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If you find this information useful and want to thank me, why not buy one of my low-cost "eBooks" that you can download direct to your computer? My books can be read on-screen or printed out on paper. They are full of colour photos and illustrations. http://www.The-Cool-Book-Shop.co.uk
A short month and a short newsletter! Pace HD boxes in trouble Apparently Sky is exchanging around 90,000 Pace Sky+HD Digiboxes. http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/news/2009/02/13/Exclusive--Sky-HD-Boxes-Failing-En-Mass/p1 Sky is being reticent about the reason but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Hard Disk Drive connector comes loose - as it did on earlier models. Other rumours suggest a problem with the HDMI connection. Unfortunately, I can't find out since all my previous contact with Pace has been lost as my acquaintances either left or died. Official report here: http://www.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/skyhelpcentre/producthelp?nodeId=60e3c05b-7e89-4e80-9c3e-071c95ed1d39&articleId=5396310 Later.... Déja vu (did I miss an accent, there?) Dave+1 has been renamed "Dave ja Vu" - geddit? Sheesh. New Discovery Discovery's new Freeview channel, "Quest", will launch at 10:00 on 14 May, allegedly, and you won't have to pay to watch it. (I bet it's all repeats.) Freeview Programme shuffle There was a reshuffle of channel numbers for ITV and Channel 4's digital channels on 24 February. ITV4 moved from 28 to 24; CITV moved from 75 to 72; ITV2 +1 moved from 31 to 27; and E4 and E4+1 moved down one space each, to 28 and 29 respectively. Another rescan required, if you dare! Paypal Our trial of Paypal has been completed and we'd planned to automate the entire system. Unfortunately, our software guy has problems at home and is currently unable to complete the work. I think it may now be months away. Freesat Humax continues to feed its PVRs to the High Street shops, leaving we "independent" sellers without stock. Promises continue to be made then broken. I'm sick of hearing "next week". Apart from that, I don't have much to complain about. Business has been so good that we've actually had complaints about orders not arriving on time. This has mostly been caused by running out of stock of popular items (especially capacitor kits) and lack of time to keep customers properly informed. Apologies to all who have been inconvenienced. As part of our commitment to continual improvement, we have developed an improved PSU upgrade kit using even higher grade capacitors with a higher capacitance value. The reason is that we think the standard PSU design is only just capable of supplying the surge of current when the Hard Drive spins up, and the resultant dip in voltage might be causing a few problems with some larger Hard Drives. By increasing the capacity, we increase the "momentary reserve power" available so the PSU can better cope with surges. The mkII kit is therefore recommended for anyone thinking of fitting a larger capacity Hard Drive and for anyone still experiencing problems, even with our standard REBUILT PSU. I'd expect the problem would occur as the Hard Drive starts up but I can't tell you what the symptoms might be, although it's unlikely to be related to signal strength. If you already bought a MkI kit or REBUILT PSU, you can order CAPKIT33J at £2.95, which contains the new capacitors, and simply swap them over (or get a local technician to do it for you). Or you can arrange to return the PSU to us and (if you quote your original order number) we'll swap the capacitors for you at a nominal fee. I would stress that, unless you are experiencing problems when the Hard Drive starts to spin, there is no need to do anything. The original kit fulfils its purpose. The new kit is a "belts and braces" approach, which a few people might like. Please bear in mind, however, that the Thomson DSi8215 can exhibit "failed recordings", and other symptoms, as a result of firmware bugs and other causes. We can't guarantee that the MkII kit will help in all instances. Humax changes channels by itself! We recently acquired a Humax Freesat HD box, which is a great way to get UK FTA channels in France with the bonus of HD. All was fine except that sometimes, it would change channel spontaneously (always "+1", to the next channel up), or occasionally switch itself off. This would happen most evenings. After making sure that nobody was sitting on the remote, we were baffled for a while. Returning things you bought on eBay from another country is more hassle than it's worth, so we'd more or less decided to deal with