All posts by Mike Dimmick
Below are all of Mike Dimmick's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.Anthony: Digital UK's predictor shows excellent reception is possible at that address. A check on the terrain shows that you might just be on the back side of a small hill, but it doesn't look like it's blocking the line-of-sight to the transmitter.
A few guesses. First, it's possible that you have too much signal. If signal strengths are generally shown at 90-100% on a Freeview HD box or TV, or over 60 dB, it can cause a problem called intermodulation or cross-modulation. This basically causes signals on adjacent channels to interfere with each other.
Alternatively, it could be that the system hasn't been set up to handle the HD service at this time. Communal systems have to amplify the signal a lot in order to then split the signal to several dwellings. This can be easier if each channel is filtered and then amplified separately - this gives much better results if the levels are different on different frequencies, but can lead to not getting some services at all if the system hasn't been designed to carry that channel.
Ask the building manager if the HD services are currently supported, and to have the levels adjusted so that they're in the right range.
If it is a problem of too much signal, you can also add an attenuator to the lead to reduce the signal levels. It's better to get them to sort it out, though.
You're not very far away from the transmitter, less than 15 km, and for some communal systems you can end up with direct signal pick-up in the TV and a delayed signal from the aerial system. On analogue TV this would cause ghosting. The HD services should be able to handle a delay caused by signals travelling up to 74 km further, though.
Communal systems will need to be adjusted again at switchover, to avoid problems with too much signal, and also due to channel changes. The public service multiplexes are all moving to former analogue channels, and the commercial multiplexes to the channels freed by the PSB muxes. The building management should be prepared for this. Property Managers - Home has information.
The switchover dates for the London region are expected to be announced this Thursday, and are expected to be before July 2012 (before the Olympics). (RG47SH)
| link to this comment |
Dennis Pedley: Can you provide a full postcode? We can check the prediction to see how well this is expected to work for you.
CBeebies is carried on Multiplex B, the BBC's second multiplex. As they're losing this after switchover, and in switchover regions, they've pretty much cleared it - it carries only BBC Four (which uses CBeebies' slot in the evening), BBC Parliament, the Red Button interactive stream and the BBC radio stations. They've also made space available temporarily for Sky Sports 1 and 2 in regions that haven't yet switched over.
If you're missing all those channels, you could try the suggestions at Single Frequency Interference.
There is, however, a chance that the signals are now too strong. There was no need to change aerials for switchover - all channels will be within the previous analogue group, and all digital services are within that group at present. If you had clear analogue pictures, you should have been fine.
If you have an amplifier or booster, you could consider removing it. Otherwise, consider adding an attenuator.
At switchover, the Rowridge transmitter will begin transmitting signals with vertical polarization, as well as horizontal polarization as it does now. This is to try to reduce problems with picking up signals and interference from France. To use this, your aerial will need to be rotated so that the rods point up-and-down rather than side-to-side. The commercial channels will not start on vertical polarization until later in 2012, and will broadcast at lower power on horizontal than on polarization, though still 2.5 times current power levels.
| link to this comment |
Alan: You need a viewing card to watch free-to-view channels - channels that are encrypted, but available even without an active subscription.
I believe you also need a viewing card for Sky's EPG to work. Otherwise you can only watch free-to-air channels using the box's Other Channels feature, you have to tune them in and add new channels yourself, and you have to retune if they move to a different transponder.
If you already have a Freesat box, you gain very little by having a Sky box. There are a very small number of free-to-air channels that are in Sky's EPG but not Freesat's, but this is largely because Sky are being obstructive (in the name of compatibility with their boxes). You can tune them in using Other Channels on the Freesat box.
Compare the line-ups at Free Digital TV Channels - freesat and FREESAT from Sky - What can I watch? . I wouldn't trust Sky's comparison page to be up-to-date. (RG47SH)
| link to this comment |
Norma J Grundy: Now and Next details have been replaced on Freeview boxes with the 'info plate'. Press 'i' on the remote to show the info plate. That shows information about the current programme. You can get more information by pressing 'i' again. To close it, press 'i' again.
When the plate is up, press the right arrow key to show the details for the next programme. Press left arrow to go back to the info for the current programme.
You can get a more detailed guide of upcoming programme information by pressing GUIDE on the remote. That shows the full Electronic Programme Guide, or EPG, for the next 8 days. Again, you can 'scroll', usually by pressing right arrow to show later programmes and left to show earlier ones, and up and down to show programmes on other channels. Press 'i' to show the info plate for the highlighted programme.
