sony bravia tv & sony digital recorder

[devonwoody]

Any chance you are coming down Devon way?

 

[Tom K]

Hi Guys, I think you will find you require a fairly small child to set up and show you how to operate this equipment :shock: :lol:

Regards Tom

 

[RogerS]

Aerial reception (is suspect) I get 100% using just aerial leads to TV but only 57% aerial leads through the recorder (and perhaps the hd lead)

Had a senior moment as thought I'd posted in response to this Try again.

DW - if you're seeing a difference in signal (you don't say if this is level or quality) between a direct aerial connection to your TV and when the aerial is looped through your recorder then this will be down to one of 3 things.

Get yourself a coax barrel (it's the wee thing that lets you plug two coax leads together). Then use it to connect the aerial lead and the lead you use from your recorder to the TV (let's call this the short aerial lead) together and then plug that into your TV. Look at the signal reading. In other words, you have bypassed your recorder.

If the signal is up around the 100% mark then your recorder is duff.

If the signal is down around the 57% that you saw before then remove the short aerial lead and plug the main aerial lead into your TV. Check the signal level. If it's back up to 100% then go and buy yourself a decent digital capable short aerial lead.

If the signal level is still down around the 57% mark then it's either your transmitter playing up or you need a new aerial and/or decent digital capable downlead. When did you last replace these two items?

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks Roger, Our beacon Hill transmitter is having work/upgrade in progress until the 30th of this month.

The aerial in the loft is 20 years old, (but gave 100%signal and excellent quality reading on the TV yesterday)

So will get hold of a barrel extension somewhere and do the test you recommend and after the 30th January if things are still freezing I will get a new aerial.


Latest I have now managed to forward record, I think it has happened because I autotuned analogue and that is working with Freeview which has this EPG(easy program guide) set up.

So I have now got 3 immediated recordings and two forward recordings on my hard drive, and the problem is now to remember how I did it.

 

[RogerS]

DW - If the aerial is that old then chances are your downlead is equally as old. So you'll be doing yourself a big favour if you replace both. Also you may find that just because you get a good reading on one channel you won't necessarily get good readings on some of the others on a different MUX.

When I got the Humax, BBC4 and 3 were awful. Ridge Hill is only 14 miles away - direct line of site and nothing in between. Tried changing the aerial (outdoors as well) - no difference. Then I got some proper modern aerial cable and I tried it out with the old aerial sitting on top of a bucket on the ground before clambering up on the roof to install it. Magic. Perfect picture.

 

[devonwoody]

The cable from the recorder to the tv came supplied new by sony, so should be OK.

 

[devonwoody]

I've got a problem, I live within 3 kms. of the transmitter and I mustn't install I high quality aerial. In fact , I have got to fit a 32 element type aerial with actunators and to help the situation in must not be outside but in the loft.

This is according to the help line of an aerial manufacturer helpline.

 

[seaco]

Unfortunately as time goes by technology improves and that means things change and that includes leads, I for one will be bloody glad when scart leads become a thing of the past they have always been a pain due to there size and the way they connect...

The new hdmi leads are a far easier connection and as said earlier scart doesn't transmit HD so things have to change otherwise we would still all be watching TV in black and white!

Dont forget scart was a new thing when we only had 5 channels...
:wink:

 

[devonwoody]

Roger Roger Roger please help.


Yesterday afternoon I recorded BBC1, Songs of Praise, (not about religion oddly enough but about electric organs), fantasic program.

It was a perfect reception and recording. Later I recorded channel 5 film and this morning I recorded ITV1, both of these last recordings were terrible. Broken reception. Hopeless.

I live 3 kms from a transmitter (Beacon Hill, which I now understand is a bad position to be in according to an aerial manufacturer help line I spoke to earlier today)

But why did I get perfect reception BBC1 but not the others, surely my auto tuner selected all from the same transmitter?

 

[RogerS]

Roger Roger Roger please help.


Yesterday afternoon I recorded BBC1, Songs of Praise, (not about religion oddly enough but about electric organs), fantasic program.

It was a perfect reception and recording. Later I recorded channel 5 film and this morning I recorded ITV1, both of these last recordings were terrible. Broken reception. Hopeless.

I live 3 kms from a transmitter (Beacon Hill, which I now understand is a bad position to be in according to an aerial manufacturer help line I spoke to earlier today)

But why did I get perfect reception BBC1 but not the others, surely my auto tuner selected all from the same transmitter?

Have you checked the signal level on all the channels? They are distributed between six multiplexers and you can find that you pick up one Mux without any problems but not another one...this has to be your starting point. See here

BBC1 and 2 are on Mux 1 as is BBC3. So what is the quality of BBC3 like? I suspect it is fine. ITV1 is on a different Mux and so is Channel 5.

I would abandon any attempts at gettoing your recorder connected up until you know that you have got a good signal on all the channels that you are interested in on - as received on your TV.

