All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
andy wells: You should try a signal test on ITV's mux Ch27, this achieved by going into the "manual" tuning facility and entering Ch27 into the box but do NOT press search or scan, because the signal strength / quality (the important one) that this mux is being received at will (or should) be immediately indicated.
You could also try the same test but using mux Ch24 (BBC) and compare both sets of readings.
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andy wells: Meant to mention, that as Philips TV's generally uses frequencies rather than channel numbers Ch27 corresponds to 522.0Mhz and Ch24 is 498.0Mhz.
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Gerard McClinton: Provided that you did NOT carry out a rescan after you had first moved the aerial then your problem its simply one of COM6 that carries these programmes (Film 4, ITV4 etc) being received under the threshold level required to resolve a picture, further adjustment to the aerial being necessary, but if on the other hand you did carry out a rescan then you require to carry out another to recover these programmes, as the first rescan will have deleted them.
If you had provided a post code or one from nearby, e.g: a shop, then this would have enabled the signal levels expected at your location to be assessed.
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Jimbo: There are a couple of reasons for suggesting this based on having comprehensive knowledge of the type of circumstances involved, the first being that when the landlord told ydoyle's daughter that there was Sky in her room, then going by the generalised descriptions used by most (e,g: "Hoovered" the carpet etc) he was most likely referring the fact of it having a satellite socket.
Secondly, numerous people do not realise that a "non-subscription" Freesat box works from exactly the same satellite connection as used by a Sky box, plus there was no suggestion that this was actually wanted anyway! and so when taking into account the circumstances that ydoyle's daughter is residing in (shared accommodation) her taking out a 1 year (minimum term) subscription contract with Sky is committing herself to paying out considerably more money than a Freesat box would cost, something that most people I have ever known in these type of circumstances prefers not to do.
Of course Freeview being even more ideal should there have been a standard aerial socket fitted rather than a satellite one.
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Tony Hill: Well, although that snow on the dish is by far the most common reason for the satellite signal dropping out, I am sure that you would be quite amazed at just how little it takes on the LNB surface to kill reception, as even the merest sprinkling can do on some types.
I will agree though that it depends entirely on diameter of the LNB surface as some of these Zinwell brand Sky quad blocks with the slightly tapered front ends (as they have various types) are reasonably immune to collecting snow, and so concentrating on keeping the dish clear is really all that's required, and as you have said, much easier to arrange.
As far as a thermostat is concerned, yes! you could fit the rough equivalent of a "frost stat" as used on some of these greenhouse heaters, although whatever system was arranged I would refrain from designing any system that requires a higher rating than 24 volts, although maybe 50 volts at an absolute push!
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Ash: You should go into the signal check menu (services - 4 - 6 on a standard box) and have a look if anything is being indicated in the signal strength and quality bars, if it is then it has to be on, or preferably above the equivalent of 55% or so to resolve a picture, because if any of the two indications are under then the dish is slightly out of alignment.
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Sally Ahmed: Once a TV or box has been tuned it should never require re-tuning at any time unless pre-notified changes have been made at the transmitter station.
The next time this happens do not carry out an auto-tune but carry out a signal check on the programme EPG number in question, do this even if the screen is blank as the signal will still be there.
Maybe you could mention what the model number is of your new TV?
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Lynn Steenson: OK! will watch out for your update, but as far as your friend is concerned, unfortunately they really reside too far away for their findings to have any bearing on your problem, because experimenting with alternative aerial positions in most cases only involves moving it a few feet either side of where its presently installed and with height not always coming into the equation, this being why I suggested checking with a neighbour as it would at least have indicated if there was liable to be any chance of success by moving the aerial, this type of exercise by its very nature being hit and miss and therefore nothing is guaranteed.
The other point being, that if the zero quality that's seen indicated on the COM channels was associated with a very low signal level then a 15db (min) booster in line "might" bring results, but not in cases where the signal level is already high as that's a symptom of a corrupted signal.
I did also suspect the possibility of a problem existing where the coax downlead is joined into your aerial and that your reception being OK before switchover was purely coincidental, however should anything of this nature apply then this will soon be revealed once an aerial engineer gets involved.
Anyway, and as initially said, I will watch out for an update.
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Jill: A Freesat box is an excellent non- subscription alternative to a Sky box as its 100% compatible with a dish system previously used for Sky, and so if your Sky box is genuinely broken and its not just the case that your dish is out of alignment then I would not hesitate in recommending a change to Freesat.
By the way what symptoms does your Sky box show? and is it a standard box or a Sky + version?
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Monday 28 January 2013 12:01AM
Lynn Steenson: Well, provide that it was by-passed in exactly the method described then yes! the only option you have left is to try repositioning the aerial, its a pity though that no one around you receives Freeview from Divis, because if they like yourself could not receive the COMs either then there would be no point in trying any tests with the aerial being repositioned as its an area problem.
But thanks anyway for the update, and maybe you could possibly give a further one once some aerial repositioning experiments have been carried out as I would be interested in the results.