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This is not strictly related to the Aura, but it comes from my investigations into poor signal quality on my Aura on SD channels and the lack of any HD channels from CH55.
I have an outside aerial coming into the loft connected to a booster with 4 outputs. 3 of the outputs are currently in use feeding my lounge (Aura) and two other rooms (kitchen and bedroom with BT Youview boxes). The cables are run from the loft down the wall cavities out into wall outlets in each room.
With the Aura plugged into the lounge aerial feed, the signal quality on a variety of SD channels is very poor and constantly fluctuates between 50 and 100% leading to pixellation and picture break-ups. I can also not receive any HD channels from CH55.
I brought in one of the BT YouView boxes and plugged this into the lounge aerial feed. The situation was the same: fluctuations on SD channels and no HD channels from CH55.
The BT YouView box when plugged into the kitchen aerial feed gets 100% signal quality on all channels and can receive all HD channels from CH55.
I plugged my Aura into the the kitchen aerial feed, and it was getting 100% signal quality on all channels and can then receive all HD channels from CH55.
So, I’ve ruled out the Aura as the culprit and it is the aerial feed from the loft booster to the lounge that is the problem.
It’s not the aerial itself as the other feeds coming from it and the booster in the kitchen and bedroom have 100% picture quality and get all HD channels.
I don’t know what I can do about this as I only have access to the end of the cable that plugs into the booster in the loft, and the wall outlet in the lounge. I cannot replace the whole cable as it runs down the wall cavities and was put in a couple of years ago when we renovated the house.
Any ideas as to what I could try?
Thanks in advance.
Have you tried swapping around the outputs from the booster? Maybe some of the outputs are faulty.
That’s a good suggestion, but yes I have tried that and there’s no improvement.
Try replacing the connectors at the amplifier end and either replace the socket plate on the wall outlet or just disconnect the face plate, trim/tidy the cable and fit the appropriate male/female Belling-Lee connector.
Thanks, I’ll give this a try. Is there a guide you’d recommend to follow on how to replace these in the correct way? Sorry to ask, but never done this before.
Thanks. Is there any way to do this without needing a soldering iron?
Yes.
A lot of the connectors have a tiny screw in the barrel to clamp down onto the inner core. If the ones you get don’t have that, just use your pliers to put a couple of tiny kinks ~~~ in the copper core so that it makes several connections inside the barrel.
Thanks. That helps.
So this is just bizarre. I unplugged the cable feeding the lounge from the booster and went back downstairs expecting the Aura to be showing the no signal message, but it was still playing all channels as if the cable was still plugged in.
WTF.
Christ, I’ve just realised what’s going on. When we had the house renovated they installed a new aerial on the roof and fed 4 new feeds off it, but left the original aerial on the roof which feeds only the lounge!! Aaargh.
So I guess I need to replace that with a better aerial as it’s probably over 20 years old. Or maybe just a booster on that aerial?
😳
So you have two roof aerials, one newish connected to a multi-splitter (in the loft?) and the old one feeding only the lounge?
Is the old aerial cable running externally down the house and in through the wall?
Yes, I’ve just been outside and followed the cable along the roof and down the wall into the lounge.
Presumably an aerial fitter can just replace the aerial and leave that cabling as it is and connect it to the new one?
Or should I try a booster between the wall outlet and the Aura?
Answered my own question in the end. I tried a booster between the wall outlet and the Aura and all seems well. Solid 100% quality on the SD channels that were fluctuating before, and a new automatic channel search picked up the missing HD channels on CH55 and a few others too.
Happy days. I’ve learned a lot today
ssenior45 – 7 mins ago »
Answered my own question in the end. I tried a booster between the wall outlet and the Aura and all seems well. Solid 100% quality on the SD channels that were fluctuating before, and a new automatic channel search picked up the missing HD channels on CH55 and a few others too.
Happy days. I’ve learned a lot today
Confused. Why do you expect SD channels to be harder to receive than HD ones ?
All UK Freeview transmitters transmit the Main HD channel on asingle PSB-3 mux at similar power to the SD MUx.
The additional ones will very shortly be removed anyway.
By the end of this month according to latest info,
You should be able to watch BBC1-HD, BBC2-HD ITV-HD, Channel-4-HD and channel 5-HD.
And record 4 of them without issues, And also record the other one by simply setting a watch reservation.
Why anyone with a 4K tv would want to watch a SD recording, I cannot understand ?
Even with a Full-HD TV the picture quality is superior.
If you cannot see the difference, You need to get a eyesight test or new glasses.
The only SD content I watch is BBC1-SD breakfast on a 16:9 android tablet every morning, only because the regional news only is on Freeview.
My Aura is set to enter full sby from midnight to 06:30.
grahamlthompson – 19 mins ago »
ssenior45 – 7 mins ago »
Answered my own question in the end. I tried a booster between the wall outlet and the Aura and all seems well. Solid 100% quality on the SD channels that were fluctuating before, and a new automatic channel search picked up the missing HD channels on CH55 and a few others too.
Happy days. I’ve learned a lot today
Confused. Why do you expect SD channels to be harder to receive than HD ones ?
All UK Freeview transmitters transmit the Main HD channel on asingle PSB-3 mux at similar power to the SD MUx.
The additional ones will very shortly be removed anyway.
By the end of this month according to latest info,
You should be able to watch BBC1-HD, BBC2-HD ITV-HD, Channel-4-HD and channel 5-HD.
And record 4 of them without issues, And also record the other one by simply setting a watch reservation.
Why anyone with a 4K tv would want to watch a SD recording, I cannot understand ?
Even with a Full-HD TV the picture quality is superior.
If you cannot see the difference, You need to get a eyesight test or new glasses.
The only SD content I watch is BBC1-SD breakfast on a 16:9 android tablet every morning, only because the regional news only is on Freeview.
My Aura is set to enter full sby from midnight to 06:30.
I don’t recall saying that I expect SD channels to be harder to receive than HD ones.
To summarise my issue, my Aura was on its own separate aerial which had no booster. I was seeing signal quality fluctuations on SD channels between 50-100% causing pixelation and picture break ups. In addition the channel search never discovered any channels on CH55.
I’ve fitted a booster between the wall outlet and the Aura and retuned. All channels now have 100% constant signal quality, and the retune picked up many channels I didn’t have before.
My problem is solved.
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