All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
DaveG: Good news then!! Really pleased to learn that you have managed to succeed with your adjustments to the dish with the aid of such a simple meter, your achievement somewhat proving the point that if care is taken then its not always absolutely necessary to use high priced professional equipment for success, that is provided that the job is carried out in a slow methodical fashion such as has obviously been practised by yourself.
Many thanks for the update!
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Mariusz : Its most inadvisable for anyone to carry out a retune on their TV or box unless having received a message to this effect at regular intervals beforehand, as all that's achieved by retuning is to wipe out all of the channels already stored in the tuners memory whereby making it necessary to carry out frequent retunes to restore them.
However, as Caldbeck is the transmitter that covers your area then unless the situation has now been resolved by one of your retunes then you should make an enquiry with a neighbour to find out if they are also being affected, because if not, then your problem is either being caused by a defect in your TV (or box) or alternatively by a fault in your aerial system such as where the coax is terminated into the aerial, that is "if" you have verified that the jumper lead or whatever you are using to feed the aerial into the TV is OK.
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alan: I would certainly second MikeB's suggestion with regards to going down the Freesat route as its virtually about the only guaranteed way that you are ever going to be able to enjoy reliable reception, a detailed terrain check on the alternative stations to Sandy revealing that the signal path from Tacolneston (@ 23 miles) is obstructed at roughly 1 mile out although possibly affected from around 8 miles, the situation being even worse using same test on Sudbury @ 31 miles with the signal path being seriously obstructed from approximately 21 miles prior to your location.
The other thing that I did notice being, that your reception from the Sandy transmitter (@ 42 miles) would appear to be via the foliage of the large tree positioned at the end wall of the properties.
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kevin gardiner: With regards to your HD reception problem, although you may well have purchased an attenuator and with the result of having partially improved the situation, but considering the fact that you do appear to have a clear line-of-sight (excluding trees or man made objects) with Brierley Hill (@ 1.7 miles / 330°) and also Sutton Coldfield (@ 15.6 miles / 47°) the RF level on your Samsungs tuner could still be a little too high for the decoder to operate correctly on HD, Samsung and LG tuners being particularly intolerant to overloading in this mode over that of many other devices, myself having witnessed situations where although SD was operating quite normally HD reception was virtually non existent due to the signal being a tad on the high side.
The other aspect about the aforementioned being, that the strength / quality readings indicated by a TV or box cannot be relied on as being in any way accurate, as the measuring circuitry only indicates the part of the signal that's not corrupted by overloading hence readings always tend to be low, sometimes with the quality being almost zero.
A couple of points I would like to know being, (1) what was the attenuation rating on the reducer you purchased?, and (2) as you reside in an area with an abundance of trees does your aerial face into any of them? as foliage can cause problems with HD reception much more so than on SD.
Finally, to get a rough idea of your signal level in your area can you receive anything using either a set top aerial or alternatively a short piece of wire (6 feet or so) coupled into the TV's aerial socket?
I am not saying that any of the aforementioned is the reason for your problem, but it has to be kept in mind.
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James Vance : Your model of TV will not receive the NIMM RTE/TG4 transmissions as they require a receiver fitted with a DVB-T2 tuner, your Samsung being DVB-T.
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CLIVE JOHNSON : I am inclined to agree with MikeB with regards to checking out your aerial system, as although in my particular location the stability of Waltham's HD signal cannot by any means be classed as perfect over what it was a few months ago, the level of fluctuation in the signal is not of a sufficient magnitude to cause picture break up to occur.
The other point being, that my reception from Waltham is via diffraction (signal bending) by my location "not" having a clear line-of-sight with the transmitter, a situation where the summer and winter effect generally comes into the equation due to seasonal changes to the surface of the terrain etc, whereas on the other hand you are indicated as having a clear line-of-sight (likewise I suspect MikeB) and should not be experiencing the same type of difficulties as myself, that is excluding such as trees or any man made objects (buildings) causing obstructions to the signal path as the terrain indicator is only concerned with the ground surface and not what may be on it.
However, if at all possible I would try and enquire with say a neighbour to determine if others are also experiencing difficulties with HD reception from Waltham "if" their aerial is facing that direction and not Sutton Coldfield, because if they are'nt then this points to your aerial being the source of your problem.
You should still try a signal strength / quality check on C58, giving an update on the result.
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Andy: A Sky box (any) does not really require a viewing card to operate unless the user of wishes to view programmes specific to a Sky package, because when no contract is in force all the card does is to enable the viewer to view the news channels appropriate to the area they reside in plus an odd free, but encrypted, channel e.g: Sony TV 157.
You may find that your ability to record programmes may possibly vanish as Sky will most likely disable the recording side of the box via an over air command, this being one of the first things they generally do when a contract is cancelled.
However, do not connect the box to the phone line unless you intend to take out another subscription.
Did your ex notify Sky of her move? because if not you will possibly be contacted by Sky once the fact of her box not being connected to the line is noticed as the box sends info to Sky on a regular basis with regards to viewing habits etc.
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CLIVE JOHNSON: The terrain checker used (Megalithia) works in conjunction with a Street map post code converter to indicate the terrain between two points, the result of accessed by opening the undermentioned link which as you will see does not indicate any obstructions to the signal path.
However, judging by what you have now said with regards to you being on the wrong side of the hill for Waltham would suggest that some error has crept into the system, that is "if" the post code is accurate for your location and not just an area one which some are.
Needless to say that said by myself was based on the indications seen, but now that you have given an update / clarification on your situation this paints a somewhat different picture with regards to the problems being experienced and especially where 4G is involved, as anyone who receives 4G filters through the post has been assessed by AT800 as residing in an area with the potential to experience problems caused by a local 4G transmitter.
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
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CLIVE JOHNSON : You should phone the AT800 contact centre as they will give you a more detailed explanation of their reason for sending you the filter.
Contact at800 / DMSL | General Enquiries | at800
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Thursday 2 January 2014 5:59PM
Owen: Thanks for the update! Pleased to know that the procedure as mentioned resolved the problem.