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All posts by jb38

Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.


Mick: As a matter of interest, fully realising that post codes are in many cases approximate, but the property adjacent to the one the code indicates that has a satellite dish mounted on the chimney stack would appear to have its aerial facing towards Heathfield.

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Sarah C: If you have perfectly stable reception on all of the other channels then about the only thing that might help your situation is the repositioning of your aerial by lowering it slightly "if" its mounted on a high pole, as where dense trees are involved such as appears to apply in your particular case, a more stable signal is sometimes achieved by the aerial being aimed towards trunk level rather than the foliage.

Just out of interest, what signal "strength" do you see being indicated when checked whilst on Pick TV (11) compared to a similar check being carried out on Yesterday (12)? although if the strength / quality levels are combined then is the signal more stable on Yesterday over that of Pick TV?

By the way, even although what I have mentioned can in many cases help the situation, this type of action is always best if taken in the middle or end of a growing season for obvious reasons, as well as the fact that its fully appreciated that this type of activity is more suited to DIY types that doesn't mind spending some time experimenting as well as having the ability to carry out this type of procedure.

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Sarah C: If you are managing to receive a reasonably OK signal then that's all that matters, that said though its not really desirable for the signal quality on any channel to be running for most of the time under green as its at the lower end of that state where glitches are liable to occur.

However there really isn't anything you can do about that other than what was mentioned, as the problem will be caused by the range of trees that's situated not that terribly far away from you and which are in line with the signal path, and as trees and rain make a bad combination as far as signal blocking is concerned I would keep this in mind should you experience any problems during this type of weather.

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Caroline: You should carry out a factory reset before retuning, factory reset also being called default setting on some devices. The post code provided, or to be more accurate part of the code, is not suffice for signal checking as it indicates that you can receive from more than one source.

If a factory reset / retune doesn't cure the problem then a full post code will be required, or at least one from nearby such as a shop etc.

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Thursday 28 June 2012 3:19PM

Teurayi Rugonye: Sky cannot cause you to experience a "no signal" warning, and indeed they have no means at their disposal to stop you viewing non-dedicated Sky programmes.

Press "services" on your remote control then 4 - 6 and check what's indicated on the signal strength / quality screen and which should be showing in excess of 60% or so on both bars, if not then the dish could have moved slightly out of alignment or water has gained access to the "F" connector plug.

Give an update on your findings when you carry out the signal check.

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Steve Walls: On the assumption that you are using a rooftop mounted aerial then during thundery weather high levels of static can develop in the aerial system which can on occasions damage a tuners input circuitry, although its much more common for this type of thing to happen in an aerial amplifier attached to the supporting pole, especially if they are of the older type mounted in red or black plastic casings.

Other than any of the two mentioned applying then the coax could be fractured where it enters the aerials connection cover box, especially if its been blowing about in the wind by it not having been clipped properly to the mounting pole.

You haven't given your location, but if its Waltham which you have posted under try connecting a piece of wire into the aerial socket of whatever is being used and carry a signal check on Ch61, this done by going into the "manual tuning" menu and entering Ch61 observing if anything shows on the signal bar as soon as the number is entered. (no need to actually scan for this test)

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Sarah C: And in addition to the problem possibly being caused by atmospheric conditions that Mark Fletcher has suggested, I did fully explain the other reasons you are likely to experience intermittent reception in your area in the two replies I made to you on the 27th, the content of not having changed any, as pixelation accompanied by witnessing the signal quality jumping up and down is nearly always caused by by either tree branches blowing around in the wind (worse if wet) or receiving a generally low level of signal thats prone to picking up reflections from moving objects, and so I don't really feel that you will get satisfactory reception unless you have your aerial system checked out and adjusted as necessary by someone suitably equipped.

Although going back to a statement you made on the 13th regarding having to switch the booster back on again to be able to receive in the bedrooms, the point about this being that you cannot just switch a booster off as its unpowered internal amplifier will then act like an attenuator and so has to be by-passed, albeit by doing this it will only allow the signal from the aerial to feed one TV, although this is enough for a test.

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kaz: As well as everything mentioned by Dave Lindsay I would like if you could clarify on one point and confirm on the second.

Number one being that although a manual tune on Ch44 didn't actually pick up anything did you see any indication of a signal showing on the strength bar "immediately" after you entered Ch44 in the box? the point being that on practically all devices this is a true indication of whether or not any signal is there or not irrespective of the level necessary to resolve a signal, this only coming into force once you press scan or search.

The second point being, have you visually verified that your mothers aerial is actually facing 352 degrees for Heathfield and is mounted horizontally? my only reason for asking being I noticed you mention in an earlier posting that Ch40 from Bexhill was picked up, and as its located at 69 degrees from your mothers location that's not terribly far off an aerials minimum reception point "if" its correctly aligned for Heathfield.

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Saturday 30 June 2012 5:02PM

Simon: The answer is basically no! although if TV downstairs is a Freeview set and has a normal aerial connected into it as well as the Sky box then the aerial lead to the downstairs TV can be split two ways, with one output going into the TV aerials socket and the second output going into the Sky boxes normal aerial socket, as this will then pass the Freeview signals through the Sky box picking up the Sky boxes "analogue" channel in the process, then both sets of signals are then fed up to your bedroom TV.

Needless to say your bedroom TV has to be capable of receiving Freeview as well as analogue which you are presently viewing Sky on, then all you would require to do on your TV is select either DVB to view Freeview channels or alternatively analogue if you wish to view Sky.

If though you are thinking on doing this sort of thing then if you provide your post code, or at least one from a nearby shop etc, advice can be given on the RF channels "to avoid" using on the Sky box so as not to clash with either the three or six used by Freeview, as the post code will reveal the transmitter serving your area enabling its channel numbers to be checked out.

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Ben Ward: OK! and will keep a look out for any posting you might make, although the main thing for you to check is whether or not the Humax has its aerial power facility disabled, because if it has then that points towards the problem being with the Panasonic TV.

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