All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Brud: Using two Post Offices in South Shields as reference points, Pontop Pike is located at between 15/16 miles away on a bearing of approximately 238 / 240 degrees, both districts mentioned indicated as having a clear line-of-sight (excluding any man made objects) to the transmitter.
As far aerials are concerned, I would suggest an aerial of the Log periodic variety such as a Log 36, as this type is designed to have an element of protection against the possibility of being affected by 4G transmissions, this being especially applicable to reception from Pontop Pike as six of the multiplexes used by that station transmits in the 50's ranges of channels, the range most vulnerable to be affected by any potential 4G transmissions that may take place in your area.
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Brud: The undermentioned is a link to a site where you can see the type of aerial I was referring to, once you open the link click on Log36, or alternatively just scroll down to the Log 36 section.
ATV`s Choice Of Aerials for digital TV
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sj: Check the connectors used at both ends of the cable used to extend the Sky cable, that is on the one with no signal, as what you have reported suggests that there is a short circuit on it, this usually caused by a single strand of the braiding having wrapped itself around the middle core of the cable.
Of course before you carry out the aforementioned trying swapping the boxes two inputs over, because if the problem is being caused by a short circuit, then the no signal will also swap positions.
The other point being, and although you havent mentioned it as such, but if your Sky+ box was set up for a single input mode? then the signal strength check screen does not indicate two inputs.
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Paul: Crystal Palace (@ 23miles / 223 degrees) is indicated as being the station that covers your area, however, as no engineering work is being carried out at this station, then no immediately obvious explanation exists as to why you are not receiving the HD channels, that is except one, that of the tuner fitted into the TV being a DVB-T type and not of the DVB-T2 variety which is required for HD reception.
If you come back with the model number of the TV in question this aspect concerning the tuner can be checked out.
By the way, that said is based on you not receiving BBC1/2 HD / ITV1 HD etc.
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vicky peace: Without having knowledge of your location, but if you receive Freeview from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter then this station is listed on this weeks engineering page as being liable to suffer from "possible service interruptions", although any such interruptions to service are only of a very short term nature of up to an hour or so at the most, usually much less of under 5 minutes.
The point to note being, that "if" you carried out a retune your TV after having possibly found a blank screen, then this action will have deleted everything stored in the tuner, frequent retunes then being required in order to recover the channels.
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sue Hickerson : Although the Sandy (Anglia) transmitter is listed in the "Planned Engineering Works" page under the heading of "Possible weak Signal", this may not necessarily be the cause of your problem, as a number of Northamptonshire areas are notorious for suffering from erratic reception at certain times of the year, basically due to the signal path from both stations receivable in your location, namely Sandy (mostly used in your area) and Sutton Coldfield, both suffering from line-of-sight obstructions, the terrain indicator showing multiple obstructions from the latter mentioned.
Before making any attempts to improve the situation, I would try and make an enquiry with another household in your immediate vicinity to ascertain if they are also suffering from similar reception problems, because if they are, then the problem is out with your control.
That said is based on you using the Sandy transmitter for reception and not the Dallington Park Freeview "light" relay.
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Mike: On the assumption that the "freeview channels" you refer to is really meaning programme channels not attached to a Sky package, then the answer is no, as Sky disables all access to this side of the box as soon as the subscription is cancelled.
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Helen Hassard: In addition to, and as a back up to that said by MikeB, although engineering work has been taking place for just over a week now at the Brougher Mountain station which covers your area, the work is involved with its DAB and FM radio service and not Freeview.
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Marian Wilson: There could be a number of possible reasons for your problem, however, the reasons referred to cannot be assessed as being applicable or not without having knowledge of your location, this preferably given in the form of a post code or one from a nearby shop/post office, this info enabling access to details of the transmitter that covers your area.
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Wednesday 8 April 2015 12:35AM
Dawn Quinn : In addition to the advice given by MikeP. Freesat devices are 100% compatible with Sky dish systems, a basic reliable Freesat box such as a Manhattan PlazaHD-S2 (£44.00 from J/Lewis) being an ideal replacement for a standard Sky box, or if you require the same facilities as that offered by a Sky+, or Sky+HD box, then a Freesat PVR (recorder) would be the device to go after, a popular brand with a reputation for reliability being manufactured by "Humax", although Manhattan also has a recording version of the Plaza called a HDR-S, (£129.00 JL).
A point to note being, that standard Freesat boxes in common with standard Sky boxes only requires a single input from the dish, whereas Freesat PVR's in common with Sky+ devices require twin inputs, i.e: one for each tuner.
That said, you will of course still be able to view Sky's non subscription channels even after you have cancelled the contract with Sky, that is "if" your box is still fully operational and has not developed a fault.