All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
M Rawson: Hi, so to clarify, the second set gets all channels OK if connected direct to the aerial, and then doing a full reset & MANUAL install of UHF channels C43,C46,C39,C42,C45 and if it's got an HD tuner C40, yes?
If you look at the information for particular programmes (LCN's) or MUX channels (you may have to go into the menu system for that) - what sort of signal strength & quality is it indicating?
What happens with the first set if you connect it direct and do the same reset and manual install?
What sort of aerial is it, and roughtly how old?
Has the booster got one unit near the aerial and a power unit near a set, or is it one that goes on the aerial lead somewhere, followed by a splitter and a cable to each set?
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Keith Ratcliffe: Have you discovered if your neighbours in your flats have then same problems?
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suzanne: If you do not have an aerial pointing at Winter Hill, I would think very carefully about spending any money having one installed. Although Jim F appears to know the area, reception from Winter Hill could be very unreliable. The official reception predictor at Digital UK for your postcode shows reception becoming more marginal as DSO progresses - presumably because of additional interference from other transmitters as they switch over. One other predictor shows strength somewhat less than Moel-y-parc and another predictor doesn't even feature Winter Hill for your postcode.
The best solution would be that suggested by KMJ.
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mike: You should be able to get near perfect reception from Emley Moor at you location, aerial pointing SW.
You can potentially pick up good but weaker signals from Belmont & Bilsdale and your box may have tuned to some of these as they are on lower channels which boxes scan first on autotune.
The best thing is to do a full reset/new install following the procedure on My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound or the channel line up is wrong | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice BUT instead of doing an Automatic new install do a MANUAL install using the following UHF channels for Emley Moor C44,C47,C48,C51,C52 and if it's an HD box C41.
There is a transmission change for one of the COM multiplexes on 8th Nov. so if you lose any channels then, you may have to repeat the manual install.
If the manual install doesn't cure the current problem, post back with more details and about your aerial installation, any booster, cabling etc.
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steve: Does your booster have an amplifier somewhere near the aerial and a power unit down near a set, or is it one unit somewhere on the cable? If the former you need to be sure to remove the amplifier bit.
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Suzanne: Hi Suz, sorry not to get back sooner, didn't have a chance yesterday to finish doing any tests, might do so today (was too busy up ladder trying to paint).
Are you still only getting C59 when bedroom TV on? What I guess is happening is that the aerial input to the bedroom TV is a lower impedance when it is on, this means less signal is getting through to the other TV. (Impedance is a technical word for "resistance" to a varying amplitude/polarity voltage/signal (AC) ie. not Direct Current (DC) as from a battery).
Less signal getting through could be reducing any overload.
Have you still got your old splitter and the attenuator? If so (NOT doing any retuning):- with bedroom TV off, try the attenuator on the Living room TV. Describe results.
Also try old splitter instead of attenuator on living room TV - use the input and output that was the better connection, see what the results are, then without changing anything take a small screwdriver and short across the other splitter output from the centre pin to outer of connector, there is no risk of shock (unless there is a lightning strike whilst you are doing it :-o ). This will have the effect of introducing attenuation of different amounts. Tell us what happens.
(Before all the purists rush along and say .. but things won't be matching properly .....it doesn't matter, it all has the effect of introducing attenuation).
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Jonathan: If you've got sufficient spare cable in the loft to trim and remake conections if needed, then just put some coax connectors on instead of F type. If there isnt't enough, you can get F-Coax convertors which should be a lot cheaper than more attenuators.
Also, see it you can check your old cable for continuity and shorts.
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jack: First, it is a bit difficult to provide ongoing constructive help when it isn't possible to backtrack through someone's previous posts. If when you post you could you make sure the 'Save my details' box is checked, at the bottom of the posting box, also that your email is not different each time, you should only need to put it in once if Save my details is checked - other posters such as me cannot get to see it, and also don't delete any cookies for this site.
The Engineering work is NOT on Digital TV, it is on FM Radio, and I can only assume it is on the Antenna which is why TV is "Liable to Interuption". An update for next week hasn't been provided by Digital UK yet, but you can check yourself -
Digital UK - Planned Engineering Works and select the "Planned Engineering Works by Region" tab and click on Central.
The power at Sutton Coldfield has increased to 200Kw since DSO, that's a 14dB or so increase. Brian has already suggested to you that you may have too strong a signal.
I am led to believe that the Humax HDR-Fox T2 is an extremely sensitive receiver, there are reports of people in Oxford picking up Crystal Palace (London) which is only on 20Kw.
From the description of you aerial/booster you are extremely likely to be suffering gross overload. Any DTR that is suffering overload will not give reliable or correct signal strength or quality reports and reading will go all over the place with the slightest change eg. an aircraft giving a reflection. When you know you have a good signal strength or quality low/zero/poor etc are a clear indicator of overload.
If your booster has variable gain turn it right down until you get acceptable results, or try removing it from circuit and see what the results are.
One thing is for sure, with an aerial in the loft and a hill in the way getting consistent results is going to be very tricky.
Do a full reset/autoscan with the aerial unplugged to clear all the previous settings/channels, and then with the booster turned down or removed to a MANUAL tune (UHF channel numbers at the top of this page).
PS. If you enter your postcode in the box on the top RHS of the page, a set of links to the right of your post will appear where you/we can check various information about reception.
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Saturday 8 October 2011 4:10AM
Lisa: Jim F has got it wrong I'm afraid by implying that one shouldn't be removing channels. If he read the top of this board, as you have, he may start to appreciate why one clears all previous settings and channels - I'll clarify just in case - most sets/boxes start automatic scans from the lowest UHF channel C21 and work up to C68. Some sets/boxes put the programmes into the LCN's(Logical Channel numbers)as they find signals weak or strong, and if they find a duplicate they put them in the 800's. As the ones you want are usually the stronger signals, they are not always where you want them in the LCN's. Rescanning will not get them put in the right place. Some boxes do overwrite the LCN's with the strongest signals - occasionally they may not be the ones you want eg. if you are near a region overlap, you may want a particular region which may have a weaker signal.
Especially when there has been some reception difficulty for whatever reason, one clears the set/box FIRST. If previous autoscan attempts appear to have still given problems then one uses a MANUAL tune/install not an automatic one having cleared the set/box again FIRST.
So in your friend's case Lisa, do a MANUAL tune/install using the following UHF channels C61,C54,C48,C52 and C67 and if the set has an HD tuner C58.
If your friend received all the MUXes prior to this retune event on the 28th Sept., then they should not have any problems - two of the COM MUXes have moved to their final channels but only SDN is on full power.
If they previously had problems with MUX Arq B - programmes such as Yesterday, Film 4, ITV4 etc. then they may continue to have problems until March next year when the power goes up.
But also they may now have problems with MUX Arq A - programmes such as Pick TV, Dave, Really which is temporarily on C67 until it moves to it's final channel of C56 at full power next March.