it. Then my daughter went away on a school trip for a week, during which the problem did not appear. Was she emitting remote control IR signals? No, but her laptop, which she uses to multitask on MSN while watching Hollyoaks, was! So I disabled the infrared driver in Windows (doing this in the BIOS setup of the PC would have been an alternative) and the Humax has worked perfectly ever since. Infra-red is a little out of fashion now Bluetooth is here - after all, who would want an emulated serial port when you can load 200MB of driver software which doesn't work properly? - but plenty of laptops still have them, especially 4-year-old ones which I recycle from work for my children. Nick B. Since Freesat receivers have no built-in RF modulator, we have put together a complete "Pipe Freesat round your house" kit with modulator, "magic eye" and all connectors:- The initial kit used a very cheap RF Modulator. However, we discovered that it was putting out spurious interference on the frequency used by the infra-red return signal. Consequently, we've had to use a more expensive modulator. Unfortunately, this means that the kit price is high (and we don't make much profit) but, if you can't use a wireless remote extender, our kit offers you the "remote Extender" functionality, which is lacking in all Freesat receivers. Since "no va" is Spanish for "no go", I'm always suspicious of products using that name - especially when offered by a Spanish company! The "Diginova" from Televès has a "pleasingly modern appearance", according to its maker. Well, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It looks like a cheap guitar case to me. Thanks to its design it has a "visually low-impact appearance", so they say. I never take things at face value so I whipped out my codger (a #2 Posidriv) and had a screw. Eight screws in fact. Inside the "visually low-impact" plastic cover is a couple of printed circuit boards and some bits of metal. The total apparently makes up an aerial system with a gain of (I'd guess) about 5dB in the UHF band, combined with a 12dB MRD (Margin Reduction Device). This is effectively a masthead amplifier (when supplied with power) and, allegedly, a zero-loss signal path when not powered. Apparently "The UHF aerial has a Yagi 10 element type structure, consisting of a alloy reflector, a dipole and 8 directors on a new-generation printed circuit board. " (I was making printed circuit boards that looked like this back in 1970.) It comes with some cables and a DC inserter so you can connect it to a 12v battery to power the MRD. There's also a mains-powered "indoor amplifier" which can supply the MRD with 12 volts and adds another 20dB of gain to the system (or 12dB attenuation - I'm confused). In addition, this aerial system apparently picks up VHF, BIII (band 3 ?) and FM ? signals. (Aren't FM signals used in the VHF band? Is Band 3 also VHF? I confess that I'm quite confused by the specification provided.) There is no mention of how to separate out these signals but I suspect a diplexer would be required. Maybe I'm over-critical of "eye-candy" products but, if this thing is any good, why do Televès bother to offer the DAT75 aerial, which is 7 feet long? I can't help feeling that this is a 5db indoor aerial, in a neat plastic housing, with a lot of amplification that will provide lots of noise but not much useful signal. Now the crunch point: It retails at around £60 + carriage VAT. It weighs nearly 1.5kg. Compare that with the Vision V10-040 log-periodic which we sell at £29.95 + carriage + VAT. This has a higher gain, better rejection of interference from sides and rear and, in many places, requires no amplifier at all. So, my questions are: does anyone use one of these "Diginova" aerials and is it any good? Should I stock it? My gut feeling is "no" but I'm happy to be educated. Email me. I am the kind of person who owns a radio array, so I like testing aerials and other products. I have used the Diginova aerial on many different transmitters, and it works as long as you are in a strong or very strong areas. However, a log periodic way outperforms it. Matthew J. -- Dear Martin. It is a good aerial for good to medium strength areas. However, the Band III (DAB) in this country is vertically polarised only and most television transmitters are horizontally polarised, meaning the Digital radio dipole will be horizontal, which I have found gives appalling DAB reception in most cases. If you look at http://aerialsbrighton.co.uk/page/aerials, you will see that they use them. Techically, the Diginova receives Guildford perfectly for me, which a normal 12 db gain yagi is capable of. However, that yagi can also get me multiplexes 1 and 2 from Crystal Palace fine, whereas the Diginova fails to pick up either multiplex.