All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Annie B: If prior to this week your system has been reasonably OK then I wouldn't worry too much about your present problems, as they are most likely being caused by the effects of the wave of high pressure that is presently prevailing and which is causing problems for numerous people right across large areas of the UK, the side effect of this condition being that its allowing variable levels of signals from distant stations to be picked which are clashing with the channels you are receiving, or trying to! and needless to say this can affect some channels and not others, and so its possible for your Humax to be affected when recording one channel whereas your TV on a different channel isnt, and of course vice-versa.
Its really just a case of waiting until these conditions have returned to normal again.
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Colin T: Thanks for your update, as I am always extremely interested to know the outcome of situations such as yours, and with this irrespective of whether or not it might confirm my suspicions about the cause of a problem.
Its a bit unfortunate about your Toshiba as its one of the brands I rather approve of, but it would still make a good monitor if used with a cheap Freeview box coupled into it via a scart lead, or alternatively it being used on its analogue setting to view a Sky boxes RF modulators output.
Anyway, much obliged for your update.
Regards / jb.
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Joan: Well its totally inexcusable for any aerial installer to damage roof tiles and not have them replaced at their expense, as they should have insurance that covers this sort of thing. However as far as leaves on trees is concerned and especially if wet, this is something that's common knowledge by anyone involved with the technicalities of reception, as they have a blocking effect on signals whether its analogue or digital, although it always appears worse on digital reception because of it being so critical.
As far as trying tests to see if you can pick up Rowridge on the rear of your aerial is concerned, only try tests using manual tuning on Mux Ch24 as its only the BBC mux that's on 200Kw at present and nothing else.
Although being unaware of the brand / model of TV or box you are using, but when on the manual tuning menu on many devices and you enter the channel you want to scan into the choice box, as soon as you do this the signal level being received on that channel immediately comes on, this meaning that if you are only testing the channel you dont actually require to carry out the scan.
I do appreciate that as you have mentioned yourself you are on the extremities of both Hannington and Rowridge, but the vertical polarity output is officially predicted as being superior for reception, although horizontal should also be possible but just at a slightly lesser strength, but try another scan on Mux Ch24 and see what (if anything) comes up.
A qualification on this though as far as the present is concerned, numerous people have been (and still are) experiencing poor reception across large areas in the UK from the North downwards because of the prevailing current wave of high pressure, and with this causing interference to reception by the fact of enabling distant stations to be received which are in many cases clashing with the local ones, so any tests you carry out are unlikely to have much success until this problem settles down again.
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Bob Abbot: Well on having a check at your location in relation to the Peebles relay (@ 2miles) would not really suggest that a booster of the type you have should really be required, however the fact that it was fitted is inclined to indicate that things are maybe not quite as they seem, and possibly due it having been found (or known by the aerial installer) that your signal is prone to suffering from elements of seasonal vegetation (tree leaves) problems, which I know there is an abundance of around Peebles, tree leaves (on even one tree) having quite an effect on signals from low powered transmitters such as applies to the 20 watts Peebles relay.
What I would like you to do is carry out a signal strength / quality check on both the BBC and ITV, observing whatever is indicated on each channel test over a few minutes, and in particular the stability level of the quality. Another thing to do is, once you have noted the strength / quality of either the BBC or ITV just leave the TV on signal check menu and remove the additional booster you fitted, then re-check if the previously noted indications have changed.
That said though, I have to say that if the Vision amp had been fitted into the loft rather than the mast I would have requested you temporarily try by-passing it using an "F" plug coupler, as where there is only a short distance of coax between the aerial and the loft the mast head amp does not actually need to be on the mast as it makes no difference, albeit in theory mast head amps should be as near to the aerials active element as possible so as not to amplify cable noise, or possibly interference picked up in same.
Anyway try the suggested giving an update on results, but though if on checking the signal you get a strength / quality level of 100% being indicated then thats not always a good thing, as the signal might be hovering on the point of overloading the TV's tuner, as an overly powerful signal gives exactly the same symptoms when viewing as a weak one, although I do have a sneaking suspicion that the difficulty you experience now an again might only really be improved by experimenting with slightly different aerial positions, and this not necessarily meaning higher but in the horizontal sense, something not really feasible when dealing with outdoor aerials unless of the gutter mount type.
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Simon Waring: Avoid using any channels under 30 and anything between 41 - 63, this covering all the four transmitting stations that could possibly affect the analogue picture quality from the CCTV camera.
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Simon Waring: Just a small correction to the second range mentioned as I just noticed that in 2013 one of the muxes used by Ivybridge drops to Ch40, this now making the the "either on or between" channel ranges to avoid being 39 - 62.
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George: Basically all you require to do is couple the DVD recorder / player's AV1 scart socket into the TV's AV1 scart socket using a "fully connected" scart lead, these being the thicker types found around, as that would enable DVD to be played through the TV as well as it "possibly" recording from the TV.
As far as recording from the TV is concerned the reason I say "possibly", is that although this can be done with most TV's as their AV1 scart sockets have signals in / out capabilities its not completely universal and I don't have the Techwoods manual to hand for checking on this aspect, however should it be possible, then to record from the TV the recorders "input selector" will have to be set on "AV1", as if not it will be sitting on its internal analogue tuner by default.
It has to be appreciated though that its only the programme presently being viewed on the TV that can be recorded, ("if" that is) with this severely limiting what can be done, and it would be far better to purchase a cheap Freeview box and use that for recording from by the DVD recorder.
I haven't mentioned anything about the recorders aerial socket as you haven't provided your location, (pref: post code) and as the recorder is only an analogue device there is a great possibility that no analogue signal exists in your area, although should it be then just loop the aerial for the TV through the recorder.
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George: Just to add, that needless to say any recording tests thats carried out should always be done using DVD+/-RW discs to avoid wastage, because as only one single lead is being used for in/out purposes you cant really monitor the actual signal that the recorder is getting in the same way as you could if its AV2 input socket was being fed from an external box.
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Richard: Simply because Mendips ArqA mux is changing its operating channel from 67 to 56 as well as powering up from 12.5Kw to 100Kw.
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Thursday 15 March 2012 8:13PM
Grace: Not necessarily so, as an aerial being looped through any device before being fed into the TV will in most cases reduce the signal received by the TV, and if the signal is not that strong to start off with any reduction to it is likely to cause it to drop under the reception threshold (cut off point) of the TV.
You can test if this is applying by carrying out a signal strength / quality test on the TV with the aerial going straight into it, then "keeping the TV on the same channel" loop the aerial through the recorder again followed by another signal strength / quality check on the TV, then compare any differences seen.
This said taking it that the recorder is kept either switched on (or in standby) and not completely switched off, something which should never be done on any device used for aerial loop through.
Also are you referring to a DVD recorder?