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All posts by jb38

Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.

J
Connecting it all up | Installing
Saturday 1 November 2014 4:02PM

phil: The model numbers of all three devices would have to be known in order to find out the input / output connectors provided on each of them, because as far as these facilities are concerned no common standard exists, every manufacturer having their own ideas on the subject.

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Mr Mark Sandeman : No problem! Pleased that your jumper lead repair has been a success, and that you have now managed to recover the channels that were missing.

Thanks for the update!

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John Watson: Humax satellite boxes "are" 100% compatible with Sky boxes and vice versa as far as the dish side of the equation is concerned.

Did you carry out the aforementioned (in previous reply) procedure on the Sky box upstairs to ensure that the LNB power is actually switched on? because although I only mentioned this at the very last minute, I really do feel that the problem is down to the power to the LNB having been switched off, this being the reason why the box only works when another device (Sky+ box) is connected downstairs as its powering the LNB, because even although a Sky box is in standby, power is still being supplied to the LNB, whereas on a Humax box its not , that is "if" the box has been set on "eco" mode.

You can check the Sky box upstairs by pressing "services - 4, then "0-0-1-select" and that will take you into the installers menu where you will see LNB set up as the first item in the list, pressing on LNB opening the menu showing the various settings, if LNB power is "off" switch it on and make sure that you save the setting.

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J
Full technical details of Freeview
Sunday 2 November 2014 12:00AM

Jonathan : The answer to your question is totally dependant on whether or not the signals from the local Rosehearty stations 400 watt transmitters are strong to the extent that they are swamping your TV (or boxes) tuner whereby making it insensitive to picking up transmissions from another station located somewhat further away, the station in question being Rumster Forrest @ 64 miles / 314 degrees radiating on horizontal transmission, whereas Rosehearty radiates on vertical transmission.

Although a terrain check between your location and the Rumster transmitter only indicates the presence of a minor line-of-sight obstruction to the signal path of the signal from that station, but though, due the curvature of the terrain between the two positions I would think that if any reception was possible (which I doubt if it would be) reception would be totally erratic.

Freesat is really the only way of receiving the full range of channels in areas such as yours.

By the way, should at any time you wish to test if its possible to receive any transmissions from the Rumster Forrest transmitter, flip your aerial onto the horizontal mounting position, then turn it slightly backwards (anticlockwise) to point to roughly 314 degrees, then go into your devices tuning menu / manual tune and enter Rumstrers SDN / COM4 Mux on C30 into the box, this being ITV3 which is not on the Freeview light transmitter.

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James: The only way of overcoming this problem is by deleting all channels stored in the tuners memory, this done by carrying out an auto-tune but with the aerial having been removed beforehand, then on completion of the scan reconnecting the aerial and making sure that a "no signal" message is seen on trying to select anything, if not, go into the tuning menu and select "manual" tune, then tune in each of the channels used by Waltham one at a time, storing them after each scan if not done automatically.

Channels used by Waltham being /

49 - 54 - 58 (HD) - 29 - 56 - 57 - 31 (COM7 HD)

By the way, the procedure you might see mentioned of removing the aerial for a percentage of the scan before reconnecting it again would not work where you are located, as the channels used by Sutton Coldfield and Waltham are too close to each other.

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Alan Green: On the subject of the attenuator, although the actual true level of the signal (as on proper dB meter) is not known, but if its only slightly over the top then the 6dB version of the attenuator should be sufficient to take the edge off it, although I do have to emphasise that an element of hit and miss exists about anything suggested, as I am not entirely convinced that your problem is being caused by the signal level being excessively high, basically due to you being connected into a communal system where the output levels are pre set by the installers of the distribution amplifiers, but though one never knows!

As far as 866.00Mhz is concerned, as was previously mentioned, nothing (to my knowledge anyway) transmits on that frequency, that is "if" a transmission is actually taking place on that frequency, and your not just picking up the 1st harmonic from a 70CM beacon used by radio amateurs, should such a thing be located nearby, and it would have to be nearby! Although I am a bit out of touch now with what goes on in that band.

Anyway, I feel that your best policy is to revert back to square one by carrying out an auto tune "after" having removed the aerial connector beforehand, this action blanking out anything stored in the tuners memory, reconnecting the aerial again when the scan has completed then selecting "auto installation" (Menu > Set up > View setting > Auto installation).

By the way, do you have the manual for your TV? and if you do, is your page 37 headed "basic settings"?. My only reason for asking being, that it would enable me to refer to a page in the manual (or section within) appropriate to the subject of the discussion.

Another point I am not sure about is, when you found that your reception was perfectly OK in the early hours of the morning, is this always the case? at least any time that you have managed to try it?

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Neil: You certainly "are" a fast mover! as I wouldn't have expected you to have tried what was suggested quite as fast as this. But though, if you failed to obtain the slightest trace of a signal from the Durris 100Kw transmitter on Mux C28, then the situation with regards to the channels really desired, i.e: COM4 -C23 / COM5 - C26 / COM6 - C29 is likely to be a non starter, as these channels only radiate on 50Kw.

Based on the reception obtained using your Telecam aerial, its almost guaranteed that the Labgear LPCT will be perfect for your requirements even although its only 400mm in length, Log aerials having always been my preferred choice of an aerial for use in most situations, and indeed three of them being used in my own installation (two amplified) to enable reception from three separate stations, albeit admittedly this mainly being for test purposes.

Thanks for the update!


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J
Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
Sunday 2 November 2014 3:57PM

C W Bainbridge: The differences you refer to are not connected in any way with your aerial system, but though if you open the undermentioned link you can read some info explaining the reason for the two different indications.

What Is the Difference Between 1080p and 1080i?


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Nick: It depends on what you mean by "its still working on all channels", because a Sky box does not stop working when a subscription has been cancelled, as all that happens is that the channels associated with the subscription, i.e: sky package channels come up with a "please insert viewing card" message when you try to view them.

The other aspect being, that if the box is of the Sky+ type the recording and playback facilities will cease to operate.

However, should those mentioned still be operational and you have definitely cancelled your subscription, then Sky has slipped up by not killing your access to view them, this done via an over air download directly into your viewing card.

You are not breaking any laws though, so just leave things as they are.

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Alan Green: My suspicions about the interference possibly being from elsewhere, such as a device installed in one of the adjoining apartments, was when thinking about a problem another viewer had experienced with his main living room TV a number of months ago, the problem being constant interference on a number of channels which made viewing them nearly impossible, and yet the the reception was OK on the TV's installed in the rest of the house, numerous people on this site having offered suggestions as to possible causes, including in the latter stages myself.

Anyway, after the viewer had went to a considerable amount of bother trying to re route cables etc it was found out that the interference rapidly diminished when the TV was pulled away from the wall, the problem transpiring as being caused by a Virgin Media cable box installed in the adjoining property, the offending VM box being located on the other side of the wall from where the viewers TV was installed, hence why the interference diminished when the TV was pulled away from the wall, some digital devices causing intense interference if only a few feet away from them.

The other main point being, that similar to what you experience when viewing during the early hours, this viewer noticed that the interference ceased at certain times, usually when those involved were on holiday.

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