(40 miles) Regards, Peter C. Nobody found any interesting auctions this month - or they couldn't be bothered to tell me! - a selection from this month's emails I have a 2 box Sky contract for home with a basic box (Amstrad, I think) and an HD box. I also have a narrowboat with a satellite dish. I know that it works to take the whole basic box and card to the boat, but can I buy a box to leave on the boat which would let me use one or other of the viewing cards without having to carry the box to and fro? Ideally I would like a Sky+ box on the boat for its extra versatility. Richard A Sky viewing card in the wrong Digibox will give you only the basic programmes. You won't be able to watch "premium" channels. If you happen to have spare money, you could by an identical Digibox (must be the same make, model and version number) then send them both to a repairer for "cloning". (In fact they may be able to supply an identical Digibox.) Obviously it's important to label the one that's paired to the card or you'll end up with two clones that won't work with the card. This is not illegal, by the way. You'd still have only one card. But Sky might frown upon it as a matter of principle since it would really screw up their system if you sold or gave away one of the boxes. They'd end up with effectively one Digibox with two different subscriptions. So common sense is called for when disposing of one or both boxes when you're finished with them. What it does is that occasionally (varies between a few times a week to once a month) the picture displayed is a grey fine snowy screen. The sound is still audible and clear but this is transmitted through the stereo rca leads as the TV has a DVI input and thus I am using an HDMI to DVI cable (which is a high quality type). If when experiencing this fault I unplug the HDMI cable from the back of the HD box then immediately plug it back in, the picture is fine again. Has anyone ever experienced such a fault and is this likely to be PSU related (bearing in mind just the capacitor kit was fitted) I should add the following: The HD resolution output on the Thompson Sky box is set to 1080i The TV never displayed this fault before the HD box (however I never used the DVI connector before this either) A 'no signal' picture on this Philips Ambilight TV is a blue screen not grey If I flick between AV channels on the TV, it shows other AV inputs (games etc) but returns to the grey screen on the DVI input. I would welcome any ideas / thoughts on this puzzler! Mark D. Paul H. replied in the forum: Hi Mark - I have had this problem as long as I have had SkyHD. It is nothing to do with the PSU, but seems to be an issue with the order in which you turn on the TV and SkyHD receiver. I think the HDCP used in the HDMI standard requires some hand-shaking between the TV and receiver before signals are sent and if you do this in the wrong order, then the picture is not sent. If I get this problem, I simply switch the SkyHD into standby and back again. The good news is that the fault won't ever get more frequent. Just always ensure the TV is on before switching on the SkyHD to avoid this. Paul TV interferes with remote control Has anyone heard of this? Upgraded to sky+, only one TV point by the television, and not really feasible to run second cable. Installer advises magic eye, which he can supply and fit, putting Sky box in attic. OK. Comes back, sets it up but there is a problem. Remote only works if both the sensor of the magic eye and the remote is behind the television! If i put the sensor in front of tv, half the functions don't work, i.e. can go up channels, but not down, tv guide button not working etc. Tried 2 different sky boxes, and turned off things i thought could interfere, like the wireless router, no good. Sam R. replied in the forum: Yes, it's quite common for some TV sets to interfere. One cure I've seen suggested is to place a plastic dustbin liner over the magic eye or over the Digibox front panel (temporarily) and test the remote. If that works, you can cut a small piece of the black plastic and fit it over the sensor. Please try this and let us know if it helps! Thanks, the piece of bin liner worked a treat for me...all good now. I was going off my head. Simple solution to a pain in the ass. Brian N. Sky have issued the following instruction: 1. Switch off the power supply at the mains socket and ensure that there are no lights illuminated on the front panel of your Sky box. 2. Press and hold the left and right arrow buttons on the front panel of your Sky box. 3. Whilst holding in the left and right arrow buttons, switch the power supply back on at the mains socket (if your Sky box was unplugged, plug it back in). 