SNR - Bradford west yorks

[gti_si]

Hi,
Just changed from Dbox2 to Dreambox 500c with DW2.0, evocam 2.12. On the Dbox I had to attenuate the signal in order to stop the chirping / freezing channels. Now, the Dreambox is really stable in comparison but when I do a bruteforce scan I get all the channels I was hoping for however some of them (mostly Mr Murdoch's) bring up a box with 'switch' in the corner and the message 'service could not be found' and the SNR is down at the low 60's. After reading about this issue I have read that some people find the in line amps (yellow boxes) to resolve this issue so I removed the attenuator with no joy, furthermore the SNR did not change either. Can anyone tell me if they have had luck with the amps in the Bradford TW area? I would gice it a bash regardless but it seems odd that one box needs attenuating and the other needs boosting, are the tuners really that different?

I have also noticed that the ones that work have a duplicate that doesn't i.e Sky2 has two entries under all services, one the works with SNR 96% and one that doesn't with SNR62% however Sky1 just has one entry that doesn't work. Is this a common thing or am I reading too much into stuff?

Thanks for reading, Si

 

[0to60]

The Dm-500's themselves are extraordinary boxes, apart from the fact that most of them have rubbish tuners, which are only able to pick up channels which have an SNR of above 90% (60,000)
Most of the clone DM500c's have NXP Philip tuners, which can handle lower SNR

A Dbox can handle 50,000 plus, which is about 80%+ SNR

You will not be able to recieve those channels without a booster, and because your signal is so low, a cheap booster will not do the trick

All a booster will do is amplify your signal, along with the noise, the noise is not filtered, so if you use a rubbish booster, you would end up boosting the noise too, so in the end, you would end up with an amplified signal, and amped noise too

But, the yellow brick booster (Konig Booster), filters out some of the noise
So, these boosters are amazing kits of technology

The answer is yes, if you are getting an SNR of 50-85%, then you need a yellow brick
If you are getting an SNR of 95%+, and the channel is not coming, you need an attenuator

 

[gti_si]

OK great, sounds like they're worth a bash then. Is that general advice or have you seen them defo work in Bradford? In effect if it is the SNR that needs boosting I assume the relevant part for us is that it does more filtering, as you say, than the actual boosting element. Thanks mate

 

[0to60]

its boosts the signal, and filters some noise
make sure you buy one that comes with insructions, i have one of them, and i have seen them working, yes

 

[gti_si]

Re: SNR - Bradford west yorks - edit yellow boxes don't fix everything

Hello all, just a bit of an update. I bought the yellow box and it did not make any difference, it actually screwed the box further.. the SNR on the working channels only reduced as I increased the amplitude of the signal. It would transpire that the advice given here was not quite accurate in this instance. I have since put the attenuator back on and rescanned a few times using different methods and slowly most of them have come to light but as I mentioned in an earlier post, all the working channels are a duplicate of channels that do not work and have a low SNR. It may be worth considering that yellow boxes are not a magic fix for everything before recommending the cost, not all areas have low signals... However, I still cannot get SKY1 so I revert back to my initial query for advice from local bradfordians. Does anyone have the TW Bradford service details for SKY1 so I can try program them manually please?

 

[gti_si]

Re: SNR - Bradford west yorks -FIXED

Hello all, just to let you know the problem is fixed. The solution was to earth the box and after bf scan every single channel is available. I stumbled on the solution by accident when BBC3 went really blocky I messed about with the cable and noticed whilst the shielding, my hand and the back of the box were in contact it was a perfect signal. I passed the back of the box to ground and hey presto everything works perfect!!!:licka:

 

[señor ding dong]

Re: SNR - Bradford west yorks - edit yellow boxes don't fix everything

I have since put the attenuator back on and rescanned a few times using different methods and slowly most of them have come to light...

Are you using a fixed DB attenuator? If so, it's going to be a bit of a shot in the dark getting it right. A variable one is much better, as you can adjust in small increments, until you get it right. The quality of tuners vary greatly. Someone I know has two boxes. One needs boosting, and the other needs a massive 20db of attenuation to work on the same signal.

That said, sorting out signal strength issues can sometimes be a real pain, as the strength and/or weakness of a signal isn't going to be the same across the entire frequency spectrum. In most cases, overall boosting or attenuation will get the signal within acceptable ranges, but sometimes, you need to boost or lower at a specific frequency range, and without the equipment to read signal strength across the spectrum, it can be a real hit and miss affair.

In addition to boosters and attenuators, cable techs also use another little screw-on device called a cable simulator, which attenuates the signal at the strong end to balance it out across the spectrum, and then add the appropriate boosting or attenuation to the balanced signal.

Anyway, if you're using a fixed DB attenuator, try a variable one. £3.99 with free shipping.

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