Scrut Posted March 17, 2007 Posted March 17, 2007 I took the plunge this week and lashed out $185 for the Elgato EyeTV DTT. It's a very neat unit and the picture quality is great on my MacBook Pro. But... I've always had a slight problem with the ABC in Melbourne. Pre-digital the signal was problematic in that I'd get a bit of snow sometimes. All other analogue channels were fine all the time. Since going digital with both a Topfield, a NebulaTV card and a succession of el-cheapo cards I've generally had a good enough experience with the occasional glitch, maybe two or three in a one-hour show. Again all other channels seem fine with barely a glitch ever. For some reason the Elgato seems more sensitive to this signal fluctuation on ABC than any of the other devices and I'm trying to see if there's any solution to this. The thing that seems odd is that I can watch it for several minutes at a time and no problem, then the signal quality suddenly drops from 100% to 20 or 40% and swings wildly for a second or two before settling back to 100%. While that's happening the sound and picture are breaking up badly - ie unwatchable. At the same time the Nebula or Topfield might glitch slightly and then it's fine. So whatever is happening it seems to be something in the signal itself and it's very intermittent. Up until now I'd not been too bothered, but the Elgato purchase has got me wondering again as to what it could be, as it somehow seems to react a lot worse than any other digital device. I accept that it could be down to the antenna and/or cabling, but I'm in a two-storey rented house, so it's not really feasible to consider replacing either or both. And I'd be unconvinced of the merits of doing so anyway, since it does seem to be something that's specific to the ABC and generally it's full strength until it throws the wobbler. Is it possible that ABC transmissions are at the root of this and it's outside my control? I'm in East St Kilda, does anybody else have a similar problem in this area? All ideas greatfully received, even if I opt to ignore the antenna/cable possibilities! Thanks.
alanh Posted March 17, 2007 Posted March 17, 2007 Scrut, Firstly, which transmitters are you receiving, Mt Dandenong or Como Building South Yarra? For South Yarra the Band 5 antennas used outside are small enough to use inside. Read Get the Best Reception, Melbourne and read the links. Please post any replies in the Melbourne Viewers' forum AlanH
Scrut Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 Scrut,Firstly, which transmitters are you receiving, Mt Dandenong or Como Building South Yarra? For South Yarra the Band 5 antennas used outside are small enough to use inside. Read Get the Best Reception, Melbourne and read the links. Please post any replies in the Melbourne Viewers' forum AlanH Thanks AlanH, will do.
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