I am not a duck Posted April 21, 2009 Posted April 21, 2009 Of course, when there is a house in the way: Brick wall filter anyone? Aim right through it :) * *No, I didn't provide the antenna. It's an electrician's Clipsal special. The antenna was in the roof space, where it didn't work at all
raynnick Posted May 10, 2009 Posted May 10, 2009 Hello Guys. Was wondering if anyone can help me. I am just outside New Norfolk, Lachlan actually. I had a new antenna installed with new RG6 Cabling installed about 4 years ago by a 'surposed' professional, cost me 400 i think. Anyway i have a Lacey's TV Amplifier on the antenna which goes to a 4 -way splitter in the roof space. However my Panasonic Digital HD LCD TV with inbuilt TV Tuner sometimes says "no service". I also have a Panasonic HDD Recorder/DVD Recorder with inbuilt SD Tuner, and you look at both signals sometimes and the TV will say 'no service' and the HDD Recorder is fine. I was thinking of replacing the amplifier with a Hills or Kingray amplifier and wondering if i am heading down the right track? Thankyou Nick
I am not a duck Posted May 10, 2009 Posted May 10, 2009 I was thinking of replacing the amplifier with a Hills or Kingray amplifier and wondering if i am heading down the right track? In my opinion, the digital receiver in Panasonic TVs is slightly better in performance than the SD PVR. How does your antenna lead go? It should go into the recorder, and then the TV. Is anything else connected up in between? You may have a faulty flylead between the recorder & the TV. Where are your signals coming from? Shepherd's Hill or Mt Wellington? It may be that the TV & recorder are tuned to different channels, which may be remedied by doing a reset to the TV & the recorder, and then a manual tune on both devices. This will be covered in the user manuals for each device.
raynnick Posted May 10, 2009 Posted May 10, 2009 In my opinion, the digital receiver in Panasonic TVs is slightly better in performance than the SD PVR. How does your antenna lead go? It should go into the recorder, and then the TV. Is anything else connected up in between? You may have a faulty flylead between the recorder & the TV. Where are your signals coming from? Shepherd's Hill or Mt Wellington? It may be that the TV & recorder are tuned to different channels, which may be remedied by doing a reset to the TV & the recorder, and then a manual tune on both devices. This will be covered in the user manuals for each device. Thanks for your help. Yeah i will give the reset thingy a go tomorrow. However i have only recently added the PVR to the TV, and before this the TV always used to say 'no service' so i purchased another power pack, identical to the one i already had as i thought it was the power playing up. Now when it plays up i take one power pack off and plug the other in, and it lasts for a little while before i have to switch again. Sometimes a reset of the power pack does the trick, but not very often and its not long and it plays up again. The signals don't come from Mount Wellington i don't think as i cant see the mountain, it must come from Sheppard's Hill, does that sound right. My antenna is pointed down the valley of New Norfolk. The antenna lead goes from the wall plate to the recorder and then from the recorder to the TV, with nothing in between except the power pack on the wall plate. Thanks Nick
I am not a duck Posted May 10, 2009 Posted May 10, 2009 Nick, Sounds like the plug-pak power supply is overloading and shutting down. Or it could be something else. Is the masthead an AM126? Your antenna input for the local translator should be going to the UHF1 input, if it is. Manual tune channels for Shepherds Hill are TDT 51, SBS 54, ABC 57, WIN 60, SCTV 63. See how you go. Marc.
HillsTas Posted May 10, 2009 Posted May 10, 2009 Hi Nick, Let me know if what Marc suggests does not fix your problem, I can shoot up and run my meter over your system and try and find the problem. Cheers David
Alista Posted May 10, 2009 Posted May 10, 2009 Sounds like the plug-pak power supply is overloading and shutting down. What would cause it to overload?
I am not a duck Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 What would cause it to overload? Too much current from a faulty masthead amplifier or splitter? More likely, I suspect the fault is related to the amplifier going spurious or intermittent open circuit, if it is the type I mentioned. eg Check out the lack of solder on the F connectors of this amplifier. This one was removed last week after being in service for over 2 years. The F connector finger was just making contact to the solder land on the PCB. It was dying shortly after the power was turned on each time the customer wanted to watch TV. (like me, they turn all power off to their equipment when not in use.
raynnick Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 Nick, Sounds like the plug-pak power supply is overloading and shutting down. Or it could be something else. Is the masthead an AM126? Your antenna input for the local translator should be going to the UHF1 input, if it is. Manual tune channels for Shepherds Hill are TDT 51, SBS 54, ABC 57, WIN 60, SCTV 63. See how you go. Marc. Thanks for that Marc, I thought the same with the power-pak, however i wouldn't have thought that two would do the same thing. Yes the Amplifier is a Lacey's TV AM126, which has two inputs for both UHF and VHF i think (i originally had two antenna's connected, one for Digital and one for Analog, however i have since removed the analog one as its not needed anymore). In your opinion is the AM126 a good amp? I will have a look tonight when i get home from work and try to manually tune the channels. What do you mean by Local Translator? and Where should it be connected to UHF-1 input? Thanks David, i will see you i go with these and if that doesn't fix the problem i may get you to come up! Its very annoying! Thanks Nick
Alista Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 What do you mean by Local Translator? and Where should it be connected to UHF-1 input? The local translator is the tower on Shepherds Hill, it's called a translator because it takes the main signal from Mt Wellington and re-broadcasts it on another channel/frequency. The input should be connected to UHF-1 as all channels are on UHF from Shepherds HIll.
