All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Andi: Many thanks for the update and pleased to hear that you have a full compliment of programmes again on your Hitachi, as although these extremely user friendly PVR's can be problematic on some stations connected to technical aspects of the signal, this however does not apply with transmissions from Craigkelly.
Thank you also for your kind comments regarding the website.
Best Regards / JB.
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dave: Although the settings on the link are correct I think that the difficulty you are experiencing might possibly be caused by Ch5 (excluding HD) having been transferred at the end of the year (approx date) to Astra 2F, this having created a problem for non UK viewers in certain European areas as the footprint of the new satellite favours mainly the UK and the whole of Ireland including a chunk of the Atlantic Ocean, whereas at the other end it sweeps around in a wide loop from roughly Nantes to Strasbourg, although this is as far as reception using a 60CM dish is concerned and so your 80CM might possibly work with some careful trimming up to achieve Ch5 dependant of course on your location, and it would therefore be prudent to make some local enquiries as to what others can receive in relation to the size of dish its being done on.
The other point to note being, that the signal levela that you see indicated on your Sky box only refers to Sky's default transponder no matter what channel you are on, this being the reason why you see levels indicated as this is from the transponder on the original satellite as it has not moved as yet. Freesat receivers (Humax anyway) or likewise some Freesat TV's are far superior for transponder checking over that of any Sky box, as when carrying out a signal strength / quality test on a programme being viewed on a Freesat device (some) the channels can be inched up one at a time and the levels / frequencies of the various transponders in use can be observed, as to reiterate, with Sky you only ever see one that of its default transponder.
By the way, although you shouldn't really require to do this, but as it only takes minutes to carry out you should try disconnecting the box from the power supply and leaving it that way for about 30 seconds or so before reconnecting it again and then letting it go through the usual searching for listings procedure.
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Viv Gunton: Well although anyone who resides in a higher up location does in most cases (but not all!) have an advantage over someone who doesn't, but though this advantage does not always make that much of a difference when it comes to picture glitching problems on a particular mux, and which if viewed on the signal check screen coincides with wide fluctuations in the signals quality levels being seen, because "if" all of the other muxes are being received with reasonable levels of "stability" (not signal levels which can be different) then the problem has to be caused by either that the signal itself being intermittently interfered by say atmospheric conditions allowing the reception of another more distant station that uses the same frequency, or that the signal path from the mux in question is passing over terrain of a nature that can interfere with RF signals such as dense patches of trees (these not necessarily being local) or that the mux is question is only received via an element of signal reflection anyway and which due to conditions has changed.
Needless to say, and as you will no doubt have gathered, all of these things mentioned are basically outwith local control, although in some cases moving the aerial a few feet either way in the horizontal plane can sometimes help the situation, although NOT where interference from another transmitter is suspected as the reason for the problem.
As you have already observed this problem seems to be pressure related and that alone makes it outwith local control, although a visual check of your area and beyond reveals that its one with an abundance of trees located not that terribly far away, and with these being dense to the North West of Greywell right in line with your signal from Hannington, and problems of the nature such as yours are nearly always experienced in areas of dense greenery.
By the way, that particular brand of booster isn't very forthcoming in revealing its spec although it could be in the region of 13db, but though its inadvisable for it to be covered over with roofing insulation as this is liable to cause it to run on the hot side, not the best of things as far as reliability is concerned.
I also noticed some aerials in the area facing towards Crystal Palace transmitter, and although located at around three times the distance away (@ 40 miles) there is always the possibility that it might provide a more reliable signal.
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Paul: Are you (or not as the case may be) using a normal aerial connected into the Sky boxes aerial socket for the purpose of feeding the signal through the box and onto a Freeview TV in the bedroom? because if you are then can you receive Freeview on the bedroom TV? obviously when changed to DTV from analogue used for Sky.
If what has been said doesnt apply, then can you confirm that when you tried the bedroom TV (set on analogue if dual standard) directly into the Sky boxes RF2 that this was via the magic eye? but did you try it without the magic eye connected into the Sky boxes RF1 and give the TV a retune (on analogue) whilst connected to the RF1 socket? because if it didnt work then that can point directly to the modulator having failed.
By the way when you reset the Sky+ box, was that done by disconnecting the mains lead for about 30 seconds or so before reconnecting again and allowing it to go through its usual searching for listings procedure?
The other point being, that when you altered the Sky boxes RF output channel did you save the setting? although Sky boxes sometimes give a better RF output using channels in the 63+ ranges.
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Paul : Also meant to include, that if you are using a normal aerial connected into the Sky boxes aerial input to feed a Freeview signal into the bedroom TV then for test purposes remove it.
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Nick: With regards to what you are seeking the web site on the link is a good starting point, as searching through same will tell you practically everything you want to know.
The bottom link being from the same site but further in.
LyngSat
LyngSat freetv/United-Kingdom.html
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John: This has to be something connected to the feeds from the dish, and if the time factor involved between changing the boxes over was only about an hour or so then this would suggest that the coax feed thats used into the boxes LNB1 has possibly developed an internal short circuit such as a strand of the braiding having been accidentally caught around the middle core by the plugs casing, and not just the retainer, having been twisted.
For a test, try swapping the LNB1 input over with the one thats connected into LNB2 as the LNB1 input is the main one that's used for viewing, giving an update on results.
By the way, is the dish used exclusively yours or is it communal?
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John: And by the way, after having changed these connectors over giving the box another rescan by disconnecting it from the mains, waiting 30 secs or so before reconnecting same and allowing it to go through its searching for listings procedure once it had started to respond to the remote control.
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Hugh Watson: Its not really possible for anyone to assist unless you provide a post code or at least one from somewhere nearby, e.g: a shop, as only then can the details of the transmitter that covers your area be known as well as the signal levels expected at your location.
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Friday 4 January 2013 5:07PM
emma: If you are truly meaning "Freeview" and not Sky's "free to view" channels, then it entirely depends on whether or not your household has a satellite system (Sky) running in parallel with a Freeview TV (or box) that is coupled into a normal loft or roof mounted aerial, as Freeview does not use a dish.
If though you are not meaning the latter, then 3 or 4 Sky boxes can be run from one dish and with each box working independently from each other, the only thing to remember being that each box requires a separate feed from the dish, or if the box is Sky+ then these types require two feeds as recording is involved.