The SatCure Blog # 128   IN THIS ISSUE: News Monthly Whinge Feedback Readers' Contributions New Products Beware the Scam! Questions Happy Customers Free eBooks! April 30, 2009   http://www.satcure.co.uk See Newsletter Archive

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News BBC HD lip-sync fixed! Rowan, a BBC engineer, discusses audio problems: http://rowan.depomerai.com/2009/03/that-syncing-feeling/ BBC HD Blu-ray copying Danielle Nagler, Head of BBC HD, BBC Vision, discusses DRM and Blu-Ray in her blog. "we have made one change which I hope those of you focused on the imminent arrival of blu-ray recorders will welcome. It will now be possible to make a single HD Blu-ray copy of one of our programmes, although not copies of copies. An HD connection to a protected home network will also be possible, although an HD connection to the Internet or portable devices will not work." http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/04/welcome_to_some_new_initials_d.html Panasonic discloses Freesat+ prices Panasonic has announced that it is bringing out a range of the Freesat+ recorders complete with a Blu-ray option from the 20th June. The prices are a bit scary! http://www.techwatch.co.uk/2009/04/16/panasonic-confirm-freesat-prices/ Sky News Moves for expats Sky News is moving from a frequency of 11597 to 10832 MHz on transponder 57 from Astra 1KR satellite at 19.2 degrees. (This doesn't affect anyone receiving Sky News from Astra-2.) Monthly Whinge Thomson blooming Power Supplies! I'm getting a LOT of complaints from customers who ordered a PSU but haven't received one yet. I do apologise and we are working on it. (We are gradually buying more PSUs so we can improve the turnaround but this takes time. I refuse to buy counterfeit PSUs.) I have tried to explain the options on the relevant web pages and in our discussion forum. The problem is that some people ordered "advance exchange" PSUs from us but failed to return the old ones, leaving us with no stock. Sorry but some people are simply selfish. Please don't blame us. I'm also rather peed off about discussions on various forums about "SatCure laughing all the way to the bank". Let me make it clear: For the work involved, we do NOT make a lot of profit on kits or exchange PSUs. The capacitors that we use aren't cheap (we can't possibly compete with the cheap copykits on eBay) and the (dead) PSUs that we are buying in cost us typically £25 each, plus postage plus the cost of capacitors and labour to rebuild them to our standard. There's also some lady purporting to be a Sky employee who is slagging us off in the Digitalspy forum because we are supposedly "forcing people to buy PSU kits that they don't need". Please do me a huge favour if you've bought a kit or Thomson PSU from us: please post in the Digitalspy forum just one paragraph to let them know whether you were happy with your purchase or, more importantly, whether you feel it was a waste of money. I really want you to be honest about this! And please don't buy a kit or PSU unless you really need it. We never force anyone to buy anything. Indeed, I often plead with people NOT to buy things. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1004149 (I have refrained from posting because anything I write will be seen as "biassed"!) In addition, please take part in the poll:- http://notonyourtelly.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9223 Finally, I find it quite frightening that some people have apparently been replacing the PSU without carefully following our instructions. Do, please, read them before fitting a Thomson PSU:- http://www.satcure.net/psu/   Feedback     Just a comment regarding an article in the newsletter 127. Martin comments that it may be worthwhile purchasing a spare Sky box and LNB rather than paying Sky for any repairs. My experience is that if you have any kind of subscription with Sky then a phone call telling them you want to cancel because your box has failed will result in a free repair. They will do everything that they can to keep a customer. Telling them you want to cancel because you are getting a Freeview PVR can get you Sky+ free too if you are lucky. It worked for me! Paul Good point but it's a gamble. Sometimes it works and sometimes Sky will "call your bluff" and cancel. And I can assure you that they won't send you a replacement Digibox if you live outside the UK!   From Fred Bloggs Regarding Customer receipt (Keep-me): xxxxxxx Alternative email address- none I have not received the parts I ordered. Can you tell me when I might expect them please? This is the THIRD time I've asked today! Orders do occasionally get overlooked or lost in the post. Also our email replies sometimes are delayed or lost. In general, our Sales staff begin work at 9am and will process orders received since 4pm on the previous work day. At 1pm they take a break for lunch then check the email. The rest of the afternoon is spent trying to pack last-minute orders. This means that, if you email us at 2pm, you might wait up to 24 hours for a reply. It also means that orders placed in the afternoon are more prone to mistakes. The girls do their best but they are human (and rather pretty - if that matters!) Readers' Contributions  None. That's right - leave me to do ALL the work!   