menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Archive (2002-)

 

 

Click to see updates

All posts by jb38

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


G Dixon: Its just as well that you had a spare aerial, as it can be bit difficult to purchase replacement amplifiers for these aerials, basically because its extremely unusual for them to develop a fault, myself having three of the single output types, two used at home facing towards different transmitters and the other used for mobile signal testing purposes, log aerials being excellent for this purpose by them having a virtually even response across the band thereby giving a more accurate indication of the actual levels received from each of a stations multiplexes.

As far as your cable runs are concerned, if you have any doubts about them, try connecting each of them each of one at a time rather than all at once, checking that the TV installed in the room fed by the lead you have just connected is working OK before going onto the next.

Thanks once again for the update.

link to this comment
GB flag
J
Vintage TV
Sunday 1 February 2015 4:48PM

Beth: Vintage TV (242) can only be viewed on HD compatible TV's or boxes which are connected into the internet, the channel in question being transmitted on the same multiplex as used by ITV3, if though you cannot receive ITV3 either? then for some reason or another you are not receiving COM4, best policy being to reset your TV followed by carrying out another rescan, or disconnect the TV from the mains for a minute or so followed by carrying out a "first time installation".

However it should also be noted, that even if you are connected into the internet and see 242 in the guide list, if on selecting same a "device not compatible" message comes on then this can be an indication that the TV or box you are using does not meet the technical spec required in order to view the channel, Vintage TV being aware of this problem and as such has listed a number of TV's and boxes known as being unable to view the channel.

link to this comment
GB flag

Rose Dentith: Its very unusual for a property to have three aerial points which do not work, and so the question has to be whether or not the property referred to is a house exclusively occupied by yourself, or possibly an apartment block which in most cases will be connected into a communal aerial system.

If though the former should apply, then have a look around to check if a powered distribution amplifier is seen anywhere, hall ways being a favourite location, because if it is then the power supply to the amplifier has possibly been switched off.

As far as the sockets in various rooms are concerned, is said sockets of the normal coaxial "push in" female type?, or are they of the threaded male variety as used for satellite reception?

It would also be of assistance as far as giving advice appropriate to the situation if your location was known, this in the form of a post code or one from somewhere nearby such as a post office.

link to this comment
GB flag
J
BBC Three Week
Monday 2 February 2015 11:32PM

Briantist: Although fully appreciating your present predicament of suffering from a somewhat debilitating wrist problem, however, once you are back in the swing of things I was wondering if you could update the info with regards to Vintage TV on LCN242, as it still appears on all of the Mux channel programme listings as being on COM5 when its actually on COM4.

Thanks / JB

link to this comment
GB flag

Robert Jeffrey: Engineering works are taking place this week (started yesterday)at the Winter Hill transmitter, this resulting in random periods of you possibly receiving a weak signal from this station.

link to this comment
GB flag

Paul Chambers: In order to assess possible causes of your problem could you please clarify on the following.

Do you reside in a detached property? and if not, is the wall behind wherever your TV is located a dividing wall between a neighbour and your self? If by any chance it is, try temporarily installing your TV in another location well away from the wall, using a coax extension lead if necessary.

The reason for suggesting this being, that some time ago another viewer suffered from a similar problem as yours, and after having tried a multitude of measures in an attempt to alleviate the problem, it was eventually found out to be caused by a neighbours defective cable box, the radiation from same passing through the wall and being picked up by the TV's circuit board, i.e: direct injection.

Should the aforementioned dividing wall situation not apply in your case, then when you say that your aerial was checked by three companies using equipment with indications being good in the 40% range, the point is that 40% is "not" good, not in strength and most certainly not where quality is concerned, therefore could you please clarify on this.

As you have said that your 27" TV works perfectly OK in the living room, what strength and quality indications do you get on this TV if you carry out a signal test on both BBC1 and ITV1?


Could you please clarify on this

link to this comment
GB flag

Janice Jones: If your problem is of an intermittent nature then this is inclined to point to water having entered the coax "F" connector on the dishes LNB. If this applies then its usually only one of the inputs thats affected, normal viewing being via LNB1, to test if this input is defective try swapping the boxes LNB1 and 2 inputs over and see if corrects the problem, at least as far as normal viewing is concerned, do not try to record anything.

Irrespective of the outcome, you should carry out a signal check on your box using the undermentioned procedure.

Sky+ HD box - signal checking procedure. (latest menu system)

(1): Press "Services" and you will see the main menu with "Options" being
highlighted.

(2): Press the right arrow once to change from Options to "Settings" and
press on. (picture highlighted)

(3): Finally, scroll across to the right to select and press on "Signal",
the grey bars now displayed will show you the strength / quality of the
signal.

Further advice dependant on outcome of test.


link to this comment
GB flag
J
Hannington (Hampshire, England) transmitter
Thursday 5 February 2015 12:04AM

rob : Apart from that said by Dave Lindsay with regards to the narrow pick up properties of using the aerial you have mentioned, another downside of using a high gain, likewise highly focused, aerial in an iffy non line-of-sight situation is that the signal received has the potential to suffer from what's known as the "summer / winter" effect whereby the strength of the signal drops off as the season changes, these changes having an effect on the reflective properties of the terrains surface which can result in the aerial receiving the signal from a "slightly" (and only slightly) different angle, hence the reason for the drop off.

Situations like this are easily rectified by turning the aerial a few degrees to the left or right to re-peak the signal, but though this action can only be classed as being temporary for obvious reasons, i:e: it will require realignment again at a later date.

Of course, that said applies more to situations where the signal received is of a reasonably stable nature without it frequently suffering from rapidly occurring changes in quality, that is if "not" presently using a high gain aerial, as using one will certainly "not" help the situation but make it worse.




link to this comment
GB flag

Steve Perks: You should not get a "no signal" warning irrespective of what model of Sky box you are using, if though the box in question is a Sky+HD type and the wall socket is only fitted with one satellite connection, have you made sure that its connected into the boxes LNB1 socket? because if not, and the box hasnt been set on "single feed input", then this can result in the message seen.

If you have made up the jumper lead being used to couple the box into the wall socket, remove the "F" connectors from each end of the cable and check that a single strand of the coax braiding hasnt wrapped itself around the middle core of the coax whilst the plug outer was being screwed on.

As far as the box is concerned, do you know its history? insomuch that its not defective? best way to check it being to temporarily couple it into someone else's dish connection.

Further advice dependant on content of reply.



link to this comment
GB flag
J
Hannington (Hampshire, England) transmitter
Thursday 5 February 2015 8:27PM

Dave Lindsay: Well, although a group aerial can undeniably give a slightly stronger signal to that obtained from a Log aerial, and a booster fitted onto a high gain aerial will indeed give an even stronger signal, but though when taking into account that mentioned in my previous posting regarding the possible downsides connected with using a high gain aerial, plus another I forgot to mention of a viewer experiencing a much higher incidence of picture glitching, I would "not" recommend using anything other than a Log in situations such as Rob's.

I have never at any time experienced a situation where a yagi type multi element aerial actually picked up a signal that a log aerial (even minus a booster) didn't, and a suitably positioned (through experimenting) Log aerial used in conjunction with a good quality high gain booster such as Rob's mast head devices, really does take a bit of beating.

And so the answer to your question is basically yes!!

link to this comment
GB flag