Motorhome Facts :: View topic - Are you having problems with the freeview tv?
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633161 Post Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 10:58 pm Thank this member for this postReply with quote

thePassants Subscriber 09/02/2011 

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Telbell; easy!

-OK, it was the 'through the booster' part that struck a chord with me; not appreciating it was a different style of Status arial being discussed.
Now that I've googled: mine's presumably a 315, but given that I'd seen them at the dealers' selling for not far short of a hundred quid, I'd assumed they had some potential at least.

Lin;
Hi, mine's the 13", and it did come from ebay; there don't seem to be any the same listed at the moment to give you a link to, but it has DVD slot on the left-side.
It seems OK, certainly DVDs are fine, and pic quality is acceptable. Not had much success with movie files on USB sticks, or mp3 files; but not really made much effort there to figure out exactly what format is required...

We got it (and in 13" size) because it claims a fairly low power consumption, and hopefully won't run our batteries down too much.

On journeys, I cable-tie it to my headrest so our 2yr old can watch Fireman Sam and Bob all the way!
[the sirens in Fireman Sam still have me checking the mirrors every time though!]

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never mind.
Steven P.
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633172 Post Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 11:51 pm Thank this member for this postReply with quote

gorobschnitt Subscriber 07/04/2010 

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lindyloot wrote:
The Passants, you mentioned ( it's a new Meos TV by the way) how do you find it, we are thinking of buying one ,with the in built DVd for the bedroom area of the MH. ( there is one on ebay for £179, ) Do you have that model, if so which side does the disc go in?. Lin


Just bought the Meos on ebay myself - looking at it the dvd goes in right hand side. It's an incredibly light tv and i have fitted it onto an arm bracket in the tv cabinet in the van. The arm enables us to swing it around to view either in bed or from the cab area. Being an LCD you do need to get your viewing position just right as always! Oh, and it's 12v/240v and come with all the cables
 
633174 Post Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 12:05 am Thank this member for this postReply with quote

Rainbow-Chasers  

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Interesting post! We did have a problem one night (we were in a dodgy area) when we arrived late at night, and just wanted to catch some tv whilst dinner was cooking. The tv couldn't find anything - digital or otherwise!

I was messing about like us men do - and when i turned the booster off, we got analogue - which it couldn't find before! Snowy, but watchable - so it is an interesting thought!

Maybe when the TV guy gets on, he can shed some light - possible overboost to an aerial further away? I know mobiles did it just before 3g came in - if you went too far west you would loose recpetion as it went to 3g (which at the time was only available in ireland - hence bad signal!) I wonder if the same could happen with this??
 
633203 Post Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 8:05 am Thank this member for this postReply with quote

GerryD Subscriber 10/10/2010 

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Rainbow-Chasers wrote:
Interesting post! We did have a problem one night (we were in a dodgy area) when we arrived late at night, and just wanted to catch some tv whilst dinner was cooking. The tv couldn't find anything - digital or otherwise!

I was messing about like us men do - and when i turned the booster off, we got analogue - which it couldn't find before! Snowy, but watchable - so it is an interesting thought!

Maybe when the TV guy gets on, he can shed some light - possible overboost to an aerial further away? I know mobiles did it just before 3g came in - if you went too far west you would loose recpetion as it went to 3g (which at the time was only available in ireland - hence bad signal!) I wonder if the same could happen with this??

Predicting signal strength for a motorhome/caravan is very difficult at present and will be for the next three years as switchover moves ahead. The problem is that one transmitter in a region may have already switched and will therefore be at full power, whilst another transmitter may be a few months behind and still at 10% power. As the transmitter goes to full power many users will find that their current good signal may become worse. This is due to the fact that a signal that is too strong will degrade faster than a signal that is too weak. Following switchover, many amplifiers/boosters will become redundant. The problem there is that many household distribution units will also fail as it is not possible to switch off the amplifier within them.
With a motorhome/caravan the signal varies as you move from site to site and therefore the indication given on the DigitalUK website becomes more important:
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Enter the postcode for your location into the postcode checker and then on the next page click on Trade View. This will give signal strengths and compass bearings for your location. From the signal strengths you will be able to see whether the transmitter has already switched, if it has then it will be at 100% power.
Do not be tempted to use other signal prediction sites as this is the only one that uses the correct signal patterns from the transmitters. All other sites assume that all transmitters are omnidirectional.
Gerry
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641289 Post Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:07 am Thank this member for this postReply with quote

thePassants Subscriber 09/02/2011 

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I can now confirm that through the Status (315) aerial with booster I get chuff-all reception; analogue or digital.

