Pixellation/popping at certain times of day on Astra 1

moordown66

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I wonder if anyone can give me a few pointers which may help me to resolve a problem I have with pixellation and popping noises.

I have an 80cm dish positioned at Hotbird, 13 degrees east. I also have an offset arm with a 0.6db LNB pointed at Astra 1 at 19.2 degrees east. I have an official Irdeto cam and an official Dutch FTV card.

I get perfect reception from everything on Astra 1, with the exception of Ned 1, 2 & 3 which all broadcast on 12515h from Astra 1G. It's totally baffling me! Signal strength is at a guess something like 80-90%. Bleep meter gives me earache when I put that in line it's so strong. I get all the other encypted Dutch FTV channels perfectly (SBS6, RTL 4 & 5 etc etc)...it's just Ned 1, 2 & 3 on 12515h.....and I only seem to have problems with them at certain times of day. Early morning is a prime example. Usually seems ok teatime and evenings. I've tried everything else on Astra 1G...it's perfect.

Can anyone shed any light on what the problem might be, or give me some pointers towards things I could try? It's doing my head in!!!!

Thanks in advance.
 

loftyj

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Hi M8
I remember reading in the April or May issue of What Sat that in certain area's the new TETRA emergency service cellphone system was being tested and as this system can cause interferance on certain frequencies. but that no publicity as been given to this problem. Do-not remember if you could overcome the problem. Will have a hunt and try to find the article. Can you check with anyone in your area if they also suffer the same problem.
 

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moordown66

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rolfw said:
Tetra should not affect satellite transmissions, see http://www.ofcom.org.uk/ind_groups/ind_info/broadcasting_br/tvi_tetra/?a=87101

The problem you are experiencing could possibly be related to a car radar detector, DECT phone, or similar.


Just in case anyone is interested, I've found the fault. It's the phone. I've got one of those that sit on a base station, but 9 times out of 10 you just leave it lying around. When it's not sitting on the base station, these channels pixelate. When it's on there, they're fine. Re-createable every time. How about that!!!
 

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The phone's not the cause of my problem. I've recently begun to get pixellation and noises on my Amstrad Digibox on 28 degs. All 'FTA' channels on the old BBC card. No specific time of day. The Hummy works perfectly on the BBC stations, so I suspect a problem in the Digibox. Overheating? PSU? Other?
 

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wolsty said:
The phone's not the cause of my problem. I've recently begun to get pixellation and noises on my Amstrad Digibox on 28 degs. All 'FTA' channels on the old BBC card. No specific time of day. The Hummy works perfectly on the BBC stations, so I suspect a problem in the Digibox. Overheating? PSU? Other?

My Sony Digibox does that when there is a newer version of the software out or there have been channel additions made. I switch it off a the mains socket and let it update itself and after that it is fine. The noises are like a chirp, pop and squeek. Sound like a good name for a breakfast cereal to me.
 

wolsty

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toppervte33h said:
My Sony Digibox does that when there is a newer version of the software out or there have been channel additions made. I switch it off a the mains socket and let it update itself and after that it is fine. The noises are like a chirp, pop and squeek. Sound like a good name for a breakfast cereal to me.

I've done the update, but without success. My attention is now concentrated on the cheapo DVD/home cinema kit I bought a month ago. It seems suspicious that the pixellation first occurred at about the same time. I've now disconnected the dvd and am monitoring the tv.
 

wolsty

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wolsty said:
I've done the update, but without success. My attention is now concentrated on the cheapo DVD/home cinema kit I bought a month ago. It seems suspicious that the pixellation first occurred at about the same time. I've now disconnected the dvd and am monitoring the tv.

It's not the DVD setup. Back to Square 1.
 

wolsty

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I think I may have found the cause. I had a red, white, yellow lead between the digibox and the dvd unit. As I needed only the sound connection, the yellow composite video cable was plugged into the stb, but the other end was left free and was earthing on the case of the dvd unit. I took out the connection and all is well so far.
 
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