menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Archive (2002-)

 

 

Click to see updates

All posts by jb38

Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.

J
C21 (474.0MHz) after switchover
Monday 23 May 2011 9:45PM

Loveday: Re: reply I made to you. I just noticed that you have also made a posting elsewhere on this site and in which you have given a little more information about the problem, this now suggesting that my assumption was possibly incorrect about what type of box you were referring to, i.e: a Sky satellite type (based on the screen messages you reported), so in the interests of accuracy I would like to point out that the advice was given purely with the aforementioned box in mind.

link to this comment
GB flag
J
Upgrading from Sky to Freesat | Freesat
Tuesday 24 May 2011 9:34PM

Keith: The Bush model you mention would be ideal for your requirements with the only inconvenience of it being that its a mains powered device, as indeed mentioned by briantist!

The problem you will likely find when looking at the Freesat 12 volt types such as Les Nicol has mentioned is that most are HD types and priced accordingly, extortionate!! HD being a bit of a farce for motor home use anyway, as its virtually impossible to see any difference in picture quality between SD and HD when viewed on any screen under 32" or so.

I would be inclined to purchase the Bush BFSAT02SD or similar SD type and use it with a small (100watt min) 12volt to 250 volt inverter, as the SD receiver and inverter would still cost less than a single 12 volt HD box, the inverters of the type mentioned being silent in operation and only getting very mildly warm even after a few hours continuous running, plus they are handy for running other low powered mains voltage devices.

link to this comment
GB flag
J
Upgrading from Sky to Freesat | Freesat
Wednesday 25 May 2011 8:20AM

Mark Aberfan Aerials: Yes! quite correct Mark, as although its not actually advertised as being a 12 volt operation device it can be used as such because it uses a separate power adaptor.

Of course anyone purchasing this for 12 volt use will have to buy a suitable coaxial plug power lead elsewhere, as to my knowledge it doesn't come with it.

All said taking it that its a BFSAT01HD model, as Argos cares not to mention it!

link to this comment
GB flag
J
Upgrading from Sky to Freesat | Freesat
Wednesday 25 May 2011 9:48AM

jb38: Just an addition to my previous posting to say that my comments regarding the Bush BFSAT01HD also applies to the Goodmans GFSAT200HD, as to all intents and purposes both models use the same chassis with only their facias being different.

link to this comment
GB flag

CharlieB: What you have mentioned could suggest that you are receiving too strong a signal which is overloading the input of your set and causing blocking, as the two channels you do get are on lower power than the rest of the multiplexes, Ch26 in particular only being on 12.5Kw.

If you have an aerial amplifier try by passing it, if however you do not then if the aforementioned does apply you will possibly require to purchase an attenuator to place in line with the aerial input to your set.

It would have been helpful to know what the signal strength indicates as being on your TV, 100% strength but with no quality being usual if the signal is too powerful.

link to this comment
GB flag

CharlieB: Thanks for the clarification regarding location etc, however this now being done on checking reception expected for DG7 area post codes it would appear as though the latter part of your original posting might well very much apply, that of you having a problem! this because no reception being possible is predicted for that area by two separate sites.

That said though, I realise that you reported getting nearly all the channels before switchover, this amazing as the pre-switchover TX power was so low, but the signal strengths you have given are liable to indicate terrain obstructions whereby any signals you do receive are purely by being partially reflected, this not being very satisfactory for digital reception as weather / seasonal conditions can cause large variations in signal strength / quality, this right down to zero in some cases.

I would try fresh (initial from new) scan in a couple of days and see what comes up, but Ch's 22, 25 and 28 are the most powerful out of the six multiplexes, Ch 28 being HD and not indicating on standard box, with Ch's 23,26 &29 operating on nearly half the power of the main ones, albeit you report Ch26 at a very acceptable level!

It would be of interest to know what reception others in your location are getting, not of course that this could be used as a positive indication of what you could expect as a few yards can make large differences in reception when in an iffy area, but I don't really think you can do much that is going to improve things if after rescanning in a day or so the situation is much the same, with Freesat possibly being the only option for reliable reception as the last resort.



link to this comment
GB flag

David / Briantist: if I could just add another aspect to be considered in cases where Darvel is being used for reception in the Glasgow area rather than Blackhill, that being, it should always be keep in mind that signals received from Darvel could be suffering from interference from the massive Whitelee wind farm at Eaglesham Moor, this having caused widespread problems for people in parts of Glasgow, Clarkston, East Kilbride, Newton Mearns etc even before it was expanded, with Scottish Power having paid out for satellite receivers etc in a multitude of the homes affected.

Needless to say the interference being of a totally random fashion in intensity, this being dependant on rotational speeds of the turbine blades.

link to this comment
GB flag
J
All about Freesat | Freesat
Thursday 26 May 2011 9:13PM

Ian from notts: Very interesting fault! Just out of interest what brand/model of Freesat box are you referring to? likewise the TV.

On the subject of the audio/video lead test that you carried out, these type of leads are not able to affect anything connected to the nature of your problem, as they do not have any control voltages in them such as found in a full scart connection.

link to this comment
GB flag

Jonny: I don't know if the Sky engineer already tried this, but one test you could carry out is to try plugging one of the magic eyes directly in line with the Sky box and the lead going to the Antiference splitter, then after temporarily covering the Sky box with a thick towel or similar to block the IR input window, try changing the channel using the remote from the other end of the room.

If this works OK, try the same test again but this time between the splitter and each of its output lines in turn.

link to this comment
GB flag
J
Diagnostics - old version
Saturday 28 May 2011 9:03PM

taff evans: If you have just acquired the set then it would suggest that you aren't completing the tuning procedure properly, however if this has hitherto been working correctly and this problem has just started occurring then its liable to indicate a fault in the sets tuner memory circuitry.

What model number of Philips are you referring to?

link to this comment
GB flag