All posts by Rich Martindale
Below are all of Rich Martindale's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Briantist. Many thanks for your reply. Having done some further research, it seams that the aerial has masthead amplification (Fringe Electronics masthead power unit P1235 located in the lounge). I don't think I can bypass this to check out the un-amplified signal quality? I guess it may be worth having an engineer come out to make an assessment. However, I don't really want to pay out unnecessarily if the DSO scheduled for Waltham in August 2011 is likely to improve things? Post DSO will channels such as Sky Sports and BBC4 still be on 540MHz? I really appreciate your help and advice on this. Kind regards. Rich
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Briantist. Again, many thanks for your reply. You may be right because the more I think about it, the reception problems got worse during the snow in Nov/Dec. I think I will get an engineer out to make an assessment. However, can you explain what moving to C56 means? Is that on a different frequency to 570MHz and is there any way of predicting likely reception strength/quality at my location? Best regards and many thanks. Rich
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Brian. Thanks for your help with this. Can't say that I totally understand what is going to happen at DSO. All I can say is that the aerial is pointing at the Waltham transmitter and that the reception for all channels on 570MHz is now worse than it was at the end of November. Whilst I accept that weather related aerial damage may be the cause, why would this only significantly impact on one frequency? What I am really trying to avoid is calling out an expensive engineer only to find that following DSO things change again meaning no reception on the sports channels or more work required! Any advice would be very gratefully received! Regards and thanks
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jb38 - thank you for your message. We have just moved in to Farnsfield where it seams that all the aerials are aimed at Waltham? I think that I will cancel my sports subscription until after Waltham is switched over (September?) then revisit this. However, if you know of any good engineers in the local area, a recommendation would be much appreciated. Cheers. Rich
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jb38 - Many thanks again. Regarding signal on the other frequencies requested; 698MHz (64% strength, 100% quality); 490MHz (62% strength, 50-100% quality); 514MHz (64% strength, 100% quality); 570MHz (44-50% strength, 0-20% quality); all taken from the BT Vision box.
Regarding masthead amplification, I ran the tests you suggest on DTT and my picture vanished, so I think it is working.
As suggested, I am inclined to leave it until after switchover but it is frustrating that this has happened after a decent start (SSP1 was good in late November/early December!!!). Anyways, any thoughts/recommendations would be very gratefully received. Regards. Rich
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jb38 - your input is greatly appreciated and you have provided lots of assistance. Many, many thanks.
I am going to leave it until after switchover before looking in to this any further. Here's hoping that the issue is sorted but if not, I will get an engineer involved at that point.
Having walked around the village over the weekend, several aerials are actually pointed towards Belmont so that gives me confidence that one way or another this will be resolvable!
Finally, I'm sorry to hear about your issues on 514MHz. I hope it is sorted for you ASAP.
Many thanks, all the best and speak again in September!
Rich
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Friday 7 January 2011 5:38PM
Newark
Evening all. Having some trouble with my BT Vision. Specifically the channels coming through on 570MHz (including Sky Sports - the whole reason I got BT vision in the first place!!) from the Waltham TM. My aerial appears to be a wide band and is boosted (although I am no expert). However, although the signal strength on 570MHz is ok (>50%) the quality is often poor (<20%) resulting in awful pictures. The problem is not all the time though (late night and mornings are often ok). Does anyone have any suggestions? if not, is the August switchover likely to improve things? Many thanks. Rich