TV problem

[Ray]

We've just bought a Avtex W152D seven in one, lcd tv that runs on 12 volts or mains. We've also bought an Omnimax antenna, with amplifier. We connected one to the other and can't get the TV to work.We've even tried tuning the TV without any antenna and with a low power radio on transmit alongside - the TV scans through the frequency that the radio was transmitting on so we should have got something, even if only snow on the screen. We've adjusted the amplifier for both strong and weak signals and visually checked all the cables, plugs and sockets. We can't try the inbuilt DVD player as we didn't bring any DVDs with us. We have managed to view some pictures off memory card from a camera, and we can see the screen on the tv displaying where it is scanning on both manual and auot tune up.

 

Our next plan is to take the TV home and try to tune it in there.

 

Has anyone else got one of these TVs and have you had any problems with it?

[bottle]

Hi Ray

 

I do not know this particular TV just some thoughts, the transmitter may be 'down', the signal is too weak or non existent, bad location.

 

If it is digital (freeview) the signal may not be available in that area yet.

 

The best thing you can do is, as you suggested, take to a place with another TV that is working and go from there.

 

Good luck.

[KenK]

We've just bought a Avtex W152D seven in one, lcd tv that runs on 12 volts or mains. We've also bought an Omnimax antenna, with amplifier. We connected one to the other and can't get the TV to work.We've even tried tuning the TV without any antenna and with a low power radio on transmit alongside - the TV scans through the frequency that the radio was transmitting on so we should have got something, even if only snow on the screen. We've adjusted the amplifier for both strong and weak signals and visually checked all the cables, plugs and sockets. We can't try the inbuilt DVD player as we didn't bring any DVDs with us. We have managed to view some pictures off memory card from a camera, and we can see the screen on the tv displaying where it is scanning on both manual and auot tune up.

 

Our next plan is to take the TV home and try to tune it in there.

 

Has anyone else got one of these TVs and have you had any problems with it?

 

I don't have the TV but I do have the aerial / amplifier and to date we have never managed to obtain a signal using it. Instead I use a standard high gain aerial and an extending pole which locates into a block on the roof gives about 18 ft of elevation, this works in most places. Our CRT TV on autotune doesn't show any signal on the screen until its finished tuning, the only thing that changes is the channel number. Taking the TV home and testing it there is a good idea, also take the aerial and see if you get a signal, if it's working you should get one upstairs at least.

 

Ken

[chris w]

We've just bought a Avtex W152D seven in one, lcd tv that runs on 12 volts or mains. We've also bought an Omnimax antenna, with amplifier. We connected one to the other and can't get the TV to work.We've even tried tuning the TV without any antenna and with a low power radio on transmit alongside - the TV scans through the frequency that the radio was transmitting on so we should have got something, even if only snow on the screen. We've adjusted the amplifier for both strong and weak signals and visually checked all the cables, plugs and sockets. We can't try the inbuilt DVD player as we didn't bring any DVDs with us. We have managed to view some pictures off memory card from a camera, and we can see the screen on the tv displaying where it is scanning on both manual and auot tune up.

 

Our next plan is to take the TV home and try to tune it in there.

 

Has anyone else got one of these TVs and have you had any problems with it?

 

I don't know this particular aerial but since it's called an "omnimax" I assume it's an ominidirectional (ie: 360 degree) aerial which will have no directional gain by definition. You will rarely get a good signal from this type of aerial on the canal as you are low down compared to hedges etc. The amplifier will boost any signal but it will also boost any noise on that signal so it won't change the signal-to-noise ratio.

 

These amplifiers are intended to boost the signal down a long cable run to compensate for the cable's attenuation. It's a mistaken belief that they make a good signal out of a bad one.

 

Ken's suggestion is the right one, viz: you need a high gain directional aerial and height.

 

Chris

[Yoda]

You have to give it a sporting chance to get a signal. There is none where you are on the boat or the tuner on the TV is not working. When you take it home, depending how far that is, it may lock onto a different transmitter so will be no help to you. You do need to get an external antenna and get some height. Even put it up in a tree.

 

Find out what local transmitters you have because big ones are horizontal and small one are vertical. So look at the local houses to see which way the arials are pointing and which way up.

[Grasshopper]

I've got the Omnimax aerial and it works fine for me on analogue around Napton area. I would say that half the boats in the marina have one sitting on their roof so I can't be alone. Chris is right in that it is omnidirectional and therefore you do get ghosting to a degree but I can live with that for the lack of standing outside in the rain tweaking a directional aerial to shouted instructions from below......... It is also good with FM signals so my radio runs off it too.

 

I haven't got the Avetex TV but I understand that it has analogue & digital tuners. I'm not sure how good the Omnimax would perform with digital. But I assume you scanned analogue as well as digital for a signal?