I am not a duck Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 In your opinion is the AM126 a good amp? Yes. I use quite a few, however, have struck a batch of faulty ones. You mention you had 2 antennas, might wait to see which input on the masthead amplifier is being used before commenting further. Marc.
raynnick Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 Yes.I use quite a few, however, have struck a batch of faulty ones. You mention you had 2 antennas, might wait to see which input on the masthead amplifier is being used before commenting further. Marc. Marc, I have checked the amplifier. The Digital Antenna is wired into the VHF socket. Is this correct? Also i done a auto tune tonight on the TV, it deleted all channels and tried to re-tune however it only come up with ABC channels and Win TV. No SCTV or TDT. I am not game to try the PVR yet as this is what we watch most tv on. Also how do i input a manual tune for say TDT 51, the manual tune requires a mhz input like 212.5 or something..... Thanks Nick
Alista Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 Marc,I have checked the amplifier. The Digital Antenna is wired into the VHF socket. Is this correct? Also i done a auto tune tonight on the TV, it deleted all channels and tried to re-tune however it only come up with ABC channels and Win TV. No SCTV or TDT. I am not game to try the PVR yet as this is what we watch most tv on. Also how do i input a manual tune for say TDT 51, the manual tune requires a mhz input like 212.5 or something..... Thanks Nick It should be wired into the UHF1 socket because Shepherds Hill is all UHF, that would most likely be causing the problem.
raynnick Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 It should be wired into the UHF1 socket because Shepherds Hill is all UHF, that would most likely be causing the problem. Thanks for that Alista, what if it is infact directed at Mt Wellington dont think it is but hmmm unsure?? Nick
I am not a duck Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 Nick, The reason or hesitating when you mentioned there were originally 2 antennas was the possibility your signals were originally coming from Mt Wellinton, not Shepherds Hill. I suggest it is time to take Dave's excellent suggestion that he check it out for you. Marc.
raynnick Posted May 11, 2009 Posted May 11, 2009 Nick,The reason or hesitating when you mentioned there were originally 2 antennas was the possibility your signals were originally coming from Mt Wellinton, not Shepherds Hill. I suggest it is time to take Dave's excellent suggestion that he check it out for you. Marc. Was thinking along those lines, would rather someone just fix it, i'm getting sick of it lol Thanks i will contact dave Nick
Alista Posted July 19, 2009 Posted July 19, 2009 Hi everyone, Does anyone know if there is something wrong at Mt Barrow that went wrong today? ABC, SBS & WIN analog all have really bad shadowing and rolling pictures and ABC & SBS digital have low signal levels and bad signal quality (just enough to stop the picture from disappearing) It seems all these channels come off the National tower so do you think something has gone wrong with that? as everything that comes off the Southern Cross tower is fine. Thanks Alista
Alista Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Still no improvement in WIN, ABC & SBS Analog, they are really snowy and drop out often (un-watchable) ABC & SBS digital strength and quality jumping around like mad but luckily I'm in a good reception area so there is just enough signal to keep them from breaking up. I was going to call ABC reception advice line but I ran out of time today. Might have to call SBS and WIN if things don't improve.
alanh Posted July 20, 2009 Author Posted July 20, 2009 Alista, Is it snowing on Mt Barrow? Is FM radio similarly affected? AlanH
Alista Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Alista,Is it snowing on Mt Barrow? It could be, but it's raining at the moment and Mt Barrow has been blocked out by clouds for at least 3-4 days. Is FM radio similarly affected? Not that I can notice, but as I mentioned I'm in a good reception area so it may not have affected radio. But what is really strange is that ABC & SBS analog and digital and WIN analog all come off the national tower but WIN, SC & TDT digital and Southern Cross analog all come off the Southern Cross owned tower and those services are not affected at all. So this makes me think it maybe something wrong with the national tower.
Alista Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Looks fine here in Devonport. Maybe something wrong with the antenna's facing towards Scottsdale??? Don't know.
I am not a duck Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Maybe something wrong with the antenna's facing towards Scottsdale??? No idea. Are others experiencing the same problem?
alanh Posted July 20, 2009 Author Posted July 20, 2009 Alista, It sounds as if you need to check reception in your area. Are you sure that you don't have a loose connection or something loose in the antenna. Your good signals are the highest channels which are more likely to "jump" a gap in the wiring because of the capacitive coupling. AlanH
I am not a duck Posted July 20, 2009 Posted July 20, 2009 Your good signals are the highest channels which are more likely to "jump" a gap in the wiring because of the capacitive coupling. Southern Cross analogue is VHF so I don't think so.
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