Is my HD box on the way out....?

[nick6470]

As some will already know from my other thread, i recently unpgraded to a bigger dish to improve astra 2d reception.

Anyway when i compare my signal quality levels on BBC 1 for example i get about 40 % on my Thomson HD box and 70 % on a Digcam fta box, also with BBC 2 its about 30% compared to 60 % on the fta box.

Is this a sign that the HD box is maybe on the way out ( its about 2 1/2 years old) ? Would this be normal to see such a big difference between two different receivers ?

TIA

Nick

 

[Lazarus]

There is no particular consistency between boxes in the way they indicate relative Strength and Quality.

If you have stable reception (no pixellation or loss of lock) then you have no problem.

On the other hand, Thomson HD boxes are prone to slow death as the result of Power Supply Smoothing Capacitor degradation.

Search for info on that phenomenon either here or via Google. Well documented.

 

[nick6470]

Thanks for the quick reply, picture is ok and have a 'lock' but only when there is no rain ( HD box ) where as the cheap fta box performes much better in rain ( bigger weather reserve with 60 - 70 % in sig quality...? ).

Thanks for your info anyway, will look into which HD box is best for fringe reception and maybe buy a new one in the coming weeks.

 

[satelliteman]

The Samsung HD digibox has a fairly good report for fringe reception areas.

 

[nick6470]

Thanks, also read somewhere else that the samsung box should be good, one other thing, when i upgrade my box, is it just a case of card in the new box and a phone call to sky to get them paired up ? Or will they insist on a callback from the new box to pair the card ? I have had sky HD for about 2 1/2 years now, so no need for a phone line connection anymore.