70% signal strength enough ???

Xearo · **2nd July 2008, 12:38 PM**

Hey Guys,

im new to this forum so please go easy and i apologize in advance if i post in the wrong section.

CPU: Quad Core Q6600
RAM: 2gig corsair match pairs
GFX Card: Geforce 8800gt 512
Mobo: Gigabyte (not sure exactly which model till i get home)
TV Tuner: DViCO FusionHDTV DVB-T Dual Digital 4 (black) (worst purchase in my entire life

)
Using Xbox360 as extender connected to Samsung 46" m8 LCD

After setting everything up and being quite happy that i got the card to work in VMC i went to sleep quite pleased. Waking up today i turned my 360 on and went to Live TV and again a smile came upon my face as i was faced with a crystal clear channel 9, Decided to flick over to 7HD and my smile turned into a frown.

I got the report that there was No TV Signal on channel 7 yet all other channels were fine. Occasionally i would get a strobe of sound come through or a flickr of image appear on screen and once a completly green screen but apart from that all it would display is No Tv Signal

After trying the really really really bad software that shipped with the DViCO tuner i realised that i couldnt receive channel 7 thru any software.

My question is (after all that) is i seem to be receiving 70% signal strength on channel 7 but on every other channel my signal strength is around 90% or more. The lowest being channel 9 at 89%.

Is my issue the fact that channel 7 signal strength is simply too weak for the tv card ?? (my inbuilt HD receiver in my samsung LCD picks up all channels perfectly fine)

im assuming this is simply a signal strength issue (i hope).
Any more experienced users out there that could shed some light on my situation or offer suggestions to try and fix the problem.

Would a signal booster help ??
What kind of booster should i look for ?

P.S: im in SA if that makes any difference at all
P.S.S: are there any 3rd party programs out there to check signal strength and Biterror ?? - i really dont trust this DViCO crowd at all

Advance thanks for any replys.

GlenR · **2nd July 2008, 12:44 PM**

First off, how are you determining signal strength? Different software may give different numbers, so it's important to know how it's being measured.

70% should be OK if the quality is good. With digital TV the quality is more important than the strength of the signal.

Download scanchannelsbda and run that on your Vista box. It will show both strength and quality. If quality is low, you won't get good reception even if strength is high.

If you're not sure what the results mean. post them here and someone will be able to help.

Xearo · **2nd July 2008, 12:47 PM**

Thanks for the immediate reply GlenR!!

ill run scanchannelsbda tonight when i get home and ill post the results.

P.S just got the boss to test it out and she said that channel 7 started to work for about 15 minutes :/ - now im completly confused

Again thankyou very much for your suggestion Glen!

TheRob · **2nd July 2008, 01:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xearo

Thanks for the immediate reply GlenR!!

ill run scanchannelsbda tonight when i get home and ill post the results.

P.S just got the boss to test it out and she said that channel 7 started to work for about 15 minutes :/ - now im completly confused

Again thankyou very much for your suggestion Glen!

It really does sound like you are not getting a good signal for 7. Signal strength measured without signal quality is essentially meaningless. Scanchannelsdba will give you a reading for both, but I've always found the results quite difficult to interpet definitively. Give it a go, but I think it will just confirm that your channel 7 reception is dodgy.

BTW the reason you are getting some intermittent reception is that, unlike analogue TV, digital TV is either on or off - there's no gradual degradation of the picture with falling signal strength or quality. At some point the channel just stops working. The phenomenon is called the 'digital cliff'. You usually either receive a channel or you don't. But sometimes, as in your case, you are right on the cliff. So a slight change in weather, cloud cover, ambient electrical noise, etc. is enough for you to go from reception to no reception and vice versa.

If that's the case you will need to check your antenna and cabling. If you are spitting the signal from the wall socket to drive a number of things, then putting a booster before the splitter - or better still getting an amplified splitter - may help. If your HTPC is currently plugged directly into the antenna socket, then a booster is unlikely to help.

Adding a masthead amplifier to your antenna might help, but you really need to have the signal strength and quality professionally measured to know this.

If the obvious things don't help (ensuring the fly lead from the HTPC to the wall socket is of good quality and in good condition, plugging the HTPC directly into the wall socket with no splitters in the circuit, making sure the connection on the antenna is not corroded or damaged, etc), then I'd call in a professional installer.

