Snap Crackle and Pop

In article ,
John Legon wrote:
At 07:52:40 Wed, 18 Nov 2009, charles wrote in article 50bc06f479charl
:
In article ,
Bill wrote:

I can't see why a masthead amp would have electrolytics on board.

i'd expect one - to act as a 'reservoir' for the power.

The dc "reservoir" will be in the PSU...

and there should be another one at the 'use' end of the cable run.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

In article ,
says...

I get a crap analogue signal if I remove the amp, I think I'm on Ridge
Hill, I'm just south of Gloucester.

Ah! "You think ..." but you're obviously not certain ...

http://www.ukfree.tv/txdetail.php?a=SO630333

Has it not occurred to you that anybody able to give you detailed advice
about you particular problem will already know exactly where Ridge Hill
is, and the area it covers? For what it's worth, your link tells me that
RH is 188km NW of me. How does that help YOU?

Sorry to labour the point, but it is YOUR location that is important!
Many people have asked for similar advice to you in the past and have
been happy to give accurate information. As a result, someone will often
respond who lives in the locality, has relatives there or who has done
work there and is familiar with local reception conditions which, in
some places, can change considerably over quite short distances. They
can then offer constructive advice - sometimes proven solutions. I don't
guarantee that someone WILL be able to do that in your particular case
but you aren't exactly helping are you? You are simply wasting
everybody's time if you don't improve on the rather vague "just south of
Gloucester". The small scale map your link refers to shows Bath as "just
south of Gloucester" (its only about an inch on my screen) but I don't
think that is what you meant ...

Seems that they are doing work anyway.

I was about to query the need for the amp before you posted this - now
there is no need, as you previously stated that you don't need one (or
else it couldn't have worked in the first place).

Lost me on that one Terry..?

Your post said: "it" (I assume you meant the aerial) "worked fine when I
originally sited it, worked very well indeed, no problems whatsoever."

You then mention the deterioration which has happened since, before
referring to the 25dB amplifier. I assumed from this that the amplifier
was introduced in a effort to restore the original performance.

As for DSO I guess I don't really know what I'm on about...I though that I
read somewhere that when they switch the analogue off then the Digital
signal would get better, I guess that DSO doesn't refer to switching the
analogue off does it..

DSO refers to Digital Switch Over but it goes hand-in-hand with ASO -
Analogue Switch Off.


--

Terry

At 09:23:41 Wed, 18 Nov 2009, charles wrote in article 50bc0f4992charle
:
In article ,
John Legon wrote:
At 07:52:40 Wed, 18 Nov 2009, charles wrote in article 50bc06f479charl
:
In article ,
Bill wrote:

I can't see why a masthead amp would have electrolytics on board.

i'd expect one - to act as a 'reservoir' for the power.

The dc "reservoir" will be in the PSU...

and there should be another one at the 'use' end of the cable run.

Well, I'm surprised! It seems that the base bias circuitry can include
a low value electrolytic.

"charles" wrote in message ...
In article ,
John Legon wrote:
At 07:52:40 Wed, 18 Nov 2009, charles wrote in article 50bc06f479charl
:
In article ,
Bill wrote:

I can't see why a masthead amp would have electrolytics on board.

i'd expect one - to act as a 'reservoir' for the power.

The dc "reservoir" will be in the PSU...

and there should be another one at the 'use' end of the cable run.

Well, I'm surprised. It does seem, though, that some masthead amps
do use a low value electrolytic in the transistor base bias circuitry.

Forget it guys,

Many thanks to those of you who tried to help me without resorting to
insulting diatribe..

Jim said...

Hair dryers, mobiles phones, cars passing by in the street, just about
everything you can think of seems to interfere with the signal, mainly the
audio, it just chirrups, clicks and generally drives us all barmy.


Then again all our mobile phones cause all sorts of things to crackle and
pop within the house, not just the telly.

My iPhone seems to be the main culprit, makes the clock radio upstairs go
bonkers even when my iPhone is downstairs twenty or thirty feet away.

