U4 reception issues

[KGL]

Hi

I have had some random odd recording issues when the recording was massively pixelated, but it seemed to have images from 2 channels. It was random and occasional, so I haven't tried to determine the cause.

However, yesterday out of nowhere, no storms or anything Channel 10 refused to display - blank screen. The current program was displayed at the bottom when pressing the OK button and the reception strength bars showed briefly 0 then to high 70s and 80s. Not sure which bar is which, but both showed reasonable figures.
I fiddled around with connections at the back. All antennae connections seemed firm. Moving the power cord seemed to cause the unit to go into standby but now seems ok.

I had previously removed the USB tuner some time ago as I found it unreliable and even when I bought another USB tuner (not BW) it also was unreliable. So, I only have had 3 tuners for some time. What I was finding was the sometimes programs recorded on the USB tuner would be pixelated and the solutions was to reboot the BW which would fix the problem for sometime and then would begin to pixelate again. Thats an aside to my current issue although I do wonder at times if there is a software or motherboard/electronic component issue.

Channels 2, 7, 9 and SBS all happily work together and I can record any combo of these channels over the 3 tuners.
Channel 10 doesn't like being 3rd choice of turners.

If Channel 10 has first choice of turners it works fine, even when recording. I can then add other channels to record on tuners 2 and 3 without affecting Channel 10 on tuner A

So, currently if I occupy tuners a and b by recording on other channels then go to channel 10 the screen will either be blank or so pixelated that it is unwatchable and at times seem to have images of channel 10 and another channel.

I have also tried rebooting the BW.

I also have the latest firmware.

My logic tells me tuner c is dodgy but I don't understand why only channel 10 is affected. Alternatively is it software but again why only Channel 10?

Channel 10 works fine on the TV.

[prl]

What might be different about Ten? Could your U4 have decided to tune to a weaker transmitter than what is available from the location that broadcasts the other channels?

Is there something distinctive about the frequency band that Ten is on? Is it on UHF and the rest on VHF (or vice versa)? Though I thought that the last lot of frequency assignments did away with TV broadcasts being split over UHF/VHF for any regions served.

[KGL]

Thank PRL

I'm not sure what to do with what you suggested. However, I went through the channels and here are some stats:
Channel 2 (ch12)
1020x1080I (same for all channels)
226500 MHZ
50Hz 7 MHZ (same for all channels)

Channel 7HD (ch 6)
177500 MHZ

Channel 9HD (ch "8")
191625 MHZ

SBS One HD (ch 7)
186500 MHZ

Channel 10 HD (ch 11)
219500 MHZ

Not sure if that info is helpful or not.

i'm in Brisbane by the way.

Cheers

[KGL]

I did some research, and it seems Brisbane TV is both UHF and VHF.

According to TY Magic who came out last time we had reception issues our Suburb is classed as Medium Line of Sight to the transmitters.
Since they came last time, we have had good reception until now but only on Ten.

[prl]

I did some research, and it seems Brisbane TV is both UHF and VHF.

Well, yes and no. Brisbane Mt Coot-tha digital TV is all VHF, and they're the transmitters your U4 is tuned to, though you've got the scaling of the frequencies wrong. Ch 11 (Ten) is 219500 KHz (219.5 MHz), not 219500 MHz (219.5 GHz).

There are fill-in transmitters around Brisbane that are UHF. They serve Brisbane North West and Brisbane South East. They use broadcast channels 30-45, up in the 500-700MHz range, but your U4 isn't tuned to any of them.

Anyway, the fact that all the channels you've tuned to are all VHF rules out possible antenna issues like the UHF and VHF parts of the antenna being disconnected from each other, or that the U4 managed to tune to the wrong transmitter for Ten.

Maybe you need to talk to TY (TV?) Magic. First checking that all the easily-accessible antenna connections are properly plugged in is probably worth a try, unless you've already done that, but the fact that it's frequency-specific makes that seem unlikely.

[KGL]

Hi Peter

Yes, TY Magic is a typo. Should be TV Magic.
I will see about getting them to come and have a look, but I doubt they will be familiar with the BW as such.

