All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
col stjj: With regards to your HD reception problem, in your August 11th @ 11.25am posting you reported the signal strength being indicated on the Huawei box as 60% and with a 100% quality, could you confirm that this was with reference to that obtained from Ch53?
If though it was, then the aspect that puzzles me is the reason for the screen being blank "unless" being caused by a fault within the box, because in practically all cases where a reception problem is being caused by a transmission fault, or indeed as a result of co-channel interference and something which cannot be completely discounted in your area, then the signal "quality" is always affected as witnessed by erratic quality indications being seen, i.e: constantly diving downwards, something which if the query I made in the first paragraph is confirmed is something which in your case has not been happening.
As far as the problem being widespread is concerned, apart from Dave G and yourself I cant say I have noticed anyone else complaining of an HD problem, albeit of course the that the HD transmitter was recently broadcasting programmes intended for another region, that being more of programme feed to the transmitter problem rather than an actual RF signal issue.
Another point that I would like if you could clarify is concerning your other Samsung TV, insomuch were you previously able to receive HD on it before the problem struck the YouView box? it would also be of assistance if the model number of this device was known.
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Chris b: I had a somewhat sneaking suspicion that you may already have carried out this check, especially when you were obviously aware of the potential capacitor problems that these boxes can suffer from, however this is one of those situations whereby in your situation, i.e: no means of checking the box for a 22Khz output when a high band transponder has been selected, I don't feel that you have any option other than to take the plunge and purchase another LNB (quad type) at around £10.00 or so from numerous e-bay outlets, or alternatively to either test your box out on someone else's installation or theirs on yours.
As far as the capacitor issue is concerned, I don't suppose it would do any harm to check the capacitors for any signs of bulging or traces of dried up electrolyte on the PCB, but though sometimes they can be faulty but with nothing abnormal being noticed, likewise the left overnight cold box check cannot always be relied on either.
By the way, meant to add to my previous reply to check for reception of CCTV news on 510 (12.643Ghz) or CNN news on 506 (12.501Ghz) both being on the high band.
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Chris b: Another little point I forgot to add, being that although you have carried out all of the checks mentioned you should also try the disconnecting the box from the mains supply test, as this is the only action that would allow the power unit to recover from the effects of any short circuit having occurred on its LNB control circuitry, i.e: the faulty coax feed from the dish.
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Dave G: Purely out of curiosity, when you report no signal being received from your Dover facing aerial does this refer to that obtained by carrying out an auto-tune? because if so then that message does not necessarily indicate that absolutely no signal at all is being received but possibly one that is under the level required by your receiver to decode, hence no picture.
Although this is neither here nor there to a viewer who is unable to obtain a picture, but a proper test of whether a signal is there or not is achieved by going into the tuning menu / manual tune and entering Ch53 but NOT being followed by pressing search or scan, as this procedure will on most equipment cause the tuner to act like a form of signal strength meter devoid of reception cut off thresholds thereby giving an indication of very low signal levels.
Some TV's or boxes have rather restrictive menu systems that may not allow this procedure to be carried out, but should yours not be one of those types then I would be interested in the result.
The other aspect that somewhat puzzles me is that both Dover and Margate's HD service operates on Ch53, and when considering the fact that in your case the Margate 200 watts transmitter is located at only 1 mile or so away from you then I find it somewhat strange that you are unable to receive it from either source, although the result of the aforementioned manual tune signal test procedure might give some clues.
By the way, if you can receive Ch47 from Sudbury @ 50miles / 324 degrees then that's with your aerial being approximately 55 degrees out from reverse pick up "if" its facing Dover.
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Peter Western: The whole aerial boom including reflector should be turned 90 degrees.
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Dave G / col stjj: Thanks for the update on the situation with regards to my Ch53 query, zero signal being indicated on the pre search (or scan) manual tune entry verifying that it isn't just the case of a signal under the reception threshold problem, this introducing an air of mystery into the situation as it could even indicate that the problem is being caused by a TX panel misalignment (tilt) having occurred on the Dover mast and something which would only affect the signal being radiated in a particular direction, and of course if this was the case then its not surprising both of you are affected as there is only 3 degrees of a difference between your locations.
The reason I am inclined to think along these lines is due to the fact that I haven't as yet noticed anyone else complaining of this problem, although I do admit not to having had the time to troll though all of the postings made, however should anyone else make complaint then provided that they do not withhold their post code I will be eager to check their angle in relation to the transmitter.
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Chris b: Yes, that is by far your best policy, as what you have reported is almost guaranteed to have resulted in the voltage being fed to the tuners having been dropping off over a period of time thereby causing them to gradually suffer from a loss of sensitivity, as capacitor replacement nearly always results in a significant increase in the default transponders signal level.
Maybe you could give an update on completion of the task.
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dave lincoln: Although unable to provide the frequency due to the fact of your location being unknown (post code), but Drama is on the same multiplex as (10) ITV3 / COM4 / SDN, and with Yesterday being on COM6 / ArqB as used by (24) ITV4.
Bandwidth should be set to 8Mhz.
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Tuesday 20 August 2013 11:56PM
Chris b: As all channels mentioned operate on what is known as the high band then this can indicate one of three things.
(1) your LNB requires resetting, or alternatively that its failing to respond to the 22Khz band switching signal sent from the box.
(2) The boxes 22Khz high band output signal is defective.
(3) The boxes power supply capacitors have lost their capacity through age / heat.
The undermentioned procedure covers both types of menu systems used, choose whatever is appropriate.
LNB checking - reset on a Sky HD box
1:- Press services on your Sky remote control and you will see the main menu with "Options" highlighted.
2:- Highlight the "Settings" menu using the right arrow button and press select.
3:- Press "0 - 1 - Select" to access the Installer setup menu (this menu is not listed on the Settings menu options).
4:- Press Select to see the Setup menu displayed with Hi and Lo band frequencies indicated.
The correct LNB values should read:
LNB Type: Standard
1:- Low Band LO Frequency: 9.75
2:- High Band LO Frequency:10.60
3:- LNB Power Supply: ON
4:- 22 KHz Command: ON
5:- Single feed mode normally off.
Press the red button to reset them to default values even although they may already be indicating them.
If the aforementioned menu is not applicable then use this one.
Press Sky followed by Services.
2:- Highlight System Setup (4) and press select.
3:- Press 0 then 1 then select.
4:- Press select again to access the LNB setup screen.
5:- Press the red button to re-set the default settings.
6:- Using the up/down arrows, highlight Save New Settings and press select.
7:- Press select to confirm that the settings have been reset.
Further info dependant on results.