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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.

J
Full technical details of Freeview
Saturday 23 August 2014 9:24PM

Fran Shuttlewood: On having read over all said in your posting's since the original on August 7th, including the outcome of the various tests carried out, the posting that particularly interests me is the one made on the 13th Aug @ 11.49AM where you mention that "although receiving a strong signal you cannot store it".

After having re-tuned your TV, did you check up in the EPG 800 range of listings (e.g: 800 - 801- 802 etc) to make sure that the channel you tried to store (but apparently lost) has not actually been stored but up in that range? as this can happen if Woodford Halse's BBC1 (West Midlands) has taken the number 1 position.

Can you also confirm that mentioned in your item No2 (13th Aug) insomuch that re-tuning with, and without, the booster made no difference?



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J
True Entertainment +1
Sunday 24 August 2014 8:17AM

Chris Fox: Freeview in the CF11 area is served by the Wenvoe transmitter, which on checking the programme channels provided by same does not appear to include True Entertainment EPG/LCN 61, however indications are that the Mendip transmitter does include 61, that is should it be possible to receive that station from wherever you might happen to be located, a "full" post code being required in order to check the possibility of reception.

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J
Full technical details of Freeview
Sunday 24 August 2014 10:06AM

Fran Shuttlewood: The reason for the lack of channels is most likely because that the alternative TV used for test purposes is only picking up Freeview from the local (very!) Woodford Halse transmitter, which of course would be difficult not to!

However, now that the difficulty you are experiencing has been verified on a second TV the problem can be somewhat narrowed down to either the booster being defective, or that of a defect on your aerial system. As far as the booster is concerned, although I do realise that you have had the device tested by someone from Maplins, purely for verification purposes I would like you to try the following simple test "if" you can access the booster or power supply to.

Select any programme channel you can receive, the strength / quality of the signal being noted and leaving the TV monitoring same followed by switching off the power supply to the booster, if the booster is OK then the signal will either vanish (the norm) or alternatively "might" only drop to a very low level due to breakthrough caused by the high signal level you could be receiving from the local transmitter.

If you find either to be the case?, then this points to the problem being caused by a defect in the aerial system, maybe caused water having entered the termination box on the aerial where the coax is connected into it.

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Rita King: If the fault has been experienced on both boxes, then it has to be caused by an intermittent fault on either the LNB (on end of dish arm), or the coax cable / connectors that runs from same to your box.

If you have your own dish and "not" connected into a communal one, then apart from checking the coax where it enters the "F" connector on your box, or (if used) where its connected into a socket on a wall plate, making sure that its firm and hasn't slackened off, its nearly always the connector on the other end of the cable that causes the problem, such as water having entered the inside of connector on the LNB and shorting it out, this possibility having to be checked out by someone.

If you still have the Sky box then this should be used for testing purposes.

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Barrie Perkins: If, as I suspect, the aerial meter being referred to is of the type that provides dB level indications by means of LED's, then those types are only useful for signal "strength" reference purposes and not, as far as DTT reception is concerned, the most important indication of "quality", plus of course they cannot differentiate between the frequencies etc of signals being picked up, but just the fact that RF signals are being picked up.

If you receive Freeview from the Sandy transmitter and not the more local Dallington Park, then if any of your TV's indicate strength and also quality (not combined) go into the tuning menu / manual tune and enter but "do not scan" Ch24 (BBC), as on most equipment if anything is being received, no matter how low, the strength and quality of will be indicated on the level bars.

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J
Sky News
Monday 25 August 2014 4:35PM

Mike: Its impossible for anyone to assist in this respect without having knowledge of your location, this preferably being in the form of a post code or one from nearby such as a shop / Post Office, this then enabling access to channel number info used on the transmitter serving your area.

By the way, you cannot enter data to select an individual programme on Freeview.

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g. rob: It would have been of assistance to know the model of Sky box you are referring to, but though if you haven't already done so, put the box into standby for about 15 seconds before disconnecting it from the mains supply, leaving it that way for about another 15 seconds or so before reconnecting it again and allowing it to go through the usual delay in reloading the channels.

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Eve: That said in your reply to MikeB rather indicates that reception in your area has a history of being somewhat problematic.

However, if your neighbours are also experiencing similar problems with reception from the Redcliff relay, then irrespective of whether or not you received a filter though the post, the fact of the Mux channel numbers used by the Redcliff relay being in the range that is most susceptible to being affected by any potential 4G transmission, i.e: 60 - 53, I wouldn't do any harm to give AT800 a ring to find out if there are any newly installed 4G transmitters being tested out in your area.

AT800 info desk being contactable on "weekdays only" between 08.00 - 1800 hrs.

0808 13 13 800 (free from landlines) - or alternatively 0333 31 31 800.


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dee price: Its not really possible for anyone to offer advice on problems of this nature without having knowledge of a persons location, this preferably being in the form of a post code or one from nearby, e.g: a shop / Post Office etc, this enabling access to info regarding the transmitters that cover the area.

On the subject of the channels not showing on the programme list, it has to be assumed that you have carried out a retune? because channel info does not disappear from programme listings except by retuning whilst the transmitter signal is down, and why TV or boxes should never be retuned just because the signal has vanished, as the data is "still" stored in the tuner.

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MikeB: You are of course quite correct in what you have said, insomuch that Megalithia does "not" indicate that there are any obstructions to the signal path from either the Mendip or Wenvoe transmitters on the P/Code supplied by Eve, and indeed DUK's reception predictor does indicate that good reception should be possible from either transmitter at said location.

But though, post codes are not by any means always precise enough for reception predictors as post codes can in many cases cover quite large areas, not of course that anything concerning airborne RF signals including ERP's are really ever that accurate, but as Eve would appear to reside roughly half way up a hill, it could well be the case that large variations in signal levels are experienced at either end of it, albeit that the top side of the hill is, as expected, where the mass of communication aerials are positioned.

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