All posts by ErwinH
Below are all of ErwinH's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Progress report from Hitchin .
On 18th May jb, you advised that I buy a 0 20db variable attenuator* to restore channel 51, which had been lost from our amplified communal aerial in the 9th May retune. Although I could receive all channels perfectly using an old indoor aerial I prefer to use the communal system so I am pleased to say that this has done the trick. It is difficult to say just what the required level of attenuation is, I presume that this is a log scale, but it could be close to the 10db that you suggested.
Curiously, channel 52 is still very poor, the highest frequency channel at 722MHz, but I never watch this. Some more information that may be relevant: our communal aerial is situated at the end of the block and I am in the middle at about 20m distance. However this is 20m of 40-year-old coax that may have deteriorated somewhat with time.
Anyway, thank you for taking the trouble to advise on my minor difficulty jb, it is much appreciated.
*0 20db variable attenuator, total £4.74 (std p&p) from Amazon via Electro Supplies Ltd.
| link to this comment |
Thursday 17 May 2012 10:23PM
Hitchin
I have experienced problems similar to Lisas here in Hitchin using a Sony VTX-D800U digital receiver and an Acoustic Solutions (Argos own-brand) digital TV with an amplified communal aerial. We are a two-storey block of flats and I am on the upper floor. On the 9th May retune we lost Channel 51 Channel 52 is also lost, gone in the previous retune but I never watch that. The full 114 stations are reduced to 63. However, I can receive all channels perfectly using an old indoor TV aerial. I have a friend living in Chicksands (9 miles north) who also uses an indoor aerial on the ground floor of his house. He could not get Channel 51 prior to 9th May but now does. We are both somewhat closer to Sandy Heath than is Lisa in Northampton but an indoor aerial might be the solution and is certainly worth a try (possibly upstairs if available).
If I reconnect the communal aerial and look at the technical information on the Sony box then stations on Channels 51 and 52 have full signal strength but poor signal quality. This seems to vary with atmospheric conditions and sometimes the quality improves to give a watchable picture. Is this good strength but poor quality signal indicative of the wrong sort of aerial? Ours seems to struggle with frequencies greater than 700MHz. Or is it perhaps a sign of over-amplification? I shall experiment with attenuating the signal.