Urgent question on TV reception

[Martin963]

And then tell everyone they know (British AND French) about their experience.

The only time I felt I'd been "done" I made sure that everyone who cared to listen knew about it.   Most of our French friends were genuinely shocked and sympathetic.

[louloulaloopski]

... we paid in excess of 700 euros ....

No idea of the Sony RRP at that time but the early large screen LCD were prohibitively expensive.

Plus the fact that it had an integrated UHF/VHF Digital Tuner and an integrated CAM (Conditional Access Module) Slot.

Sony were not to know that until the closure of the analogue transmissions and subsequent improved TNT signal, for most people TNT was worse than analogue. The CAM slot has STILL not taken off yet; I am looking for a compatible BisTV module so I can subscribe to BeInSport.

On the eve of 2013 one still finds people with a Canal Ready TV, just requiring a card, but, NO they still soldier on gallantly with their CanalSat-Canal+ HD décodeurs.......at a rental cost of €6/mois.[:D]

Similar argument implied above for the integrated SatTuner, since 2012 in France with DVB-S2.

Link with info:

http://www.lcd-compare.com/tv-canal-ready-news-35.htm

[mint]

OK, guys, here is the latest instalment.

Aerial has now been rotated around in different directions.  Unfortunately, we do not benefit from the Ribérac transmitter because the cover of that transmitter spreads east-west-south and not north where we are situated.

The pro has suggested that we try a better aerial that will boost the signal but even he can't guarantee that, once we have changed the aerial, we will get Arte.

Otherwise, it will have to be another satellite box for French TV.

Any thoughts, anyone?  Martin?  Loops?

[louloulaloopski]

Sorry to read about the trees, that time of year after the leaves have fallen.

Any chance that reception could have improved as a result from the limoges direction.

Does any house near you get TNT HD, assuming they have a compatible TNT HD tv set.

As if TNT HD is generally not easily received then there is a definite problem, particularly as all TNT channels are scheduled to be HD by the end of 2014.

Your TV is  only SD so if you want to watch in HD then a new TV will be necessary but the choice of a TV set would depend possibly on whether you go a terrestrial or satellite route.

Arte is available in SD on Astra 1 so a temporary band-aid could be installed, I have 3 large parabolic dishes and 3 SD digital FTA receivers/tuners.

A support for the dish does not have to go on the roof or even a wall, a 40 mm pipe stuck in the ground is sufficient.

When I went terrestrial after years of analogue by satellite, there was only one house of the 13 actually receiving TNT, so I persevered and eventually with a 5 metre mast got a good signal.

If you do finally have to adopt a satellite then the TNTSAT option on Astra 1 would be better due to the amount of music on the german FTA channels .

For example this evening I have watched Don Quichotte Ballet, absolutely delightful, followed by a couple oh hours of David Garrett. Thats right the one that got expelled from RCM.

Saturday is the eve of three Kings so local infants will be glued to the screen watching the event.

[mint]

Bonjour, Loops, thanks for the commiseration about the trees.  I know the trees are now gone and I am not crying over spilt milk.  However, their removal have de-stabilised the whole earth bank that the roots so beautifully held up.  I suppose there will now be years of erosion of earth onto what was formerly a beautiful clean and well maintained road....b******! 

The TV does have HD.  In fact, he said we were only able to get any pictures at all because it's such a good TV.  According to him, we shouldn't be getting anything at all but he said we couldn't get the top and bottom ranges of channels.

Do you think we might be better off going down the route of the extra box for French TV?

Limoges is out of the question as the village is behind the house and the new houses with aerials pointing towards Limoges are on higher ground and the aerials are also "wide gain" or whatever the term is. 

[louloulaloopski]

Trees; dont worry the bank will be covered in grass,weeds and ronces in no time.

TV; what I meant was that it was the lower pixel definition,  TNT MPEG2 (SD) id est 1366 x 768 pixels  and not full HD.

SAT box; if the TNT aerial does not work out then a french sat box will be a viable option. There are two "free" options Fransat and Tntsat but the boxes are not cheap for an HD box around €100 and for one with bells and whistles €150 or more. There is also BisTV with a small monthly charge giving the TNT plus extra channels. It might be a good idea to check on the net the three candidates to get up your learning curve, there is a lot of "gumph" on their sites to digest.

