All posts by Roy
Below are all of Roy's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Hi MikeB - thanks for replying.
Yes, I provided symptoms, as I was trying to establish whether the symptoms were unusual ie: that 3 different brand TVs that were alternately plugged into the same aerial should behave differently.
However, to provide the hard data:
-the postcode is CB23 7XQ (plugging this into the site brings up zero results)
-the TV in question (Sharp) shows a signal level on 42% on the mux that serves these problematic channels when exclusively plugged into this aerial
-another TV (eMotion) shows a signal level of 98% on the mux that serves these channels (when exclusively plugged into this aerial)
-another TV (Grundig) shows a signal level of 98% on the mux that serves these channels (when exclusively plugged into this aerial)
I understand the logic of what you say about "sensitivities" - however (to me) one TV showing a signal level of less than half that displayed by other TVs seems so vastly different - but maybe those with far greater experience of these matters than me would disagree ?
Thanks for any further advice/guidance that you can offer.
Cheers,
Roy
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Hi MikeB - thanks for your further response, and thanks for the links which contain some very
interesting and useful info.
I should preface my next comment by saying that it is not made from any position of technical
knowledge in this area, but solely from the position of our on-the-ground experience.
Our other TVs - (when plugged into this aerial for testing, and also in their normal location and
aerial) consistently report a signal level of 98% - and they do not ever exhibit any signal break-up -
they just provide faultless TV reception. So, whilst 98% signal strength may be deemed too high, it
does not cause any issue for us.
However, using the Sharp TV on this aerial only reports a signal strength in the 40%-49% range, and exhibits the picture break-up outlined. I've checked and confirmed that the TV is tuned into Sandy Heath.
On the plus-side, the manufacturer's agent have agreed to collect/investigate/repair the TV (which is
still under warranty), as they feel that the TV itself must have a fault.
I'll update the outcome, once I get the TV back, in case it is of interest to others.
Best regards,
Roy
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Hi Mike,
Yes, the Percentages that I've reported are signal "Strength" (not quality) and whilst I acknowledge
your comment about 98% being way too high, I can only say that from our viewing experience it
doesn't present us with any problems.
The signal strength of 49% displayed by the Sharp, however, does present us with the outlined issues.
I can only fully concur with your comment about brands of TV. Ironically, for virtually all of my life,
I have been a fan of and almost exclusively bought Panasonic, and never been disappointed. We saw
the Sharp TV on offer and we were thinking of a putting a TV in our conservatory (so not for
primary or main use) and it "seemed like a good idea". I should've stuck with my principles and
remembered the addage of "buy cheap, buy twice" :-(
The Sharp TV has been collected now, so we'll see what transpires, and I'll report back.
Best regards,
Roy
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Hi Mike,
I said that I'd report back on the outcome regarding my issues with picture break-up/signal strength on my Sharp TV.
The TV has now been returned and they have reported that they have replaced a faulty motherboard (and also updated the software level).
The TV does not now exhibit the reported issues - ie: I no longer suffer from picture break-up on the previously reported channels - so problem fixed. However......
.....the Signal Strength still remains an area of mystery to me, because:-
(a) picture break-up occurred on the Sharp TV and the signal strength was reported as ~42% - 49%
(b) substituting with 2 other TVs on the same aerial and they reported a signal strength of 98%
(c) the "fixed" Sharp TV no longer suffers from picture break-up, but it reports a signal strength of ~19% !!
I cannot understand the logic that must apply here. It seems to me that we might as well use "shoe size" as an arbitrary measurement of signal strength when there is such variation between TV sets. It's like comparing apples with oranges - it certainly would appear to be an inappropriate/inaccurate/useless way of determining whether one has a "good aerial setup" or not.
I guess I am grateful that I now have a functioning/useable TV set, but I would dearly love to understand more in this area.
Maybe the above experience is useful to others.
Best regards,
Roy
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Hi Mike - thanks for your reply....I feel a lot better given that even with your wealth of experience you are at a loss to understand this! It looks like the answer is "Sharp" and I think your horse analogy is spot-on! One of the things I've learned from this experience is that - for future purchases - I will stick to my long-standing principle of buying Panasonic.
Thanks for all your help and guidance.
Best regards,
Roy
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Hi,
My postcode is CB237XQ and my local transmitter (to which I'm tuned) is Sandy Heath.
A couple of weeks ago, after returning from a trip away, our Panasonic TV had lost the 7 day EPG; it just shows a couple of hours of programmes (I believe termed "now & next"?). I waited to see if it returned but it didn't. I tried a "dry tune" - this re-tuned all available channels, but didn't re-instate the EPG. I next tried a Factory Reset (Shipping Condition) which forced the auto-setup as for out-of-box TV. Again, all channels were successfully re-tuned in, but no EPG, just "now & next".
I am at a loss to understand what has happened, and how to fix it.
Have EPG transmissions/formats/code etc changed recently that I am unaware of, or is there something else?
Any thoughts or guidance would be very welcome.
Best regards,
Roy
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Hi - just wondering if anyone had any comments or advice regarding my post dated 10 November? Woukd appreciate any thoughts or guidance anyone can offer?
Many thanks,
Roy
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Hi - I accidentally posted the following question in the wrong section, so am re-posting here in (hopefully) the correct section.
Any thoughts or guidance would be much appreciated.
Best regards,
Roy
My postcode is CB237XQ and my local transmitter (to which I'm tuned) is Sandy Heath.
A couple of weeks ago, after returning from a trip away, our Panasonic TV had lost the 7 day EPG; it just shows a couple of hours of programmes (I believe termed "now & next"?). I waited to see if it returned but it didn't. I tried a "dry tune" - this re-tuned all available channels, but didn't re-instate the EPG. I next tried a Factory Reset (Shipping Condition) which forced the auto-setup as for out-of-box TV. Again, all channels were successfully re-tuned in, but no EPG, just "now & next".
I am at a loss to understand what has happened, and worse, how to fix it.
Have EPG transmissions/formats/code etc changed recently, that I am unaware of, or is there something else?
Any thoughts or guidance would be very welcome.
Best regards,
Roy
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, still have the same issue - but only on this TV....other TV's in the house are OK.
Whilst I have no knowledge or understanding on how this (EPG) works, my theory is that (as the TV is quite old - ie: ~7 years) - perhaps the format of EPG data (or possibly the volume of it) has changed and somehow exceeded the capability of the TV to either decode or store it....but as I say, that's just a "novice theory".
I'll take your advice and call Freeview and see what they have to say.
Thanks again for responding.
Best regards,
Roy
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Friday 13 October 2017 9:13PM
Hi, I am at postcode CB23 and using Sandy Heath transmitter for my Freeview reception. Recently (last week or so) one TV in the house is experiencing poor quality on some channels (eg: 20-Drama, 23-Create&Craft). I've retuned but the problem persists, but it is intermittent - sometimes it is OK for a good period of time, and then it pixelates/breaks-up etc. The weird thing is that I've tried 3 different TVs (as an experiment) - simply swapping the aerial lead out of one into another - and the issue is only with one TV ! All the other TVs don't suffer the issue. This seems weird to me - does anyone have any thoughts/explanation/advice ?
Cheers,
Roy