All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
andrew harris: If you have the manual for your TV have a look at the specifications section / input sockets, and make sure that ARC is seen mentioned somewhere associated with the HDMI socket, as thats a necessary requirement to be able to extract audio from the TV's HDMI socket. (ARC by the way meaning "audio return channel")
Maybe you could mention the model of TV involved plus the model of the surround sound unit, as I suspect that if ARC is available its being blocked by something.
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paul: That test you carried out somewhat indicates that your signal is liable to be a bit on the strong side, as if your BBC picture had been breaking through the signal being weak then its very unlikely that anything at all would have been received using the set top aerial.
Another point you have to keep in mind is that the tuners used in TV or boxes of different manufacture can have wide variations in their performance, this why so many people with more than one device in their house frequently complain that a TV or whatever works in one room but not in another, as in cases like that if the devices used in each room were swapped over they would most likely find that the problem followed the device.
I would persevere with what you suggested as far as running a temporary cable is concerned as its really a case of trial and error, but as far as the two aerials on the cable end are concerned are these the same types as each other? and does one feed upstairs and the other down? as I wasn't quite sure if that's what you meant.
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Rob: If you hold the scart plug with its cable hanging downwards from you and look carefully down at the flat pins, you will see that on every pin from about halfway down the flat (from the outer end) that a section in the middle is pushed out slightly so that it sticks out slightly and overlaps onto the plastic that surrounds the pin, and its this that stops the pin from being pushed back into its holder.
Needless to say that this stick out section will have been accidentally flattened when pulling the pin out, so with the aid of a needle or similar (+ magnifying glass if necessary) just pick it back out again.
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paul: Always remember that when testing the TV out on different aerial connections to carry to out a signal strength / quality test
in each location using the same channel every time, noting the levels indicated, as the figures obtained can be used for reference when judging the results of any modifications you might make to the aerial or cabling to.
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Steve Baker: Your sat meter may well have been off the scale but are you absolutely positive that it wasn't actually on an adjacent satellite? as its extremely easy to make this mistake as there is only the slightest of positional differences between the two.
The dish being slightly out might even have been the real reason for your boxes initial failure, as blustery conditions could have moved it slightly. That said though it does have to be admitted that this type of fault can also be caused by the boxes power unit having developed a fault which reduces the voltage that's fed to its tuner, although unfortunately only way of knowing if this applies or not is by carrying out a test using another box.
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denise farnaby: Will be looking forward to hearing the outcome of your test using the portable, but maybe you could clarify another point that's not too clear, this being when you say that you can still get the Analogue channels from Tyne Tees when the Freeview goes off, is this on the same TV but when its set to analogue?
There is also another thing that you could do which would be of assistance, and that is to carry out a signal strength / quality check whilst on BBC1 and note down what's indicated, then as soon as the picture goes off don't touch anything except to carry out another test exactly the same as before for the purpose of noting what differences are seen in the readings (especially quality) as although the picture will have vanished the signal level etc should still be seen indicated on a test, and giving a further update on the result.
By the way, if the attenuator you mention made no difference when fully on (max attenuation) then that's inclined to indicate that you have an excessively strong signal, although I would be interested to know what the result would have been if you had inserted the attenuator in line with your TV's aerial socket whilst you were viewing the signal / quality level "during" the aforementioned test, this irrespective of whether it was done with the picture there or not.
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Pete: Just to clarify as two interpretations can be taken from what you have said, are you meaning that the Sky+ box was changed to a Sky+HD version and with the ordinary Sky box still in situ? or is it that you are now using a Sky+HD box and with the other being Sky+? the ordinary Sky box not now being used.
Should this be the case then "if" the Sky+ box is now being used in place of the ordinary Sky box did you remember to go into its installers menu and switch the RF2 power on as well as set its RF output channel to that previously used by the ordinary Sky box? The installers menu accessed by pressing "Services" then "4-0-1-select" (on some its 0-0-1-select) this done in a smooth continuous sequence and which is best achieved if not looking at the screen whilst doing so.
The only thing I did wonder about is that as both the Sky+HD and Sky+ boxes each require two feeds from the dish was an extra co-ax run from the dish? as you were only using three before, Sky+ (2) and the ordinary Sky box (1)
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Pete: Also meant to say, that "if" your Sky+ box is a later Amstrad DRX595 type then these do not have RF modulators fitted in them likewise nothing about this aspect seen in the set up menu, the only way of getting over the problem being to purchase a separate RF modulator from sources such as Maplin etc.
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iain: What you have mentioned strongly suggests that its the powered splitter at fault, as its not exactly unknown for their internal power supply to fail, you should go up to the loft and temporarily by-pass the splitter by coupling its input directly to the feed going to one of the TV's and check on that TV if the Sky signal has come back up again.
It would also have been of assistance to know your location (pref: post code) just to ensure you are not in an area where transmitter switchover activities are taking place, this only mentioned as you are looping signals via the Sky box.
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Monday 5 March 2012 5:29PM
Rob: Meant to also say, that isnt it possible to straighten the pin out with a pair of long nosed pliers? or course if its broken then obviously not.
Another point is, that if you snip the complete end off the scart cable then carefully tape the end of another HDMI lead onto the end of it, then you might be able to gently pull the scart cable through the filled in section of the wall followed by the HDMI lead, of course I realise this would only be possible if you havent buried the actual cable deep in the plaster.