All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Judith Shaw: Should repeated switching between BBC1 & 2 fail to make any difference to the situation, then try disconnecting the box from the mains for about 30 seconds or so before reconnecting it again, as the problem might have been caused by a glitch in the system.
Although prior to carrying out this procedure, if your box is of the Sky+ variety? try swapping the LNB1 & 2 inputs over and see if this changes anything.
By the way, channel changing on a satellite box is achieved by the box sending instructions (voltage and tone) to the LNB mounted on the end of the dish arm, needless to say, these control signals can be shorted out if any water manages to creep into the LNB's "F" connector plug on the end of the coax.
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John Couch: Although the fact of your home being relatively isolated from your nearest neighbour is inclined to eliminate the possibility of the interference entering your receiver via the aerial, therefore it could be caused by mains borne interference, something which you can check out with the aid of a small AM / FM portable radio using the following procedure.
Although portable radio's with an LW facility are better for this type of test, however medium wave or VHF FM types can still be used. The procedure being to tune the radio to the top end of the band where no transmissions take place followed by turning up the volume until background noise is heard, finally positioning the radio close to a socket near to the incoming mains, as should any interference be entering your household via the mains, its presence will be known about by a loud ripping type noise coming through the radio.
By the way, if using an FM radio, make sure that you fully extend its telescopic aerial.
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John Couch: In addition to all said, there is another aspect of the problem that I omitted to mention, insomuch, does the interference affect the audio in any way?
Also, there is another test that I would like you to carry out "during" the next spell of interference, that being to press the menu button and see if the interference is still evident or not, because if it is still there, then that's inclined to point to the problem being caused by an internal fault on the TV rather than anything picked up by the tuner, as selecting menu takes the tuner out of the equation.
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Mike: The transmission frequencies used by Tacolneston "are" in the range most likely to affected by 4G
, that is should any 4G transmitters exist near to your particular location. You can easily find this out by contacting a company called AT800 using the undermentioned link, if your location (they will request your post code) is deemed by them as possibly being affect by this mode of transmission they will supply you with a filter free of charge, the filter being inserted in line with the TV's (or boxes) aerial input socket.
If though you are using a mast head amplifier? the filter really has to be inserted between the aerial and the input to the amplifier.
Contact us | Advice or general enquiries | at800
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MikeB: Yes quite so, as the number of instances where a 4G transmission has been positively proven as being responsible for problems being experienced with reception is indeed quite small, but though this number is bound to increase as more 4G transmitters are rolled out across the country.
The other point being, that up to date information on the exact location of newly commissioned 4G transmitters is (or was, as far as I know) only supplied to AT800, therefore if anyone suspected of residing in an iffy area for reception complains about reception from a station transmitting on frequencies in the range known as being the most susceptible to be affected by 4G, then its always best to eliminate this possibility from the equation, especially as the time factor mentioned by Mike spans the period over which the 4G service is liable to be used the most.
Of course that said is in addition to the advice given by yourself, and was not intended to take anything away from the content of the reply.
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Mike: Thanks for the update on the outcome of your contact with at800, with a bit of luck you may even receive the filter tomorrow as they are usually quite quick off the mark.
I was having a look at your area via Google Earth street view, and if you are located anywhere in the properties facing towards the the James White school? then the rather substantial tall multi services mast is certainly positioned not that terribly far away from you, meaning that if, as suspected, it now contains a newly commissioned 4G transmitter, you are well within range of being affected by its transmissions.
By the way, are you using any form of powered splitter / amplifier on your aerial system?
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Martin: It all depends on what you mean by "every other station", as UK Drama (20) is broadcast on the COM4 multiplex along with ITV3 (10) / ITVBe (26) / QVC (16) etc. If you are also unable to receive any of these programmes? then this is suggestive of you residing in a Freeview "light" (PSB only) reception area, a post code being required for checking.
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Lesley: Should the troubleshooting measures referred to have involved retuning?, then this action has possibly been carried out whilst maintenance work was being carried out on the Crystal Palace transmitter, the effect of being to delete the programmes already stored in the tuner, but with them not being reloaded into the guide list.
You should try resetting your TV (or box) followed by carrying out another retune, "reset" also known as "default setting" / "first time installation" etc.
However, if, as it would appear, you reside in an apartment block? then you will likely be connected into a communal aerial system, therefore it would be prudent to check with a neighbour to ascertain as to whether or not they are able to receive these two programmes, Drama being on the same transmitter as ITV3 (COM4 - C25), and with Dave being on the same transmitter as Pick TV (COM5 - C22).
Further advice dependant on feedback.
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m.whitbrook: Re: Picture break up only occurring during winter months. On having read through your various postings made on this subject, I note that in your Jan 12th @ 7.47am posting you reported that both your kitchen TV and also the one used by your son, both of using indoor aerials, also break up, should this still be the case? then it would be interesting to know the result if you temporarily connected your sons TV into the roof aerials outlet socket.
The second point being. You also state in your 4th Feb @ 10.27am posting that an attenuator did not make any difference to the situation, what value of attenuator did you try? because at only 5 miles from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter and with (according to info on terrain) a clear line-of-sight from same, any attenuator under 12dB or so is not likely to make any difference as far as excessive signal level problems are concerned.
However, if you still have the attenuator? then no matter what its value might be, there is a test you could try that would give you an idea as to whether or not your problem is definitely being caused by a slightly over the top signal level, although the test will only work if whatever you are using is capable of indicating the "quality" of the signal and not just the strength, the former being essential for the test.
The procure being, connect the roof aerial directly into the TV (or box) and select BBC (or ITV) then carry out a signal check on the levels received, making a note of the "exact" quality level being indicated, that is if its not diving up and down? which of course makes things slightly more difficult.
Once the quality level has been noted insert the attenuator in line with the aerial lead and note if the quality has improved any, if it has (even if only fractional) then this is a positive indication that the signal being fed into the TV (or box) is a tad on the high side.
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Saturday 28 March 2015 9:52PM
Joe: Engineering work has been taking place at the Waltham transmitter all of this past week, therefore your BBC B problem is most likely to have been as a result of this action. However, have you tried a manual scan this evening?, as a signal check carried out on Mux58 (I also use Waltham) indicates as normal.
I will say though, that Belmont is indicated as providing a somewhat superior signal in the Rainsworth area compared to that from Waltham, meaning that any slight reduction in TX power at the Waltham transmitter will have a more significant effect on reception.