[Semitrad]

Amplifiers, if not energised by being plugged into (usually) 12 volts do a very good job of blocking out signals completely, this is where I would investigate. Modern TVs are very reliable, taking it home to prove it works is a good idea but it may lose memory by the time you get it back to the boat.

[dor]

I've got an Omnimax and most of the time in Cheshire I get a good analogue signal with the aerial just lying in the cratch. Some places though I need to put it outside on a mast - just depends a lot on the signal strength. I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with the aerial, especially as we are on the junction of three different TV regions - being omnidirectional I can pick up the best of the transmitters without having to mess around rotating a directional one and trying to guess the polarisation. I accept that a directional one would probably be better on a fixed mooring though.

[ayeaye]

I've got an Omnimax and most of the time in Cheshire I get a good analogue signal with the aerial just lying in the cratch. Some places though I need to put it outside on a mast - just depends a lot on the signal strength. I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with the aerial, especially as we are on the junction of three different TV regions - being omnidirectional I can pick up the best of the transmitters without having to mess around rotating a directional one and trying to guess the polarisation. I accept that a directional one would probably be better on a fixed mooring though.

 

 

We have an Avtex tv with freeview also same ariel set up, cant get freeview every where so tune it in on pal we are very pleased with ours we usually have the ariel fastened to an adjustable pole from b&q think theyre for painting ceilings just press the button and you can higher and lower it

[PaddingtonBear]

I have a simple answer to all of you with TV problems - don't have one.

[Ray]

Why is it that we always overlook the simplest things?

 

We presumed something was wrong on Friday and didn't do anything on Saturday, having a tv free evening. Then, having read the various posts and suggestions last evening we did what was advised, we tried again, out in the sticks above lock 35. We got two snowy analogue pictures but around 20 digital channels as clear as a bell.

 

SWMBO spent the evening watching the box while I spent the evening on the laptop writing up the blog which I'll try and post this evening.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. Looks like, as usual for me, it was user error!

 

Ray

[pagan witch]

I have a simple answer to all of you with TV problems - don't have one.

Wouldn't wish to deprive anyone of their own chosen enjoyment but have to say I agree with you. One hell of a conversation stopper when people say 'Did you see' and you say 'No' before they've finished the sentence.

 

There is cdertainly somer fantastic programming out there but I really can't be bothered to sift it out from the other stuff and my work means I have no chance of watching a series of anything from end to end.

 

Get a decent book

[anhar]

How do those smart arses on here saying "don't have a TV" as the answer to other readers' TV reception problems think they are helping? It's a total waste of time to even write such messages. I might understand it if they were smart, witty or amusing retorts but they're not. They come across as merely supercilious comment by those who think they are somehow better than others because they don't have TV. All it does is annoy those who are seeking some assistance from the thread. But it adds nothing to the discussion, neither technical assistance nor humour.

 

If you have nothing useful to add, or lack the capacity to be amusing, then why bother to respond at all? People with TV queries don't want to be told that they shouldn't have one.

 

regards

Steve

[Grasshopper]

Bad night there, Steve?

 

Interesting to know that the Omnimax works with digital as well. I was assuming I couldn't get freeview. As the boxes are so cheap now, I might have a play in advance of the switch off.

[anhar]

Bad night there, Steve?

 

Interesting to know that the Omnimax works with digital as well. I was assuming I couldn't get freeview. As the boxes are so cheap now, I might have a play in advance of the switch off.

Yeah, got a stinking cold so I needed something at which to have a go.

 

I was warned off omni directional aerials because of poor reception, I think on this forum some time back, when I was considering an aerial for my boat. I have a directional one on a longish pole that assembles in three parts and when fully up is around five feet above the boat's roof. I erect it each time I moor and want to view, and then dismantle again when I move off because it is too high to leave up when cruising. That's a hassle though it's fairly quick to put up and down but is probably the way to get the best picture from terrestrial TV. I align it by reference to others I can see but if I can't see any then it's a matter of swivelling it round to get the best picture.

 

I find that reception, both of analogue and digital Freeview, varies hugely depending on area. I'm based in the London area and on a recent trip up to Rickmansworth on the GU the reception at the spot I was moored was virtually non existent, just a very snowy picture on analogue and no Freeview at all. In my marina in West London it is perfect on digital and a recent excursion to Paddington Basin found good digital reception there too. I try always to tune in digital Freeview first, because of its range of channels and if that works then no need to find analogue signals.

 

I like to have TV but am not a major watcher. Films are my main interest, I'm a big fan. I'm thinking of getting a DVD player for the boat and a recorder at home so that I can record films for watching later on the boat. Useful for those occasions when there's nothing worth watching or the reception is inadequate.

