breaking/no picture but sound & subtitles

V

Victoria

Member
Hi all.
So we had to get new tv aerials (UK freeview & Ireland RTE etc)
They have been moved into the attic instead of outside. The signal is excellent.
I have 2 FVP-5000T boxes and one Fox T2.

All was fine for a day.
Then the TV/FVP-5000t in the kitchen has been playing up. (The TV here is only about a month old). On channels that are on the same mux (SDN/COM4), the picture stops, or breaks up ('squares'). Watching through the FVP-5000, they are worse, particularly U&Drama (channel 20) - no picture but sound and subtitles.
Other channels, like BBC 1, are mostly ok. Occassionally they will break up, but not to the extent of U&Drama.

I have tried reconnecting all cables, unplugging/plugging back in. Retuning both TV and FVP-5000t (full retune). Not sure how to do a manual retune on the FVP-5000T as I don't know which channel number I should be trying to find - thought it was #23 for SDN but it couldn't find any channels! Have tried other numbers too but same result.

I did buy an attenuator and connected it, but I actually lost my 'RTE' channels! at the lowest attenuation.
Actually can't remember now if it helped the other channels, but I don't think it did.

If I connect the TV aerial directly to the tv, the channels are fine. So, the FVP-5000T is causing something.....

Any thoughts? Suggestions as to what is going on?
This FVP-5000T has not given me any issues before this.


I'm going to go now and switch the FVP-5000T boxes and see if that does anything..... (doh! just realised that would be a good test)
 
Got the new aerials put in by an 'aerial man'. He checked the signals when he was installing the aerials.
The other tv/humax setups are perfect.
If I put the TV aerial directly into the TV the channels on the TV are perfect.
On U&Drama freeview channel 20, Tuner 1 channel 23 it is sitting around 84% which, from what I understand though I could of course be wrong, is a good strength for the FVP-5000T
(BBC1 freeview channel 1, Tuner 1 channel is sitting around 90%).

So,... shrug it would seem I could assume the signal (going in) is excellent? Or at the least, very good.

It would seem that something is getting garbled inside the FVP?
 
Hmm... could there be a problem with the HDMI cable?

It works perfectly on another TV - I just swapped the FVPs, didn't swap cables.


Update: Just changed the HDMI input to the FVP. And no change. So don't think the HDMI cable is the problem.

Maybe it is the signal - needs to be up around 90% rather than 84% (it is up around 90% for all channels on the other tv).

(sorry, trying to work through all possible issues)
 
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SemiRamis said:
What signal do rte channels get on the T2 without the attenuator?
Click to expand...
Without attenuator

TG4 / RTE 1 / RTE 2
Tuner 2 - channel 33 70%

Virgin Media 1 / 2
Tuner 2 - channel 42 71%

Virgin Media 3 /
Tuner 2 - Channel 45 74%


Have switched the kitchen FVP into the front room, and the front room FVP into the kitchen.

The channels are currently working again in the kitchen.
Front room is fine too.

So............. I have no idea why that FVP box doesn't like the kitchen. It is currently happy in the front room.
The channel signals are a bit stronger in the front room:
Even on the switched FVPs:
Kitchen; Tuner 1 Channel 23 is 85% whereas it is at 91% in the front room (this would be U&Drama)
Kitchen; Tuner 2 Channel 33 70% whereas it is at 73% in front room
Kitchen ; Tuner 2 Channel 42 71% whereas it is at 78% in front room
Kitchen; Tuner 2 - Channel 45 74% whereas it is at 79% in front room.


I don't understand why one FVP doesn't like the kitchen now, but seems ok in the front room.
The second FVP currently is ok in either room..

Are any of these valid possibilities?
Would the first FVP be on the way out?
Would the FVP power supply/plug used in the kitchen be on the way out?
Does the kitchen need a power boost (rather than attenuation!)
 
Victoria said:
Without attenuator

TG4 / RTE 1 / RTE 2
Tuner 2 - channel 33 70%

Virgin Media 1 / 2
Tuner 2 - channel 42 71%

Virgin Media 3 /
Tuner 2 - Channel 45 74%


Have switched the kitchen FVP into the front room, and the front room FVP into the kitchen.

The channels are currently working again in the kitchen.
Front room is fine too.

So............. I have no idea why that FVP box doesn't like the kitchen. It is currently happy in the front room.
The channel signals are a bit stronger in the front room:
Even on the switched FVPs:
Kitchen; Tuner 1 Channel 23 is 85% whereas it is at 91% in the front room (this would be U&Drama)
Kitchen; Tuner 2 Channel 33 70% whereas it is at 73% in front room
Kitchen ; Tuner 2 Channel 42 71% whereas it is at 78% in front room
Kitchen; Tuner 2 - Channel 45 74% whereas it is at 79% in front room.


I don't understand why one FVP doesn't like the kitchen now, but seems ok in the front room.
The second FVP currently is ok in either room..

