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[sheddyian]

Some time back, I happened to mention on here that my downstream SNM was pretty much always 6db.  Didn't fluctuate.  Unless there was something wrong, it would be at 6.0db always.

After I signed up for TalkTalk's YouView my profile was raised to 9db, as is their practice. 

On the 9db profile I would see the SNM fluctuate, usually around the 8.9 to 8.4 mark depending on the time of day.  Around 7 to 8am seemed to give me the highest values.  This seemed reasonable, and more real world than a static figure.

A few days ago I requested on the TalkTalk forum that I be put back on the 6db profile, which took effect this morning.  Since then, according to RouterStats lite and by me looking at the router web interface, my SNM is once more 6.0db.  And isn't moving. 

Previously I was using a TalkTalk DSL-2780, now I'm using an HG-533 - so both are exhibiting the same curiosity of a "stuck" 6db.

Not complaining, just puzzled.  Surely it'd fluctuate a bit like the 9db profile did?

Any thoughts?

(Also : when I get my intermittent Sunday evening hour of REIN, the SNM would drop from a slight ripple 9db to a flat 6.0db.  What's so magic about 6.0 that it stays flat?)

Ian

[burakkucat]

Could it be the 'spooky sheddy effect' at a distance? 

[kitz]

Surely it'd fluctuate a bit like the 9db profile did?

I would certainly expect it to.  After all its still the same SNR figure behind it all 

[sheddyian]

Well, since the lowering to 6db profile, it's been a flat 6.0db SNM.

I attach 3 Routerstats plots from today.  The first from this morning, showing a normally fluctuating ~9db SNM.

The 2nd shows the actual resynch to the 6db profile - it's obvious here how the fluctuating stops!

The 3rd from this evening, a lovely flat 6.0db flat line!

    

Ian

[sheddyian]

Could it be the 'spooky sheddy effect' at a distance? 

The shed ghost is due to be exorcised very soon, by virtue of putting a box over the camera so it doesn't pick up reflections from inside!

Ian

[kitz]

out of interest is your power output the same? or is it slightly more when on 9dB

[sheddyian]

Sadly, I've no idea what the power output was when I had the 9db profile from TalkTalk 

adslcmd info --stats tells me that my UP Pwr(dBm) is 10.5 but I've nothing to compare that to (assuming thats the number you were interested in)

Ian

[kitz]

Yep that's the one ..  Although I would have wanted to look at the down or rx dBm.

Nvm it was a long shot anyhow.

[sheddyian]

It reported "0" for the down power! 

Ian

[burakkucat]

The shed ghost is due to be exorcised very soon, by virtue of putting a box over the camera so it doesn't pick up reflections from inside!

That will spoil my fun. 

[sheddyian]

Well, after a night of entirely flat 6.0db, I notice this just now - started about 12:22pm (see attached image).

Oddly severe up and down jolts, rather than the gentle fluctuations I was seeing on the 9db profile.

AM radio @ 612Khz = pleasant silence, except when near the PSU for the router, where there's a loud clicking.  So it's not REIN but maybe the PSU isn't the best.

I haven't yet tried this router on a 12 volt battery - need to check what size DC plug it needs - but that'll be next tinkering I think (unless my shed alarm arrives tomorrow!).

Running my old DSL-2780 on a 12volt battery made no difference to line speed or other values whilst under good conditions, but it wasn't being powered by a clicking PSU, so might be worth the effort, just out of interest.

Ian
[Edit : idiot! forgot to attach image!]

[sheddyian]

The shed ghost is due to be exorcised very soon, by virtue of putting a box over the camera so it doesn't pick up reflections from inside!

That will spoil my fun. 

I've been wondering about taking the gardencam offline actually.  It's been running for 2 years, and this is the 2nd year that the wildflower garden has been a disaster.  I'm not blaming the one on the other, just that there's nothing worth looking at!.

The initial picture you are presented with when looking at http://sheddyian.hopto.org is a genuine snap from a few years ago of the wildflowers growing there.  When you look at the archive of images from the webcam for the last 2, it's mostly been weeds and battered flowers, hit either by the wind or the foxes running amok last year.

Was wondering what else to point the camera at that might be slightly more interesting.

Ian

[burakkucat]

I take a brief look, everyday. 

I am convinced that the lack of a good show of wild flowers is due to your digging and turning over the soil at the beginning of spring. Why not just strim it all over and remove the cuttings, then lightly sprinkle the wild flower seed mix? 

[sheddyian]

I am convinced that the lack of a good show of wild flowers is due to your digging and turning over the soil at the beginning of spring. Why not just strim it all over and remove the cuttings, then lightly sprinkle the wild flower seed mix? 

I'm considering that.

However, the logic behind digging it over each year was to clear the annual weeds, and to kill off the self-seeded stuff from previous years that was coming up.

Now, that might seem daft - but there's logic to that too - most of the self-seeded stuff seems to be a very vigorous yellow flowered plant that dominates everything. 

In the garden nearest to the fence, I did an experiment this year - although I redug most of it, I left a section undug, so things that were coming up by themselves from previous years had chance to carry on, rather than be turned over into instant compost.

As a result, the undug portion of the garden was swamped with the tall yellow flowered plant, the rest of the garden (initially) had a much wider selection of plants coming up.

For this reason, I'm also wondering about leaving it fallow or even covering it over for a year, or continually redigging in anything that germinates.  Just to clear it all really.

Ian

[sheddyian]

Well, after that brief flurry of pointed drops from 6 to 4, it increased overnight until it was more like it was pointed jumps from 4 to 6.  At about 4am DLM must have kicked in, as the line resynched and I now seem to be back on a 9db profile     (a reboot this lunchtime proved that).

The 9db profile is once more floating gently along with the odd ripple, not the jagged up and down I was seeing yesterday when I was on the 6db profile.

I'm curious as to why (any thoughts?) but suspect I'll leave it be - rather have it stable; it's just annoying that I had over a year on a 6db profile without problem.

Ian