All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Geoff: Yes, I would appreciate an update, as being a long term engineer who when wearing my domestic hat (mostly non-domestic work) gets involved in trouble shooting missions I would be most interested in what you find out.
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John Ovenden: Just a small addition / correction to that already said, insomuch that after you press "menu" select "record" from the choice that comes on and then scroll down to "recording end time".
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michael: If the bedroom box is a Sky+ HD box then try swapping the two rear "F" connectors around and see if that then results in a signal lock as well as a strength / quality indication, if it does then its liable to indicate that the LNB port used on the dish that feeds into the boxes LNB2 input is defective.
Of course its maybe much simpler just to swap the two boxes over to see if the fault follows the box, if it does then obviously its the box at fault, and if so most likely to be caused by the usual reason of the electrolytic capacitors in the power supply having dried up though heat and lost their capacity, this resulting in low voltage being fed to the tuner.
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SteveD: Well, the TV is capable of receiving HD transmissions but only via Freesat, and as you mention reception via Freeview is only in standard definition. Of course there are one or two other brands (Samsung or LG) with similar odd ball combinations like that.
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Keith Cass: If you have a Sky+HD box with the latest menu system then the procedure is slightly different, insomuch that you press "services" then use the right arrow to navigate away from options to "Settings", then on pressing same "Picture" should be highlighted.
On the remote control press: "0 - 1 - Select" and the "Set up" tab should be highlighted, once again using the right arrow to scroll along the list to, and pressing on "RF out", this being where you can change the pre-set RF output channel.
Other than this latest procedure the normal is either to press "Services - 4" then 0 - 1 - select" or "Services - 0" then 0 - 1 - select", though on most boxes it can be done in one continuous operation, i,e: "Services - 0 - 0 - 1 - select"
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eag: Although atmospheric changes at night time can cause your type of problem you should carry out a check to make sure that your TV has actually picked up the preferred transmitter of Angus and not Durris which is considerably further away and uses lower channel numbers.
To check on this carry out a signal test whilst on BBC1 for purposes of noting the mux channel that's seen associated with the strength / quality indications, Angus being Ch60 whereas Durris is 28. Try the same test again but on STV, Angus being Ch53 but with Durris being Ch25.
Indications are that you can receive both stations, but in the case of Durris a reception dead spot exists between roughly Carnoustie to slightly above St Andrews and reception anywhere near to that area is liable to be problematic.
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Karen: When you say that the aerial has been removed and replaced have you actually been receiving anything after this has been done? because if you haven't then what method was used to align the aerial and to which station was it directed towards?
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emily: Provided that the Sky boxes coax feed cable with the "F" connector on the end of has not been accidentally pulled as this always creates the possibility of an internal short circuit occurring, then it strongly suggests that your box has developed a fault, and this can happen with boxes of any age as Sky boxes power units are notorious for problems, especially if the box does not have sufficient ventilation.
A good test that sometimes reveals a power unit problem is to leave the box disconnected from the mains for about 20 minutes or so to let it cool down, then check to see if it works after having reconnected it again, albeit of course that it will go off again at some point.
Note though! insufficient ventilation can also be the cause of this happening, and in that case the box isnt really faulty as such, because rectifying the ventilation problem cures the fault.
However, should the aforementioned not really be applicable to your own particular installation then you should press "Services - 4 - 6" and check if the signal level is either low or completely dead, and if the latter then dependant on how friendly you are with your Sky using neighbours you should enquire if you can try your box on their system, as that will instantly pinpoint if the problem is with the box or not, as the case may be.
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emily: Well now you have mentioned that you had a power cut then that brings another factor into the equation, being whether or not it affected the distribution system used in your apartment block, as although neighbours may well use Sky it might have been off with them as well.
That said though, I did actually mean for you to try "your" box on "their" installation, although the reverse is also OK. And another factor also exists that applies to transistorized equipment, insomuch that if an IC (chip) is not quite up to standard then the quickest way to test if its liable to fail is to let it completely cool down, as its always during this cool down state that it develops a fault.
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Tuesday 30 October 2012 9:25PM
ann: No! a splitter does exactly as its name, it feeds the signal from the aerial to two places at the same time, as "if" I understand correctly what you are saying then all you are doing by the actions described is on one hand connecting the aerial directly into your main TV, this obviously meaning that the kitchen TV does not have a signal, then on the other hand you are removing it again from your main TV and connecting it into the other wall socket which feeds it through to the kitchen.
The splitter feeds it to both places at the same time as though each TV has its own aerial.
If you had been using a Freeview box rather than a TV, then most (but not all) Freeview boxes have what's known as a "loop through" facility whereby although the signal goes into the box it can be taken back out again via a second coax socket (on the box) for feeding the aerial into the TV as well, the Virgin box you had would likely have had that facility as well as practically all Sky boxes.