I got the stats by selecting each channel on the BW and pressing the OK button and noting the information. All channels definitely say MHz, with Channels Ten coming up with 219500 MHz. So, if it should be KHz then the BW is displaying the wrong info.

Edit: Just had a closer look and there is a decimal point, so it is displaying 219.500 MHz.

[KGL]

I contacted TV Magic and they got back to me this morning.

They are saying if Channel 10 is okay on the TV and not the PVR then it is either a faulty cable or faulty PVR.

So, I swapped the cables from the TV and the BW and still no difference. That says to me it isn't the cable.

I had an old Topfield PVR, so I set that up and put the cable from the BW to the Topfield. Channel 10 does not work and Channel 7 struggles.

That says to me there is a signal strength issue. but not sure why the TV (Hisense) works unless it has a better tuner than the BW and Topfield.

TV Magic says it will cost $200 call out. Maybe that is the going rate but have a feeling he's just going to say its the BW. I'm not sure whether to call a different technician.

Would a signal booster like this be worth a try?
https://www.bunnings.com.au/antsig-indo ... lsrc=aw.ds

At least with Bunnings I could return it if it doesn't do the job.

Cheers

[prl]

not sure why the TV (Hisense) works unless it has a better tuner than the BW and Topfield.

There's no particular reason why it can't have a better tuner.

Would a signal booster like this be worth a try?

An antenna-mounted amplifier is likely to give better results, but you'll probably need an installer to fit it (and it may need power to be run to near the antenna).

An indoor amplifier will amplify the signal, but it will also amplify any interference that's being picked up in the cable run from the antenna to the outlet.

[Paul_oz53]

In my experience, BeyonWiz tuners are less sensitive than TVs and benefit from amplification. A masthead amplifier is preferred and is a better bet than the $200 service fee.

May not solve the problem but the Bunnings style amp is definitely an option I have used successfully in the past.

[Gully]

This is what I have whcih works well. Free shipping if you are not near one of their shops.

https://www.selby.com.au/brands/kingray ... a164f.html

[Paul_oz53]

This is what I have whcih works well. Free shipping if you are not near one of their shops.

https://www.selby.com.au/brands/kingray ... a164f.html

I have a couple of these units in use now.

[KGL]

Hi Guys
I went ahead and bought the booster from Bunnings and it has helped a lot.
I tried with a 3-way splitter to include the Topfield but it was not good enough for that, but it works a treat with a 2-way splitter.
I have further fiddled around and by using a 2-way splitter and connecting the TV antenna cable to the out connector of the BW it is all working fine. The TV may show slight pixelation, but it is so minor it is still watchable. In any case we rarely watch live TV on the TV itself.
If I had known about the Kingray unit I may have considered that over the Bunnings unit.

I will use the Topfield for the rare occasion when I want to record more than 3 channels.

I have found the USB tuners unreliable. Not sure if it is the tuner or something to do with the BW. The BW USB tuner would work when I tested it but sometime later, I would have a recording that was pixelated. When I tested the turners, the USB one would be pixelating. I would then reboot the BW and the tuner would work fine again. Thinking it might be the BW USB tuner I bought a PlayTV PS3 DTB-T Tuner PlayStation 3 Play TV which enabled recording across 2 more channels. However, the same pattern emerged. It would test ok, then, sometime later I would find a pixelated recording and retesting the tuner the USB one would be pixelating. After a reboot, the tuner would work again.
Since both followed the same pattern, that suggests the tuners are not faulty but something with the BW.
What do you think?
Cheers

[Paul_oz53]

A few comments:

The Antsig has very high gain and may be overloading the TV. I spent a lot of time experimenting several years ago and observed that effect. I installed an attenuator to fix my then T3 overloading. Experiment with the gain control when it's pixelating.

The BW USB tuner was largely useless.

With the amplifier, I would expect the Playstation tuner to now behave. Mine does. See how it goes for a bit.

Paul

[Half Round]

I use on of these in the 'HiFi' cabinet to provide signal to the various items that need it -
https://www.bunnings.com.au/antsig-4-wa ... r_p4360393
It works well. Also it does have a gain control. They also have a two outlet model.