akpak
Standard Member
I'm getting Freeview from Waltham (32km away), and the Digital UK predictor gives a signal strength of 95+. However, I've been having problems with the pictures and sound breaking up. This has been going on intermittently for some time, on all channels, and I originally suspected the problem was with my set-top box, but I've just installed a new Freeview recorder and the problem is still there.
Old Set-up:
RF loop: Basic Freeview box > analogue DVD/HD recorder (Pioneer DVR-420H) > VCR > TV (Sony Bravia KDL-20S3020); Freeview box connected by SCART to both VCR and DVD recorder, these two then connected by SCART to TV.
New Set-up:
RF loop: Freeview HD recorder (Sagem DTR67250T) > DVD recorder (as above) > TV (as above); SCARTs from Sagem to DVD recorder, and DVD recorder to TV; Sagem currently connected to TV by HDMI (but could be SCART instead).
With the old set-up we mostly used the Freeview box for recording from digital-only channels. Everything was fine at first, but after several months we had a problem with one recording where the picture was going blocky and/or pixellated and the sound was dropping. The best solution we could find in the manual was to disconnect the power for 2 minutes, and this solved the problem for some time.
Recently the problem recurred, and we found by trial and error that adjusting the SCART lead in the set-top box output to the DVD recorder sorted it for a couple of weeks. However, we later had further problems, although sometimes it worked perfectly. (Although we mostly used the box with the DVD recorder, exactly the same problem occurred when we used it with the VCR, so we are confident that the DVD recorder itself is not the problem.)
When this problem has been happening the picture and sound on the TV have been absolutely fine. Moreover, although we don't watch that much live TV, in the 2 1/2 years we have had the TV, always in this old set-up, we have only once seen the tiniest hint of this break-up, and the sound was not affected. Also, the TV has always reported a good signal strength (I think always at maximum), while the set-top box varied between about 40-70%. Neither gives a signal quality.
With the new set-up we are getting exactly the same problem, but again when the signal through the Sagem is breaking up, the TV is fine. The Sagem reports signal strength around 40-50%, and if we check when there are problems, the signal quality jumps rapidly between about 2% and 98%.
We haven't had the new set-up long enough to be sure of any patterns, but one thing that has happened so far is that in the first 10 minutes or so after switching the Sagem on, everything seems fine, and then suddenly it deteriorates. We have tried disconnecting the SCART between the Sagem and the DVD recorder, but this made no difference.
Please can anyone suggest what the problem is and how it might be fixed? Is it something that we'll have to live with until switchover, when hopefully the signal will improve? Would a different Freeview recorder have a better tuner that can cope with the current signal? Or is the problem something else altogether? And I don't understand how we're getting a better signal at the TV at the end of the RF loop than at whatever box is at the beginning of it.
Thanks for any help.
Old Set-up:
RF loop: Basic Freeview box > analogue DVD/HD recorder (Pioneer DVR-420H) > VCR > TV (Sony Bravia KDL-20S3020); Freeview box connected by SCART to both VCR and DVD recorder, these two then connected by SCART to TV.
New Set-up:
RF loop: Freeview HD recorder (Sagem DTR67250T) > DVD recorder (as above) > TV (as above); SCARTs from Sagem to DVD recorder, and DVD recorder to TV; Sagem currently connected to TV by HDMI (but could be SCART instead).
With the old set-up we mostly used the Freeview box for recording from digital-only channels. Everything was fine at first, but after several months we had a problem with one recording where the picture was going blocky and/or pixellated and the sound was dropping. The best solution we could find in the manual was to disconnect the power for 2 minutes, and this solved the problem for some time.
Recently the problem recurred, and we found by trial and error that adjusting the SCART lead in the set-top box output to the DVD recorder sorted it for a couple of weeks. However, we later had further problems, although sometimes it worked perfectly. (Although we mostly used the box with the DVD recorder, exactly the same problem occurred when we used it with the VCR, so we are confident that the DVD recorder itself is not the problem.)
When this problem has been happening the picture and sound on the TV have been absolutely fine. Moreover, although we don't watch that much live TV, in the 2 1/2 years we have had the TV, always in this old set-up, we have only once seen the tiniest hint of this break-up, and the sound was not affected. Also, the TV has always reported a good signal strength (I think always at maximum), while the set-top box varied between about 40-70%. Neither gives a signal quality.
With the new set-up we are getting exactly the same problem, but again when the signal through the Sagem is breaking up, the TV is fine. The Sagem reports signal strength around 40-50%, and if we check when there are problems, the signal quality jumps rapidly between about 2% and 98%.
We haven't had the new set-up long enough to be sure of any patterns, but one thing that has happened so far is that in the first 10 minutes or so after switching the Sagem on, everything seems fine, and then suddenly it deteriorates. We have tried disconnecting the SCART between the Sagem and the DVD recorder, but this made no difference.
Please can anyone suggest what the problem is and how it might be fixed? Is it something that we'll have to live with until switchover, when hopefully the signal will improve? Would a different Freeview recorder have a better tuner that can cope with the current signal? Or is the problem something else altogether? And I don't understand how we're getting a better signal at the TV at the end of the RF loop than at whatever box is at the beginning of it.
Thanks for any help.