All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
joe: I do not think that there is any faults in your system to look for, although I do feel that the Mux's you are having problems with were being received at a level not that terribly far above the reception threshold in the first place, although the levels concerned were possibly of a reasonably stable nature and that's why everything appeared as being OK.
If, and taking with the proverbial pinch of salt, "genuinely" nothing has been altered at the transmitter, then I would say that your reception problem is simply caused by natural seasonally changing atmospheric conditions, something that occurred all the time with analogue transmissions but being relatively unnoticed, except maybe for the picture having slightly more speckles than usual.
Terrestrial digital TV reception with its receiving threshold known as the "digital cliff" effect, is always going to have more people complaining of problems than ever happened with analogue, and especially so where people are in non "line of sight" locations, this no matter at what distance they might be from the transmitter, although the further away the worse it gets, as the greater the distance from the transmitter the more the chances are of it being interfered with for all sorts of reasons.
That being said though, the trade predictions are that Mux A should improve on 31st August when it changes from Ch43 to 31, and this likewise with Mux C on 14th September when it changes from Ch40 to 67.
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J
Belmont (Lincolnshire, England) Full Freeview transmitterSaturday 16 July 2011 11:58AM
Ellesmere Port
Andrew Smith: Obviously local conditions are applying in your area as a trade predictor indicates Ch60 reception at a virtually non receivable level, Ch66 as OK and with Ch68 & Ch57 shown as variable.
On August 17th the first four Mux's (new Ch's 22-25-28-30) show as being good reception at the location given, but its not until 23rd November that the remaining two (Mux C. Ch53 & Mux D. new Ch60) come up to similar levels as the others.
You are located at 49 miles away from Belmont and bedroom aerials at that distance aren't really the best idea, even although I do realise that reception from Belmont can be amazing good in certain areas skirting South of the transmitter, but if at all feasible I would recommend that you use your roof aerial to feed into a loft mounted powered splitter and use that for distribution of signals to the other bedrooms, as the outcome is guaranteed to be much more satisfactory.
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Alan: Basically yes, as I suspect that the DC voltage from the Sky box that operates the LED is passing through that particular type of magic eye you are using along with the signal that the TV receives, then is being shorted out by the type of input circuit used in your new TV, in other words it not having a blocking capacitor from the centre pin behind the socket.
Pity you don't have a simple test meter as this could be verified, but "if" this is happening then although not being a 100% accurate test as cable lengths etc can upset the result, but if the magic eye connected to the offending TV isn't illuminated because the TV is shorting the DC supply, then the magic eyes on the other sets should also have gone out at the same time as the one in question.
Magic eyes can be notoriously troublesome, as to be quite honest about it their circuitry is such that they just work and no more at the best of times with the slightest thing upsetting their operation, although this usually involving them not responding to commands etc and not the light gong out except by plug or cable shorts, these two things not really applying in your case.
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freda coulter: I assume when you mention Ch31 you are referring to 5USA?
However unfortunately the Mortonhall areas of Edinburgh are known to have somewhat iffy reception from Craigkelly due to the signal path between the area and the transmitter near Burntisland, this resulting in some people choosing to use Blackhill albeit this not being shown on a trade predictor as being just quite so good as Craigkelly.
All I can really say is that should you be using Craigkelly, BBC1 shown as Ch27 in the "tuning" menu, then there really isn't that much you can do except to ensure your aerial is satisfactory, you not having mentioned any details regarding this so I am unable to make any comment as may be found necessary.
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Jackie: If you only want to view programmes via the Freeview box then yes, as the RF lead to the TV is only required if you also want to view from it on its own at any time.
Of course this being said taking it that you do have a normal aerial installed, with a lead from going into the Freeview box.
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neuza: Just purely for information purposes, the trade predictor for the location provided reveals that at this present time only one single Mux (Ch30) from the Rowridge transmitter is receivable at a reasonable level, the rest being listed as variable, this situation remaining until 21st March 2012 when the situation improves slightly, but not completely until 18th April 2012 when you should then be able to receive all six Mux's.
Low signal levels such as experienced at your location, make reception susceptible to interference from all sorts of things, so this should be kept in mind.
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Dale: Thanks for the update, judging by what you report its obvious that local variables exist to what the actual post code predicts, Ch49 being the best example of this.
What you find after the 20th will be interesting, as after then only MuxC (Ch54) & MuxD (Ch50) are indicated as being variable, although on September 11th MuxD changes over to good reception, with MuxC staying as being variable until 27th June 2012 when it also joins the category of "good", that is as well as changing to Ch60.
Ch49 on this same date changing to Ch58 8k operation, reception jumping to 100%.
Pity about the TV having a single scale indication, this not really being any use except for crude indications of what is happening. Regarding the scart gadget, I only asked as I wondered if it was one of the originals as there are a few types about nowadays.
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lesnicol: Yes, quite possibly, as the signal from Craigkelly has to pass over the range of high ground that runs roughly from Arthurs Seat across to the West side of the Edinburgh Castle area, driving anywhere to the South of that range always seeming to be going downhill, albeit in real life maybe it wasn't really that much, at least from what I remember of it about 25years back!
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Bryan Patterson: If you have any normal radio receivers (AM/FM/DAB) to hand switch them on just before 7pm and note if any form of interference comes through them as well, this to help determine if the problem is only being picked up via the LNB or not.
Mains born interference could also be responsible, this possibly from something within the household that works from a timer switch, so an AM radio (preferably set on LW) placed near to a power socket would also be a good test.
If non of these tests help suss out the cause of the problem, you could always ask any neighbour with a satellite system (not necessarily Freesat) if they experience anything happening at the time in question.
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Friday 15 July 2011 9:59PM
Alan: I would now like you to try swapping this particular eye over with one of the others that you use, this is to eliminate the possibility of this one having a fault that is possibly not showing up on the old TV.
Nothing should really knock the LED out except a plug or cable short circuit, this being the aspect that is somewhat puzzling. I take it that you have checked that when that particular LED goes out the ones in the other room are still on? (question only applies if you are NOT using a separate power supply for the booster)
I did also mean to add to my other posting to see if the LED still went out when the new TV was unplugged completely from everything, leaving only the aerial connection to the eye.
Regarding the magic eyes, what make/model are the ones you are using?