Xearo · **2nd July 2008, 01:18 PM**

Thanx Rob for that easy to understand explanation of the "Digital Cliff". If it is signal strength as my issue then that completly explains the intermittent reception. Tonight ill go up into the roof and check out the antenna setup and what exactly i got up there ( coz to be honest im not really sure what i got ).

ill post the report from scanchannelsbda aswell and take it from there.

P.S: wish i found this forum earlier - ive received more information in the last 20min s than i have in the last week :P Wonderful Job hehe

leigh · **2nd July 2008, 04:30 PM**

i seem to get problems with ABC 1 and 2 when airplanes go overhead (starts stuttering)

from the wall to my media centre i have quad shielded cable, but from the wall to the antenna i have no idea what cable it is.
would getting new quad shield cable from the antenna to the wall help this stuttering?

sorry to hijack your thread Xearo

ExtremePC · **2nd July 2008, 05:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by leigh

i seem to get problems with ABC 1 and 2 when airplanes go overhead (starts stuttering)

from the wall to my media centre i have quad shielded cable, but from the wall to the antenna i have no idea what cable it is.
would getting new quad shield cable from the antenna to the wall help this stuttering?

sorry to hijack your thread Xearo

Quite probably.

TheRob · **2nd July 2008, 05:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by leigh

i seem to get problems with ABC 1 and 2 when airplanes go overhead (starts stuttering)

from the wall to my media centre i have quad shielded cable, but from the wall to the antenna i have no idea what cable it is.
would getting new quad shield cable from the antenna to the wall help this stuttering?

sorry to hijack your thread Xearo

Not necessarily. When planes go over you're getting reflections off the metal skin of the plane. This causes multipath interference at the antenna - it's generally not induced interference in the cables.

The caveat is that any interference can be exacerbated by poor cables and joins as your overall Signal to Noise (SN) ratio will be lower. So it may pay to check what state your antenna system is in anyway. If it's getting old and the cables are looking a bit worse for wear, then replacing can't hurt.

If you're antenna is old you could get it replaced with something a bit more directional. This would help with the multipath interference, and raising the signal level generally will help avoid the stutters. A good antenna installer will be able to advise you on this.

Xearo · **2nd July 2008, 07:41 PM**

Hey Guys,

this is the result from scanchannelsbda.

Im not sure what it all means and was wondering if anyone could should some light on it.

Code:

-----------------------
ScanChannelBDA starting
Build - v2.0.0.6
Checking for new BDA DVB-T Cards
  Tuner - Bluebird, BDA Tuner2
    @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000618d#{71985f48-1ca1-11d3-9cc8-00c04f7971e0}\{b74f5c9c-2207-4791-9cb0-c3d1002069af}
      Finding Demod and Capture filters
        Trying - Bluebird, WDM TsCapture2
          @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000618d#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
            SUCCESS
        Checking for Capture filter
          Trying - Bluebird, WDM TsCapture1
            @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000e18d#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
      Finished Finding Demod and Capture filters
      Capture - Bluebird, WDM TsCapture2
        @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000618d#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
  Tuner - Bluebird, BDA Tuner1
    @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000e18d#{71985f48-1ca1-11d3-9cc8-00c04f7971e0}\{b74f5c9c-2207-4791-9cb0-c3d1002069af}
      Finding Demod and Capture filters
        Trying - Bluebird, WDM TsCapture2
          @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000618d#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
        Trying - Bluebird, WDM TsCapture1
          @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000e18d#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
            SUCCESS
        Checking for Capture filter
          Trying - Bluebird, WDM TsCapture2
            @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000618d#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
      Finished Finding Demod and Capture filters
      Capture - Bluebird, WDM TsCapture1
        @device:pnp:\\?\usb#vid_0fe9&pid_db78#0000e18d#{fd0a5af4-b41d-11d2-9c95-00c04f7971e0}\{5bb3dbd0-9e1e-424c-9281-6b5e7109f100}
Finished Checking for new BDA DVB-T Cards
2 BDA devices found.
using Bluebird, BDA Tuner1
# signal locked = Y present = Y stength = 2910 quality = 67
# locked 177500, 7 signal locked = Y present = Y stength = 2910 quality = 67
Timeout getting table (pid=0010, tid=40)