4. With the power restored, keep holding the left and right arrow buttons until the recording circle on the front shows a continuous green light. - If the light doesn't come on after ninety seconds, start the process again. - If after several attempts the light still doesn't come on, please call 08442 411 411 for further assistance. 5. Release the left and right arrow buttons, press the select button on the front panel of your Sky box twice and wait approximately 30 seconds till the red standby light appears. After the red light appears, wait for 90 seconds and press the Sky button to switch your Sky box back on. If you follow this procedure and your Sky box is still stuck in standby, please call 08442 411 411 for further assistance. I purchased a Global Communications Line Amp 9-17dB from you, but I am not getting any signal when I place the device half way between a 40 metre cable run between my LNB and receiver. I have connected the end marked "IN" to the LNB. Is this correct, any if it is do you have any further advice? I am having difficulty with signal loss on high frequencies on Thor. Many thanks, Colin -- An amplifier wouldn't normally be needed for 40m of cable. You don't mention what signal you get without it. Bear in mind that an amplifier is used to overcome losses in the cable and NOT to boost a weak signal. See http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/lnbamps.htm#lnbamp Is there a workaround? Do I need something else to make this work. -- See http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/ "7. Split Digibox RF outlet for other TVs". Bear in mind that, if you do this, your Digibox will assume that you are in a bedroom, with sometimes unexpected results! Best Regards Paul P -- Hi, Paul. Unfortunately, 129e163 is not a Thomson Sky model number. Check your label. They all begin with "DSi". See http://www.satcure.co.uk/gds200.htm and http://sam-radford.me.uk/skyplus.htm However, I have found a spare feed in his loft, which I can cut and insert a splitter to deliver the signal to next door, if they ever want Sky and down to my friend. Can you supply such a splitter and would it affect the signal to any great extent, please? The dish is a large one with a big LNB supplying 18 units in the complex. Yours truly, Richard D K -- You can't (= mustn't) split an LNB feed. See http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/split_feed.htm Thank you John I. -- Do you mean this? http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page8.htm#threadedf and http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page7.htm#adapt -- See http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/ "9. How to combine aerials/LNB into one cable?" Model number on label or rear panel: DSI8210CS I purchased a Sky+ box from eBay and am I the process of consultation for return, but in case it goes pearshape I would appreciate your words of wisdom in determining the likey cause of the problem please. The Box does not power up at all, the power source, cable, internal and external fuses are OK. The PSU has those CapXon capacitors. There is no fishy smell or burn marks. The PSU has a lable on it with 3 numbers: FB709236513598670 42W5P 111141 From your website it appears that the PSU is dead and needs to be replaced. So what would be the cost please for a replacement PSU and roughly how long is the waiting queue? Regards Raymond -- See http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/psu.htm and http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/thom_psu.htm and http://notonyourtelly.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1390 However, I'm not sure which plugs to buy, you know the male/female etc. Your site is excellent and technical but that's left me a bit confused. I just don't know what's in the packs and what else I'll need. From each of the rooms, a satellite suitable lead (so 5 in total) has been taken to the loft and left with the ends hanging - these will need connecting to the above stuff. K.H. -- The V10-040 uses 'F' connector plugs. All masthead amplifiers use 'F' connector plugs. Five such plugs are supplied in the kit. http://www.satcure.com/tech/best_aerial.htm Model number on label or rear panel: vtx-s760u Hi just a quick question, Do you do a repair kit for the sony digibox? I have one box with a dim standby light and one with a flickering standby light, Neither come out of standby. If you do not can you recomend somewhere I can get one