All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Briantist: An interesting point! and something I will make some enquiries about to a few of my contacts up in that area, all I remember from the time though was that the householders who were recipients of these Freesat boxes were up to a point given the impression that this was being done as a goodwill measure by the company involved, that said though quite a few of them of the more forceful variety did kick up about it, but I don't really know whether or not it done them any good.
With regards to what you have mentioned of "making good" under English planning law, even although I fully agree with what you say I suppose it really comes down to the intended definition of this clause by whoever decided upon it, as I can see that as being a legally arguable point from people who consider themselves as being on the losing side, these basically being the ones with multiple TV's, as I am aware the no-cost issue of a Freesat box to single TV housholds was to some of the people in the East Kilbride district considered as a bit of a bonus by them, as their reception wasn't that good to start off with, the Whitelee's fiasco providing an excellent opportunity for a "free" upgrade!
Of course the Scottish type of situation is bound to crop up at some point in time here in England, and when it does I will be watching with interest.
(That is unless its already been tested out in the courts!)
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Carrie: Knowing your location would have been of assistance, as being told that you have to use a Sky box with your TV could indicate that you are in an area where Freeview reception is not possible.
If when saying Sky aerials you are really meaning a Sky dish? if so then you can use this with an old Sky box perfectly OK without subscribing to Sky, its really a question of whether or not the Sky dish is still connected, to check this, on the Sky remote press - services - 4 - 6 and observe if the signal / quality indicators are showing about 75% or so, however if not indicating at all then the Sky boxes connection to the dish could be defective, or that the dish is not aligned correctly. (or the Sky box is defective!)
Anyway if you give an update of your location (post code preferable) then a Freeview reception check can be made.
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Tim: (Dartmouth) Although local conditions are most probably coming into the equation in a negative sense, but you are shown as being 1 mile away from the very low powered freeview "light" transmitter at Dartmouth, but only 6 miles away from a 20Kw "full service" one at Beacon Hill, why dont you try a test using that one?
Your aerial should presently be roughly at 202 degrees "vertically" mounted for Dartmouth, whereas for Beacon Hill it should be pointing at 348 degrees and be "horizontally" mounted.
You will likely have to manually tune your set to use Beacon Hill, and the channels used are Mux Ch60 - 53 - 57HD - 42 - 45 - 51.
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marie: Well the first thing that would spring to mind is whether or not your TV automatically stores what has been picked up during a re-tune, or its one that you have to actually select "store" by carrying out some procedure. This type of set allowing the user to delete any channels not wanted before storing the rest.
What model of set is it?
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John Stone: As far as your query on ITV1+1 & ITV1HD is concerned, unfortunately I cannot answer that as its really more in Briantists domain as far as an explanation is concerned, although I do see what you have mentioned listed in the PSB2 & PSB3 Mux charts.
However on the technical side, I found your reception report interesting as its gives a further insight as to the variable reception that exists in your area, with the post code indicating as you being only 1 mile away from the Rouncefall transmitter, so you must indeed get blasted with the signal.
I would appreciate though if you could give a further report on what you find when you try your aerial facing Bluebell Hill, as the Digital UK's trade view shows the four Mux's as being variable.
You will most likely have to carry out a manual tune on your set to receive Bluebell Hill, as Rouncefall etc would take up the low EPG positions on an auto-tune pushing Bluebell into the 800 ranges, that is if you can pick it up at all, as the powerful signal from Rouncefall might somewhat desensitize your tuner for other lesser powered channels.
The four Bluebell Hills Mux channels being 59 - 24 - 27 - 39
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marie: If indeed the set (Technika?) is of the usual automatic storing of channels type, then the problem you have mentioned points to the sets memory circuitry having developed a fault, as nothing should be able to blank its channel memory other than an action carried out by the user, however before possibly following the route in the under mentioned info you should try another final attempt at using the factory resetting procedure, or if you cant find that mentioned on the menu, take the aerial out and carry out a re-scan, then once completed (albeit with no channels) re-connect the aerial an carry out a second scan to load the channels back in again. (this procedure may seem odd but serves a purpose)
If you find that this still doesn't resolve the problem, even although the TV concerned is over 1 year old, you should be aware that under EU legislation (not the sale of goods act) "sellers are obliged to guarantee the conformity of the goods with the contract for a period of two years after the delivery of the goods", this in effect over-riding the standard UK's 1 year guarantee.
Claiming your rights is always inclined to be a stressful task but have a read at the info in the link, this also involving a problem with a TV purchased from Tesco.
If (or when!) you experience the inevitable problem at Tesco's, I would then pay a visit to your local Councils consumer protection department for assistance.
Tesco: I fought the store and the law won | Money | The Guardian
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Neil: You can use it OK, but only as a simple basic box, as you will not be able to record anything without a subscription being in force.
Cards are only required to view certain channels such as 5* (star) and similar, this also applying to some ITV regions who use encryption on their programmes, as if you want to view any of these then a "Free to view" card will be required from Sky @ £25.00.
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S Stephen: This is more likely to be caused by a slack (or faulty) scart connection between the box and your TV, as the signal input from the dish cannot cause that type of problem.
Whilst listening to continuous audio (music etc) try wiggling the scart plugs and you may well find the cause of the problem.
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Gary Dadds: Thanks for the update, which has somewhat proved my suspicions about the box, however this was reinforced when I finally managed to have a look at the user manuals spec for that device, as it doesnt state that its capable of operating on DVB-T2, the UK's freeview HD standard, as its only shown as a DVB-T device, that being the cause of your problem.
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Monday 15 August 2011 9:22AM
G. Chalmers: And just to add what Briantist has correctly stated, as dependant on the number of the proposed turbines involved, should they be anywhere near (and not necessarily exactly in) a straight line between the transmitter and you then they have the potential to devastate the signal being received.
This was a major problem a few years ago for quite a few hundred people in the East Kilbride (and further afield) areas of Scotland, as a large wind farm was constructed roughly between them and the transmitter and was something that rapidly caused widespread complaints, the only way the problem was eventually resolved was with the power company involved issuing numerous households with Freesat boxes at no costs to themselves, needless to say this gesture not necessarily being graciously received by people who used a few TV's in their houses.