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Growler

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#24968 8-Aug-2008 08:57
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Hi All, 1st time poster ;)

Last night i set up my PC with a Avermedia speedy pci-e.

Installed the software fine, scanned channels using the crappy supplied needle aerial using AVERTV and MediaPortal, picked up every chan in chch using DVB-T.

my rig is a Vista SP1, AM2 4800x2, 4gb ram, 8600gt, PDVD Ultra .264 codec. (set to use HW decoding in MP)

I think i must of been lucky, it really was painless, i got this amazing looking picture straight off the bat! But, it was as choppy as hell, like every 1-2 secs a freeze for half a second. I think its due to reception quality.

For sh!ts and giggles i tried the analog side of the tuner, found most channels (no prime and sky scambled was barely legiable), quality was terribad, like snowy and liney, nowhere near acceptable, I played around with my aerial placement and it got a little better. Back to HD and no picture, move aerial back to where it was and i get HD picture back.


So my real question is, Is a bad reception for HD shown as a bad picture quality like analog, or does it still show it as perfect picture, but just choppy if you have a bad reception? I had a look through old posts, but i just couldnt pinpoint any thing that said "These are the symptoms of a poor signal for DVB-T"

Could someone confirm what a poor signal quality/strength results in for DVB-T.

Is there a piece of software i can run that will let me test sig quality/strength as  I move my aerial? I am going to setup a external aerial over the weekend, but i dont want to be going up & down ladders 50 times to change alignment If i can do it just once if i have my wife watching a screen/meter thing on my computer.

Thanks to anyone that can answer these for me, im new to the game and im sure its a simple answer, but i just wanted clarification before i go and buy external UHF aerials. I was looking at a "Yagi-style 12 Element UHF TV Antenna" I live in a clear LOS to Sugarloaf and can get my aerial to about 10m up, would this aerial suffice?

Cheers, G

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allstarnz
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  #155158 8-Aug-2008 10:57
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yes, with digital the signal is either on or off (ie transmitted with many 1's and 0's).  If you have bad reception, the picture will drop out lots.

Unless you live really close to the TV tower, an outside aerial is a must.  Will save you hours of frustration.  If you have bad reception of Prime, it's likely Freeview|HD won't look flash.



cyril7
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  #155180 8-Aug-2008 12:24
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Hi, I do recommend an external antenna, it removes any effects from moving bodies and creates a more stable solution. If you have clear site of Sugarloaf and are obviously in the ChCh metro area not miles out on the plains.

Then a straight forward UHF Yagi like the DSE L4711 which I assume you are refering to is just fine. As for how high you need to place it, unless there is some nearby building in the way then just a 0.5-1m mast off the barge board is all that is needed, once again, if the antenna has a clear sight, all should be good. As Alistar said, if you get reasonable prime reception (not too noisey with speckles) then you should not have any DTT issues.

Cyril

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