All posts by Bill Wallace
Below are all of Bill Wallace's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
In the past I was able to display a Test Card (a bit old fashioned but useful for checking display characteristics) by selecting Freeview channel 105 followed by a keypad selection routine. Recently, I've been unable to do this, mainly because channel 105 no longer exists in the line up.
Why is this, and/or is there any other route to achieving the Test Card?
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There have been a number of issues tabled in recent months (years?) where multiple TVs are connected to a single aerial via some sort of splitter. Although the following comments may be regarded as as purist (or even pedantic!), they are worth bearing in mind if you have reception problems, particularly on channels widely spaced in the TV spectrum.
Be very careful of the type of splitter you're using. It is essential that all ports are correctly terminated (usually 75 ohms, ie, a TV set or a 75 ohms "dummy load". This is to ensure that "standing waves" do not occur on the feeder/s which can, if the relevant output feeder length corresponds to a quarter wavelength at the frequency in question, will result in the equivalent of a short circuit in signal terms if left unterminated. This is particularly the case with simple "Y" splitters which usually contain only a couple of resistors as a feeble attempt at matching the "load/s" to the "aerial". Such splitters are best avoided.
Even amplified splitters may have less than ideal output matching characteristics and all unused outlets should be correctly terminated at all times. Beware leaving coaxial feeders unplugged from TVs in any rooms; they should always be terminated.
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I hope you don't mind this trivial question. Do you know of any newspaper or other TV guide which lists Freeview Ch61, True Entertainment? I haven't found one so far and it's a bit irritating not being able to plan viewing without having to scroll along that channels EPG.
As I said at the beginning, apologies for the triviality!
Bill W
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Apropos Mike P's response to Mr Scott which touched on channels not all being in the same aerial group. If/when this is so, avoid at all costs the so called hi-gain aerials which achieve their high gain characteristic by narrowing the frequency coverage as well as the directionality. When/where you have a situation similar to mine with some Mux channels below 30 and the remainder around 50 (ie, a wide gap between the groups) then you'd be better with a wideband aerial (probably a log periodic array). This should have a substantially flat frequency response across all of those channels, albeit with an aerial gain of only about 11dB. This can then be compensated (if necessary) by an additional downstream amplifier, possibly as part of your aerial distribution system.
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Lorna Smith: Would that what you say about "Advert Free" was true; far from it! Program start and stop times are now disrupted by the Beeb's adverts for its own programs. As a retired broadcasting engineer, it was drummed into me at an early age that program schedule times MUST be adhered to, even if it meant using a stop watch and time signals.
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Despite several complete retunes on all TVs and Set Top Boxes in my house I cannot see Ch45 (Film4 + 1). I also understood that there was a MoviesForMen +1 chnnel but similarly can't see it. Can someone give a reason for this? My Post Code is NN12 7TN and I have no other problems with the Sandy Heath transmitter.
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Forgive me if this sounds like an idiotic question but do either the old MovieStar codes or PDC settings (from analogue days) still work on digital transmissions? I ask this because I'm fed up with broadcasters not sticking to scheduled program times, meaning I often lose either the beginning or the end (usually the latter) on many programs. Some of my STBs have what appear to be PDC facilities but I tend not to rely on them because the problems still seem to occur. Ignoring PDC, I always program the starts at least one minute before schedule and the ends two or three minutes after the scheduled times but even this does not always work - mainly because the broadcasters either change the scheduled programs or simply play fast and loose with the timings.
By the way, my Post Code is NN12 7TN and I'm using the sandy Heath services.
Any advice will be appreciated.
Regards
GeordieLad
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Further to my post yesterday, just in case it's not obvious, I'm referring to the start/end programs when recorded on analogue VCRs - with apologies for hanging on to out-dated technology!
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It's time the BBC reverted to a service and standard envisaged by Lord Reith. The bloated BBC now seems to be trying to outdo the commercial TV companies with game shows, "soaps" and related gimmicks without advertising revenue. I say "without advertising" but this ignores the ever increasing advertising for its own programs which make a mockery of scheduled programme times.
I would be more than happy to see BBC channel programming restricted to educational and information services - and not necessarily accompanied by the vast network of "news" reporters and channels which offer considerable duplication. In all, I advocate a radical pruning, root and branch!
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Tuesday 10 July 2012 11:54AM
Hi jb38.
Thanks for that response. At least someone has experience of this box or similar and can share the experience!
Failing the acquisition of another box with an inbuilt modulator, is there any way to reorganise and relable the channels I've got into Freeview (LCN) order on this TU-CT20?
Or do you have any suggestions re other (available and reliable) Freeview boxes with integral modulators which meet current DVB-T standards. Sadly, it's my misfortune to have a TVonics MFR-200 which died without warning, also several Daewoo DS608P boxes which used Setpal technology which does NOT meet the current standard!