Dodgy drive?

**Chieftain** · 13-12-2009, 09:05 AM

I'm experiencing some "banding" interference across the TV screen and believe it's TiVo related. It differs depending upon what channel I'm viewing and seems to be getting worse, slowly. It's been evident for about a week.

This is on FTA on a Thomson. It disappears if I disconnect and turn the TiVo off.

Could this indicate the deterioration, pending failure, of the Hard Drive?

**Islander** · 13-12-2009, 06:43 PM

There may be other causes:

1. Check all your antenna connections.
2. There may be interference from the rf out channel on the TiVo. Check that there is at least 1 channel between the TiVo rf out setting and any off air tv channel.
3. Check all video and audio connections.
4.It could be a power supply fault in the TiVo. Possibly heat will affect the interference
I see from another post of yours you have a TiVo HD? Has this problem started with the connection of the new TiVo?

**Chieftain** · 13-12-2009, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by Islander

There may be other causes:

I see from another post of yours you have a TiVo HD? Has this problem started with the connection of the new TiVo?

Thanks for the suggestions I've tried most but will go through them again.

Not guilty on the TiVo HD front! But, I was tempted when the "slip of a girl" in the local Telecom store told me that the HD was a Bluray player and had a 1Tb drive as standard. When I expressed surprise and doubt, she went off to consult others. (the TiVo man wasn't there!) However she admitted being wrong about the drive but then told me it had a 350 gig unit. I asked about something else and she gave me a packet of TiVo jubes, so I took that as a hint and left. Still haven't seen where they hide the Bluray loading slot though.

We get a poor TV3 signal here and that's where it started from and that channel is virtually unwatchable now. Signals dictate aerials (non UHF) at 90 degrees and a combiner to get all the bits together for the house. I'm a little suspicious about the aerial point in the wall and will have to check that out.

**Skolink** · 14-12-2009, 07:50 AM

Do you have a VHF antenna pointing at Mt Maunganui and a UHF antenna pointing at Kopukairua, joined with a VHF/UHF combiner?
TV3 (and C4) are actually VHF signals from Kopukairua, so if you have the antenna arrangement described above, it is no wonder you get poor TV3 reception.
If you are using a 'combination' VHF/UHF antenna pointing at Kopukairua, check that the combiner does not have specific UHF-in and VHF-in ports, otherwise it may filter off the VHF signal from Kopukairua.
Fairly dumb transmitting the stations from different hills. Roofs in Tauranga must look messy.
http://www.lincrad.co.nz/transmittersites.html

If you have previously had good reception, then the only other thing I can think of is any wireless AP right beside your TV, or a switch-mode power pack for something plugged in by the TV.

And as Islander said, check that the TiVo RF-out channel doesn't coincide with a Sky UHF channel or other.

**Chieftain** · 14-12-2009, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by Skolink

Do you have a VHF antenna pointing at Mt Maunganui and a UHF antenna pointing at Kopukairua, joined with a VHF/UHF combiner?

<<VHF to Kopukairua and VHF to a translator two blocks away in a similar direction to Kopukairua but aerials are 1 vertical and 1 horizontal. Translator gets signal from Te Aroha and beams it back in under the shadow of the Mount.>>

TV3 (and C4) are actually VHF signals from Kopukairua, so if you have the antenna arrangement described above, it is no wonder you get poor TV3 reception.

If you are using a 'combination' VHF/UHF antenna pointing at Kopukairua, check that the combiner does not have specific UHF-in and VHF-in ports, otherwise it may filter off the VHF signal from Kopukairua.

Also, on the Lincrad site the translator, I've mentioned, is the one close to Kopukairua, shown as Mt Maunganui.

<< No combos available most roofs have three aerials including Sky/Prime and lots even have dishes, too.>>

Fairly dumb transmitting the stations from different hills. Roofs in Tauranga must look messy.
http://www.lincrad.co.nz/transmittersites.html

<<They blame the hill and of course when the translator went in there was only TV1 and 2 and no colour!>>

If you have previously had good reception, then the only other thing I can think of is any wireless AP right beside your TV, or a switch-mode power pack for something plugged in by the TV.

And as Islander said, check that the TiVo RF-out channel doesn't coincide with a Sky UHF channel or other.

Answers above in << above >>

Have solved the banding/interference problem. The centre pin in the aerial lead wasn't making good contact with its female receptacle. Nothing long nose pliers couldn't cure. I discovered that if I puled on the plug without pulling it out, the picture got better. Pulled the wall socket apart and then the lead plug and then twigged that when the two parts touched the picture improved and it was a clearance fit, so I nipped the split female terminal in a bit.
For reasons I can't combat, we have the aerials inside the roof cavity and all's fine except for TV3. I must check it out as it's worse than it used to be.

It also seems to me that Freeview HD Terrestrial would simplify things a lot, aerial-wise. It renders S1 Tivos redundant though, doesn't it?

**Skolink** · 14-12-2009, 09:03 AM

Great that the solution was simple.

Originally Posted by Chieftain

It also seems to me that Freeview HD Terrestrial would simplify things a lot, aerial-wise.

Well, you would only need the one antenna, but my workmate is having alot of trouble getting good digital reception, but gets all the analog UHF stations just fine which are broadcast from the same site. That's with his Samsung TV's tuner. He doesn't have a TiVo.

Originally Posted by Chieftain

It renders S1 Tivos redundant though, doesn't it?

Not if you want guide data for Prime and Maori.

**CheshireCat** · 07-01-2010, 07:24 AM

I found things improved a lot by adding a small signal booster on the ariel lead.

Helpfully, the new Tivo HD has a built-in signal strength meter (under settings/channels) so you can see if you need a signal booster. You should be getting all of the green bars lit - we had only half lit so a booster fixed things.

**petestrash** · 08-01-2010, 01:20 AM

Generally we have found the twin tuner TiVo HD does require a stronger signal than your average cheap STB to be stable.

Something in the 60-80 band works quite well here. Above or below that you may have issues.

Peter.

**finethen** · 27-02-2010, 10:08 PM

It also seems to me that Freeview HD Terrestrial would simplify things a lot, aerial-wise. It renders S1 Tivos redundant though, doesn't it?

HD is the only thing that renders S1's redundant. We run Sky and Freeview satellite through 3 separate S1 TiVos therefore we dont need the twin tuner that the HD machine boasts. We have I think 68 channels at last count including SBS and C7 from OZ. MySky and HD TiVo can't come near for variety or flexibility. So until we feel the urge to upgrade to an HD screen when it is more widely adopted by the freeview stations and Sky why would you bother.

Having said that the more TiVo folks that sell their S1 machines the more machines we can buy for friends and family and also as great security camera recorders.

So slip me a PM when your S1 machine is "redundant"! I'll pay better than redundant value!