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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.


Ian from notts: I think your right that too many questions means people just bypass the whole page, yet certain questions would make everyones life easier.

Christine Garrett's question is the classic case in point - although the location was mentioned, a postcode would have been far easier, with Digital UK/Terrain info coming up immediately.

If you look at 'connecting it up', large numbers of people ask a question that could have been easily answered by looking at the top of the page (OK - it needs a bit of an update, but still..), and if you have a look at the most popular questions, the Sky one is first. Yet there have been loads of people asking this very question!

If we can get a postcode with reception questions (and some others), that really helps, and remind people that there is a good chance that a question has been asked before, and that they should look at FAQ's first.

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Full technical details of Freeview
Friday 13 September 2013 4:34PM

Alan Langdown: You should be getting excellant reception from Crystal Palace - clear line of sight, and only 27km away, even with a loft aerial.

I'd check your cables - are all the connects ok, and if you have a splitter/booster, check that its working, or even better, see if you can bypass it, so that you have a straight run from aerial to TV. Could be you have too much signal (I know its my default suggestion, but still...)?

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Yesterday
Friday 13 September 2013 4:49PM

Dimples 82: I hate to point this out to you, but this is not the offical site for Yesterday - if you want to complain to them, see here Entertainment inspired by history: Yesterday TV

Frankly, your wasting your time complaining to us, and since I suspect the Singapore programme was made some time ago by someone else other that Yesterday, they will probably send you a polite form reply.

Personally, I would point out that although better than what was available, the Hurricanes were no match for either carrier bourne A6M Zeros or Army Ki-43's in terms of manouvering (although the Hurricane certainly could turn), and would have been outnumbered anyway, as well as being constantly on the defensive, with the Japanese having the initative. The Spitfires based in Northern India came off very badly when they first encountered A6M's. However, I take your point that they would have at least helped even up the fight.

This book does sound interesting Hurricane Over the Jungle: 120 Days Fighting the Japanese Onslaught in 1942: Amazon.co.uk: Terence Kelly: Books and there is a discussion here Hurricane Mk IIC vs. A6M2 Zero - Page 4 - OK - enough plane talk!

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Full technical details of Freeview
Friday 13 September 2013 8:56PM

Kim: Your just 9km from Sutton Coldfield transmitter, which is one of the most powerful in the country.

In theory there could be lots of reasons, but I'm betting your signal is too powerful for your Tv's tuner.

Check the signal strength on the TV - it should be around 75% - at 100% the tuner is going to break up. Try to take out any booster , etc and see here

Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | Digital switchover | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice

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Slim: since your 5km from the transmitter with nothing in the way, I would suggest your signal strength is far too high - look at 'too much of a good thing', bypass booster, etc.

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Stephen Pickering: There was/is engineering work at Oxford, so if your following the trend of everyone else...see if your signal is too strong. BBC Channels tend to be strongest, so are liable to breakup first. Go through the normal thing of bypassing any booster, etc.

Goodness knows why they should be a particular time, but it could also be external interference - check timers, etc as well.




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Brian Wright: You keep complaining about DAB v DAB+, but since number of DAB radios already sold is huge, changing to DAB+ makes little sense. This point has been made many times, so why bring it up once again?

As for 4K, the situation is quite different. This is a new technology, but there is no reason to think we should wait for anything better - its ready now if the consumer wants it.
In fact our Sony 4K on display has already attracted some orders! Its true that nothing is broadcast in 4K as yet, and there will need to be upgrades in infrastructure to allow streaming of such material, but ultimately this is in the hands of the market.

If you can bring a new technology to a certain price point (and its already not that far behind Full HD in that area), and supply content, then consumers will adopt it, and of course as the market widens, so costs fall, etc. It will require international agreements regarding formats, etc, but we've often seen the market sort such matters out very quickly.

4K servers
Sony 4K Media Server | 4K Ultra HD Media Player | FMP-X1Review | Sony Store
are already on sale in the US, and certain urban area might already have broadband fast enough to stream. Netflix and Korean TV have demonstrated streaming and broadcasting in 4K, and Blu-ray can supply content via 4k upscaling.

Lets see what will happen in the next couple of years, and if/when the technology moves beyond the early adopters. I don't know whats going to happen, but I do know that it will be interesting.

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GB: I think you need to clarify what you mean by a 2nd socket. If its a normal aerial socket, which you connect by pushing in, then the freeview tuner in the tv should pick up something. If it does not, it's not connected properly, or the cable to the aerial is broken, disconnected, etc.

If it is a normal aerial socket, it's not going to work with a sky box - see the most popular questions on this site. If its a connection to your dish, then you can't just connect it to the tv, because that wont work , but you should be able to use the sky box, provided its actually connected properly.
Check the socket - what does it look like? If its a normal aerial socket, check that the socket is attached to something.

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Mrs Julia Quinn: Unfortunately you havn't included a postcode, which would really help. However, a postcode put in the Digital UK website shows your about 26km from Crystal Palace, which is a powerful transmitter, and your on a hill. Its hardly surprising that the aerial chap said you have a good signal!

Almost certainly thats the problem - your signal is too good. You've got a relatively recent aerial, and somebody thought you needed a booster as well. If the signal is too powerful, then the TV's tuners just gets overloaded, and thus your picture breaks up. Its possible that during the time when you got a better signal, that the signal you were getting had just fallen enough for your TV to cope.

Try bypassing your booster, and see if it helps - hopefully thats all your should need (and save yourself the cost of getting someone to come out and have a look). Obviously, if the booster is on the aerial itself, then a professional will have to deal with it.
See here for more information - Redirect Notice
I'm not sure what the lady from the 'TV aerial people' was talking about, and I'm not sure she did either!

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Full technical details of Freeview
Tuesday 17 September 2013 2:06PM

dawn pascoe: Basically, you have an indoor aerial, which are generally rubbish.
Your only 16km from the Redruth transmitter, and there is nothing in the way, so I'm not surprised that you got something out of the indoor aerial, but a rooftop one will be much better. Get a professional to advise you (the turbines, etc might make a difference, so follow their advice), and expect to pay about £150.

This site will explain a lot, and give you a guide to the equipement involved A.T.V (Aerials And Television) FM DAB TV Aerial, plus poles and brackets

If your worried about 4G, you'll get a free filter anyway, and since its unlikely you'll need a booster, you'll probably be OK.

BTW - Lots of people think that the BT boxes feed via the net - but they are actually Freeview HD boxes that also go on the net, so they still need a aerial.

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