All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
alan: No, all you require is a normal dish installation exactly the same as used by anyone with Sky TV.
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TonyM: If you have already retuned both of your TV's and which on most devices is generally suffice, however on some it isn't and they require a "first time installation" to be carried out rather than a standard auto-tune in order to resolve this problem, first time installation dependant on brand also being known as "factory reset" - "default setting" or some other similar sounding term.
Film4 moved from COM6 to PSB2 the same mux transmitter as used by ITV1, and if anyone witnesses the retune message whilst on 15 then this is and indication that the device receiving it has not been retuned correctly as this message is only transmitted on Film4's original location and not its updated one.
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Nathan Lacey: As both TV's are the same model (if referring to model number?) then as the living room TV has a full compliment of channels you should try swapping the two sets over and check if the living room TV can still receive all the channels when using the bedrooms aerial socket.
If though it does, then carry out an auto-tune on the ex bedroom TV thats now connected into the living rooms aerial feed and check the results.
By the way the quick way to check reception from all six muxes is to run through the EPG list as follows.
1 - 3 -10 -11 - 18 - any HD channel.
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MikeB, Jack Luxon: I am inclined to agree with Ian from notts's line of thought, insomuch that if the heading on the "post a question etc" box appears in any way as being a questionnaire then its almost guaranteed that it would be ignored by most posting a question.
I personally would be quite happy if the post a question etc box had a heading such as : - "PLEASE NOTE! queries involving Freeview reception MUST be accompanied by a post code or alternatively one from nearby, e.g: a shop / post office".
The latter "alternatively" being included to cover those who are reluctant to reveal their exact whereabouts, not of course that the average post code location would do as in most cases "approximate" is the order of the day.
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Irvine Bell: The way to solve this problem is by first of all blanking out everything stored in the tuners memory, carrying out an auto-tune but with the aerial being disconnected usually being suffice and checking afterwards that nothing is indicated in the EPG listings, if not then go into your TV's manual tuning menu and tune in Winter Hills BBC on Ch50 storing the results if not done automatically, next enter then scan the ITV mux on Ch59 likewise storing the results.
Normally I would have said to use the channels update procedure to add the remaining muxes if this is offered in your TV's tuning menu, and although you could try using this facility however on some TV's this acts like a normal auto-tune and which would wipe out the two muxes that you have already stored, therefore its sometimes best to continue using manual tuning to add the remaining muxes, these being: HD service (54) - SDN (58) - Arq A (49) - Arq B (55).
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Nathan Lacey: The EPG list stands for "electronic programme guide" usually referred to as channel guide list or "guide" on the remote control, however "if" (as what you have said could be taken two ways) you are meaning that the ex bedroom TV now connected to the living room aerial socket (and which you know is OK) still refuses to pick up anything under channel 10 then this could point to the TV's tuner being defective, especially if the situation was not resolved after having carried out the restore to factory settings procedure.
Maybe you could confirm (or otherwise) if this is the situation? and if it is could you supply me with the model number of the TV in question.
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Nathan Lacey: Thanks for the clarification on this issue, although now it has been is rather baffling insomuch that it indicates you are receiving the commercial channels but not the main PSB ones, a problem which is somewhat the reverse of the norm.
Therefore I would like you to try a test by going into your TV's tuning menu / manual tune and entering but NOT scanning Ch50, as in most devices if a signal from the channel entered is being received then its strength / quality will be indicated (no matter how low) on the levels indicator that appears on most devices when using this mode, and should anything have been indicated on Ch50 and with a note having been made of the strength / quality of that seen, then change Ch50 to Ch59 and as before noting that seen and giving an update on the results.
Although it would have been of assistance if the model number of your TV was known, but if its a model that incorporates a built in booster (this usually seen mentioned in the set up menu) then turn it off followed by carrying out another manual signal check on Ch50 to see if the level previously noted had changed any.
That said though, there is obviously something peculiar about the feed to the bedroom aerial socket as it would appear that you do not have a direct connection between both, and so check for any evidence of a splitter being located in a hallway or wherever.
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Bruce: Many thanks for your update on the situation and pleased to hear that you have now returned to being fully operational, however, and without wishing to appear as the classic doubting Thomas, but there is another angle to your reception having returned that is based on the fact of you having said that turning the gain of the amplifier down had no effect on the signal, and being that its possible that the reason for this is because that the amplifier had failed, hence the control not having any effect on the signal.
My only reason for saying this is that aerial amplifiers can and do fail, especially types that are mounted in the loft (should this apply in your situation) as long periods of prolonged heat can cause the transformer in the power supply to fail, therefore it might be worth testing the amp out prior to informing your neighbours just in case the unit is defective.
Of course if your reception is OK without it then obviously it is not required anyway, but purely for verification purposes it would be worthwhile testing it out by placing in line with your TV's aerial input socket and "with its gain control fully advanced" witnessing if any changes are noticed in reception when its powered up or vice versa, because a faulty device will not show any changes.
The point to note being that a defective amplifier in line with an aerial circuit will act like an attenuator.
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Bruce: Just as a follow up to that said in my reply, should you decide to test the amplifier out the using the method suggested then carry out the powered / unpowered check whilst your TV is sitting on its signal check screen on the channel chosen for the test otherwise if any differences are evident they might not be noticed.
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Tuesday 10 September 2013 11:30PM
Bruce: You are indicated as having a clear line-of-sight to the Hannington transmitter (@ 11 miles) and with no obstructions whatsoever being seen as far as the ground is concerned, trees or any man made objects excluded! and so in theory you should be receiving a strong signal.
This being the case I am inclined to agree with MikeB's line of thought insomuch that the engineering work recently carried out at the station "might" have resulted in a very slight increase in the erp level being radiated from the mast, and although this would be neither here nor there and indeed not even noticed on most installations, however it "would" be on any installation that was already running with a very high signal level bordering on the excessive, as the slight increase in level could trigger problems in the tuner by overloading its RF input / mixer stage, the symptoms of being exactly as you have described.
That said, the misleading aspect of an erratic signal problem is that the symptoms of a slightly "over the top" signal level are almost identical to that of the reverse situation where a signal is hovering around the lower cut off threshold, this being where anyone not equipped with proper signal level meter is at a positive disadvantage as the indications given on a TV or boxes signal check screen can be totally inaccurate due to elements of instability affecting the measuring circuitry and with the said errors always resulting in much lower levels being seen over what in reality they actually are, this being due to the measuring circuitry only decoding the uncorrupted parts of the data and ignoring the remainder and why the signal quality (bit error rate) appears to vaulting up and down.
By the way, its not possible to electronically bypass a mast head amplifier, and so if the device is not easily accessible then the only thing that can be done is to fit a cheap variable attenuator (under £5.00 from e-bay outlets) in line with the aerial socket on the TV or box and adjusting accordingly, but though I would not advise doing anything until you can verify as to where or not the problem is possibly widespread in your area or is only confined to your own installation, this obviously achieved by checking with others nearby.