All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Michael: Its only a PSB relay simply because the purely commercial interests involved with anything other than PSB transmissions were not willing to contribute to the extra running costs involved with additional multiplexes, this is unlikely ever to change and is something that applies in numerous areas where lower numbers of homes are covered, as its basically considered by the commercial interests that the returns expected would not justify the cost.
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maureen williams: Another little point I accidentally omitted, when devices are connected his way its basically the "last" device taken out of standby that can be seen on the TV, so if the DVD recorder seems to be hogging the TV just switch the Sky box into standby then back out of it again and it will take control of the TV, likewise the same thing being done if the Sky box doesnt seem to be allowing the DVD to pass through it, i.e: switch the latter into standby then back out of it again, or of course just leave the Sky box in standby unless you are recording from it.
Also the statement seen about modulated output just means that it doesnt have the same facility to that of a Sky boxes RF1/2 modulated output signal like what you would get from an analogue TV transmitter, as the DVD recorders aerial just loops through the box as well as going into its internal tuner.
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Jane: Assuming that you have the Freeview box connected via a scart lead into the TV you should double check that the scart plugs are fully seated into the sockets on both devices. The other thing to check is that the volume control "on the Freeview box" itself isnt turned right down, or is even possibly muted.
If you still cannot get any sound then please give the model of TV that you are using plus your location (pref: post code) would be of interest, this because of you managing to get reception with an indoor aerial which could suggest that you might not be that terribly far away from a transmitter, unless of course one of a high powered nature.
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Patrick Midgley: Speaking in general terms that type of fault is nearly always associated with receiving more channels than the receiving devices tuner can store, hence when its switched off etc it loses them.
Out of everything you tried did that include a factory reset "before" auto scanning? as in most cases that fixes the problem.
By the way "factory reset" sometimes called "default setting" or "first time installation" depending on the equipment used.
If the aforementioned doesnt cure the problem maybe you could indicate the model of TV involved, also does your TV automatically store channels or do you have to manually do it by selecting "store"?
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Russell James: Well nothing should really change except that when anyone wants to view Sky they will have to select "analogue" on the new TV, this usually via a DVB/TV button on the remote control, TV usually meaning analogue.
Before purchasing anything though you will need to ensure that your intended purchase is "not" a digital only device, and if you have any doubts about what you might be looking at and you cant get the information in the shop, most assistants not being technical people, then post the model number in this section and this aspect can be checked on.
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maureen williams: Thanks for the update! and which indicates that Tacolneston (@ 25mls) is your main station, you must though be in a bit of an iffy reception area as Gt Yarmouth is located at only 2 miles away and yet its reception is indicated as being variable on that code, likewise is Lowestoft @ 6 miles although both stations are transmitting on 400watts, the main station Tacolneston being 100Kw.
The test of where you are actually receiving from (irrespective of the reception predictor) is whether or not you can get ITV3, as its only transmitted from Tacolneston and not from either of the other two mentioned as they are PSB only relays.
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drh: There isn't really anything you can do to help the situation, as the insufficient level of signal referred to is basically caused by the commercial multiplexes being on low power until April 18th. There is an element of confusion about this issue though, as DUK has (mistakenly?) indicated the power as already being at its final level, whereas Arqiva the transmitter operating company has stated that both ArqA & ArqB will be on low power until April, and I am inclined to take what the actual transmitter operator states before anything else seen reported, as Arqiva are the ones with their finger on the pulse, so to say.
By the way, Crystal Palace does not really come into equation as far as the problem you are experiencing is concerned.
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Lance Spencer: The test you carried out of scrubbing everything stored then carrying out a manual scan only on ArqB Ch47 says it all really, as to be quite honest about it any time that's spent persevering to try and pick it up is to use the expression "flogging a dead horse" simply because the multiplex transmitter concerned is just not presently powerful enough to be received properly at your location.
That said though, there "is" of course always the possibility that by experimenting moving your aerial around slightly in the horizontal plane "might" bring results, but it would most likely be at the expense of Ch44 and so not worth the effort.
With regards to the two multiplex transmitters having the same ERP of 10Kw, these are not ratings where an exact science is involved and is a figure worked out by taking lots of factors into consideration including the estimated gain of the transmission aerial being used etc, in other words its "not" the transmitters actual power and so the ERP's can be slightly different from each other, but even if they were identical its not by any means the case that they would be received as such due to the nature of RF signal path dispersion, this having the effect of a multiplex appearing stronger than another at one location but found to be the reverse if tested at another.
You might of course get occasions whereby due to atmospheric conditions applying at the time results in a burst of better reception from the elusive multiplexes, but nothing will really improve until mid April.
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drh: Thanks drh, as although I realised that was the case its misleading to anyone carrying out a reception prediction check to see the commercial multiplexes being shown as 25Kw ERP when in reality this wont be the case until April 4th, as on that date ArqA starts radiating in an omnidiectional pattern then when Guildford's Ch44 moves to Ch49, however this doesn't apply with SDN and ArqB as no changes will take place with them until April 18th.
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Thursday 23 February 2012 7:37AM
maureen williams: The normal procedure is to have the Sky box connected into the TV's scart socket and the DVD recorder connected into the Sky boxes AV2.(might be called called VCR)
In operation, as soon as you take the DVD recorder out of standby it should automatically pass through the Sky box and appear on the screen as though only it was connected directly into the TV, this enabling you to play back a previous recording or even set it to record something from the Sky box.
The only thing to remember is that you will have to make sure that when setting the recorder to record anything from Sky that you have selected AV1 on the recorders
"input selector" or it will try to record from its own internal tuner, which of course you may want to do as well if it can receive a signal via the aerial, which of course should be connected to the DVD recorder's aerial input socket then looped into the TV.
It would have been of assistance to know what model of DVD recorder you are referring to plus your location (pref: post code) this for signal checking purposes.