All posts by MikeP
Below are all of MikeP's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Steve PTV screen sizes have always been given as the approximate diagonal measurement of the viewable part, though some marketing types have tried to use a 'rounded up' size to make it seem bigger. It was originally in inches in the UK and USA but more often now they are give as metric values.The screen resolution is determined by the number of pixels displayed horizontally multiplied by the number shown vertically, a 1080 ((i.e. an HD) screen showing 1080 pixels vertically, SD being no more than 720 pixels.Screen refresh rates are most important, the higher the refresh rate the less flicker and the clearer the picture appears.There is still considerable debate about what is the best size screen to have and I'm afraid I'm of the 'old school' of TV engineers who have understood that 5 times the diagonal is the better and more comfortable viewing distance, but I know others disagree and advise getting a much bigger screen. (With the bigger screen you see just as much detail, determined by the pixel count, but covering a larger area. Any benefit?) Similarly, I never agree to mounting a TV high up on a wall, the best ergonomic height is where to top of the viewing area is level with the eyes at normal sitting position, prevents neck aches and other problems. Again, some will disagree, but why?
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Gary Taylor
That's Solent TV ois part of the That's TV network whose website is That's TV You should contyact them via that.
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M
Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | SwiThursday 18 June 2015 8:42AM
Trowbridge
Jonathan:
Looking at the location and reception predictions, it would suggest that you are only 2 km from the transmitter and that you may have too strong signal and that is known to cause the problems you report with HD tuners in particular. If you buy a UHF Coaxial aerial attenuator and insert that in the aerial cable feeding into the back of your equipment you may well find it improves the situation. An attenuator reduces the signal level and are available in many electrical stores (such as Satcure's Splitters, amplified splitters and attenuators for example, there are other suppliers) for very little cost, just a few pounds each. They come in several degrees of attenuation, so try a 6 dB one first. You can include a short flylead between the attenuator and the aerial input socket so as to not put a physical load on the socket to prevent damage.
It is also worth checking that you equipment is tuning to the wanted transmitter signals as others are apparently available in your location. Use the manual tuning screen (without doing a tune) to check the channel numbers each multiplex is being tuned into.
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Milly:
Radio 4 Extra is a digital only service so will not be found on an FM radio, it is only being broadcast via DAB.
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Eric
You could try looking at http://www.satcure.co.uk/…htm. Satcure do a wide range of aerial and satellite dish equipment. There are other suppliers - but I have found Satcure to be very reliable and give good swervice.
Coax attenuators are available in different 'strengths' - the larger the number the greater the degree of signal reduction. It is often an advantage to place a male to female coaxial flylead after the attenuator and plugged into the socket on the TV/PVR. This being intended to keep the weight/load on the socket as low as possible.
It would be worth checking the strengths of each of your signals, the aim being to have all greater than 70% but not as high as 90%, the signal quality being related to having enough signal without having too much - which is where an attenuator come in handy.
Letus know how you get on.
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M
My Sky box has a "no signal message" - what do I do? | Help! FrSunday 28 June 2015 10:29PM
Trowbridge
Richard
Trees growing is a well known phenomenon in the TV reception field. Often problems that appear where none had before could be attributable to tree growth. A careful visual check of the alignment and height in relation to the aerial and transmitter can often reveal the cause.
My HD and some SD services were lost around April/May so I checked the large beech trees next to us. They are in line with the original aerial and now tall and broad enough for this year's growth to be in direct line between the transmitter (Mendip in my case) and my aerial. So I moved the aerial to the other side of the house so it 'looks' past the trees easily. Because of the angles, the trees will need to broaden by more than their current width to cause any further problems, but that is unlikely as they've been there for 35 years according to my neighbours!
Moving the aerial solved the problem immediately.
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M
My Sky box has a "no signal message" - what do I do? | Help! FrFriday 3 July 2015 10:18PM
Trowbridge
Mike O'Sullivan:
Many parts of Calne are served by a local transmitter close to John Bentley School. It does not provide all the services, it being a 'Freeview Lite' transmitter. Look at Calne (Wiltshire, England) Freeview Light transmitter | UK Free TV to see a coverage map and the available TV/radio services from this source.
If, however, your daughter lives outside the coverage area, she may be able to get signals directly from the Mendip main transmitter - all depends on where she lives.
You mention an 8 element aerial. If the rods are vertical it is most likely pointing towards the Calne transmitter. The fact that it may have been there a few years is not a reason to change it unless it is proven to have become faulty - a fairly rare occurrence.
I used to live near Calne so know it quite well and a Post Code would help to identify her location to see if she might get Mendip or have to stay with Calne and not get HD or commercial programmes as yet.
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M
My Sky box has a "no signal message" - what do I do? | Help! FrSaturday 4 July 2015 10:25PM
Trowbridge
Mike O'Sullivan
Are you sure of the post code given? A search shows that to be in Pilpot Wood on the Bowood Estate and between Derry Hill and Sandy Lane. It is therefore near the top of a hill (near rhe Naish Hill local radio mast) and should be able to get good reception from Mendip. But an 8 element aerial is unlikely to be sufficient in that location. Therefore it would be worth having an aerial installer inspect the current system with a view to replacing it with a log-periodic aerial that will suffice for the foreseeable future. Do not fall for the 'scam' of a "Digital Aerial", all UHF aerials are perfectly able to receive Freeview transmissions.
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M
My Sky box has a "no signal message" - what do I do? | Help! FrSunday 5 July 2015 10:32PM
Trowbridge
Mike O'Sullivan:
Just a quick note, TV aerials are never 'earthed' in the UK. Doing so would tend to attract lightening much as a lighte]ning conductor does. If lightening did strike you aerial is may well damage you house and would certainly ruin any equipment plugged into the aerial.
The coaxial connectionhas an inner core and an outer sheath. These must be kept separated and each connected to the terminals of the dipole of the aerial. At no point is there provision for an 'earth' connection.
jb38:
The far distance mast is probably Mendip, the closer ones being the Naish Hill radio (local FM and DAB) and mobile phone sources (not 4G yet).
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Thursday 11 June 2015 7:24AM
Trowbridge
Kelly GreyFurther to that said by jb38, it is fairly rare for an LNB (the small box on the end of the dish arm that has the cables connected into it from underneath) to fail, but it does occasionally happen. It would be best to test the signals with either a FreeSat or Sky receiver box, as jb38 suggests. If that should show signals are OK then there is unlikely to be any problem. However, should that test show that all or some signals are poor/non-existant, then it will be necessary for the cables to be checked (a Sky+ or Freesat PVR requires two input cables from the dish). If you have the two cables then it's worth trying them in the input sockets one way round, checking what signal strength and quality are shown on the Signal Test Screen, and the swapping the plugs over carefully and re-checking the signals. The reason for the test being to make sure that both cables and both sections of the LNB are working properly.
If it proves to be that the LNB is not working correctly then replacing the LNB is not terribly expensive but is a job for a professional installer with the right safety and test equipment. The dish itself doesn't go wrong, unless it gets moved, and the only possible reason to replace would be it might be unsightly due to corrosion!
Should the tests show that at least one cable is faulty, they can get water inside the connectors which is not a good thing, then these can be replaced by the professional contractor - though those will be a bit more costly due to the cable cost and the time taken to run the new cables. As a guide, I had a new dish installed when I moved 6 months ago and my contractor charged £29+VAT per cable installed.
Hope that helps?