[mythtvnz] Almost out of ideas - occasional pixelation only on MythTV

[Stephen Worthington]

On Sun, 16 Oct 2016 21:55:55 +1300, you wrote:

>Hi,
>
> 
>
>We are in Ranui Auckland and I am having lots of problems with intermittent
>pixelation.
>
> 
>
>It started a few months back and since then we have had the aerial guy in at
>least 3 times. First time he tweaked the position which was a bit off, next
>he added a masthead amp and lastly he added a filter and replaced the
>balun/element.
>
> 
>
>It was a bit confusing because we also had really bad problems with the TV
>even though the signal was good. Turned out the TV problem was Chromecast -
>when it was plugged in terrestrial picture was terrible. 
>
> 
>
>I am running, an admittedly old 0.25 Myth server with 2 x HDHomeRun - only
>using one at a time currently. The original HDHR I got from Hadley in 2013
>the second I got a few months ago from TradeMe for $50. Both are similar
>serial numbers and same model.
>
> 
>
>Far as I can tell now there isn't any pixelation with the TV, but to be fair
>we don't use it much. But with Myth it can get quite bad but most of the
>time it is ok, so maybe every 10 minutes it plays up - all depends. Given
>what we have done aerial wise I tried everything I could with Myth, changed
>the storage from local to NAS, restarted everything and the network is
>gigabit with no issues - all wired not wifi. Both HDHRs exhibit the same
>problem. The HDHRs are reporting 100% for signal strength, signal quality
>and  symbol quality. 
>
> 
>
>I spoke to the guys at Alkris Signal Solutions, who are close and they are
>suggesting a PA2 and I am also thinking of replacing the coax so it's 100%
>clean.
>
> 
>
>Before I go out and spend even more money, given I have spent over $300 on
>aerial stuff so far, I just thought I would ask if a PA2 sounded like a good
>idea. Alkris know the area and thought that should work a treat.
>
> 
>
>Cheers

I have never used an HDHR, but the reports about the US versions say
that the usual cause of problems is the wall wart going bad - that
typically causes massive ripple on the power supplied to the HDHR,
which can cause all sorts of symptoms, including pixelation just as
you are reporting.  However, I do not know if that applies to the NZ
HDHRs - does anyone know if their power packs go bad too?  In any
case, if you have another power pack with the right ratings you can
try, that is something that you can easily test.