All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Hi Suzanne: Try the same trick with the coax plug as I've just suggested for Simon, you may still have too much signal.
Just so there's no confusion, when you say you are missing channels, you presumeably mean Freeview channel numbers 20,43,44,45,46,49 which should also include 11,19,29,32,36,37,82,87 etc all broadcast on MUX Arq A (COM5) on UHF C59- at Oxford. (the "59" won't be on your freeview channel list, also known as LCN's - locations).
Also LCN's 50-59 are for the HD channels on the HD mux on UHF C57 at Oxford which you probably don't get as I don't believe that set has a built in HD tuner, just a standard SD one.
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Briantist: Brian, now that's an interesting Transmitter engineering report - there's no analogue TV at Sutton Coldfield now ......cough cough ;)
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Hi all, sorry not to have been able to get back sooner. Well done jb, you've picked up a couple of points I was thinking about on Saturday.
I did consider this "direction" thing but with it being N & NNE and 8 miles apart, I have totally discounted any sort of null in the signal. If there was one, a lot more people would be complaining!
One rather obvious things that we haven't checked with Simon And Tim is neither of you are in flats are you?
And the other thing for all of you is, have you check you haven't got any LCN's (Logical Channel Numbers - ie freeview channel numbers as opposed to UHF channel numbers the muxes are on) up in the 800's ?
Other than that, some boxes/sets/tuners can be VERY temperamental when is comes to tuning where there are offsets and other factors such as modes, FEC differences etc. Older Humax PVR's have been a problem in the past (there is a current download for some) and owners have to do a manual tune. It's possible this latest T2 is also buggy!
So this is all I can suggest at the moment, especially in the absence of whether the neigbours have any similar problems -
Suzanne, Simon & Tim -
First, do a full factory reset/new install with the aerial unplugged - sorry this is boring I know, then double check you have absolutely no LCN's at all - ie the set/box is completely clear.
THEN you're going to need to do a manual tune - if you don't know how to, get your User Guide/Manuals out!
Do UHF channel 59 FIRST and no others and see what results you get - make a note of indicated signal strength, quality etc and any other information the box/set is giving you.
Then try the others UHF channels in this order C60, C53, C55, C62 and for HD only C57.
Make notes as you go.
Good luck, report back, we may have other ideas depending on the outcome.
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Suzanne: so to be clear, when you have cleared all previous setups and double checked you have no channels (or in the 800's) and then do C59 alone and nothing else, you get zilch!
As I said, if there was a problem with Arq A (COM5) in the NNE/NE direction, I would have thought a lot more people would be complaining. But, I've just looked up the current power and it is restricted to 12.5Kw until April 2012, but so is Arq B (COM6) on C55 and SDN (COM4) on C62 and you are getting them OK (aren't you?), apart from which you are so close & line of site to the transmitter it should still be coming in 100% and they were only on 10Kw before the change in any event.
Back tracking to another thing you said in a previous post C55 was showing Quality 27, Strength 0 - was that correct and is it still the case? Also if you do a reset to clear the set and then do a manual tune of C55 only, does it give the same?
Anyway, don't give up, we will persist in getting to the bottom of this. Now your next door neighbours Sky should not be giving a problem in itself, but if their box has an analogue out and it's tuned to C59, then it's a possibility, but I would have thought unlikely. A simple check of them switching their box off for say 30 minutes whilst you rescan C59 should check that out, but be careful if you approach them on that, they could take it the wrong way, I'd leave it until last anyway!
Tim: I forgot to comment on you moving the coax about, but KMJ could be onto something, so I'll leave that to him :}
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Well done with the attenuator.
Aerial - not a Triax Unix 52 by any chance, that's a CAI Benchmark Standard 2, good quality, it ought to say on your receipt! but it's not the highest gain (thank god, you're too close for them).
Hmmm, they are transmitting 2.5Kw more than before on the COM muxes, the PSB muxes are 100Kw. The Com muxes are due to go up to 50Kw next April.
Out of curiosity, have you got a bit of wire, old flex, speaker cable sort of thing about, say 6" to 2' in length. If so, try putting it in the centre of the coax socket on the back of the TV and see what sort of signal you are getting if anything.
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Jonathan: If you look at any page on the information or setup that shows the signal strength & quality for say MUX PSB1 UHF C53 you should be able to see the effect directly as you turn it up & down.
Try setting it so that it indicates about 95% of the max strength and then see what you are getting.
You will need to do a rescan I expect. Best to do a full factory reset/new installation, first with the aerial unplugged to clear all previous setting and channels, and then do it again with the aerial plugged in.
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Steve P: The Coax should NOT be earthed.
The aerial and coax installation should be "floating" and totally independant of any electrical earth.
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Jonathan: by the way do you know exactly what the aerial is? Also your view of the transmitter, is it "blocked" or just not visible due to gently rising ground.
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Suzanne: Don't be so negative! That aerial's a CAI Benchmark Standard 2 as well, so you're OK ;)
Perhaps if I use the words "Aerial socket" that won't sound so bad. It won't bite or electrocute you! just don't bend the centre contact. You could try just putting your finger on it, that sometimes works if the signal is strong enough, but at 8 miles probably not :)
Let's see if the attenuator sorts it.
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Saturday 1 October 2011 4:36PM
Simon: If you have a very high gain aerial you might still be getting too much signal even without the booster. You might need an attenuator.
All MUXes at Oxford are now 8K so the mode issue should not be a problem.
If you are getting ITV1,Ch4 & Five etc OK they are on C60-, so the -ve offset on C59- shouldn't be an issue.
Try one or both of these tricks - select C59 on your setup menu - as you say it shows no signal, whilst it's doing so, unplug the coax and then plug it partly back in, the idea being that the outer is making contact but not the centre pin, but it'll be close enough to give some coupling so working like an attenuator - you will probably have to keep holding it for this test. See if you've now got a signal.
OR
If your booster has a variable gain control, try it with it back in and keep turning it down, it may give attenuation at the lower settings, see if you get a signal.