All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
sandy goodchild: All of those variable attenuator devices come into the category of "hit and miss" as far as just how effective they are at alleviating the problem being complained of, and so I wouldn't pay too much attention to that said by users of such devices as the reports made by users of same can be as variable as the attenuator itself.
Taking that said into account its not really worth spending a great deal of money in the off chance that it might cure the problem, that is "if" indeed its being caused by excessive signal strength! therefore the one seen on the undermentioned link is quite sufficient for most requirements.
TV Aerial Attenuator Variable 0-20Db Freeview Digital | eBay
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Mike: A DM log to all intents and purposes has an almost flat gain across all channels (21 - 68) of 6dB albeit with it peaking at 7dB between 40 - 50.
On the other hand a Log 36 offers just under 8dB from channel 21 and rising to 9.5dB on channels 45 - 50 before falling back off to 6dB at Ch60.
Needless to say the Log 36 is a safer bet for use in areas where 4G problems are liable to spring up.
That said, when dealing with logs one should never be over influenced by the gain figures given, as they are obtained under strict test transmission conditions which seldom ever represent that experienced in reality.
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Mike: When you measure the coax at the aerial end the reading will be much lower simply because that the aerial itself represents a partial short circuit, whereas when measured at the aerial socket the 5.6 ohm is the total resistance of the inner in series with the screen, i.e: twice the length of the cable.
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Mike : On the subject of the aerial, the fact of you only observed fractional differences by changing your aerial rather indicates that it was basically OK in the first place, and that any signal problems you were / are still experiencing is liable to be caused by factors connected with the terrain conditions that exist between the transmitter mast and your aerial, that is even although it might well be partially line-of-sight on a good day!
However, a quick check at your terrain would suggest that your receiving aerial is at a low angle to the mast whereby even at 19 miles away from the transmitter the "main" signal beam from the mast is likely to be passing over the aerial, this being either by direct route or in some cases by the signal being reflected upwards by bouncing off some hilly surface facing towards the source of the transmission, the latter should it apply, adding to the problem by bringing the summer and winter effect into the equation caused by the surface ground conditions changing.
As far as the Sky box generally giving a superior picture is concerned, Sky boxes have a slightly higher video output signal level to that of Freeview and Freesat devices, especially the latter, and this coupled to the relatively glitch free performance of satellite reception gives a less hassle form of viewing in areas where Freeview is inclined to be a bit iffy now and again.
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Mike: Its certainly possible that it is! but though if the relatively low signal strength being received is accompanied by a reasonably consistent quality indication then you could fit a variable gain booster to lift the signal up to a higher level thereby taking it away from your receivers cut off threshold, this making your reception less vulnerable to possible glitching should variations in the level of the signal received cause it to drop near (or into) the cut off threshold zone.
A suitable booster sold by Argos: page 507 item No 107 / 1533 SLX variable booster @ £11.99.
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martin redfern: The boxes referred to will still operate on free to view channels although the recording side of same will have been disabled by Sky.
You could of course retain the ability to record the free HD channels by taking out a new subscription at a cost of approximately £10.50 per month for the dubious privilege of being able to do so, as that's all that the subscription covers and not the viewing of Sky package channels.
Its really up to yourself, but many choose to ditch Sky and purchase a Freesat PVR such as a Humax twin tuner recorder like the types seen on the attached link, these devices offering choices of either 500Gb or 1TB hard drives.
TV Recording HUMAX PVR - HUMAX UK Direct Sales Website
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Bob: As far as I know it should be any time now as the aircraft warning lights have been deactivated.
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Margaret Paterson: Considering the fact of you being located at just under 22 miles away from the Sandy transmitter and with the signal path from same being via a mini forest of trees, then I think it very unlikely that any form of "same room" aerial would give satisfactory reception, that is should anything be received in the first place!
However, you can get a rough idea of whether or not anything can be received by connecting a short length of wire (about 6 feet or so) into the aerial socket of whatever you are using then carrying out an auto-tune, the wire aerial referred to preferably being placed near to either a back or front window, as (post code accuracy dependant) the signal would appear to arrive from the right hand side of your property parallel to the front / rear walls.
Should the outcome of the test be negative then you could possibly consider the various options suggested by MikeB.
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Paul: If you are referring to a normal aerial then no!.
Secondly, unless a Sky box is coupled into the dish it will not be receiving the access code that enables the recording / playback side the box to operate.
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Sunday 17 November 2013 6:14PM
Cggraham: If the eye lights up when used upstairs and you are testing the system out using the same Sky remote control as used downstairs then the problem has to be caused by something in the coax link between both area's reducing, or even killing off the low frequency / low output strength control signal sent out by the eye.
This type of problem can be caused by either a long cable run between both area's, an inferior grade of coax being used, or if the coax link runs parallel with cables used for other purposes.
It should also be said that these devices can be very variable in performance, and its not uncommon for some types to have a particularly low output whereby if tested out on a perfectly good installation it will fail to operate through a coax of only around 25 feet or so, and so if the aforementioned reasons given do not apply then you should try using another eye.