Problem recording ITV1 7-8 p.m.

[rodeoraymond]

Hi

Have had V+ box several weeks. Only real major problem is with recording on ITV1 (and oddly enough recording Emmerdale or Coronation Street between 7 and 8 p.m in the evenings). Quite often, when viewing the recording the first 10 minutes or so are fine, then the picture starts to break up (random boxes of colour), sound goes weird, picture can almost go black (only random boxes of colour on part of screen) or the picture will just freeze - the programme will just not appear after that (although the timer counts up).

The weirdest thing is this only seems to happen on ITV1 (recording Emmerdale/Coronation Street on ITV2 later on, or the following day appears fine) I have even tried recording the programme on ITV AD (channel 853) - same problem happened tonight!

Nor does watching ITV1 Live show these problems - picture is perfect (although must say watching snooker on BBC2 about 10 p.m. tonight I could see the picture threatening to break up slightly at times - anybody else notice this?)

Is it possible that because we have 2 other STBs in the house (Pace box in one bedroom and Samsung box in the other) that when these are switched on (or switched to a specific channel) that the power these take can reduce the signal strength going into the V+ box (which needs to be strong as it has 3 tuners)?

This is part of the technical data from my box, are these figures ok??

SNR 31.0db,32.0db,31.0db

Pre RS Errors 0,0,0 per 0.5s (although tonight during snooker one time I checked it was 1,0,1 per 0.5s - would this still be normal?)

Post RS Errors 0,0,0 per 0.5s

AGC signal level -6dBmV,-4dBmV,-4dBmV

Return power 50dBmV

Thanks for any help

[on in an hour!]

Originally Posted by rodeoraymond

Hi

Have had V+ box several weeks. Only real major problem is with recording on ITV1 (and oddly enough recording Emmerdale or Coronation Street between 7 and 8 p.m in the evenings). Quite often, when viewing the recording the first 10 minutes or so are fine, then the picture starts to break up (random boxes of colour), sound goes weird, picture can almost go black (only random boxes of colour on part of screen) or the picture will just freeze - the programme will just not appear after that (although the timer counts up).

The weirdest thing is this only seems to happen on ITV1 (recording Emmerdale/Coronation Street on ITV2 later on, or the following day appears fine) I have even tried recording the programme on ITV AD (channel 853) - same problem happened tonight!
pre RS error rates are ok,its post RS error rates that log when pics are freezing.the RS is a process called reed solomon that processes the data from the cable and in effect 'cleans it up' to give a decent pic,if the box is not reading the signal properley or the signals are corrupt you will get post RS error rates and in turn freezing pics.

Nor does watching ITV1 Live show these problems - picture is perfect (although must say watching snooker on BBC2 about 10 p.m. tonight I could see the picture threatening to break up slightly at times - anybody else notice this?)

Is it possible that because we have 2 other STBs in the house (Pace box in one bedroom and Samsung box in the other) that when these are switched on (or switched to a specific channel) that the power these take can reduce the signal strength going into the V+ box (which needs to be strong as it has 3 tuners)?

This is part of the technical data from my box, are these figures ok??

SNR 31.0db,32.0db,31.0db

Pre RS Errors 0,0,0 per 0.5s (although tonight during snooker one time I checked it was 1,0,1 per 0.5s - would this still be normal?)

Post RS Errors 0,0,0 per 0.5s

AGC signal level -6dBmV,-4dBmV,-4dBmV

Return power 50dBmV

Thanks for any help

firstly switching the other boxes on wont make a difference to pics as the RF signal on the cable is a constant.(wheter set tops on or not) from how youve described the picture break up it sounds like a signal level issue,are the other set tops suffering freezing pics on the same channels??? the reason some channels can suffer and others not is that the channels are delivered on different 'transport streams' on different frequencies,from 128mhz to 746mhz,so if theres a power loss on just 1 or 2 frequencies and not on others you will get problems on those specific channels but not on others.i would ring 150 and ask them for a service visit.good luck.

[grabbi]

Before doing that, do what they ask you to do (its a load of bull, but it needs to be done)

TURN IT OFF!

Detatch and reatatch the Coax.

Reboot.

Then see what happens. Is it JUST 7-8pm? As if it does happen, it doesnt give you much time to ring and complain... although faults should comply with you.

[rodeoraymond]

Thanks for info

Does anyone know the frequency for ITV1 (and what other channels are on this same frequency). Is it at an extreme of the box's range which could mean bigger fluctuations in signal strength and could therefore account for picture problems?

[on in an hour!]

Originally Posted by rodeoraymond

Thanks for info

Does anyone know the frequency for ITV1 (and what other channels are on this same frequency). Is it at an extreme of the box's range which could mean bigger fluctuations in signal strength and could therefore account for picture problems?

282.750mhz here,but i think you may be on a different platform (bromley) so transport streams may be on different freqs. having said that the lower freqs dont tend to suffer (if it is a signal issue) as much as the higher ones,the higher the freq the higher the attenuation (loss) over the length of the cable,could also be issue with the amp in the steet cab 'overdriving' i.e. pumping out too much rf signal which can cause error rates and freezing pics.footnote: i went to 2 faults off the same cab who both reported freezing blanking pics from a specific time (1 was watching all day,so it wasnt that they had only just switched on and could have been happening all day) turned out to be a faulty 'toner tap'.this is the cluster of connections that individual cables are connected to (each giving a varying level of rf signal depending on how close or far away you are from said cab) may be that a visit from a service tech and a subsequent referal to a network tech could be a solution,give a ring m8 and good luck

[rodeoraymond]

Thanks for info.

