...
Have another check - a loose connection, etc. I'd think we'd all have heard if CP was out for 3 hours or more, so it looks like the ball is in your court.
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Sharon: According to Digital UK, your transmitter should Sudbury, not Sandy Heath.
Even if there was a problem, its doubtful that would last very long. Its more likely the problem is with the system with the flats, perhaps a amp which has finally stopped working, etc.
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Sunday 18 January 2015 6:54PM
winston1: As far I can make out, you've got a main aerial that works, plugged into a TV, but the rest of the wiring does not?
OK, you've bought a new 'connection box' for the TV's, by which I assume you mean a splitter, amp of some kind.
Is the box powered? If its supposed to be and its not been connected up, its not going to work. The most likely reason would be that the main feed into the 'box' is duff in some way, and that why its not working - perhaps a broken cable? So trace back from where its not working to wehere you know your getting a good signal, and thats probably where the problem lies.
The other thing is to get a professional to sort it out.