Forum › Forums › Freeview HD › Aura UHD › Aura Signal Strength?
- This topic has 104 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 2 months ago by
Martin Liddle.
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November 19, 2020 at 11:45 am #21317
Anonymous
InactiveOK. Nearly biting on buying this but amongst the negatives in reviews I see quite a lot of people complaining about the drop in signal strength with the subsequent impact on picture quality (i.e. break-up).
I know there’s other issues with the AURA that other people have but I think I can live with them but not poor signal strength.
What’s the general view from new owners? Issue or not?
November 19, 2020 at 12:36 pm #99973grahamlthompson
Participantboogersa – 39 mins ago »
OK. Nearly biting on buying this but amongst the negatives in reviews I see quite a lot of people complaining about the drop in signal strength with the subsequent impact on picture quality (i.e. break-up).
I know there’s other issues with the AURA that other people have but I think I can live with them but not poor signal strength.
What’s the general view from new owners? Issue or not?
Low signal strength has no effect on the quality of a digital TV signal. It’s the quality that matters and it should be and is 100% on my box. Too high a signal can reduce the quality if the Tuners are sensitive. Clipping the carrier waveform in the tuner front end reduces the quality and can cause pixellation.
The quality is a measure how well the tuner can differentiate between zeros and ones and how much of the built in error correction required to provide a copy of the digital stream without bit errors.
UHF attenuators are dirt cheap anyway.
So provided quality is 100% it’s not really an issue. If you have existing Freeviw-HD kit and the signal test shows 100% quality then the Aura should ber fine.
There is no agreed standard what 100% signal is. eg a sky -box always showed 60% strength on my lnb. A Freesat box shows 100% on the same transponder. Both worked fine.
Analogue TV given a good signal has a higher quality picture than digital because PAL is lossless. However as the strength falls the pictures deteriorates into noise.
November 19, 2020 at 1:11 pm #99974Anonymous
InactiveThanks for the info. I was using signal strength more in a generic sense. Reviewers have complained about picture drop outs. I have a 5000t with no picture quality issues but I’ve pulled the trigger now so I guess I’ll find out soon enough!
November 19, 2020 at 1:53 pm #99975grahamlthompson
Participantboogersa – 39 mins ago »
Thanks for the info. I was using signal strength more in a generic sense. Reviewers have complained about picture drop outs. I have a 5000t with no picture quality issues but I’ve pulled the trigger now so I guess I’ll find out soon enough!
Could easily be too high a signal strength. If so a signal attenuator should resolve it.
Interested to see what you think of the Aura HD picture compared to the 5000T.
Personally I think the 5000T has a small edge in quality.
November 19, 2020 at 2:36 pm #99976Anonymous
InactiveYou tell me now that the picture might not be as good as a 5000t !
November 19, 2020 at 2:48 pm #99977grahamlthompson
Participantboogersa – 9 mins ago »
You tell me now that the picture might not be as good as a 5000t !
It’s hard to be sure. A second opinion is always worthwhile

You can always return it. It is a lot faster than a 5000T.
November 20, 2020 at 9:48 am #99978Anonymous
InactiveI had significant signal issues with my 5000T and had to put a variable attenuator in to throttle it back, as a result I never had consistent signal quality on the lower power LOC and COM7 channels.
I was dreading sorting similar issues with the Aura but it was just plug an go and in nearly two weeks I’ve not seen the quality drop from 100% on LOC and COM7. Both the 5000T and Aura are on the same feed with a splitter, the attenuator sits between the splitter and the 5000T.
Comparing signal figures directly between the 5000T and Aura is a bit subjective as we don’t know how the percentages are arrived at, it may differ between platforms.
The only signal related bug on the Aura I have found is the signal strength screen only shows Tuner 1 no matter how many are in use. I have reported this to Humax support as it should show all 3 like on the 5000T.
On the picture front I am still watching from both boxes on a 40″ 4K TV and think they are at least comparable.
Overall I am very happy with the Aura, especially the speed and quality of the interface. I’m sure Humax will fix the niggles as its their flagship box, so hopefully usability should only improve.
November 20, 2020 at 4:07 pm #99979Anonymous
InactiveSignal strength has nothing to do with the box, but everything to do with the aerial etc. and location.
