All posts by Keith
Below are all of Keith 's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Brian - I can see that in some case removing an amplifier may solve a problem but in some situations like the one described in my last post would be detrimental to this kind of system and an attenuator on the aerial input to the sky box may be a better solution than simply whipping out an amp - for instance if an aerial was distributed to say 6 or 8 televisions where the amp is in the loft or the cellar then rather than stripping down a professionally installed amplifier where the cables are all tacked neatly and distributed correctley then an attenuater placed at the sky box input would serve well and would be a simpler to deal with by a diy'er than figuring out what to replace the amplifier with
if its a system with no sky distribution and simply an aerial to several points again an atenuator to the value of the signal increase is a simple workable solution would you not agree ?
a set back amp feeding one tv - certainly try removing that to improve reception where the signal has been increased
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pam what prompted you to reset your sky box?
and what is it doing ? - how old is it?
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on the 3rd of August the mux that carries the BBC channels was moved from ch30 to CH22 and was upped to full power - this is why everyone had to retune - the 17th is the second phase where the rest of the analogue channels dissapear and the other muxes move into their final resting places and upped to full power
So at the moment there is 1 mux on full power with the other muxes to follow on the 17th
Hope this clears it up john - ive been comparing what we had in the past with the new mux on CH 22
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David --- did you find that link to the Channel Filters that Taylor Bros make interesting?
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Mazbar -- Agreed - ive seen many a DIY dish installed
Generally its the long suffering wife who has had 3 or 4 weekends ruined by her husband tinkering with the dish and is amazed that I turn up set the ladders up and have it sorted within a 5 mins
Simple -- Pay someone to do a job correctly
I wouldn't install a door frame - im not a carpenter so I get a carpenter in !
The right person for the correct trade
also those little 5 led things- you could be pointing the dish at hotbird or astra 19.8 and they would show a reading in frustration altering it a few mil then checking the receiver - literally could take hours to no avail !
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KMJ - good idea ---BUT--- I have known that solution to store the unwanted channels in the normal location
----- worth a try though!
Nothing ventured nothing gained -- can you turn the automatic channel update off though??? this hasn't been answered by David
Keith
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Actually to this point David - Have you tried attenuating the signal your receiving?
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I installed my First satellite dish on an my mums garden wall on an old analogue sky box i could see the tv from where i stood and it didn't take too long- yes if your methodical go ahead have a go - what were talking about though i suppose is the people who have had a go and have spent several weekends "having a go" - im losing sight of those people who have had a go and have got it right so yes - by all means go for it if you want - ive got to say for a line up I charge £45 if its local to me - Dale £100 just for a call out is in my opinion over the top
JB 34 - A question if you will
I have been called to look at a farm house where the customer is having trouble with receiving some music channels 4 music kiss and a few others ive narrowed it down to transponder 40 which is high up the sat band at 12480.00 MHZ
looking at the signal from the dish comes in at 77 db
the installer has used rg6 from the dish to the loft dont think its a long run as it loses 1db but he has then used sky wf63 through the loft and down to the lounge when its in the lounge its about 60db and there is a distinct slope from the left side of my analyser to the right where this mux is - I installed a new dish as the signal was low -this is before I tested the signal at the sat box end and realised that there were 2 joins in the cable - sorry did I not mention that the cable comes into the lounge at a back box with a blanking plate with a join behind it down to a outlet plate - the reason I assume is that the cable installer didn't know what height the customer wanted the receiver at
now--- the LNB is a Zinwell - I was going to go and try some line amps in the loft to see if that cured it - some vision ones I picked up from solutions
I have run a ct 100 direct from the dish to the receiver just to test the run was about 15 meters straight from dish to lounge - absolutely no break up on the channels - and the customer absolutely does not want any cables run externally as I know re running ct 100 from dish to receiver is a perfect cure but he has spent thousands renovating this property
So question is - do you think the line amps would work - do I need to change to a different manufacturer of LNB or even resort to putting a 60cm dish up
What would any of you professionals advise in this situation ?
Keith
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Mike suggests that your in a strong signal strength area (i don't know the area at all)
You've just suggested in your last post you have an amplifier on your system
If your in a strong signal strength area why have you got an amplifier on the system I realise sometimes if for instance your distributing sky then an amplifier is needed
is the aerial is fed into the amplifier then distributed to several points or just one
as Brian suggests - have you tried bypassing the amplifier
if mike is correct an attenuator is needed then to me if your not distributing sky then an amplifier POSSIBLY could be replaced with a splitter these are available in 2 3 4 6 8 outputs
the 2 way would lose 4 db
3 way 6 db
4 way 8 db
6 and 8 way splitter loses 13 db
so lets say your getting your signal at 60 db and have an amplifier of say 8 db then the signal at each tv is 68
if you swap the 8 db 4 way amp for a 4 way -8db splitter you drop down to 50 db - this may solve all problems
Obviously an analyser on the system and someone who knows what they are doing on site might not be a bad idea if you want to call someone out
Keith
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Friday 5 August 2011 8:05PM
Sheffield
Harold Im assuming that the problems relate to the BBC channels? the signal from belmont has just moved from one frequency to another - they have upped the signal quite substantially what brian is saying is in relation to this the signal can be too strong - reducing the signal may help but on the other hand there are still 5 more multiplexes that are much weaker so if an attenuater was fitted then this will make BBC work but may stop the rest of the channels working its a bit of sticky position to be in you may have to put up with this until the next phase of switchover then reduce the signal
im assuming that how the system works would be that the aerial is from the roof into the sky box then distributed to the rest of the house -- then the attenuator would go at the rf input of the sky box
Im afraid we in the aerial installation industry have been expecting this but we've had to make a decision will the system work now or in the future as we wouldnt get paid if said --- now madam we installed this aerial for you - it wont work properly till after switchover people just wouldnt accept it - and in some cases weve had to make the system work when we installed the system knowing that we will have to return to slightly alter any work to compensate for the dramatic rise in signal strength - if an distribution amplifier was installed to distribute sky to other tvs then this will still be needed as removing it will give you a poor reception of sky on other tv's in the house also if sky eyes are installed the amplifier powers the eyes enabling you to control your sky box from other rooms therefore the increase in signal strength needs dealing with by reducing it to a level where it work after the sky box and through a distribution amplifier
attenuators are less than a fiver - getting an aerial installer out to install an attenuator would be around £45 plus parts so you could try solving the problem yourself or get a professional who can measure the signal and get the system running smoothly its like one of those questions- do I service my car my self or get a mechanic who knows what he's doing to do it correctly
Keith KB Aerials Sheffield