All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Andy McArthur: You should try disconnecting the box from the mains supply for about 1 minute or so before powering it up again and checking to see if this had made any difference, if not then the next thing to try is a "First time installation" to wipe out everything stored in the tuner, this achieved by pressing Menu / option 2 / then select "First time installation" followed by pressing OK.
By the way, this procedure requires you to enter your post code in order to receive the correct news services for your area.
The other point being, that "First time installation" on most devices does not normally affect anything stored in your hard drive, however if by any remote chance it was going to on your particular box a warning to this effect will always pop up on the screen.
As far as the dish is concerned, the quality indication on a perfectly aligned dish should really be leading the strength and with what you have reported suggesting that yours is a fraction out of alignment, however in order to check the LNB's skew setting select EPG 206 (RT / HD) which is transmitted on vertical polarity and check the S & Q indications, next select EPG 212 (BBCNews HD) which is a horizontally transmitted programme and check if there are any "significant" differences seen in the S &Q indications between those two programmes, which there shouldn't be! although they are very seldom ever the same!
Further info dependant on outcome of test.
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mrdt: Indoor (same room) aerials are seldom ever satisfactory except in cases where the viewer is located in a line-of-sight situation with the transmitter mast, and if not near to a window with the signal passing through only one wall of the house.
That said excludes loft aerials, as they can be perfectly satisfactory provided they are not installed facing into a water tank or where the signal being picked up has to pass through the separation walls of adjacent properties.
However its not possible to judge as to whether or not an indoor aerial is liable to work in your situation without your location being known, this preferably in the form of a post code or one from nearby, e.g: a shop / Post Office.
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J Peter Wilson: This problem would not have occurred if the licence exemption application had been filled in and returned as that's the only way of avoiding the "automatic" process of a warning letter being sent out, something you should have been informed about when you phoned the TV Licensing office and so in this respect they slipped up.
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Carol: When you say "connected to Sky", are you simply meaning that you have a Freesat box connected to the ex Sky dish? or are you meaning that you have a TV in the bedroom that is connected to the RF2 socket of an ex Sky box located in another room, and you are using a magic eye system to change the channels on the Sky box?
If the latter applies, check that the TV button hasn't been accidentally pressed on the Sky remote control you are using in the bedroom, because when a person stops subscribing to Sky nothing changes as far as remote control operation is concerned.
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Andy McArthur: Those readings are not terribly far off what would be expected from both of the channels mentioned, however, although slight variations in the strength and quality (and especially quality) of the signal received are not exactly uncommon the frequency that the fluctuations seem to be occurring on your box is of concern as it could indicate the possibility of water having entered the "F" connector on the LNB or even a defective LNB.
As far as water contamination in the connector is concerned, if you can gain access to the dish you should loosen the "F" connectors gland nut and unscrew it from the block followed by unscrewing the body of the connector from the coax to enable it to be checked out, drying with a tissue if required then smearing the inside of the connector with some Vaseline (should really be silicon grease) before screwing it back onto the coax.
That said, before forging ahead with the procedure mentioned it would be the best policy by far if you could manage to try your box out on someone else's dish, the reason for suggesting being that this problem could also be caused by a defect in the boxes tuner especially as it only seems to affecting HD reception albeit that this mode is more critical than SD, but testing your box out on another dish would instantly reveal the source of your problem.
I should of course also add, that those type of boxes do not have the best of reputations where reliability is concerned and this is another factor that has always to be taken into consideration.
By the way, everything said is on the assumption that your dish does have an unobstructed view of the Sky free from such as tree foliage etc?
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Andy McArthur: In addition to that already said, should access to the dish be possible leave the box on EPG 206 and get someone to press lightly on the right hand edge of the dish whilst noting the effect this has on the strength / quality being indicated, should it be of an adverse nature then the same test should be carried out again but on the left hand edge of the dish, once again noting the changes.
Needless to say, if one side does give an improvement to the S & Q then the left / right swivel lock bolts on the dish should be loosened just enough to allow the dish to be nudged in that direction.
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Andy McArthur: Pleased to see that the problem has now been resolved by replacing the box as I did have my suspicions about it as mentioned in my 8.49pm reply on the 9th, although being a "never say die" type of engineer felt obliged to mention everything that could possibly be the reason for your problem.
By the way, did you replace your box with another of the same type?, or possibly another brand altogether?
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mr p clark: It presently does on Mux Ch39 and has been doing for some considerable time.
Although indications are that the signal path from the Chatton transmitter (@ 3.3 miles) is completely obstructed at approximately 1.75miles prior to your location "if" you receive the other channels OK then are you sure that your TV is capable of HD reception and as such is fitted with a DVB-T2 tuner and not just DVB-T?, if you have the user manual for the TV check the specifications section or come back with the model number of the set and this can be checked out for you.
Should though you do have a TV capable of HD reception and you receive the other channels are OK even although the signal is obstructed, then another thing that can block HD reception is if the signal being received is too strong, and at only 3.3 miles away from the transmitter this is a distinct possibility, and so if you are using any form of booster try by passing it by connecting the aerial directly into the TV followed by carrying out a retune on the set if nothing appears on EPG2.
Further advice dependant on feedback.
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Dell: Indications are on Digital UK that those two programme channels are not due to start service until April 1st 2014 from the Oxford transmitter, the transmission being on C31 (554.0 Mhz) on the COM7 mux.
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Friday 7 March 2014 4:39PM
Briantist: No problem!, my only reason for drawing your attention to it being because I am fully aware that you constantly strive to keep everything on your site just so-so.