All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
James Lewis: JB38 suggestion about putting the upstairs TV downstairs just to check the signal makes sense in view of what you've said - 'although it used to experience some signalling problems when downstairs previously'.
If two TV's are getting a similar problems from the same aerial socket, then there is a problem with that feed. On the other hand, different TV's have different tuners, and they can react in slightly different ways. Samsun might have changed the tuners slightly over the years, which might account for the different signal strength (BTW - is your signal too strong - that can also cause problems).
Your coax to the main room might be corroded, your splitter might not be working perfectly, have dodgy connections, or the socket might be loose, have interference, etc.
Frankly, being in Tucton, you should get great reception from Rowbridge, and if you put the aerial externally, it should be spot on. But if there is a fault in the chain, then there is always going to be a problem.
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Mary Ann: To be fair to Sony, it depends on the type of equipment and the model. They are often pretty easy to use (their remotes are really good), and my HDD recorder (when its EPG doesn't go insane) is actually very simple to manually tune, although its tuner is excellent and I've had no need to actually do it.
Pretty much every manufacturer has its quirks, and the big four (LG, Samsung, Panasonic & Sony) are generally no problem, which is more than I could say about modern Philips...
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daz: Sounds like a dodgy HDMI or poor fitting - with the light's starter causing interference - try swapping it for a new one (they are not expensive - the right angled ones are about a fiver from Maplin, etc)
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Louise Currie: I'd start with looking at the back of what you have (if you have the make and model numbers, thats a real help).
Most flat screen TV's will have 2-4 HDMI's on the back (one scart has been standard for a couple of years), and if your HDD recorder is 5 years old or less, there will almost certainly be an HDMI as well as a scart.
If there is an HDMI, use it - the cable itself is fairly cheap (I would spend more than a pound though!). The DVD also might have one, its not impossible. The Sky box will only use scart. As for the VCR - do you use it? If not, then put it to one side, unless it connected to the Sky box.
There are ways to daisy chain scart machines together, which someone cleverer than me will explain, but the wiki for 'scart' would be a good place to start.
Although you have one scart, until this year it was still very likely that you had what are called RCA's or phono ports as well. These will be yellow, red and white. The red/white ones are for sound, and the yelloow is for video. Although not as good as scart, they can be easily hooked up to a scart connection via some thing like this:
Switched Adapter 3 RCA Phono to Scart Plug socket IN/OUT Stereo Audio Video: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools
You can buy the cables for it very cheaply as well, and are often sold together. In effect you have two scarts, you just need an adapter, and some of your equipment might have similar ports on the back, in which case you just need the cables.
Assuming your HDD recorder has an HDMI, use that first. Next, the sky box in the scart, and the DVD or VCR using the RCA/phonos (which one you want to sacrifice?, or see below).
On the other hand, you can buy those 3-into-one scart adapters:
Skytronic Scart switch box 3 SCART in, 1 SCART out plus 6 RCA phono sockets: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
Thats a fancy one, this is more basic - SCART Splitter - 2 Way, Non-Switched, RGB Support: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
The problem is that they don't always work very well, so I'd use them for the stuff you use least.
Start with HDMI, then scart, and work you way down. If you are buying a blu-ray player, it will not only replace your DVD (and allow you to have 'smart' functions'), it will also have an HDMI, which will be easier to connect to your newer TV.
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patriicia haddock: I'm not totally sure exactly as to what equipment you have, but I'm guessing a Freeview TV (with DVD player?), a HDD recorder with blu-ray, and a HDD recorder, all connected to an external aerial.
Interference might be due to lots of things, but if your sons equipment did effect it, then its likely that your coax cable connecting the TV and other items to the aerial isn't very good. ATV do seemingly pretty good ones Satellite, Television, FM, DAB, Aerial, Coaxial Cable, Plugs, Sockets, Connectors & Leads for £3 - the shielding inside them should help, and since you could pay ten times the price for much the samething in a certain supermarket, they are a bargain.
Since I'm guessing as to what the setup is, this is how I'd set up things.
A good quality aerial lead to the back of the HDD Blu-ray player. This is almost certainly a Panasonic or Samsung, and both will only have an HDMI port. Use a decent HDMI lead (again, to avoid interference, although do not spend a huge amount) to connect the recorder to the TV.
Then get another good quality aerial lead to connect the recorder to the aerial port on the back of the TV - this will be in the manual, and is called 'looping through', etc.
Thats it. The Recorder with Blu-Ray will have two HD tuners, so you can use one the watch HD (if your TV does not have an HD tuner), while the other would record. Blu-Rays play DVD's and Blu-Ray, so the DVD player could be left out.
Obviously you might want the other equipment for various reasons, but I'd start with that setup, and go from there. The more items you have, and certainly the more you have connected up, the more chances you have of something going wrong, so try to sort out one bit at a time.
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mr D Hodfes: You havn't supplied a postcode, but your showing the classic signs of either too weak or too strong a signal. The Samsung E8500 is a bit of a lemon, with hardly the most sensitive tuners, but check your signal strength - it should be more 75%, not 100%.
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E Poole: Personally, I would be complaining to BT (it wouldn't be the first time...) for such awful advice. KMJ states it clearly - the BT box (actually a Humax Youview box) is for Freeview only - it cannot use a dish, only an aerial. The second you said your father did not have an aerial, alarm bells should have rung.
I'm not sure what you mean by 'convertor' - I suspect you mean an 'F' connecter/splitter with both a pushin and screw type fittings. You cannot use this to 'switch' between the two systems.
Instead, you connect the Freesat tuner in the TV to the dish (as now), and connect the aerial to the BT box, and then another aerial cable from the box to the back of the TV (so you can use either Freesat, the TV's Freeview or the Freeview recorder via the TV remote).
There was a recent case of this confusion with Talk Talk, and although it on the providers website, the need for an aerial should really be on a checklist when people apply/ring up - less confusion for all. But really BT should know better.
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mike: Try another HDMI cable, or at least check that the lead is properly inserted. You normally get the problem of picture but no sound with a badly fitting scart, not HDMI!
You certainly should only need the HDMI, not both.
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Briantist: Just an observation on the above review - I've been a big fan of the Samsung 6 series for the past couple of years (good value for a highish spec TV), and have often recommended it.
However, I can confirm that the TV certainly does have an HD tuner, and I'm mystified that the reviewer didn't notice!
BTW - the 6710 (the white version)/6500 has a 400hz screen - if you buying the 40in and above version, try the 6740 instead - exactly the same price as the 6500 in 40in, but a 600hz screen instead this year.
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Wednesday 7 August 2013 9:49PM
garthgeorge: Or DAB, or Internet radio...