If it is a specific frequency that is causing me problems, what other channels are broadcast on this same frequency that could show the same problems? (I've tried recording Coronation Street on ITV1 AD, channel 843 (or something) and it still didn't work - is this broadcast on the same frequency as ITV1 - I live in the Worthing area (BN12).

[Nedkelly]

Itv 2 e4 e4 +1 Film 4 Film 4 +1 CNN cartoon network bbc Parliment all same the freq MUx on the langley network

[spiderplant]

Channel 4 is on the same frequency as ITV1. ITV1 AD is on a different frequency.

I suspect you are getting occasional interference from some electrical equipment of yours or one of your neighbours. Were the error rates in post #1 taken at the time the problem recording was being made?

[rodeoraymond]

The readings were taken last Sunday night whilst watching the Snooker on BBC2 when slight breakup was threatening - watching ITV1 on live TV never shows up these problems - regardless of whether or not other channels are being recorded.

Please also see my other thread entitled "New cable from street cab to house" regarding what the last engineer said.

Thanks

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by rodeoraymond

The readings were taken last Sunday night whilst watching the Snooker on BBC2 when slight breakup was threatening - watching ITV1 on live TV never shows up these problems - regardless of whether or not other channels are being recorded.

You need to get the readings whilst it is recording Emmerdale/Corrie. Check the recording afterwards to make sure the problem was happening at the time you took the readings.

Originally Posted by rodeoraymond

Please also see my other thread entitled "New cable from street cab to house" regarding what the last engineer said.

You may as well let them do the repull just to rule out faulty cable. Then take it from there.

[rodeoraymond]

Thanks

Will certainly check readings during next recording session and then check recording.

Although main problem appears between 7 and 8 p.m at night, I also did a test last Bank Holiday Monday around 10 a.m. - started recording on Channel 4, then started a recording on ITV1, stopped channel 4 recording after few minutes, then stopped ITV1 recording - I repeated this short test - 3 out of 4 times the recordings were fine - but one time the ITV1 recording was just a black screen from beginning to end (although timer was counting up). Yesterday, I recorded the motorcycling on British Eurosport between 12 noon and 3.30 p.m., and also recorded Formula 1 on ITV1 between 1 p.m. and 3.15 p.m. - Eurosport recording was perfect - ITV1 recording was just black screen from beginning to end - very annoying.

Also, sometimes Delay TV feature just does not work - you press rewind and the action does not rewind, the screen just remains with the still image when you pressed rewind.

Is it possible that the tuners in the V+ box could be interfering with one another??

[spiderplant]

It might be that one of the three tuners is duff. To test this, set simultaneous recordings on ITV and Channel 4, and also watch either ITV or Channel 4. Check the reported error rates at the time, and also check the recordings afterwards.

[JethroUK]

I had similar

I think your signal break up is because it's too strong - the cable box maybe very near your house (mines right outside) & the reason it only happens at peak times is because they crank up the dignal during these times

It happend to me every night & I called 151 and haven't had problem since - they dont even come out - i think they tweak your signal remotely (from India)

[on in an hour!]

Originally Posted by JethroUK

I had similar

I think your signal break up is because it's too strong - the cable box maybe very near your house (mines right outside) & the reason it only happens at peak times is because they crank up the dignal during these times

It happend to me every night & I called 151 and haven't had problem since - they dont even come out - i think they tweak your signal remotely (from India)

the signal isnt cranked up remotely,(or at night)this would have to be done from a headend or in a cabinet on the cascade,but you are right it could be too strong (or too weak)

[rodeoraymond]

Thanks for all info

Done quite extensive tests tonight. Main problem appears to be recording one channel and then starting to record another channel i.e. having 2 recordings going at same time - first channel ALWAYS records ok, when I view recording of second channel most of the times I have tested I get a black screen the entire duration of the recording (the timer counts up though). I tried to check the other night whilst recording and 95% of the time readings were 0,0,0 but very occasionally would get a Post RF reading such as 0,1,0 (or 0,0,1) - although one time I got 0,999,0. I find it difficult to believe that it is a signal issue as the tv picture on Live TV never breaks up - regardless of one or two other channels being recorded - the problem only shows up on a recording made with a start time whilst the first channel is being recorded.

Also, Delay TV very often just does not work - press rewind and it instantly goes into Pause, press rewind again and just the still picture of when the key was first pressed is shown - timer counts back but nothing - putting box on standby and back on does not make this work nor does going into menus - a restart at the mains of the box usually gets the Delay TV function working.

Ever since we got cable installed we have had an 10db Attenuator on the back of the box (or now because we have stand alone cable modem it is between the cable coming into the house and the splitter going to modem and V+ box). Readings with Attenuator attached are in the region of -4dBmV,-2dBmV,-3dBmV. If I remove Attenuator the readings are all 7dBmV - which I believe are a bit too high. If low signal strength is the problem then surely I would not be getting those readings??

I am 100% convinced that the V+ box is faulty - why did the engineer not just leave me with another box to try - now I have to wait for them to put in this new cable from the street cabinet and I honestly cannot see it make an ounce of difference.