All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Kevin Fagan: Just out of interest I was wondering if you have made a visual check on your aerial? the purpose of just to ensure that nothing physically has happened to it.
The other little point which you could maybe confirm as "not" applying being, that when you had mentioned in an earlier reply to Mark Fletcher of your aerial being of the "flat" low gain type, I take it that it doesn't look that way where its installed? as obviously it should be mounted "vertically" for Tay Bridge.
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Kevin Fagan: I was having a look back at the questions asked / replies given so as not to duplicate something that's already been covered, but though now you have mentioned that you are using four other TV's I was wondering what method you are using to split the aerial between them, insomuch is it via a powered or non powered splitter?
The reason for asking being that it should really be done by using a powered splitter when so many sets are involved, although maybe it is? but I would have expected the signal strength indication of 78% to have been higher than that judging by where you are located Vs the height of your aerial, that is "if" its on the roof? as some TV's (I think it was Samsung? but poss LG) require 80% min for satisfactory HD operation otherwise the result of "not" being is exactly what you are experiencing.
However now that your latest report has indicated all as appearing to be OK again, (maybe for time being?) and without knowledge of the brand of device you are using (model number appreciated) then what level of signal are you now getting? and has the bit error rate stabilised to just an occasional glitch being seen?
Fluctuations in a signals quality coupled to bit error rate jumping is to be quite honest about it something that in most cases is out with a viewers control, as it can be caused by numerous things like tree branches (especially when wet) blowing about, possible problems at the transmitter, or by the signal data received being corrupted by interference by some distant station on the same channel clashing with your local transmitters signal, the distant station being received purely though freak conditions etc, but though on the other hand it "can" be caused by either the signal level received by the tuner not being far enough above the receivers reception threshold cut off point whereby the natural up/down variations in signal strength (albeit slight) that occurs most of the time can cause intermittent problems when in the down sense, "or" and misleadingly for some, by the reverse situation applying whereby the signal level received is on the verges of being too high and causing slight instability to occur in the tuner, false strength indications in a negative strength sense always being seen, but the point is that both sets of conditions result in identical symptoms to the viewer.
Maybe you could give an update re: splitter question / model number of TV / the present signal strength / quality seen indicated, provided reception is still OK!
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Diana: That model comes under a number of different brand names and looking at one of them it doesn't appear that this particular facility is an option on that chassis, the nearest thing to it being "first time installation" obtainable from pressing: menu - set up - installation - first time installation which you should carry out and checking the results of when complete.
If this doesn't rectify your problem then it could suggest that the box is defective, so "if" its still under guarantee I would be inclined to have them change it over as its possibly suffering from a software bug and which may, or may not be cured by an over air download, something that doesn't exactly take place all of the time anyway.
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Karen: Have you tried disconnecting your Sky box from the mains by carefully removing the plug on the rear, then after about 1 minute or so reconnecting it again and allowing the box to go through its usual "seaching for listings" procedure.
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Mrs Kaur: Sorry for the delayed response to your update but I wasn't aware that you had replied, however this problem can only really be caused by the method you are using to split the signal between the two positions, and with this coupled to the likelihood that the tuners fitted in the two devices you are using are of different sensitivities, as most are!
A positive test is to connect the set with the minimum of channels into the aerial connection used by the TV thats OK and let it go through an auto tune, checking to see if its received a full compliment of channels, if it has then move it back to its original position and check if the channels are still viewable, if they are but are glitching now and again then you will require to use a two way powered splitter to ensure that the same level of signal is being fed to each device.
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Daniel Francis: If the situation has not changed after having carried out the advice given by sharealam then press services - 4 - 6 and check if there is anything indicated in the strength / quality bars, with anything that is there having to be above the half way mark on the indicator bars or the signal might not produce a picture.
Just a small point though, I take it that its simply a "slip of the tongue" so to say when you referred "aerial" connection? as obviously its a dish.
Final point, is this an existing installation that has been working OK until now?
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Rob: The only reason Freesat and Sky can do this automatically is because satellite transponders cover the whole of the UK at the same time, whereas with Freeview it involves hundreds of transmitters covering a multitude of areas all operating on different frequencies.
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peter: In addition to, but apart from that said by Les Nicol, if the garden room box which you know is OK stops working when tried in the living room then that's positive proof that a fault exists in that particular feed from the dish.
LNB ports are totally independent from each other and so one outlet can fail without it affecting the operation of the others, and yes! its certainly possible for this outlet to have failed, but though its also possible for the problem to have been caused by water having crept into the "F" connector plug causing a short circuit, so you should try unscrewing it from the block, then further unscrew the "F" plug from the coax for purposes of checking it out, if though all appears to be OK just screw the plug back onto the coax but swap the connection over with the other outlet that feeds the garden box, as this will verifying the cable as being OK if this action restores Sky in the living room. (garden box will be off though!)
Replacement LNB's of the quad variety can be obtained as a complete kit (as used by Sky) for around £10.00 or so from quite a number of e-bay outlets, and are simplicity to fit.
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Trevor Robinson: I feel that its extremely unlikely that you would be able to receive any usable level of signal from the Bakers Wood analogue transmitter even if you were using a communications receiver, because as you will no doubt have noticed the officially published coverage of the MW transmitter only extends to approximately half way between Chelmsford and Colchester, and although in most cases reception is nearly always possible well past these boundaries its really pushing it a bit to include Great Yarmouth.
Of course there is nothing to stop you trying a test on 765Khz using an ordinary analogue radio with about a 5m length of wire as an aerial, the wire strung up with it running from NW to SE, as apart from an obvious deficiency as far as selectivity is concerned and ordinary analogue radio (digital indicator type) is not that much behind a communication receiver when it comes to sensitivity on a MW band, although I do feel that if anything is received it might only be possible during night time hours or early morning, when of course interference from continental stations will be another problem to contend with.
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Sunday 5 August 2012 3:50PM
Jurgs: I think that the situation was fully explained in my reply to Colin Howard (the posting you refer to) insomuch that if you are referring to reception from Bilsdale, then you should see a massive difference from September 12th as the BBC mux (and only it) will be switching over to high powered operation, and with the remaining channels doing likewise on September 26th at the same time as the start of the HD service.
As things are at present, the station operates on a mixture of powers ranging from 4.8Kw (BBC) down to 1.6Kw (ArqB Yesterday etc / epg12) but from 26th all PSB channels will be operating on 100Kw and with the commercials on 50Kw.
Needless to say, it will be necessary for viewers receiving their signal from Bilsdale to re-tune their TV's and boxes on "both" of these dates, as switchover to high powered operation also involves mux channel number changes.