November 20, 2020 at 5:46 pm #99980Martin Liddle
ParticipantTrev – 1 hour ago »
Signal strength has nothing to do with the box, but everything to do with the aerial etc. and location.
When signal strength is reported as a percentage then I think it is entirely possible that different makes and model of PVR will give different readings for the same signal.
November 25, 2020 at 10:34 pm #99981Anonymous
InactiveI am getting the occasional picture breakup/pixelation but only for a second or two. It’s more flaky than the 5000t I have. Aura sIgnal strength is in the high 80% and quality is between 95-100%, sometimes reaching 100% I don’t know if this can be fixed by firmware updates. If it starts to annoy me it’s going back.
November 26, 2020 at 9:12 am #99982grahamlthompson
Participantboogersa – 10 hours ago »
I am getting the occasional picture breakup/pixelation but only for a second or two. It’s more flaky than the 5000t I have. Aura sIgnal strength is in the high 80% and quality is between 95-100%, sometimes reaching 100% I don’t know if this can be fixed by firmware updates. If it starts to annoy me it’s going back.
Fit a cheap variable attenuator to reduce the signal level a bit ensuring quality remains at 100%
That’s a classic example of signal clipping. If you are using the 5000T RF loop out to connect the aura that will also increase the signal strength as it has a small amplifier. I would connect the aerial to the Aura RF in and use it’s loop out as this remains on even when the box has no power.
November 26, 2020 at 11:09 am #99983Anonymous
InactiveThe 5000t is not connected to the aura in any way. I’ve ordered an attenuator and I’ll see if that helps.
November 26, 2020 at 12:21 pm #99984Anonymous
Inactivegrahamlthompson – 3 hours ago »
boogersa – 10 hours ago »
I am getting the occasional picture breakup/pixelation but only for a second or two. It’s more flaky than the 5000t I have. Aura sIgnal strength is in the high 80% and quality is between 95-100%, sometimes reaching 100% I don’t know if this can be fixed by firmware updates. If it starts to annoy me it’s going back.
Fit a cheap variable attenuator to reduce the signal level a bit ensuring quality remains at 100%
That’s a classic example of signal clipping. If you are using the 5000T RF loop out to connect the aura that will also increase the signal strength as it has a small amplifier. I would connect the aerial to the Aura RF in and use it’s loop out as this remains on even when the box has no power.
How do you fit an attenuator and ensure that the signal quality remains at 100% when the initial signal quality is 95-100% (only sometimes reaching 100%)? The problem is signal quality!
November 26, 2020 at 2:18 pm #99985grahamlthompson
ParticipantMars – 1 hour ago »
grahamlthompson – 3 hours ago »
boogersa – 10 hours ago »
I am getting the occasional picture breakup/pixelation but only for a second or two. It’s more flaky than the 5000t I have. Aura sIgnal strength is in the high 80% and quality is between 95-100%, sometimes reaching 100% I don’t know if this can be fixed by firmware updates. If it starts to annoy me it’s going back.
Fit a cheap variable attenuator to reduce the signal level a bit ensuring quality remains at 100%
That’s a classic example of signal clipping. If you are using the 5000T RF loop out to connect the aura that will also increase the signal strength as it has a small amplifier. I would connect the aerial to the Aura RF in and use it’s loop out as this remains on even when the box has no power.
How do you fit an attenuator and ensure that the signal quality remains at 100% when the initial signal quality is 95-100% (only sometimes reaching 100%)? The problem is signal quality!
You reduce the level until the quality starts to drop and then increase a little to give a margin. It’s a bit of a trial and error exercise. If your signal is too high, because of the distortion the quality goes down until you get the signal level within the tuner capability.
November 26, 2020 at 2:28 pm #99986Anonymous
InactiveMars – 1 hour ago »
grahamlthompson – 3 hours ago »
Fit a cheap variable attenuator to reduce the signal level a bit ensuring quality remains at 100%
That’s a classic example of signal clipping.
How do you fit an attenuator and ensure that the signal quality remains at 100% when the initial signal quality is 95-100% (only sometimes reaching 100%)? The problem is signal quality!
Easy.
First fit the variable attenuator and adjust it so that the quality is 100%. Over the next few minutes keep an eye on it to check that it remains at 100%. Due to time of day, and changes of weather, it may need a small adjustment to ensure that it remains at 100%.
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