Have you checked that all the ring mains circuits in the house have a
good earth, from what you say it would seem that the house wiring is
acting as a giant aerial, picking up interference and passing this on
to the head amp and other appliances.

Have you checked the downlead for continuity, it may have suffered wear
and damaged the shielding.


The digital signal is pretty robust. For a couple of years I was in a
basement flat and used one of these:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=29193

It was hung on the wall about 3-4 feet above ground level and was
looking through a narrow gap in a row of houses at Sandy Heath 21 miles
away, I used it with several cheap'n cheerful boxes which usually
showed about 10-20% signal strength on a good day and never had any
problems with interference or breakup. I don't think it's your STB,
something is strange with your setup.






--
Ken O'Meara
http://www.btinternet.com/~unsteadyken/

On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:48:11 -0000, Jim wrote:

Forget it guys,

Many thanks to those of you who tried to help me without resorting to
insulting diatribe..

Take the advice then.
Seeing as you have already decided to leave your head up your arse (and in
all reality you had already decided this before you asked the question),
there is not much anyone can do.
Goodbye.

In article , {$mrtickle$}
@nospam.demon.co.uk says...

In , "Jim" wrote:

Forget it guys,

Many thanks to those of you who tried to help me without resorting to
insulting diatribe..

We haven't managed to get off square one yet - our hands are tied due to
your perplexing refusal to specify your location. I can't really put it
more politely than Terry Casey has. :-(

Thank you Mike - at least I tried!

I suppose that Bill's two word response to the original post summed it
all up, really. The whole thing was such an unthinkable mess that it was
well nigh impossible to give any sort of meaningful advice and, I
notice, that many of the regulars here who are usually only willing to
provide virtually instant, helpful, practical advice kept well clear of
Jim's mess.

However, many people DID attempt to offer advice - but they also needed
to ask questions. Jim asks questions - everybody else only expected to
provide answers.

If Jim would take the time to go through the archives of this group and
pick out previous requests from more reasonable people who, unlike Jim,
were willing to answer simple requests to clarify their particular
problem, he would see for himself what a massive amount of free,
professional advice is available here. Of course, he won't. He is
convinced that he is right and it doesn't really matter whether he is in
the Sea of Tranquility or 'somewhere in England'. He's asking the
questions and all he wants are answers. If he doesn't agree with any of
the answers, it's not HIS fault ...

--

Terry

Incidentally I intend to investigate a hypothosis shortly. It is that
reflectors longer than 0.5 wavelength and with more than four rods are a
sales gimmick. I'll report back.

Bill

Sounds interesting. What is the allegation re these reflector systems?..
--
Tony Sayer

Many thanks Ken,

I'll check the downleads..and the earth, sounds very likely, though I'll
most likely need the services of an qualified electrician to do that
properly I guess.
I have such a person in mind..

Jim.


"UnsteadyKen" wrote in message
m...
Jim said...

Hair dryers, mobiles phones, cars passing by in the street, just about
everything you can think of seems to interfere with the signal, mainly
the
audio, it just chirrups, clicks and generally drives us all barmy.


Then again all our mobile phones cause all sorts of things to crackle and
pop within the house, not just the telly.

My iPhone seems to be the main culprit, makes the clock radio upstairs go
bonkers even when my iPhone is downstairs twenty or thirty feet away.

Have you checked that all the ring mains circuits in the house have a
good earth, from what you say it would seem that the house wiring is
acting as a giant aerial, picking up interference and passing this on
to the head amp and other appliances.

Have you checked the downlead for continuity, it may have suffered wear
and damaged the shielding.


The digital signal is pretty robust. For a couple of years I was in a
basement flat and used one of these:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=29193

It was hung on the wall about 3-4 feet above ground level and was
looking through a narrow gap in a row of houses at Sandy Heath 21 miles
away, I used it with several cheap'n cheerful boxes which usually
showed about 10-20% signal strength on a good day and never had any
problems with interference or breakup. I don't think it's your STB,
something is strange with your setup.






--
Ken O'Meara
http://www.btinternet.com/~unsteadyken/