All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
john: On reading your initial posting the thing that intrigues me is by you stating "as from yesterday" (Nov 1st) you lost about 20 channels, because as far as I can see this date was not a significant event in the technical sense suggesting that the "OK one day and not the next" problem was possibly caused closer to home like for example your box having carried out an automatic channel update, as although this dubious feature can be disabled on some devices unfortunately though on others it cannot, this creating tuning problems for viewers in certain area's such as yours where reliability of reception from a main station is not guaranteed, albeit that the main station is the one required and not a local PSB only relay. (Guisborough just over 1 mile away)
The point I wondered about was when you were previously receiving these channels were they always stable? or were they prone to suffering from glitches in the signal now and again resulting in intermittent problems like the picture freezing etc?
My reason for asking is because I suspect that these commercial channels although having been previously received "might" have been at a signal level not that terribly far above the reception cut off threshold and that your box has carried out an internally programmed automatic channel update, and unfortunately whilst doing so has bypassed the commercial channels because of them being received at too low a level to be locked onto during the auto-tune.
Taking these facts into account you should scrub everything stored in the box by auto tuning "without" the aerial being connected, then as mentioned by Dave Lindsay (Fri 2nd Nov @ 9.56pm) have a study at your boxes tuning menu to see if it offers a "manual" tuning facility, and if it does then enter Bilsdales mux channels one at a time, storing the results before passing onto the next channel to be scanned, as manual tuning will frequently be found to capture a channel that has been passed by on an auto-tune, as when a channel being scanned in manual tune its "not" being pulled by the channel hopping circuitry such as happens during an auto-tune.
By the way do you use a booster?
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Michael bean: Dish feeds are completely 100% compatible between Freesat and Sky equipment and so if you are just intending to use a Freesat box (without recording facilities) you only require to use one of the two coax feeds, any one of the two will do as they are identical as well as being independent of each other.
Of course if its a Humax (good choice!) PVR then obviously both leads will be required and is simplicity to set up, as about the only thing you will require to do is enter your post code into the set up menu box before tuning takes place, this is to ensure that you get the correct regional news services, in a Sky box this info is programmed into the Sky card.
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KR: Well I feel that the receiver displaying the 100% signal strength has a somewhat over enthusiastic indicator system, unless that is you are located in a "hot spot" for reception as places like that do exist, and are using a Humax box, as these devices have a more accurate indicator system by far over most other equipment, and likewise if its indication a 100% signal then it is!
But though the proof of the pudding, so to say, is by connecting the TV in questions aerial feed directly onto the actual aerials downlead that would normally be connected into the SLX, then viewing the channels for about 15 minutes or so to assess if anything has changed.
You have to remember though that Waltham still has ongoing work taking place and which does cause disturbance to reception, with myself having temporarily tuned my Waltham PVR to Belmont because of this to avoid the aforementioned problems spoiling recordings.
I would be interested to know the model numbers of your TV / PVR, this to enable an assessment of the signal measurement accuracy, as although unaware of the PVR model you have its indications are more in line with what would be expected from a Humax device "if" receiving the same level of signal as the TV's involved, i.e: all fed from the SLX.
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Sam: Virgin Media can mean various combinations of equipment, and when you connected the ex Virgin coax to your TV did it have a normal coax plug in the end or was it an "F" (screw type) connector?
However as far as "no signal" is concerned, you really do require to provide a post code or one from nearby, as only then can your reception possibilities be checked on as well as the transmitter involved.
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Caz: If you have moved a Sky+ box to the other side of the room then unless there was an excess of cable you will have had to extend it using two lengths of coax with "F" connectors on each end and a female "F" back to back coupling piece (x2)to link the extension onto the original cable.
If you have done this then you must have accidentally created a short circuit on the boxes LNB2 link cable as LNB 2 is used mainly for recording purposes, you can soon check if a short does exist or not by swapping the LNB1 & 2 connectors over on the back of the box.
By the way the short will most likely have been caused by a strand of the braiding wire getting wrapped around the middle core of the coax, so unscrew the plug and check this out.
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michael: Judging by the boxes history and the fact that you see a "no signal" indication even although you know that one is there, points the problem being most likely the usual one of low voltage being supplied to the tuner because of the power units electrolytic capacitors having dried out, this in many cases caused though the box having been previous used in an environment with insufficient ventilation, like enclosed in a cabinet or papers having been kept on top of the box thereby blocking the vents.
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michael: Well there are lots of iffy boxes around with faulty power supplies, as although some power unit problems can show up as soon as the box is switched on, on many others it doesn't, and with the fault only showing up after the box has been running about 15 minutes or so, although in many cases longer.
Many of these places that get supplied with a job lot of boxes from retail outlet returns only test the box by giving it a quick power up check, and should it respond immediately gets unplugged again and re-packed for selling on, and so you can see how these problems arise.
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michael: Have a look at the rear of the box and give an update on the details printed on the label, and especially the brand model as it can be either Pace or Samsung, however although it should not be necessary to do this but you should carry out an LNB check, this done by following the undermentioned procedure "if" your box uses the updated menu system.
LNB checking - reset on a Sky HD box
1:- Press services on your Sky remote control and you will see the main menu with "Options" highlighted.
2:- Highlight the "Settings" menu using the right arrow button and press select.
3:- Press "0 - 1 - Select" to access the Installer setup menu (this menu is not listed on the Settings menu options).
4:- Press Select to see the Setup menu displayed with Hi and Lo band frequencies indicated.
The correct LNB values should read:
LNB Type: Standard
1:- Low Band LO Frequency: 9.75
2:- High Band LO Frequency:10.60
3:- LNB Power Supply: ON
4:- 22 KHz Command: ON
5:- Single feed mode normally off.
Press the red button to reset them to default values even although they may
already be indicating them.
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michael: Meant also to say that whilst in the installers menu check the "default transponders" settings as this has to be correct, if not this will result in the "no signal" warning.
Default transponder: 11.778GHz
Polarity: V
Symbol rate: 27.5
FEC: 2/3
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Monday 5 November 2012 7:15AM
becky scott: Film 4 on a Sky box is on 315, if this is not shown on the programme guide list disconnect the Sky box from the mains supply then wait about 15 secs or so before reconnecting it again, then once it responds to being taken out of standby by the remote control allow it to go through the usual "searching for listings" procedure.