All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Andy: I've got Sony equipment, and the tuner is sensitive, but more tolerant of high signal strength than some other brands. However, mine will start to break up at around 93% - since your on 100%, your going to have problems.
Your 29km from Winter Hill, which is relatively close, and there was engineering work on the transmitter in August - which often results in the power going up. Its the signal strength which has changed, not your kit.
To paraphrase 'Jaw's' - "Your going to need a bigger attenuator". Of course if anyone else has an idea...
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James Owen: It seems to be fine, but your only 11km from the transmitter, so I'd check signal strength - might be on the high side?
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rob: you've brought up a number of points:
1) the 'salesman' says there are 90 more channels on freesat for sky than on freesat - yes, but are you going to watch any of them? Remember, he's a salesman for Sky - who are ultimately hoping you'll go bank to sky anyway...
2) your getting no subscription - you kind of are. As far as I'm aware (and I did try to check it out) freesat for sky gives you more channels, but you cannot record them on your existing sky box without paying for that function(if someone does know, please tell). Since that's over £10 a month, your paying £120 a year to record - which makes £150 for a freesat recorder look attractive, as I originally pointed out.
3) if you have a sky dish, why do you need to buy a new one? They will leave the dish, and if it has two lnbs, it's a straight swap. This is covered in the modt frequently asked questions - it's the most popular question!
Look at the long term costs, and find out the facts.
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Ann Morris: MikeP has some excellent advice, but in my experience, if a remote is not working (and the main unit is), its one of three things. You've already changed the batteries, so thats the first one. The second is to check that there is no muck on the emitter or the reciever - just make sure that the bit at the front has no duct, etc.
The third problem is that its broken! How you find this out is by getting a digital camera, and taking a photo while pressing one of the buttons (for chaning channel, for instance), pointing the remote at the camera. When you look at the photo, the infra red signal should appear as a little light/blueish flash at the front of the remote.
If there is no flash, then its broke, and frankly, you'll just going to have to replace it. There are plenty of companies on the net, and of course ebay. Have a look at the back of the remote, it should have some sort of parts code (the manual often has this info as well) - then Google it and off you go. Sony ones, etc might be about £30, possibly cheaper.
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Wendy: Its a bit of an odd problem, since it might be a couple of things.
To start with - is the TV HD Ready or with its own tuner? And if it does have one, are you connecting the TV to the aerial via the Sony, and also via a scart/hdmi? The reason for asking this is obviously if your using the Sony as a sort of digibox, then you've just got one tuner.
OK, your signal should be fine, and you can check the transmitter by going into the System Menu, then digital tuner (I have a sony recorder, so I know the routine!) - it will tell you the strength/quality of the signal, and the RF channel you are on (Sutton Coldfield will be on 43, for instance). It could be your signal strength is too low, but with the Sony being sensitive, above 93% it starts to break up.
My personal suggestion is to isolate the problem - get a good quality splitter and decent cable (ATV are doing both for about £3 each Online Satellite/TV/FM/DAB Cable, Leads and Connectors sales. . The reason for this is you can split the signal from the wall socket, so that one goes to the TV directly, with its own tuner, and the Sony also gets its own, which is then connected to the TV via scart/hdmi. You can then see where the problem lies. This is the setup I have, because its helps problem solving a bit easier.
If you can say the make/model of TV, and how its connected up, and of course the transmitter being used and signal strength, that will all be helpful.
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Alan Armour: There are only 21km from Midhurst, with a good signal path, so reception should be great.
BT Youview boxes are Humax's, which generally have sensitive tuners. Midhurst had engineering work in August, which tends to result in high signal strength, so I'm wondering if its my favourite solution, too much signal?
Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | Digital switchover | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
Have a look at the signal strength - if its 100% its too much, and isolate any boosters, etc. Tell us if it helps.
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Peter: Sandy heath reports no problems, so I suggest that its probably your system. Have you something which says 'no signal' or do you get something, but just not very well?
If its the first, its your system - check the signal path back from the TV. If its the latter, then check signal strength - after upgrades, many transmitters are broadcasting higher power signals than before and swamping tuners - remove any booster etc and see if you get down to around 70% signal strength.
Loft aerials are less than perfect, but if it was fine before, I'd expect a better signal, not a worse one.
I actually live in PE1...but my aerial points at Waltham, so thats not much help!
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rob: 'Why didnt freeview UK thought about this in the 1st place?'
They did - but since there were huge numbers of MPEG2 Freeview tuners already out there, to replace the lot during digital switchover would have been a big problem. However, I would regard anything to do with technology as something the the Dm does badly (and not just technology), and this is much the same.
Ofcom reckon the T2 tuners will be about 80% of the recievers used by 2018. Thats pretty likely, since T2 has been standard in TV's from the big 4 for last 2 years from 32 up. If your buying a cheap TV, I would check - there is a reason its cheap, and a T2 tuners is something that is missing.
Even if you have an older TV, there is every reason to think that PVR's (which are pretty much all t2) will be used instead of the internal tuner, and older PVR's will of course be gradually replaced. You can even use one with a CRT! HD boxes are about £60, and that cost will probably fall.
I'm always amazed that people think that government forces technelogical changes in order to raise VAT - such changes are in reality very long term, and never factor into such revenue calculations.
Another storm in a teacup....
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Will : You already have 2 ports spare - so use one of those for each extra TV (although they will need a Sky/Freesat box as well).
I'd go to Satcure SatCure UK satellite and Freeview information - Maplin are not cheap anyway, but I dont think you'll need the 8 LNB. BTW - Your Sky isn't going to record without a subscription - so the second LNB connected to it is functionally useless - if you want to record, swap it out for a Freesat PVR.
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Friday 4 October 2013 8:02PM
John Hoyle: I'm pretty sure your suffering from 'single frequency interference' . Single frequency interference | Freeview Interference | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
If the same thing happens at the same time every night, it cannot be anything natural, and since its happening from 9.20 to 11.10pm, then its got to be something on a timer. I suspect its central heating, because it didn't happen during the summer...