All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Neil: If access to the loft is relatively easy to arrange then rather than purchase anything just yet for a test you should temporarily connect the lead from the aerial that would normally go into the Labgear's common input and connect it directly into the coax that goes down to one of your other TV's as obviously you cannot use the main TV's lead when it also carries the DC from the power unit, in other words by-passing the amp as that will soon indicate if overloading is the problem, which of course it might or might not be the cause.
Also it wouldn't go amiss to carry out a signal level check on your TV and observe if the "quality" is seen to dive now and again, you could try this both before and after having carrying out the temporary by-pass test on the Labgear.
If its a CM7274 I realise that it uses a saddle and clamp, so you should just slacken the inner core connector on both cables and bridge them without actually pulling them completely out of the clamp.
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Neil: Basically yes with regards to what you have mentioned regarding the Labgear, because if you very slightly slacken the clamp as well at the middle core terminal then you should be able to wiggle the coax back just enough to release the middle core from the holding screw.
That said though, there is another method you could use that would leave everything exactly as present except for the one test TV, this done by disconnecting the middle core (only the core) of the lead that goes to one of your TV's and just bridging it directly onto the aerial input terminal on the amp, as this would allow your system to operate in the same way as it does just now except for the test TV being fed directly from the aerial, this maybe being the easiest option for you to try as you could leave it running like that for a day or so and that would give you time to evaluate the results.
By the way there isn't any DC voltage involved with any of these tests and so you will not short anything out, as the voltage is only on the lead from the DC power supply.
And yes! please give an update on the test.
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A very cross person! Plus to that already said, that it would have been of considerable assistance to anyone that might advise regarding your difficulties if you had at least mentioned where you are located, a post code or one from nearby e.g: a shop being suffice, as this would then have given an idea of the signal level expected at your location as well as if there was any remote possibility that an indoor aerial would work, as although these are not really advisable for digital TV reception they can sometimes work OK (in a fashion) if within sight of the transmitter mast, or maybe by someone who lives in a tower block!
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Will Winter: Its impossible for anyone to give advice on your problem unless they are aware of your location, this in the form of a post code or one from nearby, e.g: a shop, as only then can the reception predictor be accessed.
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Mazbar: As far as not getting anywhere, not exactly true, as I advise as an engineer with many (very!) years experience in both transmission as well as reception problems, and indeed being called in by various to help solve problem situations in both the domestic sense as well as my normal commercial / industrial work.
I fully realise that as an aerial installer you would obviously prefer for someone to seek assistance albeit on a chargeable basis, and it some cases it might end up that way dependant on the ability of the person with the problem, but in many cases a person can possibly solve the situation themselves with a little assistance.
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Sheena-Ann Brown: Although I fully sympathise with your predicament its not really possible to offer advice when you have not indicated your location, this having to be in the form of a post code or one from somewhere nearby e.g: a shop, as only once this is known can access be made to the reception predictor and advice appropriate to the location be given.
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Mazbar: Judging by past comments you have made I am well aware that you have concerns (I will refrain from saying "bee in your bonnet") about people who in your opinion, are allegedly being goaded into going onto roofs, but I never at any time advise (or suggest) that anyone should venture onto a roof unless the person seeking advice has indicated in one way or another that they have already been involved with their roof mounted aerial, or alternatively are acquaint with working at heights.
However as your posting / statement was made immediately after my communication with Neil it has to be assumed that you have perceived something said as having some element of danger involved? which of course is totally incorrect as even in the very remotest fashion there isn't any! as it involves being in a loft with a device that operates on no more than 15 volts DC at approx 50 milliamps, the mains power unit being located elsewhere.
And as far as aerial riggers are concerned though, yes! you are quite correct I do "not" do that for a living, but do get involved in rectifying technical problems associated with what has been fitted, and in many cases caused by a "go with the flow" attitude of many installers who automatically look at surrounding aerials and forge ahead by installing similar without considering for one minute whether what's seen is satisfactory or not, that is considering the fact that with digital reception a higher standard of accuracy is involved because quality is more important than strength.
I fully appreciate that there are obviously a number of installers around that adopt a more professional approach to what they do and likewise will fuss around to get the best possible results without looking at their watches all of the time, but though these types are very much in the minority, although even at that most are not necessarily technically minded people in other than what they are directly involved with, nor even in many cases appreciate the differences in techniques that have to be used with digital reception over that of analogue when in iffy reception areas, hence quite frequently inappropriate aerials are seen to have been installed, for example a multi element high gain aerial facing into trees.
As far as myself is concerned, as a fully qualified HNC level "hands on" RF equipment engineer get involved with all aspects of complex equipment used for a variety of communication purposes and have been doing for about 15 years longer than the time factor mentioned by yourself, plus this spills over into repairing radio amateurs gear as well as domestic equipment used for entertainment purposes, I also work on a retainer system from a couple of retail outlets to rectify or advise on any problems experienced by purchasers of TV reception equipment, usually of course the equipment concerned being in the somewhat higher price bracket.
Taking all this into account, I think that I am qualified enough to know if any danger is attached to any advice given.
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rod: Yes, as The Freesat recorder requires two feeds from the dish exactly the same as your Sky+HD box, and so the quad LNB's four outputs will be used.
By the way there are no technical differences between Sky or Freesat reception as far as anything connected to the dish or feeds from are concerned.
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alan: Yes! as you can connect your Freeview DVD recorder to the Pace box using a scart cable between both, making sure that the scart socket used on the recorders input from the Pace box (usually AV2) is selected as the input on the recorders "input select" menu, as other wise it will try to record from the Freeview tuner by it being the default input.
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Saturday 22 December 2012 5:00PM
Kim Handley: If you can use Freeview upstairs as well as being able to view the Sky box via the coax link from the Sky boxes RF1 or 2 then the main aerial from the roof or wherever must be connected into the Sky boxes normal aerial input socket, have you accidentally taken this out?
The other point is, that if your system is wired up correctly then you shouldn't require to do anything downstairs if you want to view either the Sky box or Freeview upstairs, as you simply switch the upstairs TV over to its analogue input.
Maybe you could give an update on this.