Aerials; not my forte but more gain less hassle, locals say the three pronged poseidon ones work well, I have lent my amplifier to a friend and he now gets TNT HD on two separate TVs.

[louloulaloopski]

Neptune/Poséidon thingamajigs are called "tri-nappes" in french.

Here is a useful link http://forum.zonehd.net/viewtopic.php?id=2657

Some of them are active with an integrated ampifier.

Some with a reputed gain of 48dbi, cheap metronic and Elap antennas available in most grande surface bricos.

The dbi is a logarithmic scale and an active set up adds around 25 dbi extra oomph; this looks like twice the output

néeunmoine in fact approximately for each extra 3dbi there is a doubling of output so the incorporation of an amplifier is significant for a modest increase in price.

[Martin963]

The advice to check with near neighbours is good.  But if you've got trees (or now haven't,  I'm a bit confused,  I'll read it again in a minute) then locally and specifically to you it's possible that no amount of copying the neighbours will help.

I must say that in these circumstances I'd personally go for the satellite option.  Why?   Well a complex high gain aerial system on a tall pole is just as expensive in the end as putting up a satellite dish and  buying a cheapish TNTsat or Fransat box.   Satellite is (within reason) guaranteed to continue to work once it's been installed and got going,   whereas aerials are prone to falling down,  falling to bits (and the Televes Trinappes are very prone to that!!),  twisting round,  being struck by lighning,  etc.    Whereas a dish low down on a wall is much more stable.   AND you get all those music channels (German Classical radio is excellent for example,  there are a dozen stations,  one for each region).  

If you could only wait until the summer I'd come and put the dish up myself for free....

I suspect the installer is covering himself for disappointment when you find can't get a signal on all MUXs after he's laboured on a new aerial and trying to give you a "simplified excuse".   As I said a long time ago,  it's true that an old Audrix aerial may have trouble with the MUX on ch 58 but a modern wideband one shouldn't.      Limoges may be pushing it where you are.... as is Bordeaux Bouliac.  That's why the Riberac/Auberterre relay at Auberterre is there,  although it's unfortunate it's not any use for you.   In fact the reduced power to the north that he mentioned is not a huge notch,  and extends round from 290 deg to 70 deg (it's half power in that arc,  but still a respectable 45 Watts) but if there's something in the way then it may well shanghai your reception of it,  even only 3 miles away;  you're it seems more east than north of the relay as far as I can see.   Otherwise I'd expect it to work fine.   Incidentally,  there's a half-power notch to the south as well between 150 and 220 deg,  with a further notch of another halving of the power between 170 and 190 deg,  so what you were told is not strictly speaking correct ab out it beaming south as well as east and west.

When he tested Riberac he did remember to turn the aerial on its main boom so that the rods were vertical didn't he?    ie

!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!

Or conversely if it's already on Riberac did he remember to turn it around its main boom to make the rods horizontal?

Did he tell you which transmitter you were picking up at the moment?   The reason I ask is that if he spun your existing aerial round by simply rotating the mast he'd have had to actually get to the top to change the polarisation;  the tests wouldn't have been valid if he'd compared Riberac and Limoges and Bergerac UNLESS he adjusted the polarisation..... 

Just a thought.  Is he local to the Riberac area?

[mint]

Hi, there, Martin, thank you so much for your further input.

As I see it, we are more north-west than north-east of the Riberac mast.

However, we've now decided to do nothing further.  The answers the neighbour's given me do not seem to have anything to do with our situation.

The technician finds our anomaly quite perplexing.  He said that we shouldn't be getting any picture at all and can't understand why we've got as much as we in fact do![:-))]

I don't want to put you out but, if you are around in the summer and fancy a challenge........[:D]

[Martin963]

Well as long as you can wait until April.....

The only thing I ask is that if your house is made of impenetrable stone (like so many) you either provide a ****** good drill to make the fixing holes,  or we find something wooden (eg beam,  door frame) to fix the dish to.  

I'm very happy to help (gratis of course) if you're still stuck then,  we come your way at least once a year to bask in the joy of a bank of fragrant orchids not that far from you...   (W is a bit of an orchid spotter).

We'll talk about it nearer the time.

[mint]

That is wonderfully kind of you, Martin.

But fragrant orchids?  I don't know any orchids that are scented so I look forward to being told which ones![:D]