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All posts by jb38

Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.

J
Indoor aerials | Installing
Thursday 16 May 2013 6:33PM

Ian: Just to clarify, if you are saying that the TV works fine when your aerial is connected straight into it whereby the TV is operating as though the box wasn't there, but that when the aerial is connected into box (albeit looped through to the TV) and the box is switched on whereby you are receiving "via the boxes tuner" you get a lost or no signal message, then have you tried retuning the box?

If on the other hand you are meaning that although you can view channels on the TV OK with the aerial being connected straight into it, but not when the TV's aerial is being looped though the box (whether its switched on or not) then have you as yet went into the boxes set up menu, clicked on "antenna power" and made sure that its set to off?


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J
Feedback | Feedback
Thursday 16 May 2013 6:53PM

Omhie: The fault mentioned is purely coincidental, as the problem is caused by the voltage being fed to the tuner dropping off as the box heats up, this being due to the electrolytic capacitors used in the power supply having dried out though heat.

To be quite honest about it, its not really worth repairing this type of fault unless the person doing so is an electronics enthusiast, because the labour costs would exceed the value of the box.

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J
Indoor aerials | Installing
Thursday 16 May 2013 11:28PM

Ian: In that case then the aerial as such does not come into the equation, however I think that the best policy is to explain how the system should work.

If you are viewing Freeview on the TV and you press AV and select HDMI on the TV's remote control, then provided that the Philips box is NOT in standby you should see the boxes main menu on the TV screen, if though you had pressed AV then selected HDMI when the Philips box was in standby, on some TV's this will result in a no or lost signal warning because that's exactly what it is, i.e: nothing is being picked up via the HDMI lead.

The other point being, that "before" you pressed the LIB (HDD) button on the Philips boxes remote control for the purpose of selecting one of your previously recorded programmes then you should have been seeing the Freeview programme channel that the Philips box happened to be sitting on, in other words Freeview "via the boxes tuner", if though you pressed TV on the TV's remote control then this would switch you back over to viewing Freeview "via the TV's tuner" and so on toggling between the two devices.

Do you find it works in this way? and if not then at what point does the no or lost signal come on?

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wm woods: One aspect of satellite reception that has a distinct advantage over Freeview is that any time the signal glitches or cuts out its NEVER (and without exception) the fault of the transmission source, as the problem is always associated with the receiving side of the equation.

If your dish is not facing into a nearby tree or any other form of vegetation then your problem is either being caused by water having entered the "F" connector on the dishes LNB, or alternatively that the dishes mounting is slightly slack and requires tightening, although the former mentioned is the more usual.

You should carry out a signal check using the following procedure:

Press "Services" on your Sky remote control and you will see the main menu with "Options" being highlighted.

2:- Select the "Settings" menu using the right arrow button and press select.

3:- Use the left / right arrows to scroll to "Signal" and press select, the grey bars displayed will show you the strength / quality levels of the signal being received by both tuners, both having to be around 55% minimum or more to produce a stable picture, because if its significantly less than this then it points to the dish being slightly out of alignment.

If though the quality is seen to fluctuate up and down to any great extent than that can indicate that water has entered the connector.


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J
Indoor aerials | Installing
Friday 17 May 2013 9:12AM

Ian: Just to reiterate on a point previously mentioned, if the TV's aerial is being fed via the box and on the TV's remote control pressing AV / HDMI results in the lost or no signal warning "even although the Philips is switched on" then this can indicate that the box has lost its channels, that is provided that you have scanned and stored them in the first place at your present location? or if not that your previous flat was not terribly far away from your present location and in the same TV coverage area.

It would also be of assistance if you could provide the model number of your TV.

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Tony: No, as anywhere on the Marina side of the water is too low down to receive signals from the main station Bilsdale, not of course that its reception is much better at higher levels either as its really a hit and miss situation.

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J
Indoor aerials | Installing
Friday 17 May 2013 10:51AM

Ian: A small problem exists with being able to give an opinion on what you have reported insomuch that on checking back I dont see you having indicated your whereabouts, this preferably being in the form of a post code or one from somewhere nearby, e.g: a shop / post office, as this will then enable me to check the details of the transmitter that covers your area plus the channels it operates on.

By the way the 60 / 40% indication is inclined to be a little low for reading obtained on a Panasonic, these brands generally tending to give slightly higher than actual levels, however a more accurate opinion can be given if you provide the info requested.

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J
Indoor aerials | Installing
Friday 17 May 2013 12:16PM

Ian: You certainly are! as you could be as close as 4 miles away from the transmitter.

The levels mentioned on Ch30 are from the HD transmitter but you could try checking your reception from all the six mux transmitters used by Crystal Palace, this being done by selecting each of the following programmes in turn and noting the indications obtained, as these programmes represent each of the six transmitters.

BBC1 - ITV1 - BBC1 HD - ITV3 - Pick TV - Film 4

By the way, the main point of signal checking is to ensure that the quality of the signal is not suffering from any significant variations in level as that's when glitches can appear on the picture, but as far as the levels in general are concerned you can leave your box on one of the signal check channels whilst you are experimenting with your aerial in different positions, although if you find a really good spot its always best to ensure that this holds good for all six TX channels.




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J
Indoor aerials | Installing
Friday 17 May 2013 4:23PM

Ian: I should have really included the actual transmitter channel number used by the programme channels I had listed, although if you had selected one of the programmes and selected the "signal quality" test menu the transmitter channel number used by that programme would normally be seen. (normally as unable to check at this present time) However the transmitter channels used by Crystal Palace are as follows / 23 (BBC) / 26 (ITV1) / 30 (HD services) / 25 (ITV3 etc) / 22 (Pick TV etc) / 28 (Film 4 etc)

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Sukh: Standard satellite dishes can be used on any system used for Sky or Freesat, the only snag that you may find being that if a satellite connection has been installed in the flat then it might only be a single feed, and as Sky + boxes require two inputs another cable would have to be run from the dish, and if the dish is also only fitted with a single output LNB then that would require to be changed at the same time.

In other words, look for two threaded type connectors coming out of a wall plate if twin cables are not seen.

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