| Hi Folks! I hope you've enjoyed the recent good weather. Judging from the lack of orders, you haven't been spending your time up a ladder! My wife and I will be flying to Crete for a week on June 15th and celebrating our birthdays there. During that time there will be no technical support but you will be able to get help from our hardworking, unpaid volunteers in the discussion forum and the Sales girls will still be working hard to get your orders delivered quickly. June 10, 2004 Sky Freesat Announcement In view of yesterday's announcement by Sky I thought I would try to pre-empt your questions. No doubt you all read the Guardian report on line and/or heard the news. http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1235313,00.html (You may need to sign up to read this Guardian report). Basically, BskyB is proposing to supply a Digibox, fully installed, for a one-off payment of £150. A card will be included. The announcement referred to "Free To Air" satellite TV but what it really meant was "Free To View", since a Sky Digibox and viewing card will still be required. The channel line-up has not been stated but it's probably the existing free channels and Free To View channels. Although "200 free channels" sounds good, it's what you get already with a FTV card, if you count the niche channels that hardly anyone watches and the radio channels. Speculation is rife, of course, and nobody has any answers. "Will ITV2 be included?" I don't know. "Will the footprint be changed so I can watch ITV in Russia?" Unlikely. "Will I be able to watch ITV without a card?" I doubt it. "Will I be forced to connect the Digibox to my phone line?" Probably. Basically, this offer makes BskyB look good. It's installing a system at less than cost so people will be able to get the existing terrestrial channels. But I suspect that there will be hidden costs. It would not surprise me if a telephone connection will be required. Nor would it surprise me if the FTV card expires after 2 years. The pressure will certainly be on to encourage the customer to upgrade to a subscription package. Maybe an £8 a month "TopUp" package?
Is my brain generating static? I receive some questions from idiots but I also receive some questions that look idiotic (at first glance) but are actually quite serious. I do try to give a helpful reply to these questions and here's this week's example: Is it possible for a person to cause VCR/TV/etc to be unable to be used ? I have recently come off powerful anti-depressants after 40 years - could this cause extra brain activity ergo static to build up ? I cannot tune in any receiver at present. The only radio I have produces static if I pass my hand in front of it - I do not wear jewellery. This has been happening for about 3 months now. Only had it on odd occassions when leaving my car before. I can't touch tv/vcr etc: radio - if I get too close reception crackles etc. Is it possible that I could be causing this problem ? It was very strong, mood supressing medication. Total withdrawal has caused other problems. GP wonders if it is possible? Mollie Mollie, I'm sorry to hear about your problems. I hope you are recovering well and have people to support you in this difficult time. I can assure you that what you suggest is quite impossible so please don't worry about it. The last thing you should be doing is worrying about perfectly normal phenomena! There are two effects that might be taking place here. * Firstly, if anyone moves close to a radio or TV aerial, they will affect the reception. The human body is really just a "bag full of water" and can block or reflect the very weak signal that a radio or TV is receiving. If this is happening then the answer is a roof aerial. * Secondly, it's quite common for people to generate some static electricity if they are wearing synthetic fibre clothing (eg. nylon material). When nylon is rubbed together, it generates an electrical charge. The only remedy for this is to wear cotton against synthetic. I have this problem in my car. Rubbing my nylon shirt against the nylon cloth covered seats generates so much electricity that I can get quite a shock when I step out and touch the ground with my feet! Please show this note to your doctor next time you see him. Subsequent reply: As the brian using electricity, of some form, is it not possible, maybe at times of extreme stress say, that with the removal of brain suppressive drugs, it could be more succeptable to conduct static electricity ? Mollie Absolutely not. :-) Although the brain uses electricity, the amount is so tiny that it requires very sensitive equipment costing hundreds of thousands of pounds to measure it. And, although some people believe in extra-sensory perception, there has never been conclusive proof AFAIK that