But: If I connect the TV direct to the aerial, I get lots of digital channels.

At postcode: M31 4AX (storage site)


This may be unrelated, but reading the 'troubleshooting' sect of the leaflet that came with the aerial, it says: make sure the red power led is lit when booster power is turned on. (or similar)

My led only lights when the co-ax lead is connected to the TV and the TV is turned on; not sure why.

Anyway; I said I'd try it and report back, so there we are...

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never mind.
Steven P.
 
641318 Post Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 7:48 am Thank this member for this postReply with quote

GerryD Subscriber 10/10/2010 

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thePassants wrote:
I can now confirm that through the Status (315) aerial with booster I get chuff-all reception; analogue or digital.

But: If I connect the TV direct to the aerial, I get lots of digital channels.

At postcode: M31 4AX (storage site)


This may be unrelated, but reading the 'troubleshooting' sect of the leaflet that came with the aerial, it says: make sure the red power led is lit when booster power is turned on. (or similar)

My led only lights when the co-ax lead is connected to the TV and the TV is turned on; not sure why.

Anyway; I said I'd try it and report back, so there we are...

Just checked your postcode and you are showing maximum signal strength from Winter Hill transmitter, in which case your aerial is aimed just west of north. You will go through switchover later this year with the final stage on 2nd December. At that stage the signal will be increased tenfold and from that point you may start to see signal issues.
Once the signal is increased, many receivers will start to show the same problems as when the signal was too weak. The picture may block and the sound may pop. The only cure for this may be to carry a couple of signal attenuaters, they are cheap from Maplins, to reduce the signal into your TV.
One benefit you will have in the Granada region is that you will be the first region in the country with HD on Freeview. However, to receive it you will need a new set top box or TV and currently there are none available and no manufacturer is rushing to produce one.
Gerry
 
641384 Post Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:38 am Thank this member for this postReply with quote

Kev_n_Liz Subscriber 07/10/2010 

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I missed this post first time around, so I just unplugged the booster on our saucer status, and guess what it actually works fine that way, but plug it back in and it does sweet FA, so I'm with Lindyloot on this one, regardless of what it is or isn't supposed to do, in my book if it works, then chuck the book.

Way too much fuss over a TV aerial.

Kev.

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641396 Post Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:56 am Thank this member for this postReply with quote

JohnsCrossMotorHomes Subscriber 20/11/2010 

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Interesting thread this, I have a Status on my boat in Poole Harbour (BH15 1BT) some days it is brilliant, other times it is not then I am stuck with analoque, and it can change from morning perfect to rubbish at night.

Must try this direct cable into TV when that happens.

During the switchover at home (RG40 3JE) it was hopeless, now at lst it seems fairly reliable.

Peter

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655545 Post Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:31 pm Thank this member for this postReply with quote

thePassants Subscriber 09/02/2011 

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Further to my previous post:

I phoned Status:

Grade UK Limited
Finch Close
Lenton Lane Industrial Estate
Nottingham
NG7 2NN
Telephone 0115 986 7151

and explained the problem with mine:
-no signal / channels through the arial / booster, even in strong signal area.
-a few channels available if plugged direct to tv (bypassing booster).
-red led only on if coax plugged into tv & tv 'on'.

They said it sounded faulty and asked me to return it for evaluation, and possible replacement under warranty.

I explained I didn't have receipt, as it was fitted on MH when I bought it (didn't mention MH is 4yrs old though, they may have assumed it was new).

Anyway, I sent it off to the above address, with the returns number they gave me; to see what happened...

Yesterday I recieved a brand new unit by post. Result. Nice one Grade UK.

All I need to do now is see if it actually works now; will post back once I know.

The guy I dealt with was Harvey Morecroft; who was most helpful.


Might be worth a try?

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never mind.
Steven P.
 
655564 Post Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 8:01 pm Thank this member for this postReply with quote

GerryD Subscriber 10/10/2010 

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JohnsCrossMotorHomes wrote:
Interesting thread this, I have a Status on my boat in Poole Harbour (BH15 1BT) some days it is brilliant, other times it is not then I am stuck with analoque, and it can change from morning perfect to rubbish at night.

Must try this direct cable into TV when that happens.

During the switchover at home (RG40 3JE) it was hopeless, now at lst it seems fairly reliable.

Peter

Peter,
Just noticed your post. You havent switched yet, Meridian doesn't switch until 2012. According to Digital UK you should only get about half of the Freeview channels so you must have some super aerial with an excellent amplifier.
Gerry
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