PVR or signal?

onejontwo

Morning all!,
Any advice please on a Digihome PVR 80, as I have been having issues with jumping on recordings and live TV.
Is there any way to diagnose if it's a fault with the PVR or an aerial/ signal fault without going to the expense of fitting a new aeriel and associated leads, as the picture is perfect apart from the jumping.
This is my second digihome from Argos, as I returned the previous one for" freezing "
I wouldn't like to return another if the fault is not with the machine, but can't afford the expense of a new aeriel on the off chance it may be that.
Possibly exchange for a different model?
I would be grateful for any advice:beer:

espresso

In the set-up screens, is there a display showing signal strength and signal quality or SNR? A good noise free signal is required for digital to work correctly.

onejontwo

espresso wrote: »

In the set-up screens, is there a display showing signal strength and signal quality or SNR? A good noise free signal is required for digital to work correctly.

In the signal boxes there always seems to be a 100% signal indicator, and the picture is sharp and crisp, with no problems apart from the jumping.
Just a thought , it seems more prone to jump on ITV channels than BBC channels, signal?

espresso

onejontwo wrote: »

In the signal boxes there always seems to be a 100% signal indicator, and the picture is sharp and crisp, with no problems apart from the jumping.
Just a thought , it seems more prone to jump on ITV channels than BBC channels, signal?

You can have 100% signal strength and still have picture break up etc. due to noise. There is a website that shows the different types of modulation used on the different MUX's here and the commercial stations use 64 QAM to squeeze more channels in. Unfortunately this method of modulation is more suceptable to noise than the 16 QAM used by the BBC.

Have you got double screened satellite type co-ax cable for your aerial downlead? This has much better noise immunity than standard co-ax..

onejontwo

albertross wrote: »

do you get 100% signal on itv?

freeview is always either sharp/crisp, or jumpy/non-existent, there isn't an in between like analogue.

Whenever I check the signal boxes on ITV they are always 100%, unfortunately on this machine there is no way to view the signal strength whilst watching the picture as it would give me a good indication of the signal strength when the picture jumped.

penrhyn

Take it back and exchange for a Humax

http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/products/pvr-9200t.asp

espresso

penrhyn wrote: »

Take it back and exchange for a Humax

http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/products/pvr-9200t.asp

If the OP has a noise problem due to a poor downlead etc. a box from a different manufacturer will likely do the same. Digital is much more fussy about getting a good clean signal. The fact that the problem is worse on ITV channels, points towards a noise problem.

onejontwo

penrhyn wrote: »

Take it back and exchange for a Humax

http://www.humaxdigital.com/uk/products/pvr-9200t.asp

Bit of a difference on price!
Just another thought, as I had no problems with a non-recordable set top box. could it be that the signal goes through the hard drive first (for pausing live TV etc.), and that this is where the fault lies? or am I barking up the wrong tree?

penrhyn

I had assumed that you were in a decent signal area, and had adequate signal strength, you quoted 100%.
The PVR that most people recommend are either Humax or Topfield, you get what you pay for.

Woby_Tide

signal strength and signal quality are different items bear in mind, whilst with 100% signal strength it's quite possible that you wouldn't get full quality, but either way it's the qualityof the signal you get that determines the picture. i.e. you could have a signal strength of 50% but get 100% quality(the entire 'transmission' is being received un-corrupted) or you could have 75% strength but only get 80% quality(the signal strength is stronger however you are losing 20% o fthe signal during transmission hence the blocky picture ). Most boxes only tend to show signal rather than quality though so harder to troubleshoot.

Potentially as daft as it sounds with 100% signal strength you may find that the signal is actually too strong and more prone to interference, i.e. if any errors are picked up in the signal then they will be magnified, with a lower signal strength you may well get a better quality picture as less noise is picked up in teh signal. Maybe try getting an attenuator from Maplin or somewhere. Though also try and discount any other amplifiers you have, or dodgy wiring, or possibly is the interference linked to electrical impulses in the house(or outside?). We get a tiny bit of interference when next door start their garden strimmer bizarrely.

buglawton

I swapped an old Sagem Freeview box for a Humax. The old box had frequent breakup which I put down to signal difficulties. The new box never breaks up on any channel.