Are any of these valid possibilities?
Would the first FVP be on the way out?
Would the FVP power supply/plug used in the kitchen be on the way out?
Does the kitchen need a power boost (rather than attenuation!)
Click to expand...
Could it be that all that plugging and unplugging has resulted in you getting a better connection by cleaning up a lead or socket ? I guess returning the dodgy box back to the kitchen would answer that.
 
trog said:
Could it be that all that plugging and unplugging has resulted in you getting a better connection by cleaning up a lead or socket ? I guess returning the dodgy box back to the kitchen would answer that.
Click to expand...
Dodgy box is still dodgy in the kitchen room when it is switched back :-(

I am noticing the picture slightly freezing on the switched box in the kitchen, so am hoping there isn't something in the kitchen that will gradually make the picture worse. Will obviously keep an eye on it over the next few days.

Its all very confusing.
 
What about badly screened aerial and/or HDMI leads, causing localised interference? You can test for this by choosing a different video output resolution for the FVP (low res).
 
Victoria said:
an 'aerial man'. He checked the signals when he was installing the aerials.
Click to expand...
Interesting use of quotes there. We has a proper one, or some fly-by-night?
Receivability is not just about signal strength. It is about signal to noise ratio (S/N) or, more correctly for digital modulation, carrier to noise ratio (C/N).
You can jack up signal strength by inserting a high gain amplifier in the chain, but this does not improve the C/N - it actually makes it worse (all other things being equal).
This is because the amp. increases not only the signal but the noise by the same amount. It also adds its own noise.
What did he actually measure and where? It needs to be done at all points in the distribution system to work out where any problem is, assuming it is not actually your kit that is faulty.
Things like the distribution cable, faceplates and fly-leads can also make a significant difference.
You haven't even said how far away you are from the transmitters, which ones they are, or what the aerial is, let alone where it's actually pointing.
TBH, it could be almost anything, and asking questions on a forum isn't going to deliver reliable results.
 
Black Hole said:
What about badly screened aerial and/or HDMI leads, causing localised interference? You can test for this by choosing a different video output resolution for the FVP (low res).
Click to expand...
They are the same cables that have been used for years.
I switched the HDMI input and it didn't make a difference - different HDMI cable, going into a different HDMI port on the tv.
The other FVP seems ok with the cables.
I did move the Firecube to the far side but it didn't make a difference - again, it had been in that position for a few years now.

Will check out if reducing the resolution makes a difference.
 
prpr said:
Interesting use of quotes there. We has a proper one, or some fly-by-night?
Click to expand...
Just not sure what the correct term is for the 'aerial man'. My bad in reducing people to what specifically they help me with - also they all same to be either called Colin, Brendan, or Brian, so I need an identifier! Colin the Aerial Man, Colin the Painter, Colin the Plumber, Brendan the Gardener, Brendan the Electrician, Brian the Bush Man, Brian the Farmer......

I believe he checked the signal at the new aerials (in the attic), and at each tvs.
Certainly in the kitchen when the aerial is connected directly to the coax that is coming out of the FVP (so taking the FVP out of the circuit), and into the tv, the picture on the tv looks great on all channels.

There is a amplifier, which he moved from the kitchen into the front room for some reason. Possibly 'cause we are supposedly getting painting done in the kitchen, so things are not as tidy and out of the way as they should be, and in the front room it is out of the way now. Maybe I could move it back to the kitchen and see what happens....

Everything was working fine for a day after the new aerials before the signal/FVP in the kitchen went funny. shrug
Had not had had any issues before this - until we lost signal to all the TVs, thus the need for new aerials.

So it is just really puzzling. Don't know why the 'dodgy' FVP seems, so far, happy in the front room now but not the kitchen. Will monitor in case something has cleaned or connected better or if the same thing happens in the front room.

I believe our Freeview transmitter is Divis, and we are about 20 miles away as the crow flies
I think our RTE transmitter is Clermont Carn and we are about 30 miles away as the crow flies.
They are in nearly in opposite directions.
 
SemiRamis said:
What does the bushman do?
Click to expand...
Cuts & shapes & tidy-ups the bushs and small trees. 😁




(Yeah, some things I should be able to do, but I've been a carer for my elderly family for so long now, and my brother is gone too. Just my mother and me left. I'm just generally so tired and unfit and short! and can't risk falling off something, thus the need for certain help, not that we have won the lottery I wish Pulling cables in and out, I can handle and I have a little electronics/gadget knowledge so I can understand what you all explain, or diagnose some problems - sometimes I can even fix them!)
 
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More important than the signal strength is the signal quality which is displayed along with the strength on the FVP5000T. Ideally it should be 100%.

I get 100% quality with a strength as low as the 70s.
 
Victoria said:
I believe our Freeview transmitter is Divis, and we are about 20 miles away as the crow flies
I think our RTE transmitter is Clermont Carn and we are about 30 miles away as the crow flies.
Click to expand...
Ah, I'd missed the bit about two aerials. I've got a rough idea where you are, not that it helps much now, but suggests what should work. I presume the aerials are combined somehow. Do you know how? And are the aerials correctly positioned? One should be horizontally polarised (Divis) and the other vertically polarised. Basically, polarised = rods direction.
Does your skill-set include taking pictures of the installation and posting them?
the picture on the tv looks great
Click to expand...
That's the joy of Digital TV. It works flawlessly until it doesn't. There is only a very small margin where it tells you something's wrong. It ain't like Analogue and increasing noise/snow.
 
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