Freeview Questions

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M0T

M0T

M0T

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I have a freeview box that I got for £30 in 2004, so obviously is not up there with the best technology. Its an Echostar something or other with only a now and next tv guide (which is annoying) and its a bit buggy.

Channels tend to freeze sometimes and the picture isn't the best, but I am not sure if that is a failing of the box or the freeview platform. Also text doesn't work.

On static scenes the picture is fine, if a little blurry, but as soon as you get movement the screen breaks up into blocks, making some things unwatchable (Like watching a rubbish sky channel at 3am).

My freeview signal comes from an aerial mounted inside the loft, which is split to feed another freeview box on a 14" telly. Since the other tv is so small I can't tell if the blurryness and blockyness are a feature of the platform.

So my questions are:
Would a newer box produce a better, smoother picture?
Would a newer box still do alright with an internally mounted aerial? Channel 5 and the other channels on its multiplex seem to come from somewhere else than the rest and have a weaker signal (all the aerials on my road point in different directions), the other channels have a very strong signal.

Edit: After a bit of research I have discovered my aerial is pointing towards Reigate, and the other transmitter is Crystal Palace. If I point towards Crystal Palace I get 5 but weak signals on all other channels, if I point towards Reigate I get good signal on all channels but 5 is poor in bad weather. According to the info I found I should be pointing at Crystal Palace for best signal, but it is on the other side of a large hill. Annoyingly I can see Cane Hill Analogue transmitter from my window, but apparently this will never carry all of the freeview channels otherwise I would get perfect reception.
 
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You could definately stand to buy a new box, I bought a £50 box a few years back and its quite slow at changing channels and has a fit if anything moves the aerial wire.

However I just bought my father a £20 box from a local supermarket and it works much better and faster than mine. He also has a much weaker signal than I do but her rarely gets any breaks or pixelation. I'm so impressed that I will soon be purchasing that box for myself.
 
Any recommendations for a decent box, max spend £100ish, preferably with some kind of HDD inbuilt.
 
M0T said:
Any recommendations for a decent box, max spend £100ish, preferably with some kind of HDD inbuilt.
Click to expand...

Parents have a " Thomson DTI6300-160GB " and its been spot on for them, since they're verging on technophobes :rolleyes:

Twin tuner, 160gb and has been as reliable as the panasonic it replaced (which was very highly rated) :)
 
Well I bought the Thomson DTI6300-160GB and so far the experience has not been good.

My Aerial is a High Gain Loft Aerial (48 element), and has a masthead amplifier and drives a Tesco Value digital box in my sisters room as well as an Echostar box in my room with no trouble.

When I replaced the Echostar box with the Thomson box it worked for a while, but now gives no signal on a lot of channels and because of this crashes a lot. I have realigned the aerial and tried using boosters to no effect, the only option is to mount the aerial outside, but really if I get perfect signal on 2 other boxes as well as perfect analogue signal I am not too hopeful that moving the aerial is going to make much of a difference.
 
I recently bought the Wharfedale DV832HDMI (On offer atm from Argos @ £34.99), which as the name suggest has an HDMI socket, outputs in 1080i or 720p on my Sammy and the picture quality is awesome.
Great product, no problems to date.
I have a high gain aerial in the loft using the best quality digital coax, splitting the signal between the Wharfedale and MCE box, works great.
 
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