In article , Jim Lesurf jcgl@st-
and.demon.co.uk writes
In article , tony sayer

wrote:
In article , Jim Lesurf jcgl@st-
and.demon.co.uk writes


It may well be time for a 'new' tuner and/or a high-gain antenna on the
roof. However I am not certain, given the nature of the problems, how
much these will help. So I suppose I should also consider using either
a Freeview box or some form of satellite RX.

I'd opt for an outside directional aerial and when you do that get the
aerial and get someone to put it up for you unless you can DIY.

a Triax 4 or 5 element can be had from www.cpc.co.uk don't rely on the
aerial rigger to supply an 'eff emm hairel they almost without exception
put up a Halo which is a waste of good metal!.

Freeview is well.. ok as far as 192K audio goes, but 256 K + on
satellite is where it ought be. Still for around a 100 squids you can
get some excellent audio from the other side of the channel:--)).

You have encapsulated my present dilemma. :-)

I am currently undecided between:

1) Do as you say, Get a high-gain VHF antenna up above the roof, and
perhaps also replace the CT7000 with something decent and more modern

Shouldn't cost a lot...


2) Run a UHF antenna feed to the hifi room, and use a 'FreeView' box.

Dunno.. Perhaps you don't mind MP2 low rate artefacts.. I do..


3) Satellite RX.

Well for around £100 there is a lot up there at good rates and in very
high quality. Pity Auntie BBC isn't among them;!...



At present I am tempted by (2) as we already have a decent UHF system that
gives fairly reliable reception. I could fit a low-noise UHF distribution
amp in the loft quite easily, and use one o/p for the current feed to the
living room, and another into the hifi room. A FreeView box with an SPDIF
output would also be cheaper than a good FM tuner, so this would be a
cheaper and easier option for me than (1) or (3). In general I have found
the sound on FreeView R3 and BBC4 OK. An added advantage of this would be
being able to record the sound from BBC4 or a station like BBC7 onto CD
when I wanted.

The worry is the BBC's established track-record of trashing the quality of
their output. Sod's Law predicts that I'd do (2) and they promptly drop the
bitrates on Freeview sound! :-/

Well I doubt they would but then again a lot thought the 192 on DAB was
sacrosanct till recently!. Who knows?. Satellite with its massive
bandwidth availability does look to be a long term answer..




Must admit to having mixed feelings about an 'Audiolab' one. I have now
given up on trying to fix the seriously-broken 8000A. The circuit
diagram from the net is incorrect in some details, and having spent
some time studying the actual circuit I must confess to having become
less than impressed.

Should have said!, one does know ones old employers still

I tried asking them for a circuit diagram, etc. Their party line is that
they charge X pounds/hour to work on fixing things.


We also seem to get more interference during the day than during the
evening. Although there is a tendency here for the RF level to droop
during the evenings.

Odd.. your not the other side of that river estuary?, firth of Tay or
whatever its called???

We are about 10 miles south of the Tay estuary, and about 20 miles north of
the Forth. I think that Forfar is a bit west of north from here. This means
it is a moderately clear line across the Tay,

Doesn't seem like tidal fading at that distance..

but with Dundee on the line
of sight. I do suspect some of the interference comes from Dundee as it is
the only 'large city' in reasonably clear view from here. It is also
spreads up the hills facing us on the other side of the Tay.

Hence as well as a limited signal, we seem to have a major source of
interference on much the same line of sight.

Well if it is interference on such a scale that its causing upset then
Ofcom ought to be interested but I somehow doubt that is and if it is
what would it be?. Perhaps the answer lies closer to home!..

Slainte,

Jim


--
Tony Sayer