All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Brian Wright:'You need an external aerial for the DAB to work properly unless you are close to a local transmitter'
True, but most of us tend to have a fairly local transmitter (just as we do for FM), and more are being rolled out to fill various gaps. Yes, the current chips are relatively power hungrey, but of course most radios are either plugged into the mains or in cars, something which is exactly the same for FM. And the new generations of chips will be much more energy efficent. I have a DAB radio in the kitchen, which has an ordinary aerial. The only time it has problem is when my washing machine gets to a certain point in the cycle. I can switch to FM or the internet when that happens. Its not a big deal.
'One only has to visit their local john Lewis store to see the vast quantity of DAB receivers to notice the fact that they are not selling that well.'
I think your obervation is showing confirmation bias. The 'vast quanity' of DAB receivers points out the fact that they are selling, and in fact I had to order a Pure radio last week for a lady, because we had run out of stock locally. You'll see lots of radios on the shelf, with the multi-coloured JL radio's 'bulked out' to show all the colours and so customers can just pick one up and take it to the till.
Out of the 96 radio's on the JL website, 83 are DAB, and most of the FM only radio's are small portable or pocket ones. Its not just JL. Currys website shows 63 radios, with 42 DAB. DAB sales are consistantly 2m units a year. Analogue radios have much higher sales (but remember they cost at little as a £1), but the numbers are falling rapidly year on year. Retailers have to go where the market is - if DAB was vastly unpopular, we wouldn't bother to stock many models. Yet the opposite is true.
I have repeatedly said that I really dont care what people listen on, but its important to look at the actual state of the market, and not dismiss a technology using what are at best relatively minor issues for most customers. DAB isn't perfect (bitrate should be higher, for instance), but its not the disaster same make it out to be.
In fact a recent report pointed out that DAB and even radio itself might have a problem, because younger people are using their smart phones to listen to music via the net, and they are getting out of the habit of listening to Radio 1, for instance, in favour of Spotify and other streaming services and of course their own music. On the other hand, Radio 6 Music has done very well, which is a digital only station.
We are looking at a mixed market, but the trend towards a generally digital listening platform (whatever that might be) is fairly clear.
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John Everingham: I know what you mean about the BBC channels. They tend to feeze on my box, but like you, its the ones we tend to use. So is it the channel, or just one of those things?
As far as aerials and reception, there are much more expert people on this site, although you could really help them out with a full postcode (just put it in the website when you post), because then they will know your position, the terrain and the local transmitters. I suspect that your aerial system might need some TLC (why should a digibox work on one aerial, but not another?), but thats another matter. You could also give them signal strengths, (since your using an attenuator both with and without using it), to see if thats the problem. And the numv=bers for the old CR/digibox might be useful too.
The tuners in the Proline and the TV might have the same problem, or you might just be unlucky and they are failing at the same time for different reasons. I would suggest you at least split the signal at the aerial socket between the TV and the Proline to the DVD/VCR (and yes, a hard drive PVR would vastly easier to use), because you can then make sure that problems with one do not cascade onto another.
The other thing you could do is to take the Proline (its small, so easy to carry!) to someone else's house and try it with their aerial. If its still got a problem, then its the box, and if not, then you'll start to narrow it down. I'm also going to have a look at my power supply - could be a failing power pack, so it might be worth just check that too.
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Stuart: See my comments about this problem to Isla - My ITV/C4 Freeview channels have disappeared - what can I do? Is it my SCART ca | Help! Freeview and aerials | ukfree.tv - 12 years of independent, free digital TV advice I've had this problem for a couple of weeks, and its interesting that its not just Goodmans/Bush boxes that have been hit. Wondering if they all have the same software?
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Isla: Mine seems to be OK today...., but the problem isn't consistant, as you know. I've just emailed the BBC to ask if there is any change in the data stream that would cause a problem with the boxes software.
Stuart on the reception thread has pointed out that some older TV's and Labgear digibox's have also had a problem, and I'm wondering if they are all programmed with the same software.
If you put your postcode into this website (or just when you just post a question), there will be links, including the one to DigitalUK's website. Durris is on RF channel 28, but it might be that the other transmitter has been picked up first (with a lower frequency) - its one the less great things about the Goodmans box that it doesn't manually tune, and so it does sometimes do this.
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Robert Powell: Could you tell us how the HDD and the TV are connected up? And the make/model numbers?
In addition to Dave Lindsay's excellent suggestion, it could be that your just so close to the transmitter that the TV signal is starting to break up under the high signal strength, but your HDD is slightly more sensitive and is returning a no signal.
