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All posts by MikeB

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


Bren: Have you thought of just investing in a decent aerial? For all our sakes...

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Paul Brookes: Why are you complaining to us? The transmitter has nothing to do with this site, it just passes on info - blame Aquiva.

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Duncan Wappett: Then their system has a problem, and they need to get someone to look at it.

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JL: We could do with a postcode, but yes, 91% on a Humax Youview PVR will cause the signal to break up.

Nothing particularly will have changed at the transmitter - its more likely that the PVR was pretty much on the threshold of being overloaded, and just a very slight rise in signal strength has pushed it over the edge. They are known to have sensitive tuners, as my collegues at Oxford Street would probably agree (our techincal support guys certainly have), and thus people do think there is something wrong with them sometimes. Actually they are just working a little too well.

Attenutaors are the way to go, but I know what you mean about variable ones - they didn't work for me either. I bought a number of these: 6dB Coax Plug Inline ATTENUATOR: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

I bought them from that seller, and got a 3db, a 6db, 9db, etc. They can be used by themselves (just get another aerial cable so that you can put a cable from the wall, then the attentuator, and then a cable to the back of the box, so that there is no weight on any socket), but if the signal is still too high, then you can either use a more powerful one, or fit one to another, putting them in series. So if a 6 isn't enough, you can add a 3db, etc.

If you look at the page 'too much of a good thing' on this site, it will tell you the optimal signal strength, but 75% is pretty much perfect.

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rachel: If it says at the top of the page 'there are no reported problems', then its likely to be your system at fault. Start by checking cables and connections.

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M
Read this: viewers hail 'Scotland's return'
Monday 12 February 2018 8:32AM

Robert: The Met Office wont stop supplying the BBC until next month.....

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Steve: I'm on Waltham, and I've still got Sky News.

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John Langley: OK - put the other (fine) TV onto that outlet and check signal strength, plus what transmitter its on.

Then swap it over for the other one - if the signal strength is low on both, then its the outlet or the lead. If the transmitter is different, then you need to tune it in to the correct one.

Remember that different TV's have different tuners, and they can be slightly more or less sensitive than each other - a dodgy aerial can make enough difference to lose a mux.

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Full technical details of Freeview
Tuesday 13 February 2018 10:29AM

Richard Saul:
'The signal strength is 100% on all channels, but the picture quality is all over the place and every 15 seconds it drops to zero and the picture disappears. Do you think an attenuator would help, could the signal strength be too high?'

YES!

100% is far too high. But check your system first, without a booster, looking at which transmitter you should be on (Sandy Heath looks fine), and then look at signal strength. If your losing channels, its a classic sign of a problem with your system. Buying a booster can offset that, but wont solve it, and might actually cause more problems.

Start with cables and connections - it might as simple as a dodgy connection.

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nick horrex: Since it serves just 9500 homes, why would anyone bother?

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