All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Paul Gilbert : In addition to that said by Dave Lindsay, purely for the purpose of verifying that the TV used in the back room is actually capable of HD reception by it NOT just being an HD ready type which isn't! you should retune the set in question on the front rooms aerial point, then once all the channels are stored including (hopefully) the COM7 offerings, move the TV into the back room again and check if any programme channels are missing, if they are do NOT retune the TV again as all you will achieve is to lose the channels already stored.
That said is on the assumption that in your latter paragraph >> The reception in from room << from is meant to be "front"?
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Paul: Yes! suppressing the bathroom light switch is a much easier task as you just connect the suppressor across the two mains terminals, of course not forgetting that one of them is always live even although the light is switched off.
The other point to note being, that should your bathroom light be of a fluorescent tube type? then in addition to the interference being caused by the on/off pull switch contacts it can also be caused by the make / break action of the starter switch, this then requiring the 2nd suppressor to be fitted across the two starter base leads.
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Malcolm Brown: Precise information as to when any interruption to the service is liable to occur is something which cannot really be forecast in advance, as any that do take place is entirely dependant on the nature of the engineering work being carried out and whether or not the engineer(s) involved at a particular stage deem it necessary for technical reasons, or indeed in the interests of safety, to either cut the power of the transmitter or even kill it altogether whilst some task is being carried out.
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Jane Thomas: If as appearances would suggest, you reside in Hampton Road then its noticed that the satellite dishes on one side of the road have been installed level with the upstairs windows in order to obtain a clear view of the Sky and with the cables from same running down the wall to within reach of anyone standing on the pavement, should this arrangement apply to your installation then have a look outside at the cable entering your property just to make sure it hasn't been vandalised (cut) by some passer-by.
If though it hasn't, then the problem could be caused by the dish having been blown slightly out of alignment or alternatively by the box having developed a fault, the easiest way of eliminating one of the two possibilities being if you can manage to test your box out on someone else's dish, or of course theirs on yours!
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rob: What you have reported was not really entirely unexpected, as the procedures used for faultfinding on the causes of RFI are generally out with the remit of cable TV installers and who generally adopts the attitude that if their equipment appears to be operating OK then no fault can possibly exist with same.
However, tomorrow should tell you one way or another if your problem is connected in any way with your neighbours equipment, as everything you have reported strongly suggests that it is.
However, another point that crossed my mind was whether or not it can it be assumed that neither you nor your neighbour has a smart electric meter fitted on your mains input supply line? if by any chance you do then where is it positioned relative to the area that the TV is located?
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rob: No problem! my reason for enquiring being purely out of curiosity as smart meters communicate with the energy supplier via a radio link.
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Sharon: Sky's programme guide indicates that 138 is standard More4 (SD) and with More4 HD being on 236, if no signal is indicated on 138 then place your box in standby for about 30 seconds before disconnecting it from the mains power supply, then after a short pause (20 secs) reconnect it again and allow it to search for listings and which on completion should (hopefully!) have returned the missing programme channel.
If though your box is of the later issue Sky+HD types then use the undermentioned procedure.
1 : Press "Services" on your Sky remote and you'll see the "Options" menu highlighted.
2 : Press the right arrow to select "Settings" then press on.
3 : Press (in smooth succession) 0 - 1 - Select then you will see the set up screen.
4 : Press the right arrows to highlight "Install" which then changes to New Install when you do this - press "select".
5: Follow the instructions on your TV screen until you see the message "Installation Complete" is displayed then press "select".
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Dave: If you are referring to the instructions seen at the top of this page then this is only really applicable to normal Sky boxes, "Mini TV unavailable etc" is not an indication seen on standard satellite receiving equipment as so what type of device are you using?
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rob: Well, I suppose that this is a positive indication that the problem "is" definitely caused by your neighbours equipment, although if the interference hadn't stopped when your neighbours killed the power to those devices then this would have created a really mind baffling problem, because as far as I am concerned all of the tests you carried out were meaningful including the RFI detection sweep of the wall using the portable radio.
However, the next stage is to single out which one of the two devices referred to is responsible for the problem albeit that the Virgin box is the main suspect, singling them out simply done by powering them up one at a time.
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Wednesday 5 February 2014 10:49AM
Paul : In addition to that said by Steve P, interference of the type mentioned can sometimes be difficult to cure and especially so if the signal being received tends to be on the low side thereby making it much more vulnerable to be interfered with from such as impulse spikes etc being radiated from the mains cabling, and so if as I suspect your coax runs close to mains cabling at any point along the way then this could well be a contributory factor to your problem.
You can of course purchase mains filters that place in-line with the receiving equipment being used, but in my experience those types are very seldom ever that effective compared to a contact suppressor being fitted across the on/off switch of an offending device, and although this is easy to fit on a bathroom light switch its not quite so simple where a toaster is concerned, that is unless you are fully experienced at working with electrical equipment.
However, purely for information purposes I paste on two links, one of showing the devices referred to, and the other illustrating where to suppressors are fitted.
Contact Suppressor | Maplin
Fitting a Contact Suppressor