Signal drop with Sony RDR-HXD970

[admin_exported]

I have recently purchased a Sony RDR-HXD970 DVD recorder and connected it to my Sony KDL40W2000 40 inch screen with an expensive HDMI cable. The signal to the TV keeps stalling losing the sound and freezing the picture or just coming in bursts.

My aerial passes through the DVD recorder to the TV. If I use the digital tuner in the TV itself then all is OK. But using the digital tuner in the DVD recorder causes the problem, whether viewing TV or recording it. This makes the recorder useless as a recorder, of course.

I have tried passing the signal from the DVD recorder to the TV using the video out on the DVD recorder to video in (yellow plugs) on the TV and get the same result. This seems to suggest the HDMI cable is not the problem.

Is it possible that the digital tuner in the DVD recorder needs a stronger signal than the tuner in the TV?

I can't think what else to try. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[peanutfrenzy]

We've got an HXD860, which is one model generation older than yours (and a smaller hard drive I think), and I've found the Sony tuner a bit too clever for it's own good. As with all tuners, as far as I'm aware, the auto-tune runs through all the UHF bands in sequence, picking out all the signals good enough to show. The problem is that if it finds a ropey-but-acceptable BBC1, for example, it will assign it to channel 1. A few seconds later it'll find a better BBC1 on a different UHF band but, as channel 1 is already taken, will assign it to something stupid like channel 837. This will most likely leave you with very poor reception on channels 1-100 (because the transmitter is two or three counties away!), but you might find better reception on channels 700 onwards (where your local transmitter has been relegated). Try scrolling through the duplicate channels and see if you find a better signal, you can then swap them around and hide the bad ones. Unfortunately I don't think you can actually delete them.

 

[laserman16]

We also have the HXD860 hooked up to a KDL40W2000.Only ever had this problem of a channel being moved once (ITV 3) but I set the machine to retune all channels and its been good since. I do have a good signal though Only other problem we had was that the machine kept switching itself off,turned out it was a problem caused by channel five in their signal.Problem was cured by Sony sending a software fix over air. Glad my dealer knew what I was talking about when the problem occurred .It perhaps pays to buy off a specialist for the after sales service,they kept me informed by phone all the way through the process.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Could be you have marginal signal strength, and by the time it's passed through the digital recorder it's not strong enough. You could try buying a Y-shaped TV aerial splitter and feeding the recorder and the TV from this. It may not help, but it just might - and it'll only cost you a couple of quid to find out.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanaks for the tip. I have tried retuning and checking out the higher numbers but still have the problem.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Andrew.

I tried this but no better. I think it must be the signal from the aerial that is too weak but since the same aerial signal produces a good picture when connected directly to the Sony TV itself the DVD recorder must need a stronger signal.

I live 3 miles from the LLanddona transmitter although not line of sight. My aerial is inside the roof. So maybe I need another aerial inside the roof or an external one.

 

[laserman16]

A good aerial installer should give you advice and a no obligation quote. I would have thought that having a digital one installed on the roof rather than in it and properly aligned should improve things. Having it installed in the loft means the signal is having to get through all the tiles and timberwork b4 it even gets to the aerial .

 

[Anonymous]

Laserman, I think you are right. The guy who built the house did a good job not having anything on the roof (no aerial and the telephone and electricity cables come in underground) but I might have found the limit for the internal aerial. My local transmitter plans to increase power by 10 times when it goes digital but not until 2009 and I can't wait that long.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Anonymous]

This started happening with me on monday night. After months of use, with no problems at all, the signal on the Sony has just dropped - some channels ok at one point, then they drop out, and other seem to work. Tonight I've tried a few re-tunes, the first time it found no channels, the next 53, then 42, then back to 53 again. Originally it was 88!

The aeriel cable also passes through the sony and into my Pioneer tv, which can get all the channels it ever could!

Why would this suddenly stop working on monday night?!

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="t_i_reed"]This started happening with me on monday night. After months of use, with no problems at all, the signal on the Sony has just dropped - some channels ok at one point, then they drop out, and other seem to work. Tonight I've tried a few re-tunes, the first time it found no channels, the next 53, then 42, then back to 53 again. Originally it was 88!
[/quote]

Could be transmitter work underway. Always worth having a check here to find out. There's quite a lot of work going on to do with the digital switchover process.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your advice. Indeed my tansmitter was undergoing work in January so I waited until it had finished but then still had problems. Since then I have purchased a new aerial which has improved things even installed in the airing cupbaord. I will now have to see whether the reception is good enough over time. If not I might have to go for an external aerial.

I am hoping to get by until the analogue signal is switched off in 2009 and the digital signal is boosted.

One conclusion from this is that the tuner in the Sony DVD recorder is more picky about the signal quality than either my Sony LCD TV or my older Sony 860 DVD recorder.

Thanks again for helping me out.