Because the Now & Next information and EPG are built into every Freeview TV and box, the Ceefax and Teletext data is redundant, so there is no equivalent on BBC Red Button or digital Teletext.
All analogue text services on terrestrial TV end at switchover. The old text button will not do anything any more.
| link to this comment |
Arthur:
1a: Since you won't be recording on the Sky+ box, you can get away with only running one cable and plugging it into LNB 1 IN.
1b: The quad LNB is a LNB with four outputs on it rather than just two. It replaces the existing LNB - the device on the end of the arm that points at the dish. It might be hard to see how many outputs the existing LNB has, because they should be weather-proofed.
You can run the cables yourself but you do need the right sort of cable, be able to drill holes through brickwork, and know how to assemble the connectors so you get a reliable connection. Try F and TV plugs and leads connectors and see SKY+ Freesat+ and Replacing your minidish LNB for information on replacing the LNB.
2: This is a poorer option because if there are arguments over which channel to watch (or record), and you need both boxes on at once, you might not be able to select the channels that you want on the second box. If the lounge box will always be on standby when you're watching the bedroom box, no problem.
Unfortunately, the boxes are only designed to record signals directly from the satellite. The boxes cannot regenerate the satellite signal, and the Humax won't record from SCART or HDMI. The Sky box won't let you copy programmes to an external hard disk. (The Humax will, but they're scrambled so that only the Humax can play them back - a condition of High Definition copy protection.) A video cassette recorder is actually about your only option! (RG47SH)
| link to this comment |
Jen Bolter: Try cleaning the window on the end of the remote where the infra-red beam leaves, and the window on the box where the infra-red sensor is. Also check that there's nothing in front of the sensor. Some remotes have an exposed LED rather than it being enclosed.
Otherwise it sounds like the sensor has broken, but that's usually a very rare occurrence. You might need to take it back.
| link to this comment |
Kelly: Indoor aerials rarely work well, because signals don't pass through the building walls very well. Also, you're usually using them at a height where signals also have to travel through neighbouring buildings. You will get much better results with an external aerial (preferred) or a loft aerial.
There is no such thing as a digital aerial. Aerials work for a range of frequencies, and indoor aerials are usually designed to cover the entire UHF band. Usually, though, more attention is paid to aesthetics - what it looks like - than to function. The elements on an aerial have to be a certain size, and a certain distance apart, for it to work. You can't shrink it below that size. Unfortunately a lot of indoor aerials are too small to really work properly.
If you provide a full postcode, we can see whether you're in coverage.
| link to this comment |
John Gardner: Flyleads supplied with set-top boxes tend to be rubbish. You could try replacing it with one of these: Online Satellite/TV/FM/DAB Cable, Leads and Connectors sales. you could split the cable before it gets to the box rather than using the 'loop through'. A passive splitter will lose about 4 dB of signal, but that might be preferable to whatever noise the Goodmans box is adding. Try Online TV Splitters, Amps & Diplexers sales . (RG47SH)
| link to this comment |
M
2011 switchover week two: The Wrekin and Ridge Hill transmitterTuesday 5 April 2011 11:30AM
Reading
Bromsgrove and Lark Stoke (for Stratford-upon-Avon) are also switching on the same dates, as they form a Single Frequency Network with The Wrekin.
| link to this comment |
Monday 4 April 2011 1:50PM
Reading
AnnieSalsa: It's most likely that the twin cable goes back to the satellite dish. If this is a plain Sky box, not a recorder, it probably has a single input marked LNB IN. Connect one half of the twin cable to this.
If it's a Sky+ box, connect one half to LNB 1 IN and the other to LNB 2 IN.
The other cable, if it also has a screw thread, is probably for multi-room installations. If there's a socket or cable in another room, perhaps the main bedroom, it's possible that the single cable in the lounge runs from there to the bedroom. If you want to watch Sky or Freesat in the bedroom, you could connect that cable to the LNB OUT on the lounge box, and another box to the socket or cable in the bedroom.
However, you will find that the box in the bedroom will only be able to show some of the channels when the box in the lounge is on. To be able to select any channel, you'd need a completely separate cable all the way back to the dish.
If it's just a push-in type it's either a downlead from an aerial, for analogue TV and Freeview, or it could be intended to distribute the RF modulated output of the Sky box to other rooms (there's an aerial loop-through socket on the Sky box for this). To watch this in another room, you'd have to tune the TV's analogue tuner into the frequency that the Sky box is putting its output on.