All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
jb38: I have tried it again.
I have a variable attenuator fitted in order to try and prevent it storing muxes from other transmitters.
On removal of the attenuator (i.e. allowing "full" signal from the aerial into the VCR), C52 works fine with 100% quality when the VCR is turned on with its modulator on C53.
Putting the attenuator inline with the input of the VCR allows adjustable attenuation. There appears to be a cliff edge of two or three turns whereby the quality of the signal on C52 drops off. Presumably because the attenuator is reducing the incoming digital signal, but not the analogue signal from the VCR. It is thereby changing the ratio between the strength of the analogue modulator and digital signal.
The workaround with the VCR didn't last long because I subsequently discovered that they'd fixed the cause of the problem!
The head stops spinning after about 10 minutes, I seem to recall. It's a Philips VR630, by the way.
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If this was some erroneous EPG data then can and should there not be automatic validation for syntax and so on before it is allowed to take to the airwaves? If such validation is possible and if it was erroneous EPG data, the powers that be took a risk by not having any protection and got caught out.
It is one thing if one broadcaster causes only its own services to stop (if that's possible), but when this affects the whole shooting match, as might be the case here, it is surely not on.
No doubt that the Sony legal team will be beavering away on this one...
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grandma: These devices have two types of guide:
One says Guide Plus and will no longer work. If yours is coming up as Guide Plus then it needs changing to "Guide (Digital)".
Go to System Menu > Initial Setup > Basic > EPG Type Select and change to "Guide (Digital)".
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Kirsty: The channels now need tuning in again because they've been untuned by virtue of the retune.
Try a manual tune of UHF channel 30 if the receiver allows.
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Neil: See:
Bluebell Hill Transmitter
Crystal Palace Transmitter
You don't have line-of-sight to Crystal Palace:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
Here is the plot to Bluebell Hill:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
You may have line-of-sight although the ground slopes upwards and there could be objects on the ground in the way. If the signal path is clear then a log would seem to be an excellent choice, but not in the loft if it's got to be pointed through another roof-space.
Log periodics have quite flat gain curves. Yagis slope downwards on lower channels so the wider the "band" the more of a compromise it is.
For that reason if you get a yagi for Bluebell Hill don't get a wideband. The point is that channels 60 to 68 have already been cleared for 4G. In the future it is likely that TV channels are only ever going to be moved downwards, not up, this being to clear space for future generation mobile services.
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js: If the "crid" should, according to the specification, have a preceeding / then why was it omitted? Was it thought that it wouldn't matter? Might it have been a slip or was it just plain sloppy?
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S Owens: No. It is intended unfortunately.
The Public Service (PSB) channels carry BBC, UTV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and a few others. Their objective, as the name implies, is to provide a public service and their coverage is as the former four-channel analogue.
The Commercial (COM) channels which carry ITV3, ITV4, Pick TV, Dave, Film4 and others fit in where they can and don't have as wide a reach as the PSBs.
In the case of Brougher Mountain its PSBs are radiated at a power of 20kW and the COMs are 2kW. The reason for the lower powered COMs is because they are co-channel (same frequencies) as Divis' PSBs. So if you and your neighbours aren't suffering because of the lower power, the interference from Divis might be the issue.
Unfortunately the only other transmitter you "might" (I emphasise "might") be in with a shot of receiving the COMs from is Divis. The issue is that you might find that its PSBs are variable or unavailable due to Brougher's co-channel (low power) COMs.
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js: So how come BSkyB implemented this change on a Friday evening? What was there before then?
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Monday 22 July 2013 8:38PM
Charles Ince: It is not available via Freesat and therefore the satellite receiver will not be able to be used to watch it.
If your mother lives in an area served by all Freeview channels, she has a suitable terrestrial aerial and she has a Freeview receiver (which might be built in to the TV).