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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.


Mazbar: Well what you have said just highlights one of the many variables that exists with DTT reception, because if you know for certain that the calibration is OK on your signal check meter, then as you will no doubt be aware 85dBuV is just over 12dB above the maximum recommended level for DTT reception, and so any equipment that apparently works OK at the level mentioned is doing so at the upper limits of its signal overload safety margin, although the point is that it works.

But though the brand of equipment being used also plays a big part in this, because although Panasonic (by far the best) Sony (some of) JVC and of course all Humax devices can cope reasonably well with excessive signal levels many other devices such as LG and Samsung can fare very badly, as in my experience the latter two brands develop instability problems with even the slightest hint of an excessively high level of signal on the aerial socket.

I do not necessarily disagree either with your doubts about an excessive level of signal applying in the case of Neils installation and is the reason why I had mentioned not to purchase anything as yet, because if different brands of TV's (or boxes) are being used on the various outputs from the Labgear and they all glitch about the same time, then that can indicate that either the problem is being caused by the Labgear itself or that the actual signal being received is suffering from fluctuations, as its nearly impossible for four different TV's to have the same glitching point if fed from an excessive level of signal.

This of course being why I suggested that one of the TV's be by-passed as far as the Labgear is concerned.



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J
Film 4
Sunday 23 December 2012 11:43PM

Mark: Being on a communal aerial makes it somewhat limited in what you can do, but indications are that you are possibly receiving your signal from the Craigkelly transmitter, and so try "manually" tuning in mux channel 39 as these programmes are on that mux channel.

Matter of fact on most equipment that offers a manual tune option as soon as the channel number is entered into the manual tune box, the signal strength its being received at will be indicated WITHOUT pressing scan.

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Simon: Only Oxford is indicated as providing a reasonable level of signal at your particular location, but even at that the COM channels are shown as being variable, Mendip indicates almost all of its channels as being variable and with Cirencester indicating OK on the BBC & the HD service but with ITV1 being variable, this latter station is a limited channels PSB only transmitter.

With regards to your new booster / splitter, what model of device is it? the other point being that in situations such as yours "manual tuning" of the muxes is liable to bring in results over that of an auto-tune.

Oxfords muxes are / Ch53 - 60 - 57 - 62 - 59 - 55

Another point to note being, that if carrying out a manual tune then as soon as the channel number to scan is entered into the box the signal level of that channel entered will immediately appear in the level bar if you do NOT press search or scan.

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Mazbar: Just to add the final part of my reply which I just noticed did not paste in properly. (my fault)

> This of course being why I suggested that one of the TV's be by-passed as far as the Labgear is concerned, because if the TV that is fed straight from the aerial also glitches then its a signal problem of a nature that is basically out with local control.<


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Rob: The problem is, that devices of different manufacture do not necessarily give the same indications even although the signal being fed into their aerial input sockets might be at identical levels, and with regards to the signal what method are you using to feed the aerial into the box as well as possibly your TV?

By the way, a good average signal level for satisfactory reception should be around 65- 70% or so and with a quality level of around 90%+.

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Andrew: Oxford is indicated as your best bet for reception although Crystal Palace and Hanningtom are also shown as being possible, but if you are receiving from Oxford then try manually tuning in mux Ch60 as the programmes mentioned as missing are on that transmitter.

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w.winn: If you know for 100% sure that the batteries are OK in your remote control and are making good contact with the terminals, take the batteries out and then reinsert them, then provided that the box is not positioned in an exceptionally bright area then I am afraid that problem is suggestive of the actual box having developed a fault.

If though your remote control has been programmed to switch your TV off or on does it still do it? although if you have a digital camera power it up, then whilst watching the cameras LCD screen point the control at the camera lens area and press any button and you should see a white light appear on the display.

This check does not verify if a code is being sent out by the control, but will indicate if the IR sender is OK.

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j_imrie@yhoo.co.uk: This site is an advisory one and is not connected in any way with service or programme providers, however a "no signal" message can be caused by a variety of reasons from the dish being out of alignment (very possible) or the cable from being defective due to the "F" plugs on either end having an internal short circuit, or even that the box itself is defective (not that uncommon) and so all of these possibilities require to be checked out.

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Andrew : Yes thanks for the update, but with regards to the mux transmitter used by these programmes, its most likely still there in your boxes memory but is sitting at a level just under the reception threshold for your receivers tuner hence why you are unable to see anything, and this being something you can check by carrying a signal strength test, because provided that you have not carried out a retune (which might lose it) then it will still give an indication of strength / quality even on a blank screen.

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Keith: Yes, but though on any dish that is set up correctly inclement weather conditions does not usually block out a signal for longer than maybe 5 / 10 minutes or so (absolute max) at a time, unless of course in really bad cases where it might linger, however once things are back to normal carry another signal check as both strength / quality should be no lower than the equivalent of 60%+ (75% ideal) but if the quality is lagging on the strength then no matter what the indications are the dish could do with a trim up, as lagging quality makes reception more vulnerable to the weather conditions referred to.

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