More signal problems- I'm about to give up (1 Viewer)

[mm1352000]

After looking at your logs I'd have to concur with your conclusion. There are a whole lot of late frames after you first tune a channel. That is relatively common so I think you can ignore that. It is the consistent continuity errors that seem to appear every second or so. Not good. You're right when you say that living near the coast is bad for aerials and cabling. In fact given its age an description I'd also guess that your aerial is meant for VHF rather than UHF, which would be a problem in itself. I hope the installer is able to sort things out without it costing you too much. I'd be interested to hear what he does and whether it solves your problems...

Good luck!

 

[infinite.loop]

Guy's. The company I am working for does antenna and sat-dish installations for a living.

So I can tell all of you that the "sat meters" you buy for € 50,- or less, are useless.
Same for some software you use in combination with your TV-Card, or an SAT-receiver.

If you want to really know how good or bad your signal is, then you have to call an professional who has the proper equipment (decent sat-meter costs + 1.000€) and knowledge.
Everything else is just a waste of time and money.

 

[swamprat96]

Yup which is why I'm calling a professional in. Today with clear weather the box is working fine. Its most definetely a signal issue.

EDIT: The antenna guy did not show up. I cancelled and have another coming tomorrow. Whats really interesting is that the signal returned to full strength in good weather. Maybe somethings filling up with water on the antenna circuit- like the masthead amp

 

[swamprat96]

weather is still terrible here. antenna guy showed up but it was too wet to do much. We did find the masthead amp was over 25 years old and cracked-full of water. The antenna coupling is also corroded. New high gain antenna, coax and amp Monday weather permitting- $350 aud - ouch. Ah well at least I found the problem

 

[infinite.loop]

weather is still terrible here. antenna guy showed up but it was too wet to do much. We did find the masthead amp was over 25 years old and cracked-full of water. The antenna coupling is also corroded. New high gain antenna, coax and amp Monday weather permitting- $350 aud - ouch. Ah well at least I found the problem

That's a quite massive problem.

 

[mm1352000]

Yeah, what infinite.loop said.

Expensive bill, but I'd be thanking my lucky stars that none of my receiving equipment got damaged

 

[swamprat96]

Yeh it was a surprise. What i still find odd is that the antenna works fine when hooked up straight to the TV. Obviously the inbuilt tuner on a cheapo LG plasma is better at coping with a crap signal than a top of the line hauppauge? I didn't expect that.

 

[mm1352000]

Computer tuner cards are generally less robust than dedicated set top boxes. I think the reason is that there is quite a lot more RF interference inside most computers, but it could also be because the tuner/demodulator chips are less sensitive. I can't speak for the tuners that are built into TVs. Of course sensitivity and robustness varies from device to device which is why you can't really compare the percentage signal strength and quality that most devices show unless you can get proper dB and BER stats.

Glad the issue is sorted...

 

[swamprat96]

Had the new antenna since last friday and it appears to have sorted the issue. Interesting that when they installed the new one they had to get back up and back off the amp as the signal was so strong. Gone through two lots of bad weather and no loss at all

Thanks for all the suggestions