Hi all,

I watch Freeview via Satellite. The line from the satellite passes through a 2-way splitter located in the ceiling.

The first location (study) has the line going to a 2-way splitter, then to a Windows 7 computer with two Nova-S-Plus DVB-S cards. Recordings from this computer have never had a problem.

The second location (lounge) has the line going to a 4-way splitter, then to a Windows 7 computer with a TBS-6984 quad tuner. Recordings from the computer frequently have glitches.

By glitches, I mean the lower half of the screen has grey blocks all over it, or horizontal blocky lines on the top third of the screen - I can easily supply a screenshot upon request. Sometimes glitches are accompanied by a brief loss of sound. At its worst, glitches occur every 2 seconds. At its best, hours will pass without any glitches.

I've noticed that the frequency of glitches tends to be in the evening, when the popular shows are on. When I perform troubleshooting during the day, it hardly ever glitches, if at all.

I've replaced the 2-way splitter in the ceiling with a connector so it goes only to the lounge - glitches persist.

I've replaced the 4-way splitter (twice) and all the connecting cables (also twice) - glitches persist.

I have moved the lounge computer to the study, and it glitches there too.

I find it strange that the frequency of glitches depends on the time of day.

I'm just about ready to call the quad tuner at fault, but before I make a move, could anyone suggest anything else I could test?

Thanks and regards,

Rob

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What are your strength and quality meters like , that's a lot of signal draw from a signal Dish / LNB ?

I don't know how to measure signal strength, which is frustrating.

The signal meter in Windows Media Center has it at full strength, but I don't know whether that's a true representation. How would you expect me to measure signal strength, because I could give it a try.


Paul said:

What are your strength and quality meters like , that's a lot of signal draw from a signal Dish / LNB ?

This software may work with your tuner cards.

Available here

Please note I haven't used this software myself.

I tried the software, but I couldn't get it working within the 60 minute trial period.

It did, however, get me thinking about another possibility, that the computer was at fault, and not the tuner card.

I took the tuner from the lounge computer, put it in the study computer, then moved that computer to the lounge. It worked fine. No glitches after an hour of watching (during the evening too!)

So, have at least proved the tuner, and cables are ok. Somehow an incompatibility between the computer and the tuner (or codecs? who knows!)

Anyway, thanks for the feedback - it got me thinking in a new direction.

Cheers

I just thought I'd add that I fixed this issue shortly after posting (all those months ago!)

It really had nothing to do with satellite dishes, LNB, cabling or splitters.

When I put the tuner into another computer, the problem went away. 

The affected computer would work fine with a different tuner card.

It was a weird incompatibility between the motherboard and the TBS-6984 quad tuner. Just those two pieces of hardware together caused the fault as described.

Since separating the motherboard from the tuner, I've had a flawless signal since.

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