Ferguson FDT600

He lives in an aerial mast?
How quaint.


This sounds a bit like the box at the very least needs an upgrade, if one
was ever made for it. There were lots of reports of this sort of thing going
on when they altered the way the data for channel info some time back to
this very silly named split nit.

Brian

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"Tonyatk" wrote in message
...

"Terry Casey" wrote in message
...
Tonyatk wrote:
My farther inlaw has this Digital Terrestrial Receiver which he has had
for some time, but not used it because he cannot find the channels he
wants. ( He is 85 years old )

He has asked me to have a look at it. To that end I have got it at my
house.

I've installed it on my TV and done a scan for the channels.

Results.

The channel numbers 0 to 8 are missing and the channels start at 9.
Channels BBC1.....BBC2..ITV1...Channel 4...channel 5 and a few others
are up in the 800 channel section ..Even then they do not come in a
logical list.

I've tried to do another scan by pulling out the antenna do a scan get
rid of all channels. Then plug in the antenna and do another scan, but
all the channels come up in the same position.



Have you tried doing a hard reset (Factory Default) before doing a scan?
Do'snt have this in the menu... Tony





I'm just about to bin this rubbish..... From the well informed may I
request what Digital converter I should advise my farther-in-law to
buy??? So he can get the digital channels in a logical order. IE.. BBC1
on program 1... BBC2 on program 2...Etc


In case there is some local quirk that may have a bearing on the problem,
it might be useful to give your location and particularly that of your
father-in-law. Nothing too precise - PostCodes with the last character
omitted can provide useful information whilst remaining completely
anonymous.

--

Terry


Emley Moor

Well, the RNIB I believe sell a version of the TVonics with a large button
remote, which a lot of people seem to think is very easy to use.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
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"Terry Casey" wrote in message
...
Terry Casey wrote:
Tonyatk wrote:
"Terry Casey" wrote in message
...
Tonyatk wrote:
My farther inlaw has this Digital Terrestrial Receiver which he has
had for some time, but not used it because he cannot find the channels
he wants. ( He is 85 years old )

He has asked me to have a look at it. To that end I have got it at my
house.

I've installed it on my TV and done a scan for the channels.

Results.

The channel numbers 0 to 8 are missing and the channels start at 9.
Channels BBC1.....BBC2..ITV1...Channel 4...channel 5 and a few others
are up in the 800 channel section ..Even then they do not come in a
logical list.

I've tried to do another scan by pulling out the antenna do a scan get
rid of all channels. Then plug in the antenna and do another scan, but
all the channels come up in the same position.


Have you tried doing a hard reset (Factory Default) before doing a
scan?
Do'snt have this in the menu... Tony



When all else fails, read the instructions!

(Sorry, don't know the device in question, so that's the best advice can
provide!)


Ah! Just seen Doctor D's post.

I forgot that you said "which he has had for some time, but not used"
which obviously explains it.

The split NIT rendered quite a few Freeview boxes unusable, unfortunately.

Something you might find useful while looking for a replacement is to
search back through this forum. I'm sure someone in the last few months
was looking for a box with large, easy to read, buttons on the remote
control. This could be useful for an 85 year old - in fact, having had two
cataracts removed in the past couple of years, so no longer need to wear
glasses for the first time in 50 years, I have now have considerable
difficulty with the tiny buttons on the remote for my PVR unless I put my
reading glasses on! (I used to wear bifocals, of course.)

Strange thing is, if they'd put reasonable sized standard symbols on all
the buttons instead of microscopic print alongside, I wouldn't have a
problem!

--

Terry

Yes, and it has audio description, ideal if you are in the kitchen and need
to follow coronation street while cooking the dinner, or so I'm told as
soaps are not my thing.

Brian

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Brian Gaff -
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"widgitt" wrote in message
...
Definitely split nit prob. We have seen many of these.
Best forget it in this case, esp as those Ferguson remotes are so
fiddly.

Definitely the TVonics box. (be careful they do supply one version
with a small "credit card" remote) The one with the big remote is
great for older people, and anyone else for that matter.
It has the added advantage of a "Home" button which takes you back to
BBC1, no matter what you pressed by accident!!

"J G Miller" wrote in message ...
On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:20:46 +0000, Tonyatk wrote:

may I request what Digital converter I should advise my farther-in-law
to buy???

If the TV receiver has a PERITEL socket and thus you do not need
modulated UHF output, get a TVonics MDR-100, or if you need audio
description then the MDR-240

http://www.tvonics.com/digital-set-top-boxes/

The important issue for older users is that the remote control is
LARGE format, something which the current low end models (and I think the
Thomson models) do not feature making them difficult to use.


Thanks to all who replied. And many thans for the information.

Best regards

Tony atkin

As others have said, this is the split NIT issue. BUT I would suggest you
don't bin it and instead keep an eye out for an update. During the last
"big retune", Ferguson retransmitted the split-nit update for all their old
boxes. My venerable FDT500 is now down the road allowing an elderly friend
to watch digital TV. When I initially tuned it I saw what you are seeing -
one week and an update later and it was as good as new.

So, even if you swap it for a new box, you might find Ferguson retransmit
the old firmware and it comes back to life. They're a lot better than other
manufacturers I could name (Sagem for example!).

Paul DS.