All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Col Stjj: Although factors external to your installation (e.g: cross channel interference) could be responsible for your problem, but by being located at under 1 mile away from the Margate 200 watts transmitter which uses the same PSB mux channel numbers as Dovers 80Kw HD transmitter then your problem "might" possibly be caused by an excessively high signal level being received on the HD channel C53, HD being more sensitive to this sort of thing and will cut out even although SD is seemingly working OK.
You should try removing the aerial and temporarily connecting a short piece of wire (about 6 feet) into the aerial socket followed by going into your TV or boxes tuning menu / manual tune and entering C53, but do "NOT" press search or scan as on most devices as soon as C53 is entered the signal strength its being received at will be indicated.
However, when taking into consideration the fact that the transmitters in question have being experiencing problems this week, then before touching anything it would be rather prudent to make a local enquiry to determine if others are also experiencing the problem.
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ClaireB: Yes, as thats the best policy, but though if your YouView box is a Huawei brand device should a reset cure the BT Sports problem I would be most interested to know if you are able to view Drama (20), as many users of this brand of box are unable to view this programme because of a known tuning defect.
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Col Stjj: Yes, that's one of the snags frequently experienced by many when attempting to carry out a reception check with a neighbour, as nine times out of ten they are usually unable to oblige because of such as you have mentioned.
As far as transmitter faults are concerned, nothing is seen indicated on the RT investigation site nor is any engineering work taking place on either the Margate or Dover transmitters, albeit of course that there is always a slight time lag in the reporting of any fault, that said, considering the fact that you lost HD reception two days ago then its very unlikely that your problem is connected with the transmission side of the equation but more one with your box, and especially now that its known you are using a Huawei brand device, this brand having a known about (by manufacturers) defect and which (to my belief anyway) has not as yet been resolved.
This being the case, I would normally have advised that you carry out a "factory reset" on the box, but though I believe is something that you have already carried out ? although it would not do any harm to repeat the action albeit that on this brand of device it deletes everything previously recorded, another short sighted aspect concerning the design of the Huawei box as a manufacturers reset on practically ever other brand of device does NOT delete programmes already stored.
By the way, the signal strength and quality indication (the latter the important one!) you report on mux Ch53 is on the face of it anyway perfectly OK and which I presume is being received from the Dover transmitter @ 20 miles / 198 degrees? the aerial being mounted horizontally, whereas with Margate the elements would be mounted vertically and pointing straight up and down.
Although I fully realise that you have already attempted to check HD reception with one of your immediate neighbours but though I feel that the only way of pinpointing the exact cause of your problem is by checking further afield, as it doesn't really matter if someone reports iffy reception on HD as you are only really interested if they can receive it at all.
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Cassie: Covering the reflector with foil will have no effect whatsoever as far as your problem is concerned, and indeed a tri boom aerial is not the best of things to use for reception from Sandy whether mounted in the loft or not.
You would be far better using such as a Log 36 or DM log in conjunction with your aerial amplifier and with the aerial being mounted on a short right angled pole on either the fascia or soffit board (under the gutter) or alternatively directly onto the wall, although even if mounted in the loft you might find an improvement over the tri boom.
By the way, what is printed on your aerial amp as far as dB gain is concerned, 12dB being the lowest that I would recommend.
This is a link to the aerials referred to
Online FM DAB TV Aerial sales
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a butler: You will have to contact Sky as they are the only people that can pair your card with the new box, this done by them downloading the data necessary to match the card to your box via an "over air" download.
Needless to say that they will require to know details regarding the serial number of your new box as well as the number printed on your present card, and so I would jot this down before phoning them.
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liz: When you say "disconnected from Sky" if you are meaning that you have cancelled the contract then your Sky+ HD box will simply revert to operating like a standard box, meaning that any programmes dedicated to a Sky package cannot be viewed nor will the recording / playback side of the box as this will have been disabled by Sky.
Apart from that you can use the box just like any other standard Sky box without a contract, if you still have the boxes telephone line connected then remove it as its not necessary.
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Robert Boal: On having a look at the signal path from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter the station that is indicated as providing your area with the best reception, the signal path is seen to pass over a tree lined area on the West side of Church Walk, trees being something can can cause partial signal blocking resulting in picture glitching etc.
If you are indeed receiving from Sutton Coldfield then carry out a signal check on mux Ch39 which corresponds to SC's COM6 as all programmes mentioned are on the COM6 transmitter, the thing to look out for on a signal check being if the quality level is observed to be diving downwards now and again, this being one of the symptoms associated with problems caused by trees albeit that it can also be caused by other reasons but with all of being outwith the control of the viewer.
If on the other hand you are receiving from the more distant Waltham transmitter, then its COM6 is indicated as only providing a variable level of reception, its COM6 being on muxCh57.
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Carl Amey: Although I cant really speak as far as the last few weeks are concerned, but Hannington was listed on the engineering notice board as being liable to periods of interruption from last Monday 8th, this may even apply to next week although I am unable to verify either way as the engineering notice board will not be updated until either late on tonight or early tomorrow morning
However, on a quick check around your area I noticed one or two properties with their roof mounted aerials effectively pointing into trees, one particular property at the high side of Lingfield Gardens / Northfield Road intersection with an aerial apparently pointing directly towards two large trees, the problem being that the trees in question are sitting directly in line with the signal path from the Hannington transmitter, this being the type of situation that invites erratic reception as trees at this time of the year are notorious for causing reception problems.
A point to note being, that this type of situation does necessarily affect all multiplexes in an even fashion as it depends on the level that the signals are received at in the first place, those at a lower level being affected to a greater degree, and of course COM6/ArqB Ch47 is radiated at half the power of the PSB channels.
Should the situation described apply to the positioning of your own aerial, then whether it be loft mounted or not you are still liable to suffer from problems now and again.
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Stuart: The nearest mobile phone masts that I see to your location are on Callington Road near to Lollabury Road and with neither of being connected with 4G.
As far as Caradon Hill is concerned, its very unlikely that reception from that station would be affected anyway because of its operating channels spanning from 21-28 and as such being too far removed from the operating frequency used by 4G to be affected by signal swamping, i.e: the tuner being desensitized by the presence of a powerful RF signal being detected close to the frequencies used by the Freeview transmitter.
Plympton on the other hand spans Ch's 42 - 58, the latter being the HD channel on Ch58 and which is vulnerable to being interfered with, and so if this transmitter is being used then it might pay to fit a 4G filter in line just in case!!
That said, if its considered by at800 the company contracted to supply filters to those who are deemed to be at risk, then if they consider that any possibility exists that you might be affected then they will automatically send you one "free of charge" filter, although you can purchase these from numerous outlets at around £9.00 or so.
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Saturday 10 August 2013 11:23PM
ClaireB: Can you receive (19) Yesterday or (24) ITV4? because if you can then BT sport 1/2 are on guide numbers 58/59 all programmes mentioned being on Hanningtons COM6 mux Ch47.