All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Lilian Mae: What model of TV are you referring to? and have you tried completely resetting the device? this usually accessed from the main menu, although if as aforementioned the model is given then this can be checked on.
Just a small point though, have you double checked to make sure that the TV's hasnt been accidentally switched onto analogue?
The other point being, that its necessary to have knowledge of your location (post code or one from nearby) so that the signals expected at your location can be assessed.
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Keith Wright: On having a quick study of your area I can immediately see one major problem that will no doubt be affecting reception for not only yourself but most Foxwood(?) residents receiving a signal from Winter Hill (@ 17miles / 38degrees) being, the somewhat dense range of trees that can be seen at the end of the incline on Cypress Gardens, and with the trees in question stretching far out to the left and right.
Trees as such do not always cause serious reception problems if they are located a few miles away along the signal path towards the transmitter, as elements of signal reflection along the way can help smooth the blocking out effect provided that a multi-element (sharp pick up) aerial is NOT being used as the reception aerial, albeit this negative characteristic not quite so important with analogue reception, but when trees are so close to the receiving aerial then its quite impossible to benefit from this sort of thing.
As you can probably imagine, reception under these circumstances is liable to fluctuate rapidly during windy conditions due to the density of the obstruction changing, and with wet weather bringing another factor into the equation as the leaves will act like multiple reflectors to the signal bouncing it in all sorts of directions, neither of being of any value to reception.
I cant honestly see you having really good reception at any time unless you have Freesat installed, it offering glitch free reception for 99.9% of the time, any time not being for only a few minutes during a really heavy thundery downpour.
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maureen williams: The point is, and as mentioned in my 9:53AM reply on the 12th, insomuch that a Sky box does NOT require to be connected to a dish for you to see its menu on the TV's screen "if" the TV being used has automatically switched (or been done manually) to the TV's scart input socket, as if nothing is seen then that's not a fault connected to the dish / cables but one involving only the TV or the Sky box.
When you had connected the Sky HD box to the TV and only speckles were on the screen, you should have removed that box and connected the other one into the TV instead to determine whether it was the box or the TV at fault, as obviously if the other boxed worked OK then there has to be a problem with the Sky HD box, whereas if still nothing was seen then its the TV at fault.
The secret of successful testing is NOT to swap over more that one device at a time, and the correct procedure is to get a combination of Sky box and TV that works and leave it sitting on BBC, then if its a Sky plus box unscrew the "F" connector on LNB-1 input which should result in the picture vanishing, then unscrew the LNB-2 input connector and swap it over to the No1 position and this action should then return the BBC, if though it didn't then that particular dish feed is faulty.
However, if you find that everything fits in with what has been said then take the SAME TV / box combination to the other position that has feeds coming in from the dish and try exactly the same test again in that position, everything mentioned about assessing results also applies to that test.
All you are really doing is to use the SAME combination of equipment (which you know works) to test the dish feeds in every position one at a time, as if every feed tested results in BBC coming on when using a boxes the boxes LNB-1 input then the fault is not connected to the dish or cable from.
The other point to note being, that you do NOT use a boxes LNB-2 input for any of these tests, as LNB-1 is the priority input that produces a picture on the screen.
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Lorraine Birch: If your DVD recorder is a Freeview device and your TV's aerial feed is looping through it, then try a test re-tune with the aerial going straight into the TV.
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George Houliston: If you are receiving your signals from the Penicuik transmitter at roughly 3 miles away, then the signal level received could possibly be on the verges of being excessively high for your HD tuner and is peaking over the top on occasions, as HD is always affected first.
For a test try by-passing your aerial amplifier by feeding the aerial directly into the coax down lead straight to the TV.
Another point to note about overload conditions being, that the signal readings seen are always totally out because of data corruption, and usually always indicate low or even at times 100% strength accompanied with zero quality.
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ErwinH: Many thanks for your update on the situation and pleased to see that it was of a positive nature, insomuch that the attenuator had the desired effect resulting in your problem being cured for less than £5.00.
As far as Ch52 is concerned, its really a case of whether or not that particular channel is being received in your area at the same strength as Ch51 as its not by any means the case that all individual muxes always are, and although you have mentioned that you never watch the programmes on that channel anyway, but if you wanted to know the reason for it being weaker then a further test using the set top aerial would reveal this, and done simply by carrying out a strength check on Ch51 then likewise on Ch52 and comparing the results, as should Ch52 be the same as Ch51 then the lower strength level when picked up via the communal aerial is *liable* to be caused by a slight deficiency in either the actual aerial used by the communal system or alternatively the distribution amplifiers connected to same, possibly by them requiring a very slight adjustment.
*liable* was qualified as a set top aerial test is not necessarily 100% accurate by the fact that if you tried it near to where the communal aerial is positioned then the results might well have changed, something that always has to be kept in mind when experimenting with aerials and positions of.
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Coco: You cannot split a feed cable from a satellite dish, the reason being that the satellite box whether Sky or Freesat sends commands to the dish in the form of two different voltages and which is either high or low depending on the programme being viewed, this being why two separate feeds are required as the programme being viewed might be on high whereas the one being recorded requires low.
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Richie Fraser: It depends entirely where you located and is something which you haven't mentioned, as although certain areas are suffering from odd reception problems due to the atmospheric conditions prevailing, you could though be in an area where a transmitter was being switched over to high powered operation hence having been shut down whilst you were viewing a programme.
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Well, satellite reception and especially Freesat is definitely about the only choice that you have for virtually guaranteed glitch free reception, and indeed on further checking I see is already installed in the first three or four properties on your left hand side starting just across the footpath that leads to Buckthorn Gardens, the dishes being mounted on the rear of these buildings.
With regards to your own property, I just fail to see why the engineers could not obtain a signal, and quite frankly feel its a case that they either did not try hard enough or alternatively just wanted to make life easy for themselves and not be involved mounting a dish in an awkward position, that is for them! because as far as your property is concerned, and "if" I am viewing it correctly, then a dish mounted on the very rear of the left hand side wall (or just around it mounted on an angle arm) of your property should be able to have a sufficiently clear enough view to pick the signal up, or failing that at a position slightly down from the apex of the roof on the left hand side wall.
Just purely for information purposes, an approximate way for anyone to judge if they are able to get a signal is to stand with their back against a wall and be facing 28.2 degrees to the left of due South, and if they can look up at an angle of approximately 25 degrees from the horizontal and see an unobstructed view of the Sky then they will definitely be able to receive a signal.
That said, you have to transfer the fact of this being done standing on the ground to the higher up position that the dish would be installed at, as any obstruction seen at ground level is liable to clear when the dish is mounted higher up.
By the way, if you draw an imaginary line through your property running from the front right hand corner to the left hand side wall rear corner, then that line runs from North to South, unless Google has a serious error!
Anyway, hope the info may prove to be of assistance.
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Tuesday 29 May 2012 11:10AM
Bill: Remember though, that its June 13th before the ITV stations can be received as well as the BBC & ITV HD channels, as its only the BBC that starts early.
Just out of curiosity, as you have never used the digital tuner before on your TV I would be interested to know what model of set you have? this purely to check on certain technical aspects concerning the TV.