New Products We've added a relay timer kit to our range of electronic kits. It's at the bottom of this page:- http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/kits.htm   Beware the Scam! Not so much a scam as misguided. It has come to our attention that a large number of counterfeit "Thomson" PSUs have been imported. These may have poor reliability and safety issues. Please read the full information here: http://www.satcure.net/tech/thom_psu.htm#counterfeit (top) Questions - a selection from this month's emails Equipment made by: Thomson Model number on label or rear panel: none What I want to know (plus any other relevant information):  I bought a global tv-link 4-way amp from you some time ago. I've recently switched some boxes around so it's now running from my thomson sky hd box, unfortunately it isn't getting any power. I've tried turning rf2 power on and off and rebooting etc, but have decided that the digibox must be at fault, because the amp still  works fine with my other boxes. A tested and working magic eye plugged straight into rf2 of the thomson box also doesn't light up. However, the rf2 picture from the box is fine, it just won't power a magic eye or the amp. Now to the question..... Do you think that if I buy the appropriate global power supply (9v) from you for the amp, it will then allow me to change channel using the magic eyes  connected to it? I'd be happy to take a punt if you think there's any chance, but not if you know it just won't work. Thanks in anticipation Jono The Amp will power the "magic eye". However, if the Digibox is not providing the supply voltage, the internal "return path" for the remote signal is probably broken, too. So the sensible option would be to get the Digibox repaired or replace it. Please note that one possible cause of this fault is rainwater running down inside the TV aerial cable so please DO check for this before connecting it to another Digibox. I live in an apartment block and I'm not allowed to have a satellite dish. I think this is unfair. Does anyone else have this problem? Patrick McG. You'll find some interesting discussions here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055124066&page=3 http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055132609 My location is: Oxford City Centre Hello Martin - and thanks in advance. Steve L. said you had been very helpful to him. TOPIC - FLAT PANEL ANTENNAS I live in Oxford centre 'restricted' area but FLAT panel antenna might be OK if fully [painted] black. There's very little on the web to help a technical evaluation of these flat 'dishes'. I hope for 'ZONE 2 spec' with flat panel antenna &endash; a hard call. KATHREIN claim their BAS60 has gain of 50db, but this figure is not qualified by freq and band and SEEMS TOO HIGH for normally stipulated top-end of KU-Band figure. SELF-SAT with H21D claim 34.7dbi at 12.7GHz. Both LNBs 'noisy' at 0.7/0.8db. Q. Which Flat antenna would you recommend [if cost is not factor] for solid signal in heavy rain? OAS do a 44cm flat 'dish' as well [34.8db gain @12.7GHz, LNB noise 0.3db]. Q. Have you any news [from inside industry] as to whether any NEW [bigger] flat antenna are about to hit the market? I could wait probably. Again thank you and have a good day. David C -- The only non-parabolic satellite TV antenna that we stock is the "SELFSAT". You'll find all the information that we have here:- http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/selfsat.htm Unfortunately we don't sell any other type so I have no information about them. I suggest you put your question in the various discussion forums. Be sure to use a relevant message title and also state which satellite broadcast you wish to receive. Ask for personal experience and photographs and not simply opinion or "recommendation", otherwise you'll simply get dealers in disguise, recommending their own products. The launch of a large flat antenna is unlikely due to lack of demand and cost. Yours is the first enquiry we've had in ten years. The demand for flat antennas invariably includes "very small" as the main criterion. 