All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Jay: It would appear that you are virtually on the doorstep of the Whitehawk Hill transmitter, and although admittedly herringbone patters are more associated with analogue TV interference, the exceptionally powerful signal you are receiving could be causing severe instability in the tuners RF circuitry, this necessitating the use of an attenuator in line with the aerial input.
Purely for a test, try a short piece of wire in the TV's aerial socket, if the signal at your location is overpowering you might well get results with the wire.
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Anne Cockitt: Assuming the DVD recorder is a Freeview type, if the aerial is being fed through it into the Freeview box try changing the connection order over, i.e: aerial straight into the Freeview box, as the problem is caused by the signal level received being on the threshold of dropping out, and "if" its being daisy chained through equipment this will further reduce it.
Nothing is indicated as far as digital work is concerned at the transmitter, and so I wouldn't do anything else at present other than carrying out a rescan every few hours, this being necessary only because you have scrubbed what had been previously stored in the memory, (which wasn't lost!) apart from that I wouldn't do anything as the problem is likely to be out with your control, and likewise will likely rectify itself.
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Kevin Green: Assuming you are using the Mendip transmitter you should try a manual scan on Ch67 as ITV4 is on that MUX, if you do get it OK have a check at its signal strength, as it might just be on about the receivability threshold and no more.
If nothing has altered with your system there isn't really anything you can do about it, that is but wait until the problem rectifies itself.
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wesley dilworth: I might be misinterpreting what you are meaning, but if you are wanting to record Freeview from your Sony TV using your Panasonic DVD then you "might" be able to do that, as it all depends on the spec of your Sony's scart sockets.
This is where it would have been of assistance if the model number of the TV in question had been mentioned.
Just out of curiosity, is the actual Freeview receiver on the Panasonic no longer operable? (EZ45/49?)
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Charlie: What you report could indicate that the TV's tuner is being swamped by a strong signal, possibly caused by the Largs transmitter as it must be relatively close to you, differing brands of sets coping differently with this problem.
You haven't mentioned anything about your aerial system but if at all possible try a set top aerial in your set, or (crudely!) even a short piece of wire, and whilst doing so try a manual scan on Ch39 as that's the Largs HD MUX.
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parkesy: As you are only 4mls away from the transmitter and if you don't have any major obstructions between you and it, then I would say that your idea of trying out a set top aerial is possibly quite OK, albeit that they are extremely vulnerable to movement (in room) obstructions.
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Baz Mason: The sat finder meter will give an audible indication when it detects something so long as its being supplied with power via the co-ax, (not even requiring a receiver) so at least you know its working, that said though it still might not be 28.2 you are on as these simple sat finder devices require real operational precision to determine the null point between individual satellites, this sometimes being barely noticeable!
I would go into the set up menu and select Astra 2D, then carry out a test scan on that as some UK channels should be seen there, although have a check and see if any signal strength is showing as there could be a problem with the box, especially should it be second hand, as these have been on the go for a number of years.
Pity you cant borrow another receiver, (any type) as substitution is always an easier way of determining the source of a trouble, especially if a dish alignment comes into the equation.
And just to confirm that the scart lead is the method of connection to the TV.
Try entering your location details into this link, and use that as a basis for your tests.
Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com
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Charlie: Bit of a mystery that! although I suppose its of some dubious comfort knowing that you are not alone with this problem.
The problem with the Largs transmitter is that not only does it use horizontal polarisation when Rothesay is on vertical, but you will be receiving it partially side on to your aerial, this being the least sensitive area for reception, that said though it would be interesting to know what the levels were across the three MUX's, these being 39 - 42 & 45, as irrespective of their strength, "if" they were reasonably constant and it wasn't a major job, then your aerial might be better set for your local Largs transmitter.
Its unfortunate that there is an expanse of water between Rothesay and Largs, as it would have been interesting to know what the received signal strength was if tested along the same line from the transmitter as yourself.
If you feel inclined, as its a lengthy process, but you could submit a report via the "Transmitter has no problems - click to re-check" link at the top of the page, as it would be interesting to know what type of reply you would get.
PS: I also realise that Rothesay reception uses a group A aerial and Largs B, and although being just outside of the correct group, in practical terms it wouldn't really make that much difference with such a local signal, that is "if" you are actually in Largs and not just near it.
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David Reid: Reception across water can be fraught with problems, and there isn't really much that can be done about it as the signal can suffer from deflection and other sorts of warping that doesn't really happen across land.
This has always been a commonly experienced problem with analogue reception, but its effects weren't really noticed quite so much by the viewer etc as analogue can be considered much more of a robust system compared to digital, a system that has brought a whole new range of problems into the equation, with some of them not really being rectifiable at the viewers end except by them changing to Freesat.
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Friday 1 July 2011 7:46AM
Fmg: I cant quite understand how you have the devices connected, as if you want to record something from your Sky box it should be done via a scart lead between both devices, the Samsungs input set to "ext input" or "AV2" etc depending on what it might be called on that particular device.
The only channels that your DVD/VCR combo can tune are analogue ones, and so won't come into the equation as far as what you are trying to achieve is concerned, unless that is you have the Sky boxes RF output fed into the Samsungs aerial input socket.
Maybe you could clarify regarding the channels you cant locate.