or an Ebook that will guide me on the repair. Regards Shane -- Nothing to offer, unfortunately. I suggest you contact Michael: I have a canal boat and am putting in a digital freeview TV and outside aerial. There is NO aerial system at present and after reading our very helpfull stuff online I am thinking of going for the Vision Pro V10-040 as you specifically recomended it for narrowboats. Because it's fairly compact and a good all-rounder. I have two questions 1. which parts of the UK is this aerial not suitable for (You mentioned 85% UK coverage)and will this percentage change when we go to the digital switchover. -- It's not suitable for areas which have a weak signal, such as the Welsh valleys. Yes, the percentage will increase slightly when the power is increased. However, signals still won't pass through mountains. 2. What if any is the downside to using this type of aerial which is designed for weak/moderate signal strength in a strong signal strength area -- It works in areas of medium to strong signal. Anywhere that Wolfbane predicts 34dBuV/m or higher. Which dish will give the better gain from your products :- 1. zone 2 sky dish with Quad LNB 2. 60Cm round dish with dual LNB I can install either however I will be using the Humax foxsat HDR to watch programs in HD. Look forward to your reply Alfred -- Unfortunately, I don't have gain figures for either dish but there's probably very little difference. I don't recommend using a 60cm dish with a dual LNB. Most dual (monobloc) LNBs are designed for use with an 80cm dish. See http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/lnb.htm#twin (Yes, he probably meant "twin-output LNB" but that's not what he wrote.) (Or unhappy!) Regarding Customer receipt (Keep-me): SAT035540 Alternative email address- none Dear Sirs/Madam, I am very disappointed that my order SAT 035540 has not been delivered. This order was placed in good faith, trusting your company would be able to live up to its name as advertised on your web site (SAT CURE) but I am not convinced with your service (will you have a cure for me or is there is a credibility issue here?) The order was placed a good few days ago. I've got electricians waiting to fit my satellite system, twiddling their thumbs, because the cables that you promised would be delivered in two days have still to arrive at my door step!! Please tell me what I have to do to let you know that I am seriously being delayed by your inefficient service? It's costing me good money that I am short on (am I able to bill you the cost of two people waiting on you?) Can you pleased pull the stops and be kind enough to help me have this order delivered as a promised under your terms and conditions? I will be most delighted to receive the goods on Monday 23 Feb (albeit still very late) but delighted. If you have any difficulty meeting this order PLEASE do not hesitate to call me &endash; remember I am here to help US work together? Please call me on xxxx (If I do not pick up my phone straight away its not because I am avoiding you its because I'll be busy making cups of coffee for the electricians, so please ring back within a few 5 minutes or please send me a text leaving a telephone number I can use to ring back to get this moving - please?) I look forward to working with you soon so we can both feel good about a days work!!!! Many thanks. -- Hi. Your order contained the condition: "please deliver asap on thursday 20 mar 08". It is now only the 21st February so we thought we had a month to spare - assuming that "mar" refers to "MARCH". Perhaps you'd like to clarify your requirements but please note that we are unable to arrange delivery for a specific date or time. Normally we simply ship ASAP, unless you ask for a delay (as you apparently did). For more information see http://www.satcure.co.uk/useful/sales_help.htm#nextday I would just like to thank you for your lightning quick delivery. I did not expect to receive this order till Monday at the earliest but it came on Saturday which meant I could install it over the weekend. Great service and thanks again. Mike S. -- Yes, sorry, we can't get it wrong every time. I hope it works OK if you need a picture of the lack of packing please contact me. Richard S. -- LNBs are made from diecast metal and are fairly robust. The only damage that would prejudice long term reliability would be puncturing of the plastic cover in front of the feedhorn that keeps rain and spiders out. The rest of the plastic is cosmetic. See typical construction: http://www.satcure.net/tech/LNBpics.htm "BLAK63 BLAKE 4 ELEMENT FM4 AERIAL" There are 2 lugs in the terminal box on this aerial, which