All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Geoff Carter: Although the Vision V40 is obviously a well designed modulator, however on studying the specifications of the device it would appear that it is simply an RF modulator with no means of enabling viewers of remotely positioned TV's to control the Freesat box.
But though the link provided below is for a device called a Triax Tri-link which does provide this facility in a roughly similar fashion to that of the Sky box, albeit that channel changing is achieved via an IR link positioned near to the Freesat box in the same way as used by video sender units, it would also appear that the other advantage with this device is that you can use your existing Sky magic eyes rather than having to purchase any additional to the kit.
Of course the only problem that I can see with any of these devices is that the bedrooms have to be supplied with an additional remote control over that used by the TV, the additional remote control using the same IR code as that of the Freesat box in the same way as is necessary with Sky, the only problem there being that Sky remotes can be obtained relatively cheaply whereas not for the Freesat box.
By the way, I have no personal knowledge of this device and as such cannot give any guarantees with regards to its reliability, as all of these devices are prone to being interfered with from a variety of sources.
Triax Tri Link Kit
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Ian: Re; the direction that the aerials are seen to be facing, I dare say that they could well be facing Waltham as it has to be appreciate that its well nigh impossible for anyone to plot out an exact map of where an RF signal can be received and where not, that is unless an engineer travels around a particular area with a field strength meter, something that in the official sense is not really done nowadays hence these maps cannot really be used in the same way as would be a street map.
Another point being, that reception within these type of areas can be of the nature whereby a person can be receiving a good signal on one side of the street whereas another situated directly across the road from them struggles, and why even moving an aerial a few feet to the left or right of its present mounting position can in many (but not all) cases result in success, however occasionally this success is short lived due to the seasonal changes affecting the reflective properties of the terrain, something which always comes into the equation with reception in this type of situation albeit this in many cases being relatively unnoticed with DTT whereas with analogue a viewer might notice the picture having become slightly more grainy.
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Nick: TVonics is one of these brands that does lend itself to being used for experiments, and in your type of situation this is a must!
However with reference to your query, what is the model number of your PVR, and if it only has auto-tuning and not manual as well, then during an auto-tune can you see the names of the programmes being picked up? or if not then does it show a progress bar during the scan? as there is a test I would like you to try but this is dependant on the answers to the aforementioned questions.
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Nick: Although I have the manual for that particular box (also known as a Logic LDV2250) the information supplied therein is very limited in the technical sense, but I would like you to go into the main menu and select "reset set top box" to make sure that everything already stored in the EPG list will be deleted, that is excluding any programmes that you have already recorded and stored on the hard drive, as these are quite safe.
Once done then go into the manual tuning screen then enter and scan on BBC's mux Ch44 storing anything found, then change the search channel to 41 (ITV 1 etc) and carry out the same procedure as before.
Have a look at the EPG listings and you should only see BBC and ITV group channels being listed, once this is observed put the box into standby and then switch it off altogether to simulate it being switched off overnight.
Leave it that way for about an hour or so before switching it back on again then check the EPG programme listings and see if BBC is still being seen, if it is then just click on it to see if this results in normal reception, if though the screen is still blank then go into the tuning menu again and enter BBC Mux Ch44 but do NOT press search or scan as this action should result in the signal level being seen, make a note of the level and then compare it with that obtained whilst on ITV1, giving an update on results.
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Nick: I am really trying to determine as to whether or not your problem is simply being caused by your box picking up more channels during an auto-scan than the tuners memory capacity allows hence the ones picked up first are dropping out, this excluding the possibility of the tuners memory IC having developed a fault.
Of course it could also be found that the problem is being caused by one of the most common reasons of all, and being that the signal level is dipping under the reception threshold for the tuner, although to reiterate on a previous comment I made with regards to the box, insomuch that by it not having separate strength and quality indicators then this is a serious impediment to it being used for any form of meaningful tests, as when dealing with DTT signals a quality indicator is an absolute must.
And on that subject of quality, it would be advantageous if you had a variable attenuator in line with the boxes aerial socket albeit with it normally being kept set for zero attenuation, because going by what you have reported with regards to receiving a strong signal from the BBC mux, if indeed you are then what "might" be happening is that the signal is occasionally peaking over the top and causing intermittent blocking of that mux, as signals received at distances can rapidly fluctuate upwards as well as the reverse and if the former was applying then this is where the in-line variable attenuator would be handy, because should you find that the picture had vanished you could instantly verify (or not) if the problem was being caused by an intermittent signal level excess.
By the way the other reason for suggesting the variable attenuator is that it might be somewhat easier to use that rather than temporarily bypassing the booster.
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Nick: I would say that the size of the screen is not really connected in any way to the problem, but though does this buzz change in pitch with the content of the picture? insomuch varies with the intensity of the picture but with it generally being worse on a whiter screen likewise fades or darker ones, or is the noise constant no matter what the content of the picture is?
Is this being connected to the box via a scart lead?
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clare: If your TV is connected directly into the wall socket provided by the landlord of the flats and not via some other piece of equipment, then the problem is one for whoever is responsible for maintaining the flats, because the fault can be anywhere from the rear of the wall socket back to wherever its linked into elsewhere.
That said, I would double check with neighbours to ensure that it definitely is the case that they are not having any difficulties with reception, as I noticed that the communal aerial appears to be facing directly into a large tree, this type of situation being one that is frequently responsible for causing intermittent reception problems.
Another possible reason for your problem is that your TV might have picked up the local Norwich Central transmitter rather than Tacolneston, and so select BBC and carry out a signal test on the signal being received as the transmitter channel should be indicated as well as the strength / quality bar, if its Tacolneston it should be Ch55 whereas Norwich Central is Ch46, you don't really require to test any other channel "if" you receive ITV3, as Norwich Central does not transmit commercial channels.
Further advice dependant on reply.
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phillip: Its most inadvisable to retune any TV or box for any reason other than one officially published such as transmitter channel alterations etc, as all that action does is to wipe out the channels already stored in tuners memory.
What you have reported indicates that the signal being received was on the weak side, and if the situation still applies then any auto-tune carried out is very likely to pass by a weak signal and not capture it.
If your TV or box has a manual tune facility you could try manually tuning in each of the three commercial muxes, however I am unable to provide the channel numbers due to the fact that you have not provided a post code, or at least one from somewhere nearby, such as a post office etc.
If though its Tacolneston then the three involved are: 42 - 45 - 50
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phillip: By the way I see that you are indeed in the Tacolneston coverage area. I also had a check at the R & TV transmitter fault reporting site and no faults have been reported, as yet anyway! nor according to info are any engineering works taking place.
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Thursday 14 March 2013 12:18AM
frances henry: Just out of interest, what model of Acoustic Solutions TV are you referring to?