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Chris Ogilvie: I'm assuming your getting an excellent signal from Crystal Palace (your only 14km away), and so it makes sense that they could get away with an indoor aerial (although there is no such thing as a Full HD Digital Inddor aerial - thats just sales talk).
Lots of people have had a problem after the retune, where they have picked up a different transmitter from the one they normally have, with a much lower quality signal, but your getting Crystal Palace, which starts on Channel 23! Panasonic Viera TV's are good kit, and would normally find this transmitter immediately.
The only thing I can think of is that the retune caused a slight change in signal strength, which might have made the aerial connections more vunerable to interference from some sort of electrical device at that time (although, as you point out, there is no evidence of such a device). Always woth checking the aerial lead, and change it for something better shielded.
Of course there is the possibility that signal strength is so high that the signal is breaking up, and its just that channle and that time that the problem is showing up. Might be worth looking the signal strength at that time - 75% is perfect, but if its on 90%, then it might go a bit.
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Isla: I'd hold off buying a new box for a little while, for the following reasons:
1) Your not alone in having problems with this type of box, or should I say, this type of software, and so its possible there is a solution. It looks like the BBC channels are the ones prone to this (my remote refused to change channel from BBC3 tonight), so hopefully any change can be reversed.
2) If you go and buy another box (or simply go to where you bought the first one and demands a replacement) you are likely to get exactly the same thing, at least in software terms, so your unlikely to be better off.
3) As I said before, apart from the Goodman's and its clones, Manhattan seems to be the next available brand. Someone on this site said that they bought one, it didn't work, and they sent it back! Ok, might have been a one-off, but your still talking about £60, and that has an HD tuner, which you dont need for a CRT TV.
Much better to hang on for a little bit, and see if the problem is fixed. If it is, thats fine. If its a total pain, then I'd suggest buying a Humax PVR, because you'd probably have bought one anyway, it works, and you'll get a receiver and a recorder. Yes, its £164, but its better value long-term (see my collegues at a certain shop in Aberdeen, and they will normally recommend the Humax as well).
So the answer is - dont spend anything, unless you absolutely have to. Frankly, I want Goodmans and the BBC to sort it out, and I certainly dont want to spend any money. School shoes and uniform were a bit pricey this month...
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MikeP: I couldn't agree with you more!
Sabrina - do you have a Goodmans or Bush digibox? If so, you are not alone, and as soon as there is some news, we'll let you know.
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john knight: OK, start with the basics. Assuming the Youview is your main PVR, that should go into HDMI 1 (I assume its also your HD tuner). You can choose to loop through the signal from the aerial via the Youview box if you want, or split them. It really makes no odds.
On the other hand, if you want the other hard drive recorder to also record , I'd certainly split the signal, and loop through to the TV via one of the boxes, with the other one ending up with the other one. You can daisy-chain three devices, but its a bit of a mare if something isn't working - the shorter the chain, the easier life is.
OK, so you have one HDMI and 2 scarts.
The DVD player (I assume), has only a scart connection, so that goes into AV 1 or 2 (scart). If it has hdmi as well (for upscaling?), you could put it in via HDMI.
The hard drive recorder? Since its only got a scart, its got to go in AV 1 or 2. Think which scart connected device you use most frequently.
From the fact that its got 2 scarts, I assume the TV is at least 3 years old, and having just 2 HDMI's can cause problems a bit like this, when you consider that pretty much everything now will have HDMI and often nothing else.
If you or anyone is buying extra kit or a new TV, be aware that a TV from the Tier 1 brands (Samsung, Panasonic, Sony & LG) will only have one scart, plus RGB imputs. 2, 3 or 4 HDMI's are standard (and I'd like to see 4 if I could, although 3 should be fine, since many smart functions are now standard). As I said, most extra boxes (HDD's, Blu-Rays, streamers, etc) will only have HDMI's.You can get splitter boxes, but they dont always work well.
If your now buying a TV with only two HDMI's, keep in mind that you might need more at some point. Cheap is not cheap, expensive is not expensive.
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Sunday 7 September 2014 7:49PM
Isla: Great news. I know that mine did freeze today on CBBC, so it might be the channel, the software, the signal, the box or the power supply...
If you go into the setup menu of the box, look for technical information, or something similar. It will tell you the transmitter your tuned into. It wont say Waltham (in my case), but instead is called 'East Midlands'. If you put your postcode into this website, it will bring up a link to DigitalUK's website, and give you the most likely transmitters. The Goodmans box will tend to call the transmitter something similar to the name of the BBC local news or its general location. If you know the transmitter, at least you can work out if your on the right one, and it could be that it was just a low signal in your case, caused by another transmitter.
If its not solved, you know where to come for advice!