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All posts by jb38

Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.


Neil: When you say that the aerial you are presently using is not that great then if you are meaning that the signal received is very variable then carry out a signal strength / quality check and give an update on results when viewed over a minute or so.

On the subject of aerials, I take it that you do realise that Log aerials are not cumbersome devices by not having large reflectors on one end such as seen on yagi type aerials, and a Log could possibly be neatly mounted just under the gutter on the rear of your house thereby being nearly invisible, the other aspect of these aerials being that they are capable of giving excellent results far in excess of what their appearance would suggest, and indeed in many cases give better results over the larger traditional aerials.

By the way a DM Log is only 3'6" long and 14" wide

Aerials of this type used (if required) in conjunction with a variable gain booster such as Argos 534/4235 can be used for virtually any application, and so I would not hesitate in recommending this type of aerial for use in your own situation.

Have a look at the link below and in particular the DM Log.

Online FM DAB TV Aerial sales


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Neil: Just to clarify on the length of the aerial as I failed to leave sufficient spacing, the length is 3' 6".

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suzy: If your Humax has stored C59 then that's COM5 from Oxford, programmes on this mux being Pick TV / Dave / Sky news etc.

This has likely happened during the last auto-tune you carried out, Sandy's C52 having been by-passed because it was being received at a very low level and where the next channel in line was stored which was Oxfords C59, Oxfords HD channel on C57 being ignored by your non HD box.

Even although the programmes on C59 are basically the same as C52 you should really be using C52, and so go into the channel edit facility and delete (11) Pick TV (also Dave 12) and follow this buy going into the tuning menu / manual tune and selecting C52, but "before" pressing search make a note of the strength / quality being indicated just in case its still very low, because if it is searching for the channel could well result in Pick TV & Dave not being seen in the programme guide.

The above method is really a short cut that sometimes works on Humax boxes, as by rights you should really scrub everything stored then manually tune in each of Sandy's mux channels one at a time.

Channels concerned being : 27 - 24 - 51 - 52 - 48.

As far as reception is concerned, as you have now managed to confirm that your neighbours are also being similarly affected then needless to say your problems are being caused by factors that are totally outwith your control, and so you have no real option but to wait and hope the situation does not take too long to settle down again.

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Mark: Just to add to that said by MikeB and who has already explained the situation, but the communal system used in your new flat must be one of the older types that can only cater for standard (non +) Sky boxes, unfortunately there isn't anything that you can do about this.

What to do is connect the sat connection on the wall plate into your Sky+ boxes LNB1 input, LNB2 left unconnected, then go into the boxes set up menu and choose "single LNB input operation", this greatly limiting your options for recording by you only being able to record a programme that's on the same "polarity" as the channel that you are viewing, because should you accidentally violate this rule a warning message will flash on the screen stating "not possible" or some other similar statement.

I would though be inclined to go along the lines of what MikeB has suggested, insomuch purchase a twin tuner Freeview PVR as that would give you the maximum flexibility for recording.

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Neil: If the aerial already installed in the loft is of similar appearance to that seen in the link then it doesnt really require replacing but possibly re-positioning plus the addition of a booster depending on results.

The repositioning operation carried out with as was suggested by MikeB the aid of a temporarily installed TV, this having been left sitting on its signal check screen on one of the following programmes as these represent the six multiplex transmitters used by Bluebell Hill, or indeed any other main station.

BBC / ITV1 / BBC HD (if used) /(10) ITV3 / (11) Pick TV / (15) Film 4.


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Neil: As a person who carries one of these aerials around with me on problem solving missions (when wearing my domestic cap!) I can assure you that if this device does not receive a workable signal when tested in a variety of mounting positions then nothing will, as these are superb devices.

The 16dB gain amplifier being close coupled next to the elements giving maximum efficiency, but though remember that the coax from the power unit to the aerial must be a continuous run and not go through any other devices which could block the 12 volts or so from reaching the aerials built in amplifier.

As far as signal strength is concerned, although I doubt that the signal strength would be excessive when taking into consideration where you intend to mount the aerial, but if an excessive signal level was suspected as causing problems then all you require to do is unscrew the amplifiers input lead "from the elements" and connect it onto the downlead using a back to back female "F" coupler, then at the power unit end unscrew the downleads "F" connector from the power unit and connect this into your TV using a female "F" to male coax connector, in other words by-passing the power unit.

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suzy: The reception of Ch52 is known to be problematic in certain since early last year, and indeed is only received by myself located in the Stamford area at a very low and erratic level to the extent of being non existent for much of the time, and yet Sandy's other muxes are indicating a stable signal of around 80% strength / 100% quality.

Needless to say there is nothing that can be done about the situation, which by me having carried out signal checks at various points to the East and West of my area suggesting that the problem is caused a notch in the masts radiation pattern.

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J
Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) transmitter
Wednesday 24 July 2013 8:53PM

john: Thanks for the confirmation that you do indeed have one of these boxes, but just for the record should you find the time to do this I would be obliged if you could inform me as to the software version thats installed in your box, as at the end of March a software download was sent to these boxes for the purpose of loading in software version 12.27.07.

You can find out the version installed by using the following procedure.

1: Press the YouView button on the TalkTalk remote.

2: Select Settings and press OK on the TalkTalk remote.

3: Select System Information and press OK on
the TalkTalk remote.

4: Select Software Versions and press OK using the TalkTalk remote.

5: You will now be able to see the manufacturer software and component
software version numbers.

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Garry: No problem! pleased to have been of assistance.

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