Choosing a PVR for the boat

I'm looking for a suitable Freeview recorder to upgrade from the old VHS on my boat, and I would appreciate any advice from the folks here. On the boat I have a Sony 20S3000 TV - which of course has its own Freeview tuner - and I also use an old PACE Sky box because it's small and it runs off 12v DC and takes very little power but unfortunately it has only one SCART plus RF in/out connectors. While I am travelling, on some nights I can get Freeview, on some nights I can get Sky - and just sometimes I can get both (although sometimes I can get neither, and I am grateful that I can still receive a snowy analogue signal on the Sony).

I need to be able as a minimum to record either from the Freeview signal or from my Sky box, and (for nights when I can get both) to watch either one while recording from the other. Also (and this is essential because of my wife's inability to do anything sensible with the remote control apart from changing channels) I need the Sky box and the PVR both to select themselves on the TV via the SCART automatically. At the moment to achieve this I have the VCR and the PACE box each plugged into a different SCART connector on the TV, and I use the RF output from the PACE if I want to record from the satellite to tape.

If I were to use a twin SCART PVR, could it select itself on the TV by passing the Sky SCART signal through to the TV when the PVR was busy recording something else from its own tuner? Alternatively if it wouldn't auto-select I would need to use a PVR which could record from the PACE box's analogue RF output instead; do any of them do that?

Of course, having a Sony TV (and VCR at the moment) makes me biased towards any PVR which can interact with the Sony through its SCART connection using the Smartlink function - or isn't there any point? And as for the EPG - well I get so fed up with the way the Sony commands the VCR to start and stop at precisely the scheduled time, so I lose the beginning or end of the programme, that I would hope for a PVR which added a couple of minutes extra at each end (or had the holy grail of automatic tracking of start/finish times)

I do have a 240v supply on the boat, but I am keen to reduce the power consumption as much as possible, particularly when on Standby, so I like the fact that the Humax PVRs say they only consume 3 watts on standby. Are there any others which are even lower? I wouldn't want to install one which took, say, 12 watts on standby.

Suggestions anybody?

--
Allan Jones - N/B 'Keeping Up'
www.keeping-up.co.uk

In article , Allan wrote:
I'm looking for a suitable Freeview recorder to upgrade from the old
VHS on my boat, and I would appreciate any advice from the folks here.
On the boat I have a Sony 20S3000 TV - which of course has its own
Freeview tuner - and I also use an old PACE Sky box because it's small
and it runs off 12v DC and takes very little power but unfortunately
it has only one SCART plus RF in/out connectors. While I am travelling,
on some nights I can get Freeview, on some nights I can get Sky -
and just sometimes I can get both (although sometimes I can get neither,
and I am grateful that I can still receive a snowy analogue signal
on the Sony).

I need to be able as a minimum to record either from the Freeview
signal or from my Sky box, and (for nights when I can get both) to
watch either one while recording from the other.
[...]

Possibly a silly question, but... if you succeed in doing all this, what
will be the point of being on a boat?

Rod.
--
Virtual Access V6.3 free usenet/email software from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/

"Allan" wrote in message ...
I'm looking for a suitable Freeview recorder to upgrade from the old VHS on my boat, and I would appreciate any advice from the
folks here. On the boat I have a Sony 20S3000 TV - which of course has its own Freeview tuner - and I also use an old PACE Sky box
because it's small and it runs off 12v DC and takes very little power but unfortunately it has only one SCART plus RF in/out
connectors. While I am travelling, on some nights I can get Freeview, on some nights I can get Sky - and just sometimes I can get
both (although sometimes I can get neither, and I am grateful that I can still receive a snowy analogue signal on the Sony).

I need to be able as a minimum to record either from the Freeview signal or from my Sky box, and (for nights when I can get both) to
watch either one while recording from the other. Also (and this is essential because of my wife's inability to do anything sensible
with the remote control apart from changing channels) I need the Sky box and the PVR both to select themselves on the TV via the
SCART automatically. At the moment to achieve this I have the VCR and the PACE box each plugged into a different SCART connector on
the TV, and I use the RF output from the PACE if I want to record from the satellite to tape.

If I were to use a twin SCART PVR, could it select itself on the TV by passing the Sky SCART signal through to the TV when the PVR
was busy recording something else from its own tuner? Alternatively if it wouldn't auto-select I would need to use a PVR which could
record from the PACE box's analogue RF output instead; do any of them do that?