Is the transmitter line-of-sight or behind a gasometer? Do you have buildings nearby that might be giving reflections ?

And most important how old is your aerial cable? This and a decent aerial are the MOST IMPORTANT THING to sort out. If I was in your shoes, I'd get myself a new aerial and some new cable. Take the aerial upstairs into your bedroom or loft if you want to, and use the new cable and run it down the stairs. Then check things again.

I don't remember seeing an answer to my question whether you are able to display on your TV both signal level and quality.

Maybe post your Bravia moidel number or post a link to the online ser manal if such a beast exists.

EDIT: The only real way of knowing if your TV and/or recorder have tuned to the right transmitter is by looking up all the chanel frequencies for each of your channels and then checking to see that they have indeed been picked up OK. It is possible for the TV to pick up a completely different transmiter depending on aerial orientation and local conditions

 

[devonwoody]

Blinking hell, I never had this much trouble with my old 20" Alba in the bedroom,

Thanks Roger .
I will print out and get the grey matter working.

Recorder is Sony RDR-HXD870
http://support.sony-europe.com/hav/dvd/ ... RDR-HXD870

TV is KDL26T28XX
nearest onl line manual

http://support.sony-europe.com/tv/lcd/l ... DL-26T3000

 

[devonwoody]

Roger I have seen both signal level and quality (but only one channel) and on the TV it was 100% and excellent.

On the Recorder (one channel) it showed only 57% and poor.

 

[RogerS]

DW -which channel was it?

You have two faults I believe which is why you are having grief.

I think that your problems will go away though if you (a) throw away the lead supplied by Sony - no guarantees that it's any good and (b) get a decent aerial and downlead.

But ...this is the big but, dw..you must approach this logically otherwise it will take you ages to resolve.

Here is your homework for this evening :wink:

1/ Disconnect your recorder and pack it away
2/ plug the aerial lead straight into your TV
3/ having looked at the list of mux's on the link I gave you, choose at least two channels from each mux and write down their signal parameters
4/ report back.

Roger

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks again Roger, (it was BBC1 channel not known at the moment)

I will give it a whiz later this evening. However our Beacon hill transmitter is under maintenance until 30 th Jan.
Also we are only getting 30% signal strength on digital at the moment.

Did I say that the aerial manufacturer said I should not get an highgain or quality aerial with my post code (3km from transmitter) so might even resurrect an old indoor V aerial.

 

[devonwoody]

OK Roger did your advised tests.

Aerial lead only into TV and I get Signal strength 100% quality high.

on programs bbc1 to channel 5.

As per this picture

When I put the aerial lead to recorder and sony lead from recorder to tv I get very poor figures.

channels 52 to 58 signal quality is 100%
but strength is only between 48 to 58%
other channels have on low signal qualities of below 50%
and stengths of below 45% and less.


Recorder picture level screen for bbc1

So if my tv reception is good, is my digital recorder reception rubbish(which is needed to record to recorder) ?

admittedly using that new sony lead to tv with recorder figures.


Should I take my Sony recorder back to Comet and tell them its no bloody good?

 

[RogerS]

dw - bit confused re the two pictures. The second picture is your recorders' output as viewed on the TV????

The first one is just your TV? If so, where do you get your quality figures from? I just see the one bar saying Signal.

 

[devonwoody]

dw - bit confused re the two pictures. The second picture is your recorders' output as viewed on the TV????

The first one is just your TV? If so, where do you get your quality figures from? I just see the one bar saying Signal.

OK Roger the first one, strength, has a green line all the way across which I assume is 100%, because there is no other table to look at and quality is quoted as high verbally.

The second one I am viewing the recorders quality and strengths via the tv screen, which does not have any other method of viewing settings other than tv screen.

I cannot see the beacon hill aerial, I am 75% up the hill, (of the tower) and buildings or land obscures vision.

 

[RogerS]

I think that 57% is a red herring. Quality is good.

Your recorder gives a better indication of signal than your TV so check what quality levels you get on your recorder for

BBC1
BBC3
BBC4
ITV1
Channel 4
Five
Dave
Five US
Five Live
The Hits

Please document them and let me know

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks again Roger. Will be in touch.

Can you tell me where I can find the Channel numbers used by Beacon Hill for programs and those programs listed above.

My tv figures, first chart, which are good/green are DIGITAL receptions(they do not use freeview),and I am getting perfect reception.

My recorder figures, I have worked out are analogue and then freeview , which are poor. I assume that is significant.

 

[RogerS]

dw - you need to be able to select on your recorder the channels that I have listed. Your recorder will/should have tuned itself in to a load of channels. You need to go through these channels and when you get to one of the channels I have listed either make a note of the channel (it will be displayed briefly on the screen I think) and then go and get the signal quality.

Digital = Freeview to all intents and purposes btw.

Can't progress any further until you have given the signal quality figures for these channels.