0.7dB is a perfectly acceptable figure. When I started my career in this industry, 3.0 dB was considered good. Anything less than 1.0dB max. is amazing. Anything less than 0.5dB should be taken with a very large pinch of salt. In fact without a frequency plot it's meaningless. See Sam's explanation:- http://sam-radford.me.uk/lnbs.htm Hi Martin, Hope you are well. Coming to you for a quick bit of technical advice. I have fitted a WNC quad-output LNB to my existing zone 1 dish which has a single (Grundig) LNB. When LNB is fitted, ensuring good alignment etc. the TV picture is suffering from vertical lines on screen and certain channels have poor PQ. If I replace the single-output LNB, all is fine. I have replaced the quad-output LNB so it won't be that. Could it just be that the angle of the quad LNB is different than that of the single LNB? They have used the collar adjuster (1-5) and the customer says it was better the lower the number. Any thoughts, do I need to re-align the dish, the arm, anything? Cheers, Ian This symptom is probably caused by a faulty Digibox. An LNB can't possibly produce lines, because the signal from the LNB is still multiplexed, so the problem must be occurring within the Digibox itself. It's quite likely that its PSU is failing and it simply can't cope with the slightly higher current demand of a quad-output LNB. The first test is to try a different Digibox which will prove or disprove my theory. See http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/page10.htm Equipment made by: Thomson Model number on label or rear panel: DSI8215 I bought your capacitor kit to repair a faulty psu in my Thomson Sky+HD Box - I replaced capacitor numbers 33,60,41,42,43 - basically all the ones that were bulging at the top. Franky, I was amazed, but it all works! So thank you very much for your help. However, the box seems upable to complete a 'forced EPG' upgrade. I keep my finger on the box mounted 'backup' button and turn on the power, however the system starts to boot and then powers down - it will then have another attempt. Can I ask if this is just the way it is after replacing the capacitors or does this indicate another problem that I need to fix? Any help and advice would be fantastic. Many thanks and best regards Martin B. -- I don't understand why you haven't fitted the complete kit. We don't supply 15 capacitors just to bulk out the numbers and make life harder. Bulging merely confirms the capacitor is faulty. Lack of bulge means nothing. You should fit ALL the capacitors before applying power. My location is: alicante spain Equipment made by: Pace Sky Model number on label or rear panel: unknown Hi Martin. I recently changed to sky plus in uk. I always bring my sky cards to Spain and they work giving me bbc1 on sky 988 and itv1 on sky 993.Now this time I brought the skyplus card out and it has knocked out bbc1 and itv1 on any channel. I have unplugged the box for 8 hours but to no avail. Help, my other half is missing her soaps.I have obviously returned previous cards to pace unit, but nothing will get these two channels. Other channels previously recieved still work. Heres hoping. Rod S. -- BBC1 and ITV1 don't require a viewing card so your problem has nothing to do with that. Try a different receiver. If that can't receive BBC1, you have a problem with your dish system. My location is: CH2 Hello. I was wondering if it is possible to use an existing coax, which is my aerial downlead and run my Sky RF2 signal on top of this to use a second TV in a bedroom. I was thinking of using a combiner in the loft and diplex wall plate downstairs but am unsure if this is possible because of the frequencies.The aim is not to have to run a second coax to the loft as this would be difficult. If it is possible to use a single coax for this reason, could you possibly steer me as to the equipment I would need bearing in mind I would like to use a magic eye upstairs too. Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated. Apologies in advance if it was a stupid question. Thanks. Colin A. -- In some circumstances it may be possible to use two diplexers to separate aerial signals and RF signals but it's unlikely that a magic eye will work. See bottom diagram: http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/combiners.htm In your case, Winter Hill transmitter uses channels above 55 for the Freeview transmissions, which means you might use two "56747-TMC5153 = 21-51 + 53-69 aerial/aerial combiner Diplexer" with the aerial connected to the 53-69 input and the Digibox RF outlet set to a channel in the 21-51 range. http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page11c.htm#diplex This is purely theoretical - I've never tried it - and you'd probably need to use a wireless "Powermid" for the remote control function. Happy Customers    None of the above apply from john d. (8) I am a total technical bozo I am trying to buy a 40x40x10 minature fan like the one in http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/fan.htm (actually to fit inside a Sony HCD-DZ260 dvd player) But for the life of me, I cannot find a price for it on your website, I have read and listened to the help pages, but am still confused, and even clicking on "contact", it still took ages to find how to send you an email. I cannot find any sort of search facility (ignoreing the browsers one, which only searches the current page), so PLEASE, for the sake of your consumers, do something to make your website usable. Your website is almost impossible ! - I am not trying to be rude, but even when I tried to send a question to sales, it refused as I don't have an order or customer number !!! I am trying to buy from you ! If you can supply this minature fan, what are your prices ?   