Of course, having a Sony TV (and VCR at the moment) makes me biased towards any PVR which can interact with the Sony through its
SCART connection using the Smartlink function - or isn't there any point? And as for the EPG - well I get so fed up with the way the
Sony commands the VCR to start and stop at precisely the scheduled time, so I lose the beginning or end of the programme, that I
would hope for a PVR which added a couple of minutes extra at each end (or had the holy grail of automatic tracking of start/finish
times)

I do have a 240v supply on the boat, but I am keen to reduce the power consumption as much as possible, particularly when on
Standby, so I like the fact that the Humax PVRs say they only consume 3 watts on standby. Are there any others which are even lower?
I wouldn't want to install one which took, say, 12 watts on standby.

Suggestions anybody?




Hi there, your post didn't show up on Eternal-September the usual Usenet service I use, however it did appear on news.datemas.de
I suspect it is because of the html content of your post, please can I suggest
you post in plain text in future.
Anyway, I didn't reply just to be a netcop, I wanted to ask what model of
Pace Sky box you have that runs on 12v, I was not aware that one existed.
--

Graham.

%Profound_observation%

I am aware of a Pace Sky Minibox, this was meant to run off a 12 volt wall
wart and had only one scart. There was no RGB output, only composite video.
It was initially marketed by Sky as a 2nd sky box for the bedroom. the Pace
mini box was smaller than a "normal" Sky box.

Due to its cut down design in using a wall wart and a single SCART composite
video output, it was fairly cheap at the time, but it was not on the market
for long, I daresay Ebay turns up a few miniboxes and hence would e popular
for caravans and canal boats.

Stephen

"Graham" wrote in message
...


"Allan" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a suitable Freeview recorder to upgrade from the old VHS
on my boat, and I would appreciate any advice from the folks here. On the
boat I have a Sony 20S3000 TV - which of course has its own Freeview
tuner - and I also use an old PACE Sky box because it's small and it runs
off 12v DC and takes very little power but unfortunately it has only one
SCART plus RF in/out connectors. While I am travelling, on some nights I
can get Freeview, on some nights I can get Sky - and just sometimes I can
get both (although sometimes I can get neither, and I am grateful that I
can still receive a snowy analogue signal on the Sony).

I need to be able as a minimum to record either from the Freeview signal
or from my Sky box, and (for nights when I can get both) to watch either
one while recording from the other. Also (and this is essential because of
my wife's inability to do anything sensible with the remote control apart
from changing channels) I need the Sky box and the PVR both to select
themselves on the TV via the SCART automatically. At the moment to achieve
this I have the VCR and the PACE box each plugged into a different SCART
connector on the TV, and I use the RF output from the PACE if I want to
record from the satellite to tape.

If I were to use a twin SCART PVR, could it select itself on the TV by
passing the Sky SCART signal through to the TV when the PVR was busy
recording something else from its own tuner? Alternatively if it wouldn't
auto-select I would need to use a PVR which could record from the PACE
box's analogue RF output instead; do any of them do that?

Of course, having a Sony TV (and VCR at the moment) makes me biased
towards any PVR which can interact with the Sony through its SCART
connection using the Smartlink function - or isn't there any point? And as
for the EPG - well I get so fed up with the way the Sony commands the VCR
to start and stop at precisely the scheduled time, so I lose the beginning
or end of the programme, that I would hope for a PVR which added a couple
of minutes extra at each end (or had the holy grail of automatic tracking
of start/finish times)

I do have a 240v supply on the boat, but I am keen to reduce the power
consumption as much as possible, particularly when on Standby, so I like
the fact that the Humax PVRs say they only consume 3 watts on standby. Are
there any others which are even lower? I wouldn't want to install one
which took, say, 12 watts on standby.

Suggestions anybody?




Hi there, your post didn't show up on Eternal-September the usual Usenet
service I use, however it did appear on news.datemas.de
I suspect it is because of the html content of your post, please can I
suggest
you post in plain text in future.
Anyway, I didn't reply just to be a netcop, I wanted to ask what model of
Pace Sky box you have that runs on 12v, I was not aware that one existed.
--

Graham.

%Profound_observation%

P.S, its a Pace 1000 Javelin Sky Minibox and no longer in production and so
very rare. dimensions are 180mm x 270mm x 29mm

as i said it runs on 12 volts and has a single scart with composite video,
so no RGB

Stephen


"Graham" wrote in message
...


