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Freeview reception poor after digital switchover
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Posted September 28, 2010 at 10:52PM
Ever since the analogue signal was turned off, I have had problems with my Freeview digibox.
Every day I have to retune it as otherwise some channels go missing.
Recently they haven't come back even after retuning namely channel 30 (Fiver) and channel 82 (Sky News)
Before this happened I used to get messages on screen like 'bad signal' and 'no signal'
Any idea why this could be happening ?
Some channels have both high signal strength and signal quality whilst others are very low which results in the picture and sound breaking up.
Before anyone says that I need to buy a digital aerial, this aerial was working fine until the digital switchover.
Does anyone else get this ?
Would a signal booster help ?
My Freeview digibox is a Panasonic DMR-EZ25
Cheers.
p.s. I miss Sky News as I was a regular 'Jeff Randall Live' viewer :(
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Posted October 1, 2010 at 10:06PM
morddwyd
You may be right ? all I know is what he said !I know if you have a bad analogue signal sometimes if you boost the signal its just boosts the signal to make it worse !!
! I thought that you had said you also had problems or did I not read it correctly ??
Could it be due to a loose a scart lead
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Posted October 9, 2010 at 8:30AM
Update:
I've since bought a signal booster (which plugs directly into the mains) and overall signal strength is higher especially on the weaker channels like Fiver for example - Channel 30.
Before I bought the signal booster, with the weaker signal channels, the signal quality meter used to be in the 'red' but is now in the 'yellow' (green is ideal) and so boosting the signal strength also marginally increases the signal quality which is a bonus !
I've rebooted the digibox but Channel 82 (Sky News) is still unavailable :(
As I can do nothing else to remedy the situation, I'll mark this as resolved.
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Posted October 10, 2010 at 6:33PM
On your digibox, try a NEW installation, instaed of a reboot.
This will wipe all info from your digibox and re-load the latest software updates as well as the current program guide.
Terry
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Posted October 10, 2010 at 8:52PM
I have 2 options on my digibox:
Initialize:
Shipping Condition and Default settings
I've tried both options but no luck :(
Thanks anyway.
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Posted May 18, 2011 at 5:52PM
Mmm... today Sky News came back on channel 82 !
Strange.
At least I can watch Jeff Randall again ;)
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Posted May 19, 2011 at 10:13AM
Not sure if downloading the programs manually may help.Or have you tried running the update on your digital box.
Maybe invest in a new TV with Freeview on it.I can honestly say I get great pictures on mine with really crap aerials and staying in the outer perimeter of the transmitter.
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Posted May 22, 2011 at 6:37PM
Or have you tried running the update on your digital box. I always used to update the digibox but now I've got all the channels back, I've decided to not update any more !
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Posted May 29, 2011 at 5:46PM
There are a few simple checks to make if experiencing poor reception.
1) Are you in an area predicted to have coverage.
2) Is the aerial sited outdoors, pointing in the right direction with an unobstructed view towards the transmitter and the elements upright or horizontal to suit the polarity of the transmitted signal.
3) Is the downlead in one continuous length with no sharp kinks.
4) Is the aerial plug wired correctly with no wires from the outer braid shorting to the inner conductor.
5) If you have a multimeter, measure the resistance between inner and outer conductor. Normally the aerial presents a short circuit. If the reading is above one or two ohms, there is probably a high resistance connection caused by water ingress and corrosion.
(Note that an alternative fault, a short circuit on the downlead will not be detectable without first disconnecting the aerial from the downlead when no reading should register.)
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Posted May 30, 2011 at 5:52AM
Just as a point of interest I have a very poor digital signal and use a new aerial with a mast-head amplifier to get a reasonable picture. When I added a second TV via a passive splitter the signal was not enough to either TV, so I put in a distribution amplifier and the picture got worse. Strength was 100% on both TVs but the quality had dropped, by fiddling about with attenuators I found that with a 10dB attenuator between the preamp and the distribution amp I could get the signal up to 98% on most multiplexes and also get the quality up. Now I only get a slight problem when a group of motorbikes go past - or a plastic sports car with unshielded ignition.
With most TV's you will find a diagnostics menu that will give you the signal strengths.
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Posted May 30, 2011 at 8:51AM
Strange that an attenuator, and a strong one at that, should improve your signal, as they are normally used when the signal is too strong.
I used to live within spitting distance of the Crystal Palace transmitter (2/3 miles away) and when I had a new aerial fitted I needed a 12dB Attenuator in the downlead to cut cross channel interference on the analogue signal. This was fitted by the installer with the info from his signal strength meter.
Lots of Info available here
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