anybody can transmit even thoughts, let alone electricity. I'm afraid your problems will turn out to have a much more mundane explanation. Perhaps a bad earth connection in your house wiring or in the wall socket? Note that the clothing doesn't have to be nylon. It just has to contain a small amount of synthetic fibre. For example polyester cotton. In addition, an even worse problem can be caused by a synthetic fibre carpet as you walk across it. This will generate static electricity. I've also generated a measured 30,000 volts myself simply by running downstairs with my hands on non-metal bannister rails. You can also generate static electricity by sliding sheets of paper apart and by opening a plastic bag. There are lots of ways. Goodbye Handylink We were sorry to hear that the "Labgear" company has gone into receivership so the "Handylink" MRX equipment will no longer be available. The SkyLink "Digilink" also bites the dust. We have a small number left so, if you want one, please order it now or be disappointed. In place of the Labgear equipment, we are now supplying Triax equipment. So the Triax-Link system takes the place of the "Handylink" system. Please note that individual devices are not interchangeable between systems. It must be all Triax or all Labgear. We will, of course, honour any warranty claims from anyone who already bought Labgear equipment from us. In some cases this might mean replacing the entire system with the Triax equivalent. From a personal point of view, I'm sad to see Labgear go because their equipment has been very reliable. We shall wait and see how Triax fares. I am told that it is even better. We still have a few MRX990 "buttons" left for controlling additional equipment via the Handylink system. Order now or regret it later! (top)
Special offers There's a special offer page ONLY for people who receive this newsletter already. You will have received the link to the special offers page in your email reminder. (Yes, look again. It's there!) Special offers include single- and quad-output LNBs with 40mm neck fittings and also gold Scart leads. Limited quantity. If you don't order TODAY there may be none left! The LNBs are perfect but they are not regular stock items and we probably won't get this type again. I think they were bankrupt stock.
Sorry, LNBs sold out.
Did the Earth move? My location is: Lapta just outside Kyrenia Cyprus. I recently retired, after a lifetime in electronics, to sunny Cyprus, just outside Kyrenia/Girne, taking my motorized satellite system with me. Located Intelsat 707 at 1W, which I have always assumed was as near as dammit the high point of the arc, but when I tried to pull in satellites on either side, nothing !! I discovered after a lot of sweating and mumbling, (us old men are very good at that*) and completely by luck that, if I made 707 the low point of the arc, I could then pull in all the satellites up to Turksat 1C at 42E. To my feeble old brain this doesn't seem to make any sense. If you have a minute could you please explain Roy * My wife would agree with you there! You have relocated 32 degrees west of England. That's 32 degrees east of 0 degrees longitude. The "arc" is actually a circle out in space above the equator. If you look due south from England, you are standing on the 0 degree line of longitude (Greenwich meridian). If you look due south from Cyprus you are standing on the 32'E line of longitude. And the satellite nearest to 32 degrees east of south is.....? Well, it's not 1' West, that's for sure! Try Turksat 1B at 31.3'E as the high point in your arc. Or E-Bird at 33'E. (top)
You like spam I know that most of you would be lost without your daily dose of spam. I mean, what would you have to talk about in the pub and in the office? In any case, it's too much trouble to do anything about it, isn't it? Well I did something about it and I can tell you that it's a very bad day when I receive a SINGLE spam message! Most days I receive NONE at all. Anyway, in case anybody is interested, I'm giving away my spam solution for FREE. http://www.satcure.net/getscript2/ (top)
Server Problems I apologise for the server down time on http://www.satcure.co.uk. Although this has been mostly at night time (in the UK) it's an inconvenience and I've asked the ISP to move the site to a more reliable server. Note that the site is mirrored at http://www.satcure.net and that has been quite reliable. In addition, the catalogue could not be downloaded because the link was incorrect. Goodness knows how long it's been like this but, thanks to a kind person who pointed it out today, I've fixed it. (top)