 

regards

Steve

Edited October 30, 2007 by anhar

[PaddingtonBear]

Obviously TV does little either for ones humour or happiness and by the way I am better than you

[Grasshopper]

I like to have TV but am not a major watcher. Films are my main interest, I'm a big fan. I'm thinking of getting a DVD player for the boat and a recorder at home so that I can record films for watching later on the boat. Useful for those occasions when there's nothing worth watching or the reception is inadequate.

 

Tha's what I do. I only really use the TV for the news & weather. And the Omnimax is good enough for that. A long pole for an aerial gets tricky when your boat is only 26 foot long.....

[Ray]

The TV also works well with the Omnimax in the marina, moored right against and below a railway embankment. However, was out cruising over the weekend with a few other boats and moored in some out of the way hell hole because, not only did ours not work, none of the others could watch their TVs either. It ruined the Saturday night of those that wanted to watch Celebrity Come Dancing (or whatever its called).

 

Now a new twist, but it is related. The Avtec comes complete with a moulded 12v cigar lighter plug which we'd like to replace with a 5amp round plug to fit the socket that we've placed in the cabin wall - never thinking to fit a cigar lighter socket instead! I was about to cut the cigar lighter plug off when someone suggested that it might contain a voltage regulator (or some other ancillary equipment). The plug housing components seem to have been welded together although they'd probably come apart with a knife. Before I take the knife to the plug, has anyone else ever removed the plug from the lead for similar reasons to ours and is it just a plug or does it hold darker secrets?

 

Alternatively, does anyone know whether you can get a cigar lighter style socket that mounts into an ordinary face plate i.e. the type used at home for plugs and switches?

 

Ray

[chris w]

Ray

 

If you have a multimeter push the very sharp ends of the probes through the insulation and into each of the two power wires once you have plugged in the unit. If it reads either exactly 5v or exactly 12v it does contain a voltage regulator. If it reads battery voltage - around 12.6v with other stuff switched off - (or around 14v with the engine running) it does NOT contain a voltage regulator.

 

Chris

 

PS: you can indeed get a faceplate cigar type socket - try a caravan place - usually cheaper than a chandler

Edited November 12, 2007 by chris w

[Ray]

Chris

 

Thanks. Why is it that you never think of the obvious ideas? I've had miltimeters for years and would never have thought of using the pointed end of the probes for that purpose.

 

Ray

[Ray]

Thought I'd update this.

 

The cable comprised insulated inner and un-insulated outer (i.e. screen), so was unable to use the probes. I took the gamble and split the cigar lighter plug and it was just that, with a spring loaded fuse in the +ve tip of the plug.

 

I have chopped off cigar plug and replaced it with a three pin 5amp plug that will go into the wall socket.

 

I wasn't sure what to do about the fuse though and have left it out at present. However, thinking about it now, I could add an in-line fuse holder between plug and TV.

[Maffi]

Alternatively, does anyone know whether you can get a cigar lighter style socket that mounts into an ordinary face plate i.e. the type used at home for plugs and switches?

 

Ray

 

You could try a blanking face plate if you can find one in the style you want and cut a hole to fit what ever cigarette lighter socket you have.

Edited November 17, 2007 by Maffi

[dor]

You can get an inline cigar lighter socket from Maplins etc and fit a plug on it to use as an adaptor. Midland Chandlers do one ready made.

[Living the Dream]

Hi Ray

 

I have the same tv as you. I bought it from Barrons Caravan supplies. I was going to buy an omni directional arial but was advised against it. I ended up buying a directional arial (which most caravans now have) with radio antennae attached to it (£43). You can also buy an adapter for the ciggarrette lighter plug £7.50 I think. You can either have a normal plug adapter or a round plug adapter. My first tune in produced 14 radio channels and 40 freeview tv channels. It also works analogue.

 

Good luck

Dave

[pagan witch]

How do those smart arses on here saying "don't have a TV" as the answer to other readers' TV reception problems think they are helping? It's a total waste of time to even write such messages. I might understand it if they were smart, witty or amusing retorts but they're not. They come across as merely supercilious comment by those who think they are somehow better than others because they don't have TV. All it does is annoy those who are seeking some assistance from the thread. But it adds nothing to the discussion, neither technical assistance nor humour.

 

If you have nothing useful to add, or lack the capacity to be amusing, then why bother to respond at all? People with TV queries don't want to be told that they shouldn't have one.

 

regards

Steve

 

Assuming it is me you are digging at could you please point out where in my post I tried to tell anyone they shouldn't have one ?

 

What I said was I haven't got the time to watch one and therefor didn't bother - personal choice.

 

As a C&G Electronics Engineer for TV, VCR etc I used to rig aerials and Sat Dishes for a living, kind of like the bloke that sells fags but doesn't smoke.

 

 

Hope the cold gets better