All posts by Graham Cole
Below are all of Graham Cole's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Thank you Dave for your very swift response, which I have only just read. Having looked at the link, how can I check if the problem is as you suggest, and, if so, will I need attenuators on each set, or cables in the loft , or one on the feed into the booster/splitter box. On reflection, I cannot remember whether the loft box is a booster/splitter or merely a splitter. If it is the first would it be better with a splitter only? Thank you for your patience with a 'silver surfer'.
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Thanks Dave, I have decided to leave everything until after the holiday when A and E will be less busy! Seriously, I will be asking someone more agile to climb into the loft. I will let you know the outcome. Thanks again.
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Dave Lindsay, While waiting to arrange for the apline climber to ascend to the loft, I have been looking at other possibilities. We have Sky with magic eyes for use in three rooms and I use Freeview so that I can watch something different from my wife, or vice versa. We are on Freeview Light, and I do not think that I could get the full service via Wenvoe, which, in any case, would call for a new Aerial. If I acquire a Freesat box could it be connected to the three tvs with a cable from an extra LNB into the loft and via a splitter? I (really my wife) am anxious to avoid any more outside cables. Would the Freesat box have to be in the loft, and, if so, how could it be controlled. I am not sure if I am explaining myself very well, but hope you can help. What I really want is a full set of options for my wife and I to be able to watch as many programmes as possible independently when the need arises. Thank you for your continued patience.
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Hello MikeP, Thank you for your advice and it looks like I will be using the unpowered splitter suggested by Dave Lindsay. Before I do, Could you tell me whether the absence of power will affect the tvLinks which I use from my Sky box to two other tvs? Further, would the existing splitter box continue to work to distribute the tv and FM signals if it was unpowered? Thank you.
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Hello again MikeP, I have now been in the loft, and i think I am going to call out an expert. There are two boxes (a) Global F140 which has one cable in and three out and I think that is for Sky, and everything worked including the tvLinks, even when the power was off to the other box, probably because the Global remained powered even when I had switched off the other box (b) which is a Multipoint which has TV and FM aerials in and three out. When I switched off the power to that box, everything seemed to work except that BBC did no - either no signal or negligible and useless signal. I was hesitant to try the bypass which Dave suggested, so I cannot be sure whether it is too much power for the BBC signal, which is infuriating because all others seem OK.
Unless you have any other advice, I think I will have to call in the experts. Thanks for your continued patience and help.
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Friday 24 May 2013 9:55PM
Treorchy
The aerial is on my chimney, approximately 13 metres above ground. It receives Freeview Light from Rhondda at Llwynypia. For the last 16+ years it has entered a powered booster/splitter box in the loft. A loft-installed hi-fi aerial also enters the box, from which three coax cables serves three tvs and separate cables to three hi-fis. This system has worked without problem at all times and since Digital changeover, until recently. All BBC channels suffer from pixelation intermittently. On my Samsung tv the maximum signal strength is shown as 50 with small bit error readings, and it just about copes but when the problems arise the SS reduces to mid 30s or less and the Bit error shows major fluctuations and sometimes no signal. The other tvs are Panasonic and they cope better but still pixelate on occasions. The other channels show 70 with no BE activity, and very good pictures. My immediate neighbours with the same line of sight to the transmitter but from an aerial at half the height have no problems. It seems to me that the potential problems point to the aerial and or splitter/booster box. I am 75 and can no longer access my loft to check. I am sorry to bother you but would appreciate any views and advice. Thank you.