All posts by Michael Perry
Below are all of Michael Perry's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Briantist
I recommend that you rewrite the main part of this page as any UHF aerial, of the correct group, is adequate for either digital or analogue TV reception. There is no difference in the reception of a signal carrying a modulation of digital multiplexes and the reception of an analogue service. That some have been trying to 'sell' aerials as being 'digital' shows how marketing people will stop at nothing to confuse the public and make more money. The CIA do not differentiate, neither do the BBC. Several of the correspondents on these pages also point out that there is no such thing as a 'digital' aerial.
I suspect that a grid array aerial will be as effective, in the right circumstances, as a yagi, a modified yagi or a log periodic.
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Andrew Weeks:
You Sky box does not receive Freeview services but it would be able to receive FreeSat services, which are similar but the channel mix differs. They should not be confused with each other.
AFAIK, Sky will disable the recoding function of a Sky+ box when the contract is terminated - but some have been lucky enough to have use of the function for a bit longer.
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Pete:
It's not a 'booster' but a filter. It removes, as best it can, all signals above 800 MHz and hence attempts to eliminate the cause of interference and possible poor reception being caused by the 4G signals.
I strongly adice following the advice from at800 given above.
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susan hudson:
As I understand planning law, it not legal to mount a dish so that it is above the line of the highest point of your roof, excluding chimneys. If the roof is a typical ridged design with a row of tiles along the top, the dish may not be above that. So it should not be mounted above that on a long pole that would sway in the wind and give variable reception.
Best to ask you local Council Planning Department for advice on mounting dishes in your location.
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Tom Mirfield:
Further to what Jamie Stevens has stated, there is also the case that some TV sets have tuners that do not like signals that are too strong either!
You can check if that is the case by inserting a coaxial attenuator between the offending TV set's aerial input and the flylead feeding it. I would suggest a 6 dB one or a variable that are available from good stores.
If that does not resolve the issue, it could be due to weak signals on the BBCA multiplex. You could check that out by using the signal strength indications on the tuning set up page - but DO NOT start a scan. Check the strength and quality of a good channel and then a bad one, comparing the result. Ideally you do not want 100% signal strength but do want the best possible quality. This is especially true of HD services as that appears to be more susceptible to excessive strength problems
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Charles Stuart:
The correct viewing distances 5-6 times the diagonal dimension of the viewable screen, any closer will give severe eye strain. Correct height is the top of the screen being roughly level with the viewers' eyes.
That means a 40" TV should be about 16 feet/5 metres away from you usual viewing position. A 32" should be about 13 feet/4 metres away.
These values are worked out from the accepted standard ergonomic measurements pertaining in Europe.
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Graham Heal
For anyone contributing to this website to be able to help you they would need to know your location, a postcode would be helpful, and knowledge of your equipment, what TV etc.
It is apparent that having too strong a signal can be as bad as having too weak a signal. Plus having obstruction between you and the transmitter can be problematic as well - and tree are a case in point.
The affects you are describing would normally be categorised as pixellation where the signal cannot be decoded properly due to several possibilities. Hence the need for location and equipment information. If you don't want to give your own post code, one of a nearby shop will help.
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MikeB
So why does my optician and those of all our family members tell us that so many are now reporting eye and neck problems when they view their TV sets? I am told, reliably, that almost all of them have the TV mounted on the wall, often too high for neck comfort and they sit too close and get eye strain.
The original ergonomics research was done in the USA, not Canada in 1948 and followed up in France, 1962, Germany, 1971 and Russia, 1998. Some I agree is now out of date as human stature has generally increased in that time so worktop heights now need to be about 45mm higher than before. That also affects eye height when sitting - but not to the extent of putting TVs 6 feet up on a wall! The modern mounting position is, in my humble opinion, a fashion that is bad for the viewer.
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Victorine
Sounds like an equipment problem. Can you tell us the make and model number of your box, please? Then someone who has access to the user manual might be able to advise you whether it can be resolved or not.
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Thursday 2 January 2014 8:01PM
Helen
I have a Sky+ HD box and that can be connected to the internet via WiFi or Ethernet cable. Once connected there is no additional cost to use the catch-up services.
You can view the User Manual at http://storage.sky.com/pr….pdf
There is a section in there about making the connection and using Catch-up TV.