"Allan" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for a suitable Freeview recorder to upgrade from the old VHS
on my boat, and I would appreciate any advice from the folks here. On the
boat I have a Sony 20S3000 TV - which of course has its own Freeview
tuner - and I also use an old PACE Sky box because it's small and it runs
off 12v DC and takes very little power but unfortunately it has only one
SCART plus RF in/out connectors. While I am travelling, on some nights I
can get Freeview, on some nights I can get Sky - and just sometimes I can
get both (although sometimes I can get neither, and I am grateful that I
can still receive a snowy analogue signal on the Sony).

I need to be able as a minimum to record either from the Freeview signal
or from my Sky box, and (for nights when I can get both) to watch either
one while recording from the other. Also (and this is essential because of
my wife's inability to do anything sensible with the remote control apart
from changing channels) I need the Sky box and the PVR both to select
themselves on the TV via the SCART automatically. At the moment to achieve
this I have the VCR and the PACE box each plugged into a different SCART
connector on the TV, and I use the RF output from the PACE if I want to
record from the satellite to tape.

If I were to use a twin SCART PVR, could it select itself on the TV by
passing the Sky SCART signal through to the TV when the PVR was busy
recording something else from its own tuner? Alternatively if it wouldn't
auto-select I would need to use a PVR which could record from the PACE
box's analogue RF output instead; do any of them do that?

Of course, having a Sony TV (and VCR at the moment) makes me biased
towards any PVR which can interact with the Sony through its SCART
connection using the Smartlink function - or isn't there any point? And as
for the EPG - well I get so fed up with the way the Sony commands the VCR
to start and stop at precisely the scheduled time, so I lose the beginning
or end of the programme, that I would hope for a PVR which added a couple
of minutes extra at each end (or had the holy grail of automatic tracking
of start/finish times)

I do have a 240v supply on the boat, but I am keen to reduce the power
consumption as much as possible, particularly when on Standby, so I like
the fact that the Humax PVRs say they only consume 3 watts on standby. Are
there any others which are even lower? I wouldn't want to install one
which took, say, 12 watts on standby.

Suggestions anybody?




Hi there, your post didn't show up on Eternal-September the usual Usenet
service I use, however it did appear on news.datemas.de
I suspect it is because of the html content of your post, please can I
suggest
you post in plain text in future.
Anyway, I didn't reply just to be a netcop, I wanted to ask what model of
Pace Sky box you have that runs on 12v, I was not aware that one existed.
--

Graham.

%Profound_observation%

On Mar 18, 12:05*am, Roderick Stewart
wrote:
In article , Allan wrote:
I'm looking for a suitable Freeview recorder to upgrade from the old
VHS on my boat, and I would appreciate any advice from the folks here.


Possibly a silly question, but... if you succeed in doing all this, what
will be the point of being on a boat?

Rod.
When you're on a trip you don't want to be active every minute of the
day. You want to have the telly working so you can slump in front of
it after a hard day enjoying yourself. That's why hotel rooms have
tellys. That's why Butlins chalets have tellys. Yes, it was a silly
question, really.

Bill

On 18/03/2010 01:55, wrote:

When you're on a trip you don't want to be active every minute of the
day. You want to have the telly working so you can slump in front of
it after a hard day enjoying yourself.

Er, isn't it, You want to have the BEER TAP & BAR MAID working so you
can slump ...

hic

--
Adrian Drunk...

On 17/03/2010 21:09, Allan wrote:
snip
I do have a 240v supply on the boat, but I am keen to reduce the power
consumption as much as possible, particularly when on Standby, so I like
the fact that the Humax PVRs say they only consume 3 watts on standby.
Are there any others which are even lower? I wouldn’t want to install
one which took, say, 12 watts on standby.

It won't do for Satellite, but for freeview this box doesn't use a hard
disk, favouring instead USB memory sticks. Hence they advertise ...

"Ultra low power consumption in standby - Considerably lower than 1W"

http://www.digitalvisiontv.com/digital_tv_recorder.html

--
Adrian C

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:31:21 -0000, "Graham" wrote:



Hi there, your post didn't show up on Eternal-September the usual Usenet
service I use,

Oh yes it did.



Oh no it didn't, only the replies starting with Roderick Stewart's '
Choosing a PVR for the boat'..

"Adrian C" wrote in message
...
On 18/03/2010 01:55, wrote:

When you're on a trip you don't want to be active every minute of the
day. You want to have the telly working so you can slump in front of
it after a hard day enjoying yourself.

Er, isn't it, You want to have the BEER TAP & BAR MAID working so you can
slump ...

hic

--
Adrian Drunk...

I'll drink to that - cheers!

--
Allan Jones - N/B 'Keeping Up'
www.keeping-up.co.uk