Pace and Grundig switch off cured It would appear that the reported intermittent "switch off" symptoms were not caused by the EPG software but by the Operating System. Those of you who were affected by this problem should see that it has been updated from 1.2S4F1 to 1.2S4F3 and the problem should have gone. (If it hasn't then please don't ask or tell me. This is all I know at present). This Operating System version is being downloaded by other standard Digiboxes, too. My own Panasonic TU-DSB40 got it last night and produced a banner message about connecting the phone line for interactive services (just press "backup" to get rid of it). Older Pace Digiboxes BSKYB2200 - 2500B have not yet updated from 1.2S4F1. (top)
Happy Customers Hi Thanks for asking about my order, I'm pleased to say that everything was fine - the wire (order No 2786211) came very fast only two days from placing the order and is exactly what I wanted. I would not hesitate to use your company again should I need anything in the future. Many Thanks Alec
Hi, Just to let you know that my order turned up this morning and I'm very satisified by the way my order has been handled! I shall certainly reccomend your co. to all my mates.. 8-) Thanks very much, Nige
Many thanks for your email. Yes I did manage to download the E-book within minutes of ordering it. I am in Switzerland and had lost BBC etc all from the Astra 2d. I had been able to get it prior to a trip to UK of three weeks. Your book saved me fortunes in fees to specialist dish people etc and I solved the problem within 24 hours of finding your site. While away the tree in line of sight came into bloom!!! It was small enough last year not to interfere with the Astra 2D and Sky etc were strong enough to get through. Needless to say over winter it was Ok except when it snowed hard!! But come the spring and new buds it was enough to stop the low power BBC and ITV signals. Thanks to your book I was able to realise the problem, move the dish and realign it with compass etc etc - A tip for you: a "Silva" style marching compass sticky backed plastic taped to a broom handle works very well to give you an exact line of sight. Being a sailor I have a multitude of compasses but that one worked best. For the declination I used my sextant - I bet one has never been used for that before!! So I had very little realigning with a meter I brought locally - looks exactly the same as the one in your catalogue but the instructions were in German. Again thanks to your book I was able to work out how to use the meter. I now have excellent reception but have not had the chance yet to see how bad weather effects it. I have a 60 cm normal dish with a basic LNB and a Sony Sky Digibox. My location is: Lat 47.0844 Long 8.3355 In Ebikon just outside Lucerne which is approx 50 Mile SSW of Zurich. Hope I have not bored you but thanks for a wonderful service Mike
Janet Thanks for the email. The repair kit for my Grundig arrived next day and cured my problem completely! I had a very low quality signal on my Grundig GDS310 digibox with pixelation and picture freezing and could get no improvement by re-alignment or an LNB swap. Thank you very much for the info on the web site, with out it I'd have spent around 6 times the price of the repair kit on a Sky "callout". I've passed on your website details to a friend of mine who has a similar problem and I've suggested he orders the repair kit (which I can de-solder/solder for him). Thank you again, and best regards. Gordon
Hi Janet, The kit (Grundig Digibox RELKIT 33b for DSO-0385 REV.F PSU) arrived the day after the email saying it had been posted which I was very impressed with. I work in the electronics industry so removing the old capacitors and fitting the new ones wasn't a problem. My 3.2V line had over 200mV of ripple and the 22Khz signal to the LNB was very noisy. After fitting the kit the ripple dropped to about 50mV and the 22Khz signal was completely clean. I now get all channels (I was getting No Satellite Signal Received on all Horizontal channels). Very pleased with the result and have already recommended your site to two other people. Thanks Simon
Everything arrived fine - though I had to go some way to the depot to collect, as courier would not accept neighbour's signature. Sorry for the inconvenience but we do warn about this. Some drivers work to the rule book. See: http://www.satcure.com/useful/sales_help.htm#out Pleased with the kit, which I wanted to mount a digital aerial onto. It is worth getting the larger items so as to mount solidly onto the wall, rather than the soffit. Andy Good idea. Martin wants to start a "photo museum" for successful installations so, if you have a digital camera handy on a sunny day, you might like to take a snap or two. :-) (top)
From Radio Bullet ( http://radio.mediabullet.co.uk ): From Sky Digi Online ( http://skydigital.mediabullet.co.uk ):
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