Changing to digital

I am having to change to digital and would like some advice please.

At present I have an analogue TV cable feed from Virgin Media and also a
feed from a roof-top aerial (which gives me five terrestrial channels). I
also have a VCR.

The roof-top aerial is connected to the VM box so we may watch the five
terrestrial channels from either source. However, the VCR is used to record
from the roof-top aerial. This is because all the cable programmes are
output from the VM box to a single channel and, therefore, it is not
possible to set up the VCR to record from a number of cable channels. I
would like to be able to continue to leave the house having set up to record
from a number of channels. The other reason for keeping the aerial is that
it serves as a backup (at least for the five terrestrial channels) should
the cable feed go down. I would like to continue this - although it would,
presumably, require a change of aerial. I would also like to keep the
present VCR if at all possible.

In short I want to change only the cable feed and box and keep everything
else the same. I'm not sure if (or how much of this) is possible which is
why I am asking for advice here.

Any help and, especially, personal experiences would be gratefully received.

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway

"Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message
...
I am having to change to digital and would like some advice please.

At present I have an analogue TV cable feed from Virgin Media and also a
feed from a roof-top aerial (which gives me five terrestrial channels). I
also have a VCR.

The roof-top aerial is connected to the VM box so we may watch the five
terrestrial channels from either source. However, the VCR is used to
record
from the roof-top aerial. This is because all the cable programmes are
output from the VM box to a single channel and, therefore, it is not
possible to set up the VCR to record from a number of cable channels. I
would like to be able to continue to leave the house having set up to
record
from a number of channels. The other reason for keeping the aerial is
that
it serves as a backup (at least for the five terrestrial channels) should
the cable feed go down. I would like to continue this - although it
would,
presumably, require a change of aerial. I would also like to keep the
present VCR if at all possible.

In short I want to change only the cable feed and box and keep everything
else the same. I'm not sure if (or how much of this) is possible which is
why I am asking for advice here.

Any help and, especially, personal experiences would be gratefully
received.

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway




What your asking for isnt possible without a lot of cost. I searched for a
"Digital to Analogue" converter because they would be ideal in old age
retirement homes where there's plenty of bandwith avail via the cables that
run from room to room.. You could find them but they were really expensive.

Your two options are the V+ service from VM or a Freeview+ box. Freeview+
boxes save everything to a internal hard drive (much like you do with your
vcr) except there's no tapes. Freeview+ can also be bundled with DVD/DVD-R
and VCR functions. I think the Freeview+/DVDR/VCR combi's run about £200,
the Freeview+ runs about £100+..

I would say that it MIGHT be worth you holding out until the early part of
next year, FreeviewHD is rolling out in some areas and this could make a lot
of the older gear (fine if your not worried about HD) drop price as the move
from DVB-T to DVB-T/T2 happens.

"Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message
...
I am having to change to digital and would like some advice please.

At present I have an analogue TV cable feed from Virgin Media and also a
feed from a roof-top aerial (which gives me five terrestrial channels). I
also have a VCR.

The roof-top aerial is connected to the VM box so we may watch the five
terrestrial channels from either source. However, the VCR is used to
record from the roof-top aerial. This is because all the cable programmes
are output from the VM box to a single channel and, therefore, it is not
possible to set up the VCR to record from a number of cable channels. I
would like to be able to continue to leave the house having set up to
record from a number of channels. The other reason for keeping the aerial
is that it serves as a backup (at least for the five terrestrial channels)
should the cable feed go down. I would like to continue this - although
it would, presumably, require a change of aerial. I would also like to
keep the present VCR if at all possible.

In short I want to change only the cable feed and box and keep everything
else the same. I'm not sure if (or how much of this) is possible which is
why I am asking for advice here.

Any help and, especially, personal experiences would be gratefully
received.

Some Freeview boxes let you set timers, and also have an aerial output
should you need that, so you could use such an STB inconjunction with your
VCR.

IMHO a twin channel PVR is a much better way to record programmes. You just
select the programme you want to record from the EPG. For ST you can use
terrestrial PVR, if you want HD you could consider the Freesat Humax Foxsat
HDR due out next month.

You may or may not be able to use your existing aerial to receive Freeview.
Installation of satellite dish and a new aerial will be comparable in cost.
DIY installation of a dish is possible.


--
Michael Chare

"Michael Chare" wrote in message
...
"Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message
...
I am having to change to digital and would like some advice please.

At present I have an analogue TV cable feed from Virgin Media and
also a feed from a roof-top aerial (which gives me five terrestrial
channels). I also have a VCR.

The roof-top aerial is connected to the VM box so we may watch the
five terrestrial channels from either source. However, the VCR is
used to record from the roof-top aerial. This is because all the
cable programmes are output from the VM box to a single channel and,
therefore, it is not possible to set up the VCR to record from a
number of cable channels. I would like to be able to continue to
leave the house having set up to record from a number of channels.
The other reason for keeping the aerial is that it serves as a backup
(at least for the five terrestrial channels) should the cable feed go
down. I would like to continue this - although it would, presumably,
require a change of aerial. I would also like to keep the present
VCR if at all possible.

In short I want to change only the cable feed and box and keep
everything else the same. I'm not sure if (or how much of this) is
possible which is why I am asking for advice here.

Any help and, especially, personal experiences would be gratefully
received.

Some Freeview boxes let you set timers, and also have an aerial output
should you need that, so you could use such an STB inconjunction with
your VCR.

IMHO a twin channel PVR is a much better way to record programmes. You
just select the programme you want to record from the EPG. For ST you
can use terrestrial PVR, if you want HD you could consider the
Freesat Humax Foxsat HDR due out next month.

You may or may not be able to use your existing aerial to receive
Freeview. Installation of satellite dish and a new aerial will be
comparable in cost. DIY installation of a dish is possible.


--
Michael Chare



You can buy programmable remote controls that will send an instruction
at a specific time. Use the output of your cable box to feed signal to
the VCR (use the SCART if you can) and programme the VCR to record at
the time you want. Then set the remote to command the cable box to the
station you want at that time. Bingo, best possible outcome.


--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

"Bill Ridgeway" wrote in message
...
I am having to change to digital and would like some advice please.

At present I have an analogue TV cable feed from Virgin Media and also a
feed from a roof-top aerial (which gives me five terrestrial channels). I
also have a VCR.

The roof-top aerial is connected to the VM box so we may watch the five
terrestrial channels from either source. However, the VCR is used to
record from the roof-top aerial. This is because all the cable programmes
are output from the VM box to a single channel and, therefore, it is not
possible to set up the VCR to record from a number of cable channels. I
would like to be able to continue to leave the house having set up to
record from a number of channels. The other reason for keeping the aerial
is that it serves as a backup (at least for the five terrestrial channels)
should the cable feed go down. I would like to continue this - although
it would, presumably, require a change of aerial. I would also like to
keep the present VCR if at all possible.

In short I want to change only the cable feed and box and keep everything
else the same. I'm not sure if (or how much of this) is possible which is
why I am asking for advice here.

Any help and, especially, personal experiences would be gratefully
received.

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway

First thing to check is if Virgin can supply you with a digital cable box.
If so, then you can connect your VCR to the cable box by scart cable then
set the timer on the VCR and set the cable box to switch channels
automatically. The Virgin V+ box is even better as it is a tapeless system
(records to an internal hard disk) - recordings you want to keep can be
archived to your VCR. It can record 2 different channels at the same time
while you watch a third channel or something you previously recorded. It
also allows you to pause live TV and will give you great pictures if you
upgrade your TV to a high definition set at some time. As a bonus the V+ box
is dead easy to set up - you can set it to record whole series all by
itself!