All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Mrs L Parry: Indications based on that info provided are that you should be able to have excellent reception from either Winter Hill @ 8 miles away or from the Darwin PSB only relay @ 4 miles away, however having a study around the area I cannot see any aerials installed on any of the properties, only a few satellite dishes, this making me wonder if either some form of communal aerial system is being used or that everyone has loft aerials? maybe you could clarify as to what the situation is as this will enable further appropriate advice to be given.
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Mick: The Hastings mux transmitters are not shown on the predictor, and which might be because reception from there is not considered possible or its just an error, but whatever go into the Panasonics DVB tuning menu / manual tune and using the up / down arrows on the large round button on the remote control select Ch22 which is Hastings HD channel, noting if anything is indicated and giving an update on results, although if a signal with a quality indication of higher than 50% is seen then try a scan anyway.
Another point to note being, that its possible the HD transmitter was down when you tried the retune, as the service had two breaks in transmission on the 13th and notifications are always after the event.
I will say though that Heathfield is indicated as giving a good signal across all six multiplexes, and even although the aerial would require to be realigned try that same test on Ch47 which is Heathfield's HD service, as the results of that test will give an idea of what kind of reception would be possible if the aerial was group changed (if necessary) and realigned to face 280 degrees, that is as well as being turned to its horizontal mounting position from what should be presently vertical.
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Mrs L Parry: In that case then it can indicate the possibility of a faulty / corroded connection where the co-ax cable joins into the aerial and with this deteriorating in rainy conditions, or alternatively that even although your reception might appear to be OK in better weather, that the signal level received is running at a level that's not that terribly far above the level necessary to resolve a picture, as in cases like that a slight reduction in strength will kill reception.
You can verify either situation if when all is OK you carry out a signal level check on BBC mux Ch62 making a note of the level seen, then carry out the same check on SDN (ITV3 etc) on Ch58, once again making a note of the indication.
That completed, the next time that you lose reception use exactly the same procedure as though they were there by selecting these channels (in turn) again, because even although the screen might be blank the signal will "still" be there but likely hovering at just under the reception threshold referred to, and if whilst viewing the indication you witness the level fluctuating up and down, then although this is usually always caused by the signal path being intermittently blocked by trees, it can however also be an indication of a bad connection on the aerial.
By the way the channels referred to is on the assumption that you are receiving from Winter Hills full Freeview service and not Darwin's PSB only programmes (no ITV3 etc) because if its Darwin then the BBC is on mux Ch45 and thats all you can test, as ITV3 will not exist.
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Mrs L Parry: Please also be aware that over the next coming week that Freeview is liable to suffer from interruptions to its service due to work at the transmitter.
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John Bean: Its quite impossible for anyone to be able to offer assistance when you have failed to mention your location, this in the form of a post code or one from a nearby location e.g: a shop etc.
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J
Tunbridge Wells (Kent, England) Full Freeview transmitterSunday 17 June 2012 8:28PM
Tunbridge Wells
Lawrence Heasman: If your aerial is chimney mounted then you are unlikely to find a satisfactory solution to this problem as the signal levels received from Heathfield are liable to be a little too strong to eliminate, or at least partially kill so as not to cause serious problems with reception from Tunbridge Wells.
Although transmitters within range of each other and using the same channel numbers is a highly undesirable state of affairs, you would stand a better chance of improving things by using a log aerial in the loft and taking advantage of the fact that up until the 27th Ch42 (SDN) is only being used by Tunbridge Wells, and the fact of it being temporarily on low power of only 100watts can be used to further advantage, as that would enable the vertically mounted log to be carefully positioned so as to obtain maximum quality on Tunbridge Wells Ch42 without interference from Heathfield, as Heathfield's SDN is on Ch48 until the 27th, then on that date the situation with SDN (ITV3 etc) will be exactly the same as the other five muxes presently are, that is both stations using exactly the same channels across all six muxes.
There is always going to be an element of hit and miss in any attempts made to find a satisfactory solution to this problem, and of course what I have suggested is something more suited to a person trying this themselves, as the exercise can be a very time consuming task and not the type of thing that an aerial installer is likely to consider attempting without some exorbitant charge being made, but its very unlikely that any other measures taken would bring any better results.
By the way, not having knowledge of your location I have used a test code of TN2 5RP (Broadwater Lane) as a rough guide for the signal predictor.
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martyh: I would suggest that before you completely resign yourself into having to purchase a new HD TV you should try and borrow a normal Freeview box from someone for purposes of comparing its picture quality (after having been adjusted) with what you are getting from the Logic scart receiver.
I fully sympathise with your feelings regarding your TV being effectively redundant as I know a number of people who feels exactly the same, and especially if the CRT's in their TV's are still OK and not suffering from low emission because of the tubes cathode being on the way out, as should a TV with a good CRT be sat beside a modern LED illuminated flat screen LCD set, the picture on the LCD / LED set always looks positively flat and lifeless, and I havent seen one yet that doesn't.
Plasma TV's aren't quite so bad though, as just like in a CRT set the actual screen itself is illuminated and not being done via a back light as in LCD sets.
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Eddie: Sky and Freesat are exactly the same as far as the dish is concerned, and if your previous Sky box was only just that and not a Sky+ box which can also record Sky programmes, then you will likely only have one coax lead coming into your house from the dish.
If you are not too bothered about being able to record then a Freesat receiver only requires one coax input from the dish exactly like the previous Sky box "if" it wasn't Sky+.
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Saturday 16 June 2012 11:47PM
Robert lovatt: The HD service from the very local Eastbourne transmitter is on Ch23 or if the old town Ch43, if though you are receiving from the full service (all 3 comms) Heathfield transmitter then its Ch47.
If you are using Eastbourne PSB only station then you are indicated as being located very close to it, so if you use any form of booster then it has to be by-passed or it will overload your tuner blocking reception, HD always being affected first.
Another aspect is ensure that your TV or box is actually capable of HD reception, meaning that it is NOT an HD ready model, as these devices are not fitted with DVB-T2 tuners which are necessary for HD reception.
If you go into the manual of whatever you are using have a look in the specifications / tuner section to make sure that DVB-T2 is indicated and NOT DVB-T, the latter only being capable of SD reception.