Network_1("(null)", 0, 0, 1)
  Program_ 1("7 Digital"           , 1360, 1281,  1282, 1280)    # Teletext=1284
  Program_ 2("7 Digital 1"         , 1361, 1281,  1282, 1296)    # Teletext=1284
  Program_ 3("7 Digital 2"         , 1362, 1281,  1282, 1312)    # Teletext=1284
  Program_ 4("7 Digital 3"         , 1363, 1281,  1282, 1328)    # Teletext=1284
  Program_ 5("7 HD Digital"        , 1364, 1345, A1347, 1344)    # Teletext=1349
  Program_ 6("7 Guide"             , 1366, 1377,  1378, 1376)    #

# signal locked = N present = N stength = 3170 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# Nothing found on 184500kHz, trying +125# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
, trying -125# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
, Nothing found
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 42
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 9270 quality = 41
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 9510 quality = 41
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 9510 quality = 41
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 9510 quality = 41
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 9510 quality = 41
# signal locked = Y present = Y stength = 9510 quality = 63
# locked 191500, 7 signal locked = Y present = Y stength = 9510 quality = 63

Network_2("Nine Network", 191625, 7, 1)
  Program_ 1("NINE Digital"        , 1105,  512,   650,  257)    # LCN=9 Teletext=576
  Program_ 2("NINE HD"             , 1112,  513,  A651,  256)    # LCN=90 Teletext=577

# signal locked = N present = N stength = -2200 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# Nothing found on 198500kHz, trying +125# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
, trying -125# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
, Nothing found
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# Nothing found on 205500kHz, trying +125# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
, trying -125# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
, Nothing found
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# Nothing found on 212500kHz, trying +125# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
, trying -125# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
# signal locked = N present = N stength = 80000 quality = 0
, Nothing found
# signal locked = Y present = Y stength = 80000 quality = 100
# locked 219500, 7 signal locked = Y present = Y stength = 80000 quality = 100

Network_3("Network TEN", 219500, 7, 1)
#Alternate frequencies
#Network_3("Network TEN", 711500, 7, 1)
#Network_3("Network TEN", 788500, 7, 1)
  Program_ 1("TEN HD"              , 1617,  514,  A672,  257)    # LCN=1 Teletext=577
  Program_ 2("TEN Digital"         , 1621,  512,   650,  256)    # LCN=10 Teletext=576
  Program_ 3("TEN Digital AC3"     , 1621,  512,  A651,  256)    #
  Program_ 4("TEN HD"              , 1624,  514,  A672,  263)    # LCN=12 Teletext=577

# signal locked = Y present = Y stength = -5000 quality = 100
# locked 226500, 7 signal locked = Y present = Y stength = -5000 quality = 100

Network_4("ABC Adelaide", 226500, 7, 1)
  Program_ 1("ABC HDTV"            ,  592, 2314, A2315,  258)    # LCN=20 Teletext=2316
  Program_ 2("ABC1"                ,  593,  512,   650,  256)    # LCN=2 Teletext=576
  Program_ 3("ABC1 AC3"            ,  593,  512,  A660,  256)    #
  Program_ 4("ABC2"                ,  594, 2307,  2308,  257)    # LCN=22 Teletext=2310
  Program_ 5("ABC1"                ,  595,  512,   650,  259)    # LCN=21 Teletext=576
  Program_ 6("ABC3"                ,  596,  512,   650,  260)    # LCN=23 Teletext=576
  Program_ 7("ABC DiG Radio"       ,  598,    0,  2317,  261)    # LCN=200
  Program_ 8("ABC DiG Jazz"        ,  599,    0,  2318,  262)    # LCN=201

sorry for posting so much of it not sure what is needed and what isnt.

looks like channel 7 quality isnt that good compared to the rest.

any idea's ?

Thanx in advance!!

Mox · **2nd July 2008, 08:03 PM**

I had considerable trouble also only with channel 7. I also thought i had enough signal strength as the inbuilt tuner in my tv would work fine but the tuners in my tv would not.
I ended up buying a signal amplifier and it works a treat. Cost me 50 bucks from disksmiths and also splits it to 3 seperate lines out from it.