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All posts by Chris.SE

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


Ron Valentine: Did you see Mike Dimmick's suggestion to you about too much signal? If you are using a booster, you could try it without, but first I would try a full reset with the aerial unplugged and then try a MANUAL tune of the Oxford channels which are C53,C55,C59,C60,C62 and if you have an HD tuner C57.
Boxes on automatic tune start at the lower channels and with you will find the Sandy Heath transmitter first.

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KEVIN GARDINER: If you read my reply to Keith Ratcliffe more carefully you would have seen my reply clearly inferred there was a distribution system. If you had have read BOTH his posts you would have seen he was in flats.

Secondly, if you are going to go quoting signals strengths (which you are presumably getting from Wolfbane or somewhere similar), it would be nice if you quoted them correctly ie. 65dBuV/m, also it would be good if you got them the right way round - in one of your posts on another board, the figure you quoted for the COM muxes was in fact for the PSB muxes and what's more the COM muxes were not on full power, so that figure was wrong.

Thirdly, when people are using boosters, masthead amps or distribution systems the figures are meaningless with regard to what is arriving at the set as it will depend on amp gain and losses in the cables etc.

Fourthly, the figures will in the main be meaningless to most of the people posting here with problems and to the people where the figures do mean things, they are generally people who are helping out and know a bit about what they are talking about.

My conclusion - it is pointless posting the figures, it only confuses the people who need help and perhaps puts them off posting back IMHO.

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steve: In addition to what jb38 has suggested, did you get all the Multiplexes before DSO? Do a full reset following the link in the yellow box below "Freeview reset procedure" which will clear all previous setting & channels in case you set is getting mixed up with all the channels.

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C Richards: You are posting on the Sutton Coldfield board - you would see a lot of useful advice on the Oxford board :)
That said, since the transmitter power increases at DSO, you should be getting a much stronger signal. If you are using a booster you may now be getting too strong a signal at your sets, so it's worth trying it without a booster.
But first, try the full reset procedure from the link in the yellow box below "Freeview reset procedure".
You may need to do a manual tune with your Humax, I'm not sure how fussy that model is, also make sure you have the latest firmware.

If your Pace is a Pace DTR730 or DTR735 then I'm afraid it's a recycle job and get a new one. Those models do not work with the 8K transmission mode used after DSO.

If you continue to have problems, please post back on the Oxford board with full details of your installation and what you have tried, and someone will help. It's possible that because you have a loft aerial you may not get away with no booster, but may still need an attenutor to reduce the signal a bit.

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Hannington (Hampshire, England) transmitter
Friday 7 October 2011 10:59AM

p ralph: You've probably realised this post is on the wrong board, I've seen your post on the Sutton Coldfield board.

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pete: Is the aerial pointing NNE with the rods horizontal? Try the full reset procedure using the link in the yellow box below "Freeview reset procedure"
If you still have no joy, post back with as much detail as you can of your aerial, splitter and model numnber of boxes beinmg used in the bedrooms.

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andrew dyke: This could get complicated because it depends which way your aerial is pointing as you have a choice of Transmitters.
Your best & most reliable signals for all 6 multiplexes should come from The Wrekin 4.5 miles to the NW and the aerial rods should be horizontal.
Sutton Coldfield is 27mi to the E, the rods should be horizontal, and although Ironbridge is nearly on your doorstep to the NE it is very low power and only transmits the 3 PSB muxes, the rods would be vertical.

I would advise that you do a full reset of your equipment using the link in the yellow box below "Freeview reset procedure" BUT do a MANUAL tune NOT an automatic one. This should clear the equipment of unwanted settings and channels.

The UHF channels to tune to will depend on which transmitter you are pointing at, they are at the top half of the relevant transmitter page.
For Sutton Coldfield they are C39,C42,C43,C45,C46 and if you have an HD tuner C40.
For the Wrekin they are C23,C26,C41,C44,C47 and C30 for HD.

If you are pointing at the Wrekin the chances are that you may have too strong a signal with the booster and should try without it, if the reset and manual tune does not solve the problem. It could be a similar situation with Sutton Coldfield.

If you continue to have problems, please post back on the relevant transmitter board with as much detail as you can of your aerial, booster, box model numbers and what you've tried, and I'm sure someone will help.

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Suzanne: Glad all is OK. The Ch59 signal does seem poor, it seems worse than 9dB below the PSB powers from some quick checks I've done, but I can't be certain at this stage, I was using a length of cheap old coax :-o. I'm not in the Oxford geographical area, but supposed to get a good 100% signal from the transmitter. I shall do some more tests which I can't do until Saturday sometime and I'll post back if I discover anything of interest with a large G&T to hand ;) which I haven't had for ages.

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Gareth Smart: Well there is no reason your Dad shoudn't be getting all the MUXes OK assuming his aerial etc is OK and pointing at Mendip SE from his location with the aerial rods horizontal. If it's pointing S with the rods vertical at Hutton, that's low power and only transmits the PSB muxes.

Suggest you do a full reset first following the link in the yellow box below "Freeview reset procedure" BUT instead of doing a new install automatically I'd do a manual install so you get the right channels and not the Welsh ones.

If the aerial is pointing at Mendip, do these UHF channels C61,C54,C48,C52,C67 and if you've an HD tuner C58.
If C67 doesn't come in OK (Pick,Dave,Challenge etc) you could try C45 as you might get enough signal off the back of the aerial from Wenvoe as it's just across the water. You could try that on your own setup as well, but it depends on where you are.

If the aerial is pointing at Hutton, the it's C59,C62 and C55 for HD & you could always try C42,C45,C49 for the COM muxes off Wenvoe.

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Robert: The strength of the signals before DSO was determined by what was possible without causing undue interference to the existing analogue services and the other other digital services around the country (& abroad). Until DSO it was not possible to start increasing power and even where DSO has taken place not all MUXes at some transmitters are on full power yet until switch over in other regions has occurred.
Mendip and Oxford are two such examples where COM muxes have yet to go to full power.

Until transmitters and their antenna have been converted & DSO occurs, compromises have to be made. This can mean some locations can not get reliable signals. Indeed there were/are many areas that could not get any digital signal until local relay transmitters were switched over.
Because of the work needed at the mast at Beckley to ensure good coverage after DSO, transmission has to be done from a temporary aerial for a period of time. This was longer than originally planned because of the fire on the main mast. This also meant poorer signals for some.

If there is any criticism to be aimed it could well be at some dealers or aerial installers for not fully informing people or indeed for individuals not seeking adequate information, about the pre DSO situation and what may happen at DSO. To rely soley on Digital signals prior to DSO in an area that was suffering poor signals at the time was not sensible.
Even where people needed to purchase new equipment, for a TV set that didn't have an analogue tuner in addition to a digital one, such a set could have been fed a picture via a scart from a then existing VCR for example.

There have been minor hiccups as DSO has progressed, but generally speaking things have gone well especially in light of the mammoth undertaking and the need of the public to purchase new equipment and aerials.

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