All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
sonia morrow : In addition to that said, although TV3 along with RT1/2, TG4, 3E etc can easily be tuned in on a Sky boxes "add channels" facility, unfortunately they cannot be viewed using a standard Sky UK viewing card, as a card issued for an address in the Irish Republic is required.
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Laurence Hughes: A Freesat twin tuner PVR of the type suggested by MikeB will operate using one input in exactly the same way as a non recording Freesat receiver, the only problem being that you will be restricted in the programmes that you can record, insomuch that the programme you wish to record will have to be on the same transponder as that used by the one you are viewing, although if any attempt is made to record something that isn't, a message will pop up on the screen to the effect of "channel not possible" or a something similar.
If you intend to replace the LNB at some point in time, kits available at around £10.00 or so from e-bay sources, then purchasing a Freesat PVR is a far better bet.
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Sharon: As MikeB has indicated, your area is covered by the Sudbury transmitter and not Sandy Heath, the former not listed on the engineering page as suffering from any technical problems.
If the problem you refer to is known to be affecting others in your apartment block, try and make an enquiry with someone else local to yourself but who does "not" reside in the same block, because should they not have experienced any difficulties with reception then the problem that affected you has to be caused by something connected with the communal distribution amplifier system used in your block, problems with being the responsibility of the landlord.
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Mike Gordon: Purely in the interest of clarification. When you refer to currently looking at TV on an old box which is working fine, are you meaning that the situation has reverted to normal?
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Abbey: This would suggest that the SLX amplifier is killing the control signal, therefore purely for test purposes remove one (if more than one) of the TV output feeds from the SLX amplifier in the loft and connect it directly into the coax that comes up from the Sky boxes RF2 output, i.e: the amp now being out of the equation.
Are you now able to control the Sky box from the remotely positioned TV? remembering that you have to use the Sky boxes remote control and not the TV's.
If you cannot, what brand of I.O. port are you using?, also can you confirm (or not) if the coax from the Sky boxes RF2 output and also from the loft to the secondary TV, is not connected into anything else nor passes through any junction boxes, as although the magic eye might well be illuminated the actual control signal is easily killed off by certain types of cabling, especially if exceptionally lengthy.
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Alan: This is inclined to point to the problem being caused by some form of localised interference, maybe even within your own household by such as central heating control devices, thermostats etc.
If you have an AM/ FM radio in the house, select AM and turn the tuning dial to some position near to the top end of the scale that nothing is broadcasting on, then turn the volume up to a higher position than normally used and sit the radio near to your central heating system boiler, or indeed anything containing switches or thermostats, should any electrical device be emitting interference it will show up as a loud raspy, ripping type noise on the radio.
By the way, the best type of AM radios to use for this test are ones with a LW band as used to listen to radio 4, tuning on a portion of the scale past the point used by same.
That said on the assumption that you are not connected into a communal aerial system, if though you are, then check if any of your neighbours are also experiencing the problem.
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kim: Sandy Heath is indicated as being the station that covers your area, the station being located @ 37 miles away on a bearing of 61 degrees, the aerial being mounted horizontally, i.e: the elements lying flat.
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Abbey : In addition to that said. It would also be of assistance if you could provide the model number of the SLX amplifier used in the loft, as this would enable its specifications to be checked out.
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Abbey: Could you please clarify on the following points, when you say that you have managed to swap the cables about and can now get Sky and the magic eye to work, albeit not Freeview via normal aerial, are you meaning swapping cables around on the SLX loft amplifier?.
However, as far as swapping cables on the I.O. port is concerned, apart from the I.O. port jumper lead, this device should only have two ports, one for the input from your Freeview aerial, and the other the "analogue" output to a secondary TV in another location, do you have this type of I.O port? the only reason for enquiring being that a Sky version exists that has RF1 and RF2 outputs to simulate that found on older Sky boxes.
Also, if swapping the cables around on the I.O. port enables you to view Freeview channels (via a normal aerial) as well as Sky channels (with TV changed over to analogue reception), are you able to change channels on the Sky box if you unplug the Freeview aerial connected into the I.O port without touching anything else?
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Tuesday 20 January 2015 11:48PM
Michael: Unfortunately I would have to say that in my experience there isn't, as reception in situations such as yours of residing in a slight valley which is just under the line of sight from a high powered transmitter located at only around 6 miles or so away is frequently responsible for a viewer experiencing this type of problem, as the signal path running close to the surface of the terrain is vulnerable to fluctuations caused by the changing reflective properties of the terrain, especially so if trees or other vegetation is involved, atmospheric related reasons also playing a role.
That said, it all depends on what you observe if you carry out a signal strength / quality check, as another possible (although less so) reason for your problem could be that the signal strength your TV's are running at is a tad on the high side, but with the level occasionally jumping up now and again resulting in intermittent overloading of the tuner, the effect of being exactly the same as that experienced with an intermittent weak signal.
You should carry out a signal check on BBC1 and also ITV1 and give an update on the results, observing the levels being indicated for around a minute each and making a note of any fluctuations seen, especially if of a more severe nature.