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

[rob at webworxshop.com]

On , Stephen Worthington wrote:
> 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.
> 
> _______________________________________________

I had vary similar issues with my HDHR and even got a replacement from 
SD, which didn't fix the problem. I finally tracked it down by tracing 
the cabling underneath the house to find a cable join that consisted of 
an old wall mounted antenna jack plate with another cable plugged in to 
it. The interior of the jack was completely rusted up. Replacing the 
dodgy join with $14 worth of connectors from Bunnings worked a treat at 
its been almost flawless since.

Cheers,

Rob