appear to be for a cable clamp, but no cable clamp or screws for this were supplied. Can you confirm if there should be such a clamp and if so provide the missing parts, thanks. This same item also arrived slightly bent (direct from supplier Eurosat Distribution, Midlands Ltd, via FedEx UK). It was covered with bubble-wrap but that was inadequate to prevent it getting distorted in transit. I have straightened out the aluminium tubes now, so it will be satisfactory. Thanks for your help (several times customer and pleased with your service) Paul Paul B. -- Hi, Paul. Unfortunately, I have no information on this aerial and spares are unlikely to be available. As we state everywhere (including your Keep-me message), if you sign to accept the delivery instead of simply refusing to accept damaged goods, you give us a big problem, which costs us time and money. The only remedy I can suggest is that we'll arrange to get a replacement sent. However, this is not a Technical matter so you need to arrange it with Sales, as I'm 50 miles from the Sales office. Best Wishes, Martin I bet you can hardly wait for the next thrilling episode. Speaking of "episodes", I just finished listening to the entire series of "Harry Potter" audiobooks. Feeling a bit depressed now. Latest SatCure eBook updates Sky User Instructions "Missing Manual" updated February 11, 2009 "Installing Sky Digital and Freesat" updated February 20th to include an explanation about the differences between a Sky and a Freesat installation (basically none!) The Free "Understanding Sky Digital and Freesat" has also been updated for the same reason. Meet other Satellite TV enthusiasts and put your questions or points of view here Need to buy wholesale stock to sell on eBay or on your web site? Thinking of starting your own business? Click on banner above. All kinds of video tapes transferred to DVD, UK's lowest prices and top quality. Experienced engineer and a personal service. Most tapes just £10 for 2:30 hours or less in quantity. I can't recommend this forum for Expats too highly. It's run and moderated by Kay who puts in a lot of hours to make sure everything runs smoothly. If you are outside the UK or thinking of emigrating then you need to look in here! Don't fancy DIY? Looking for a TV or VCR remote control? Look no further. only £18.80 inclusive from SatCure! Your advert could be here! Contact us for details. Electronic kits and gadgets. Start a new hobby! Ideal Presents. News
It appears that the "upgrade" consists of fitting a couple of cable ties to stop the mains power connector from parting company with the mother board.
Monthly Whinge
Readers' Contributions
New Products
DIGINOVA
Auction of the Month
Questions
SkyHD problem
My Amstrad DRX180 is stuck in standby!
Wonder if you can help. My current setup has my sky+ box in my lounge. From there I have an RF 1 cable going to a tv in my bedroom. I control it using a magic eye. I have now purchased a new tv+stand for my lounge but now have an obstructed view to the sky box. So I purchased another magic eye in the hope that I could connect it to the same rf1 cable same side as the sky box. Unfortunately it appears that I can't power two magic eyes from opposite sides of the same cable as the magic eye in my bedroom no longer receives power.
I would like to know what PSU kit I need to order for a Thomson 129e163 Sky + box, or do you need me to give you the model number of the PSU module inside.
My friend has only one feed to his Sky HD and I think this may be the reason for "Failed" recordings and "No satellite signal being received" from time to time.
I have cables coming from the satellite dish terminating as male 'F' connectors. I bought from you in the past 'F' connector to TV adaptor which is also male Is there a connector to join two 'F' males I am having to use a TV coax for part of a run as I am unable to rerun it in satellite grade coax.
I want to combine a TV analoge signal with a sat signal into my TV on 1 lead.
Equipment made by: Thomson
I asked a few questions the other day and I've decided to buy the Log 40 aerial (loft kit) with the 4 way masthead amp and splitter as you've suggested.
Equipment made by: Sony Sky
My location is: North Wales
I am installing Freesat HD and before I order from you would like advice on which Dish to order.
Happy Customers
Regarding Customer receipt (Keep-me): SAT035591
Order arrived OK but the LNB was in a separate cardboard box without any additional packing -bubblewrap etc.
I have received all ordered items OK thanks, but have a query about one item:
That's it for another month, folks!
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