All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
HoodedOracle: Blaming 3/4G is a bit of a favourite, although almost certain unfairly.
It sounds like you've got old coax which sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. Let us know if things improve.
BTW - I just noticed on one of your previous posts that 'Though my neighbours are also having signal issues - but it is likely because they are using boosters - they have taken the boosters out and seem to have better signal now? '. Yep! Your 25km from the transmitter, which is fairly close when you consider how power levels have gone up.
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John: Please please give us a postcode to work with - there could be lots of reasons for your problem, but without a postcode its difficult to pinpoint them.
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KMJ,Derby: to be honey, most manufacturers only have HDMI on the back now, certainly Panasonic and Samsung does. That does make sense, since they have HD tuners, and therefore it's a reasonable expectation that they will be connected to at least HD-ready tv's. HDMI is now the standard, scart is legacy, and I've noticed that video RCA's have also now vanished.
Humax still has scart and hdmi, and I've recommended getting the t2 for a while to CRT owners, since they can use it for their present tv and any replacement.
As we keep seeing, people are still buying tv's and other equipment without thinking how its all going to fit together, and are still buying cheap tv's and are then surprised that the HD does not extend to the tuner - hopefully that will become less of a problem as t2 tuners become universal, but if you are buying a tv, a cheap one is often cheap for a reason.
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Darren: Firstly, you need to read the manual - its not that bad, but since I dont have an e6 in front of me (I think it has a scart rather than the flat connections of the DT..). perhaps there is a way to daisy chain the DVD to the scart input via the Sky box, but it sounds a bit rubbish.
Sky plus is scart only, so thats the scart used. You can split the Scart/RGB signal with a splitter box, but they dont always work very well - but you could probably get one for a couple of quid. The Wii seems to be scart only as well (there is a discussion of such a problem here : http://techforums.nintend…305)
Check the DVD player - if it has an HDMI, your sorted.
You have 3 HDMI's, which (as I've just commented) is now the standard. so ultimately you will be using them. At worse, get a switchable scart splitter - about £3. If your upgrading to Sky HD, then thats sorted. As I said, a decent 2013 model blu-ray (Sony, Panasonic or Samsung) can be had for £60 or less, and does everything the DVd does and more.
BTW - what do you think of the e6? We've sold lots, and it has a decent picture, but I like actual customer feedback, which has been generally positive.
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Mike: The chances that your mother actually has 4G problems is pretty small. If you post her postcode, we can see if its likely. I suspct that the upstairs TV has a problem other than 4G.
In most cases, it seems to be problems with signal strength or faulty wiring, rather than 4G.
At800 will generally send you one out for free, and they are not a lot of money to get another one, but there does seem to be a certain amount of panic, with people buying them when they have no need.
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KMJ,Derby: At some point CRT's are going to vanish, and if your a manufacturer, you have to think of the economics of producing connections which fewer and fewer people will be using.
Actually I agree with you, and not just because I have a CRT I cannot afford to replace at present! However, Humax and some other do continue to make equipment which does have scart (and I think RCA's as well).
In fact manufacturers actually do supply more connections on the back than most people actually use (Samsung used to have a DVI on the back of their 6000 series LED!) - However, HDMI is here to stay (although there will be one scart connection on the back of a modern TV, something which Samsung were doing five years ago), and we'll get used to it in time.
As for sound - thats what soundbars are for!
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Darren: Good, the Panasonic smart stuff is much better than last year - just wondering when all four channels will be on catchup on all the brands - apparently its writing the software..
Start with the splitter, and go from there.
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john: OK - Looking at the terrain plot, you should be fine for either transmitter (although there is a tiny something possible sticking up very close to you from Suttons path), and looking at Streetview (taking a page out of Dave Lindsay's investigative book), your right that pretty much everyone does point to Waltham.
My gut feeling is that you have the normal problem of too much signal strength - the signal is popping and spluttering. Your 48km from Sutton, but its a really powerful transmitter and even at that distance, it can be a problem. Check signal strength on both the TV and the Humax, and then take the booster out of the circuit if you can, and look again. 75% is perfect, but you can live with higher.
Humax tuners are really sensitive, although Samsungs dont like high signal strength either, but obviously its just enough for the Humax to complain.
Let us know what happens.
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john: Just try bypassing the booster entirely - although if your signal strength has gone down to 40% just by changing the cable, something strange is going on.
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Tuesday 8 October 2013 8:11PM
Nick Bayes: Unfortunately you didn't include a postcode, but I found one of your old posts - which shows your 19km from Hannington.
There are no problems with the transmitter, but your showing classic signs of too high signal strength - and engineering work seems to result in lots of this. Frankly, your previous post was a perfect example of the same thing - 100% is going to make the TV turner unhappy - 75% is perfect.
See here: Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | Digital switchover | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice