All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Andy Thompson: Are you referring to the red LED on the box, or maybe one on a Sky magic eye controller?
If by any chance its the latter, then does it light up when connected directly into the Sky boxes RF2 output, of course making sure you have switched the power on as is shown in the illustration at the head of this page.
Is the box working apart from the light problem? because if it is, then either the eye is faulty or its the boxes power supply to it. (can happen!)
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Angie: The signal indicating a different level on your recorder to that on the TV should not really be considered as a fault, because signal indications are very seldom ever the same when viewed on different devices, as they are only intended as a reference point to reception strength / quality on that particular device.
The thing I would check though is that your TV and recorder are both picking up from the same station, as you are forecast as being able to pick up signals of roughly similar strengths from both Malvern and Sutton Coldfield, and although Malvern does have the edge and your aerial might (?) well be facing it (aerial mounted vertically) but because Sutton Coldfield is so powerful one of your devices might be picking it up even although its at a different angle as well as it being horizontally polarised.
Carry out a signal check on both devices noting the Mux channel shown, ITV4 on Malvern being on Mux Ch55, whereas on Sutton its Mux Ch39. I would also add that the signal strengths given aren't really that particularly good, although you might possibly be in a bad spot for reception hence your use of the booster, but it would be of interest to know your aerial set up.
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David: Basically its a case of connecting a scart lead between your Virgin boxes VCR scart socket to the scart input on the modulator, then you connect the co-ax that feeds the other TV's into the modulators RF output socket.
If you also use a normal aerial then connect it into the appropriate socket on the modulator, finally, in conjunction with consulting the user manual, set the DIP switches to give the same channel as you were previously using with the Sky box, or set it to Ch68 and re-scan the other "analogue" TV's to pick it up.
A note of caution though, in the past a number of these modulators developed a fault that caused screeching (of varying intensities) to be heard on the audio, if you even remotely detect this take it back to Maplins.
Also remember that switches 7 & 8 are normally off, although 8 is a visual test signal when switched down.
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Iain Sherriff: A loft aerial can perform every bit as good as a roof mounted one provided that its not facing into a water tank, nor the angle for reception isn't through walls of adjacent properties. Also if the property is new'ish making sure that metallic roof materials haven't been used or that will screen the signal, other than these qualifications then there really isn't any great difference, although the one big advantage that a loft aerial does have over a chimney mount is that the aerial can be positioned (left or right) for the best reception, unlike when mounted in a fixed position on a chimney!
An ideal one for a loft being shown on the link.
Online TV FM DAB Aerial sales
As far as your equipment is concerned, although that model of Humax isn't without its faults, in the case of the Vestel chassis Hitachi PVR's, (practically all) although being extremely user friendly in use (I also have a HDR162) they are notorious for erratic performance when receiving the new 8k transmissions, and are prone to exaggerating the slightest glitch in the signal which results in recordings stuttering and jumping, thankfully though the aforementioned manual tuning seems to help to occasional no picture problem previously mentioned.
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Iain Sherriff: Just in addition to that mentioned. The aerial I referred to in the link would still possibly require to go through an amplifier similar the one you are presently using to maintain the present signal strength, although I would try a test without it first should you go along the line of using another aerial.
This is a link for a slightly larger version of DM log that I meant to add to the one given in the previous posting.
Online TV FM DAB Aerial sales
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Iain Sherriff: Yes, that's the best idea, making sure that everything stored is totally scrubbed before carrying out the manual tune or your test wont really be valid.
Looking forward to your next update in about a weeks time, and in particular if you have any problems with the Hitachi on Mux CH59, this channel having a negative offset which when coupled to an 8K signal can cause problems on "some" Vestel chassis.
Malvern's Mux Ch's 53 / 57 / 50 / 59- / 55 / (HD channel 60 obviously N/A).
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Rachel: Many people are having exactly the problem as yourself with that model of TV, and judging by what has been reported strongly suggests that it "is" caused by the sets tuner not being able to respond to a 8K signal, this no matter what Toshiba might care to deny.
On person in the Sudbury area can only pick up one Multiplex out of the 5 (HD exc) that should be available, and guess what! the one that he picks up is Mux Ch49 the "only" multiplex still operating on 2K.
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jas: I take it that you are trying to change the channel on these second sets using the actual Sky boxes remote control that came with it, and not the TV's?
However, if it is the Sky remote you are using try the magic eye connected straight into the Sky box, temporarily placing something over the Sky boxes infra red pick up window so that "it" (the window) doesn't pick up directly from the remote.
Leave the magic eye "outlet" without anything connected to it for this test, but if the magic eye is found to work then try another test when the multi outlet box feed is connected to it, this to make sure that the red light still stays on.
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Dave: With reference to the info seen on Briantist's link, as far as 5* etc is concerned your problem is likely because the lower powered Mux Ch31 from Sandy (which 5* etc uses) is also temporarily used by Crystal Palace for their HD service, something that causes intermittent problems for people who reside at various in- between locations (albeit you offset slightly) and are receiving a Mux Ch31 signal from either transmitter.
Apart from waiting until the present atmospheric conditions that's liable to be causing the problem somewhat improve, I would completely scrub everything stored in the EPG list then carry out a manual tune on Mux Ch31, then after storing anything received do the same on the other lower powered Mux channels Ch67 & Ch48, or alternatively after storing Mux Ch31 just use whatever procedure your equipment has to find the extra channels without scrubbing what's already stored.
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Tuesday 18 October 2011 9:05PM
keith: When you say the first ten channels, are you meaning EPG programme channel numbers?
You generally only scan with the aerial out to blank out anything already stored, this done before carrying out an auto-tune of the type whereby the aerial is plugged back in again at a certain point, or alternatively performing a manual tune of the individual Mux's required.
You really have to give more information though to enable anyone to assist, the info being in the form of the TV or box being used, and also your location, (post code) this to enable checking on the Multiplexes in use associated with your area.