1. At the top of every page is an orange tab labelled "Search". To use our web site search facility you have to click on this tab. On the fan page there is a link for ordering labelled "Click here". You have to click it to see the order page. If you failed to spot that, you could have clicked on the orange "Shop" tab, then on the "Go to Satellite TV Index" link, then on the "Receiver spares" link (which lists "fans") where you would hopefully have seen the link to "CPU cooling kits (fans)". 2. You can not send a question to our Sales girls without an order number. As it states on the email page, they answer questions ONLY about orders that have been placed. All other enquiries must be directed to "Technical". There's a simple reason for this: when we allowed non-customers to email Sales, the girls wasted at least an hour every day in answering queries like this one. The result was that orders for genuine customers were being delayed. I freely admit that, although I have been uploading web pages for fourteen years, I'm still an amateur web designer. However, all your problems seem to boil down to the fact that you didn't actually read what was right in front of your eyes. Having said that, I freely admit that prospective customers look at a web site with a completely different perspective from mine. We stock hundreds of products and it's often difficult to decide which category they fit. Sometimes I (reluctantly) list an item in more than one section. (This often results in problems later when a price or specification has to change! I'll usually change one but not the other until someone points out my mistake.) Anyway, I do welcome feedback about genuine mistakes and possible improvements. One day we may be able to justify the expense of a complete redesign, using a database-driven web site. Until that time, you'll have to manage with the web pages that I churn out. I'm pleased to say that there are still sites which are a lot worse than ours!   That's it for another month, folks! Next week I'm flying to somewhere warmer while the girls stay behind to process your orders. Please be nice to them. I'll be back in a fortnight. (In theory I'll have an Internet connection. But I won't be sitting in front of my iBook all day long so you may have to wait a few hours for a reply. I recommend you use the forum rather than email. I don't know whether I'll be able to use email.)   (top)   Latest SatCure eBook updates None this month. I'm just lazy I guess.   All eBooks have been moved to a more reliable secure server which requires a username and password. If you can't access it, please contact us (wherever you bought it - SatCure or The Cool Book Shop) with your proof of purchase and ask for the new download information, stating exactly which eBook(s) you purchased and the EBK number(s). (top)

The SatCure Forum Meet other Satellite TV enthusiasts and put your questions or points of view here Need to buy wholesale stock to sell on eBay or on your web site? Thinking of starting your own business? Click on banner above. All kinds of video tapes transferred to DVD, UK's lowest prices and top quality. Experienced engineer and a personal service. Most tapes just £10 for 2:30 hours or less in quantity.   Expat Forum I can't recommend this forum for Expats too highly. It's run and moderated by Kay who puts in a lot of hours to make sure everything runs smoothly. If you are outside the UK or thinking of emigrating then you need to look in here!   Don't fancy DIY? Get an Installation Quote: http://www.ukapsi.com/contents.htm   REMOTES Looking for a TV or VCR remote control? Look no further. Same Day Remote   Sky+ Remotes only £18.80 inclusive from SatCure! Your advert could be here! Contact us for details. http://www.tnt-audio.com is an audio enthusiasts' website, run purely for the fun of it. No money involved at all! Take a look. Sky Freesat 20 things you need to know How to fit extra TV points DIY door alarm guide The Freeview bible Installing Sky Digital and Freesat Learn Electronics by building Guide to Magic Eyes Sky Digibox Manual How to use a multimeter Time for a new TV? Piping TV around your house Sky Remote control guide Sky remote codes book Troubleshooting Sky Repairing Sky receivers Repairing receiver PSUs Double your earnings Television magazine articles Electronic kits and gadgets. Start a new hobby! Ideal Presents. http://www.Electrokits.co.uk