All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
LouiseB: I would second MikeB's suggestion with regards to trying a test using a set top aerial for the purpose of finding out exactly what is received, because unless you reside in some horrendously screened location its nearly impossible "not" to receive a signal of sorts from a 20Kw transmitter at a distance of only 4 miles away.
The other point I wondered about being, have you as yet made any enquiries with a neighbour or anyone else nearby to find out if they are being similarly affected? because much as many are loath about having to do this, and I fully appreciate that in many cases with good reason! but it can sometimes save on the inconvenience of needlessly carrying out a series checks in situations where a reception problem, and the possible cause of, is actually widespread in the area thereby being outwith a viewers control.
I am not saying that it definitely applies in your situation, but in cases where a preliminary investigation has not turned up anything obvious then its always the best policy to verify if the problem is confined to your own installation, or possibly not as the case may be!
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LouiseB : Another point I omitted to add being, that coax cable used purely for indoor purposes does not really deteriorate as such over the years, however terminations made on, and especially in loft type situations, can suffer from copper oxidisation due to the slight inherent dampness found in some lofts of the older variety, and so next time you are in same pull off the termination box cover and re-tighten the two coax retaining screws.
That said, although as aforementioned coax used for indoor purposes does not deteriorate, but though when its of the age group referred to its very unlikely to be of the quality standard of that found on most non-satellite types available nowadays, and so if its easily accessed it would possibly (but not guaranteed) be of benefit signal strength wise if it was replaced.
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beverley: This transmitter, as you might probably have seen mentioned on the engineering notification that immediately preceded your posting, should have been back on air at 20.15 this evening, and so "if" you had carried out a rescan when you first found a blank screen then you will require to carry out another one to reload the programmes back into your tuners memory.
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Anna : As you would appear to be located in a relatively well spaced out area you "might" be able to receive a reasonably good signal from Winter Hill (@ 4 miles) on a set top aerial "if"you can manage to access same, if not then a short length of wire (about 6 feet or so) connected into the boxes aerial socket (middle cup of) might also be suffice for a test.
The best way to conduct a test like this is to leave the box sitting on the BBC "before" removing the aerial connection and replacing it with one of the test alternatives suggested, this being done simply to ensure that you can actually receive it on whatever alternative you choose, and although the picture obtained (if any!) might not be particularly stable this doesn't really matter as the whole purpose of the exercise is to find out if ITV vanishes whilst using it.
By the way when ITV1 vanishes is ITV3 affected in any way? the reason I enquire is that its on the next mux channel down from ITV1.
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Anna: As far as a test with a set top aerial is concerned basically yes, as its about the only way of being able to point the finger in a positive way at the aerial as being the likely cause of your problem.
However, as you have now confirmed that ITV3 is also lost then although a defective connection on the aerial could still be responsible it "might" also point to the possibility of the receiver being swamped by a 4G transmitter being tested in your area, as some receivers are far more susceptible to swamping than others as it all depends on factors concerning the tuner.
Taking this factor into consideration it would then be interesting to know the result if your new box was tested out on your neighbours aerial system, because if anything of a 4G nature is responsible then its likely to show up when the box is connected into another aerial system, that is provided that the aerial in question was located not that terribly far away from your own.
By the way, in areas where 4G might possibly cause problems (with certain tuners) it mainly affects reception of Ch60 / C59 etc and tapering off to a certain extent downwards, this being why I enquired about ITV3 by it being on C58, this then followed by the next down the line being C55 / ITV4 - and so on.
I am not saying that this actually applies, but if it did then that said would be the effect.
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LouiseB: With regards to checking the aerial connections, that said re: oxidisation was referring to where the coax terminates on the aerial, although obviously it would do any harm to check the coax connector end as well.
However, I still recommend that you enquire locally purely to for the purpose of being able to completely eliminate the possibility that the others are also experiencing similar problems to yourself.
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Heyder: What you have reported can be interpreted in a variety of ways, but if you are meaning that although being able to view Sky on your new LG TV via the "analogue" link from the boxes RF2 you are unable to change channels on same using the Sky remote control, then temporarily connect the eye straight into the boxes RF2 outlet and try changing the channels, this of course "after" having temporarily covered the "front" of the box with a thick towel to blank off its internal I.R receiver.
If the aforementioned procedure makes no difference to the situation then the eye is defective.
As far as the code is concerned i.e: 1293, this only enables you to alter the TV volume as channel changing on a Sky box from a remote position still requires a Sky control.
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pete: This message can appear if your dish has been blown (or knocked) slightly out of alignment, go into the signal check screen (services - 4 - 6 on a non HD box) and check if anything is being indicated, because anything that is has to be around the 50% + level on both strength and quality to resolve a picture.
Before carrying this out, "if" your box is of the older variety I would suggest that you disconnect the box from the mains for 5 mins or so before powering it up again.
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david senior: As you have referred to "my dish" its assumed that you are using Freesat, if you are then the issue of whether or not records are kept of the date of an installation is entirely dependant on the company that installed your dish / Freesat receiver.
If though this was done via the changeover help scheme then they will be able to supply the info required, although considering the time factor involved this could prove to be a bit of a problem, however the undermentioned link is to their site.
Contact information | Switchover Help Scheme
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Friday 1 November 2013 11:39PM
Paul O'Driscoll: If your TV is being used to receive Freeview via the recorders aerial in / out socket then this can indicate that the signal level your system is operating on is running a tad on the low side, the box in line reducing the signal fed to the TV to a critical level.
If though on the other hand you are using the recorder to receive Freeview ( channel changing via the recorders remote) then carry out a signal test on the recorders BBC1 & ITV1 to make sure that the recorder is tuned to the same station as the TV's, Larke Stoke BBC - C26 / ITV1 - C23 and with Sutton Coldfield BBC - C43 / ITV1 - C46, if this checks out OK then the problem is likely being caused by the recorder having a less sensitive tuner to that used by the TV, therefore the easiest way to overcome this difficulty is by purchasing a signal booster.
However, as you have made reference to other TV's then are those being fed from a distribution amplifier? and if not what arrangement are you using?
Further advice dependant on reply.