All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Darren Ellis: Purely out of interest can you actually receive the low powered (2Kw) ITV1 & ITV3 muxes? as you are not predicted as being able to do so until March 14th.
However the point of this being, that if you can receive the aforementioned channels then unlike what the predictor suggests you are likely to be located in a lucky spot for reception, the downside of this being that the much higher powered BBC (20Kw) mux at only 6 miles away could well be causing your PVR to suffer from signal overloading problems, as the tuner fitted in that model (albeit of older design) is more sensitive than some found around, but because of this otherwise plus point is likewise more sensitive to be overloaded.
To eliminate the possibility of an excessive signal applying, if you have access to a set top aerial then just for a test plug that in and carry out another manual tune on Mux Ch55 and see if anything comes up, if it does it doesn't really matter what like it might be (severe glitching on picture etc) as the main point of the exercise is whether or not you get anything.
Should this procedure bring results, then you will require to fit an attenuator of at least about 10dB or so in line with the aerial socket of the Humax to slightly kill the signal level, as come switchover ITV is also likely to vanish "if" the problem is caused by signal overloading.
On the other hand though, if nothing you do signal reduction wise results in the BBC being received then even although the 8000T is seen listed as being 8k compatible it might not be quite so stable as Humax maintains, the proof if this being if ITV1 also vanishes on the 14th.
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rowland davies: As far as I can see there is no chance whatsoever of picking up any of the Welsh transmitters, so the only chance of getting what you wish is by using Freesat.
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CLBH: In practically every installation in the country no matter where the BBC should always be received, if its not then either a problem exists as far as signal overloading is concerned or the equipment being used to receive it is defective as far as certain technical aspects of it is concerned.
As you have not given your location (pref: post code) the signal strength expected at it cannot be assessed, so if you give an update on this as well as the brand / model of equipment being used to receive Freeview further info can then be supplied as necessary.
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Rich75: As you have not mentioned your location (pref: post code) the signal strength expected at it cannot be assessed, but "if" what you have reported is meaning that the BBC is not being received then this suggests that its multiplex is being received at an excessively high level thereby blocking the tuner in the device that's not receiving it.
As you wont be able to by-pass the mast head amp then I suggest you purchase an attenuator of about at least 10db or so and place that in line with the device not picking up BBC, however purely for a test you could try a set top aerial in the TV / box and carry out a re-tune to see if BBC is then received.
But more accurate info can be given if your post code is provided.
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J
I have TV, Sky+ box and DVD/VCR combo, how do I connect them upSaturday 10 March 2012 3:37PM
Wrexham
John Griffin: Although you have said that only one scart socket is available on each device but doesn't the TV also have an HDMI socket? the only reason for asking this being that there isn't much point in having a Sky HD box unless it has, and if it does then couple the Sky+ HD box into the TV using an HDMI lead, as this would then leave the TV's scart socket free for the DVD player.
However if the TV doesn't have an HDMI socket then you will require to purchase a "selectable" two way scart splitter, using same as a combiner rather than splitter, with the DVD connected into one socket and the Sky box into the other, the single common scart going to the TV.
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chris: If another TV can receive the Sky boxes RF2 output OK using the "same" coax link as the TV that wont, then that TV must be suffering from an intermittent problem.
That said, does the magic eye connected to the TV stay illuminated whilst you are carrying out the "analogue" scan to pick the Sky boxes RF2 output, and have you tried scanning without the magic eye in line? although if you do try the latter remember to temporarily change the Sky boxes coax link over from RF2 to RF1 so as NOT to have any power going into the TV's aerial socket or it "might" short circuit the eye's power supply, this being dependant on the TV's input circuitry.
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dave payne: Living under the circumstances mentioned whereby you have no control over the aerial system used obviously seriously limits anything you can do, that is except to check that when you re-tuned your TV (or box) it had picked up the station that covers your area and not one from somewhere else, however advice on reception regarding the correct channels etc can only really be given with knowledge of your location, this preferably in the form of a post code for greater accuracy.
Maybe you could also indicate the model of TV (or box) you are using.
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Darren Ellis: Thanks for that update on the situation having taken note of all you have reported, however on analysing same I have to say that I feel that your BBC problem could still be because of signal overloading thats causing instability to occur in the Humax 8000's receiver.
I have to point out that the aspect about being in this type of situation that can be "very" misleading to many is that the strength / quality indications seen on the receiving equipments indicators can in most cases be "exactly" the same as that obtained if from a weak signal, this being as the result of the excessively high RF level in the tuners front end causing partial instability to occur, and with this having a knock on effect in the oscillator circuitry dependant on the channel selected, the aforementioned instability corrupting an otherwise clean digital signal resulting in it only being partially measured hence the low readings. (exp somewhat simplified)
Needless of course to say, that the important part of a digital signal, namely its quality is always first to suffer when instability strikes, and as the instability level rises the quality is frequently seen to drop to zero, this exactly what you experienced when you plugged the booster back in.
I do of course realise that you cannot receive the lower powered multiplexes without the booster, but as mentioned in my original posting you are not really officially predicted to be able to receive them properly at present, and although you obviously can do with the booster I feel that you might be paying the penalty of having them by causing the tuner to be overloaded.
If its at all possible I would still like if you could manage to try a set top aerial in the manner previously described, as the outdoor aerial straight into the Humax without the booster is still not as good a test, especially where an 8000 is involved, but should this not be possible then I will look forward to a further update come the 14th as that will be the day of reckoning, so to say! as then if its not a signal overload problem then it doesnt leave anything else other than the not so nice issue of 8k compatibility.
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Keith Mardell: Analogue will completely vanish from the UK in the very near future and so I would not even consider it as being a necessity, most (but not all) TV's being dual standard anyway.
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Friday 9 March 2012 5:25PM
bill: These sets can develop odd faults of this nature, and about the only thing you can do with a set such as this is to disconnect it from the mains power supply for a few minutes before re-connected it again as I dont "think" (not 100% sure) that there is a system reset facility on that TV, if though it still doesnt respond after having done this then harsh it might seem, there really isnt anything that you can do about as its tuner control system has failed.