All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
William: Just as a small addition to that already said, could you try one final check on the main aerials input jumper plug that goes into to the Sky box, and being to set your meter on about a 25 volts AC range and check for voltage across the inner to outer casing of the plug, if nothing try the same test with the meter on DC.
My reason for enquiring being that I want to ensure that its an RF problem and not a voltage one, as your attenuator would hide the existence of the latter albeit it still pass RF, this being the thinking behind my earlier comment of using a couple of 100pf capacitors in series with the boxes input.
Finally, and just to eliminate another aspect that I was pondering about, I assume that you aren't located close to the Southern General Hospital?
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William: I just clashed with your posting, a good test! as what you have found indicated that the socket is either faulty or that it contains a safety capacitor for purposes of blocking any voltages other than an RF signal.
Does it appear to be the same type of plate as is used by your main aerial?
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William: Well that's points as being the whole cause of your problem as there shouldn't be any voltage whatsoever across the aerial wall plate, and certainly not of a magnitude that can cause an adjuster to become warm.
As you will probably recall I had mentioned in my earlier replies to you that I suspected that there might be voltage on the normal aerial plug and with this being my reason for mentioning the test meter, which I am pleased you managed to obtain as it proves the point.
As this is something that might be out with your domain by you being on a communal system I would suggest that make enquiries with whoever is concerned with your apartment as something is obviously wrong with your particular feed, as it suggests to me that the distribution amplifiers power supply is leaking through along with the signal, and with this being the reason for all of these odd problems you were experiencing.
The capacitors that I had referred to would of course obviously stop this happening by blocking the DC component, but it should be completely unnecessary for anyone to do this sort of thing, because the problem is caused by a fault on the communal system.
Have you been a resident for long in the building?
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Brian: The answer is no, as Sky permanently retains the access codes necessary to enable the recorder / playback side of the box to operate, and as you obviously already realise will only allow access to them with appropriate payments being made in the form of a subscription, there being no way around this.
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Suzy: I am unaware as to whether or not you have managed as yet to carry out a second rescan, but just purely for your info the other programmes that are also on the "same" transmitter as Yesterday (19) are Film4 (15) / ITV4 (24) / Ideal World (22) and Argos TV (55).
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Brian: Well you could always go with Freesat and especially a Freesat twin tuner PVR, as there are not that may channels that are available on Sky that aren't on Freesat and vice-versa, and of course there are no running costs with Freesat in the same way as there are with Sky.
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Stephen P: Yes, as it does suggest the power supply for either a mast head amplifier or that used by the distribution amplifier, the only problem being that there isn't any circumstances where the power supply for a mast head amplifier would actually come back into the living room as well as the fact that William is on a communal aerial system, and to my knowledge with this master plate being the only aerial connection that's available.
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William: With reference purely to your 8.07 pm posting and which I have just noticed, provided that you havent accidentally reversed the test prods when you were making your tests then what you have reported is an indication that the coax plate has been fitted with the leads being accidentally reversed.
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William: Should the wall plate in the bedroom look physically the same as the one marked "master" fitted in the living room, then what's possibly happened is that the person installing these plates has fitted them the wrong way around room wise, as although both plates might look the same one will have a isolator on the main aerial input socket but the other wont, and with this being the reason why the bedroom one appears faulty.
This can be verified if you carry out an electrical continuity (ohms range) check between the cable inlet on the rear of the plate and the outlet on the front, as the one fitted in the living room will give the same reading as when you touch the test meter prods together (no resistance) and this one should be in the bedroom and not the living room.
A mistake of this nature could have damaged some types of TV's or boxes, and so you are lucky it didn't in your case.
Just as a matter of interest, dependant on the number of homes the communal system serves, as should it involve a large number of properties the 12 volts could be to power in-line boosters installed at various points along the line, this being why isolator type wall pates are essential.
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Wednesday 19 September 2012 6:18PM
William: I have to admit to being quite amazed by what you have found, as that type of problem is usually only ever experienced by viewers who are located relatively close to a main transmitter, and of course going purely by the G51 post code area provided you are not in this category.
However this can only now indicate that either your boxes modulator is defective or that the communal aerial systems distribution amplifier is set far too high.
Anyway as far as you magic eye problem is concerned, follow the instructions given in my previous posting as that should enable you to suss out where the problem is located, as if it lights up when tried directly into the Sky box but not in your bedroom then there has to be either a filter in line or the problem is being caused by a short circuit, as this will not always kill an RF signal but will a DC one.