All posts by Michael Perry
Below are all of Michael Perry's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Vardon Hagan:
As you are just 10 km from the Emley Moor transmitter, you may have too much signal and that is well known to cause problems such as you report. Start by checking what signal strengths are reported on your television, the User Manual will tell you how to find that feature on the Manual Tuning section - but DO NOT RETUNE. If the signal strengths are greater than about 85% then you have too much and it needs to be reduced. In that case fit an attenuator in the aerial cable using a new flylead so the weigth of the attenuator does not 'hang' on the aerial input socket of the set. You may have to try different strengths of attenuator to get the best results, but they are quite cheap.
| link to this comment |
Nanette Gardner:
You are just 16km from the Midhurst transmitter so you may have too much signal. Ideally you want between 60% and 85% strengths on all the multiplexes. Your TV set will have a feature for manual tuning and that will show the strengths but DO NOT RETUNE. Check in your User Manual if you are not sure how to use that feature. Do that check at a ctime when the channels are being lost.
Incidentally, the format you entered your post code in is incorrect so the system failed to resolve it, you should normally use the format GU31 4PZ. If you pout that into the Digital UK Coverage Checker at Digital UK - Coverage checker it will tell you all the channel numbers used by Midhurst currently and any planned changes in the future. Simply scroll down to find the listing for Midhurst.
| link to this comment |
Naseem Shafi:
Please provide a full post code so that we can examine the reception conditions and predictions for your loocation. As there are no other reports of this problem with the ARQB service then it is likely a problem with your equipment, so please check all the aerial cables and connections. If there are coaxial plugs/sockets then unplug those and refit them. That will clear any corrosion/oxidation from the contacts and often clears the problem.
| link to this comment |
Murray Snudge:
You would do best to visit the Freesat channels page directly. The Freesat website at youtube-flat has a link to a current PDF, scroll down to find it. You could also use youtube-flat to show you what channels are available and is also a useful programme guide.
| link to this comment |
Farid:
Freesat and Freeview are not available in South Africa. You would do best to explore what services are streamed in you area, providing you have a fast enough internet service (it needs to be at least 8Mbps for SD and at least 16Mbps for HD).
| link to this comment |
Colin Sharp:
Whoever set up your aerial and signal feed system made a classic mistake. The amplifier, if needed at all, should always be as close to the aerial as is possible and should always be the first active item in the system. Yours is not the first item in the system so it is amplifying not only the signals received off-air but also the signals feed out by the PVR which may include some RF feed (many are fitted with a modulator for use when there is no SCART or HDMI connection possible). So I would suggest that when you replace the dual faceplate that you investigate how to get the amplifier, if needed, into the signal feeds before both the PVR and the TV.
By checking the signal strength shown on the manual tuning page of your TV set you will then see whether the amplifier is needed at all. An ideal signal strength would be between 60% and 85%, any more would give the loss of channels experienced by some with too much signal, often shown on the TV as a message saying 'No Signal' which is misleading.
| link to this comment |
Chris:
I suspect that you are misinterpreting what has been said by myself, MikeB and many others. Having too little signal is always likely to present intermittent reception problems. Having too much signal for the tuner to cope with will also present as intermittent reception problems, often reported bt the TV as a message saying 'No Signal' which is actually incorrect. What happens is that the tuner becomes overloaded with signal and cannot process the data into a usable data stream that can be recognised by the subsequent signal processing stage of the receiver. When that happen, you get the false, 'No Signal' message displayed as it thinks there is no signal because it cannot process it properly. As the signal strength will inevitably vary throughout the day and from day to day with variations in the atmospheric propogation conditions the actual signal strength arriving at the aerial will vary considerably. So the aim is to ensure that the actual received signals are of sufficient strength to reliably give a good reception and decoding at all times, hence the minimum quoted of 60%, and yet not be too strong as to cause tuner overload despite the variation in strength, hence the top limit quoted as being 85%. That allows for the varying strength of the signal to give an apparently constant reception. The quality measure is not a good quide when all is working well, it only comes into the picture when the signal is too low or too high for the decoding to be having trouble in sorting out the data, then the quality measure can assist. Note that the decoding systems include factors such as error correction to make it quite robust in normal circumstances, but even that cannot cope with very high levels of data errors.
So the recommended signal strengths are 60% as a minimum and 85% as a maximum are to allow for variations in the received signal strength and the variations in sensitivity between not only manufacturers but also individual examples fitted by the same manufacturer to different models. The same applies to PVRs as well.
| link to this comment |
Naseem Shafi:
You are about 34 km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and the prediction is that you should get good and reliable reception of all the multiplexes available. There is a rise between you and the transmitter but that is unlikely to be the cause of your problems.
So it is likely that there is a poor connection in your aerial system. Check all the cables for any damage, check the aerial is pointi ng in the same direction, at a bearing of 68 degrees, as your neigh bours aerials. Then check for any poor connection by unplugging all the aerial plugs/sockets and refitting them (that is to remove any corrosion/oxidation from the contact surfaces) and ensure that the cable is fitted correctly and tightly in the coaxial plugs.
Then check that your TV is correctly tuned to the Crystal Palace signals on channels 23, 26, 30, 25, 22, 28, 55 and 56. The ARQB (called by some COM6) multiplex is on channel 28. Do that check using the manual tuning page of your TV (see the User Manual for how to access that) but DO NOT RETUNE unless any are tuned to the wrong channel. Use the channels listed above, taken from the Digital UK Coverage Checker for your location at Coverage Checker - Detailed View
| link to this comment |
John O'Flaherty:
The predicted reception at your location is shown as being good and reliable. It is therefore likely that you have an aerial feed problem. That is not i=uncommon and is known to cause loss of or disruptions oif just one channel. So please check all your aerial cables and connections, where there are coaxial plug/sockets unplug then and then refit (that is to clear any possible corrosion/oxidation on the contacts) and then check that you are correctly tuned to the Limavady signals, go to Coverage Checker - Detailed View and scroll down to the Limavady listing and use the current channels listed there. It will also tell you what the future changes may be and roughly when.
| link to this comment |
Monday 15 October 2018 10:52AM
Chris SE:
When we regular contributors respond to a query, we have no knowledge of what equipment might be in use. The figures we all use are what has been found to suit all known equipment. Some are more sensitive than others and some less so. So between 60% and 85% is a good working average that works for everyone. Hence its extensive use.