Currys DTT boxes

On Sun, 4 Sep 2011 20:17:21 +0100, "Woody"
wrote:

"Peter Duncanson" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 3 Sep 2011 22:16:18 +0100, "Woody"
wrote:

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
I just bought three basic DTT boxes from Currys, £20 each.
Quite
impressed. Quick and easy install. I connected one to a feed
which had both Emley and Crosspool on it and at the end it
asked
which region I wanted it to store, Yorkshire or South
Yorkshire.
A quick sensitivity test suggests that it will work from a
mux
at 30dBuV.

Bill


Here's one for you Bill.

I was in Comet the other day and they have POS material (which
they say is provided by DigitalUk) that says that people may
loose BBC1 and BBC2 after they retune at DSO1. This is due to a
change in the way that the BBC transmits the signal. Viewers
should not worry however as it will be resolved at DSO2.

Eh?

Is this related to the change between 16QAM and 64QAM (I hope
I've got
those numbers correct)?

Some boxes can handle 16QAM *or* 64QAM transmissions but not
both
simultaneously (some muxes on 16QAM and some on 64QAM).

Some muxes will be on 64QAM after DS01 with the rest on 16QAM
until
DS02.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)



If that is the case then how have people been watching DTTV until
now? Are you saying that these are new boxes that will loose
BBC1/2?

I'm scratching my head at the moment wondering if I've made a mistake.
There is some characteristic of the transmissions which some boxes, such
as the Humax 9200T, cannot handle simultaneously, meaning they will not
work properly between DSO1 and DSO2.

It's probably best to ignore my comments about 16QAM and 64QAM until
I've checked.

Surely the change has been known long enough that any DTTV box
bought in the last few years should be able to do 16QAM and 64QAM
at the same time else it would be unfit for purpose under SOGA?

The best bit is that there is nothing about this on the Digital
UK web site!

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

On Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:33:24 +0100, Mark Carver
wrote:

Woody wrote:

If that is the case then how have people been watching DTTV until
now? Are you saying that these are new boxes that will loose
BBC1/2?

Surely the change has been known long enough that any DTTV box
bought in the last few years should be able to do 16QAM and 64QAM
at the same time else it would be unfit for purpose under SOGA?

The problem is not a 16/64QAM thing, all pre DSO areas have had this mixed
currency since Oct 2002.

It's the 2k or 8k FFT issue. Some receivers still in use, (notably OnDigital
boxes) cannot work at 8k. These will die at DSO, when the muxes change from 2
to 8k working.

Thank you!
That's saved me searching through years worth of saved messaged.

The best bit is that there is nothing about this on the Digital
UK web site!

Except there is ! :-)

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/21057/for_website_2K_only_models_ex_volumes_revised-Mar11.pdf

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

On Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:57:43 +0100, Peter Duncanson
wrote:

On Sun, 4 Sep 2011 20:17:21 +0100, "Woody"
wrote:

"Peter Duncanson" wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 3 Sep 2011 22:16:18 +0100, "Woody"
wrote:

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
I just bought three basic DTT boxes from Currys, £20 each.
Quite
impressed. Quick and easy install. I connected one to a feed
which had both Emley and Crosspool on it and at the end it
asked
which region I wanted it to store, Yorkshire or South
Yorkshire.
A quick sensitivity test suggests that it will work from a
mux
at 30dBuV.

Bill


Here's one for you Bill.

I was in Comet the other day and they have POS material (which
they say is provided by DigitalUk) that says that people may
loose BBC1 and BBC2 after they retune at DSO1. This is due to a
change in the way that the BBC transmits the signal. Viewers
should not worry however as it will be resolved at DSO2.

Eh?

Is this related to the change between 16QAM and 64QAM (I hope
I've got
those numbers correct)?

Some boxes can handle 16QAM *or* 64QAM transmissions but not
both
simultaneously (some muxes on 16QAM and some on 64QAM).

Some muxes will be on 64QAM after DS01 with the rest on 16QAM
until
DS02.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)



If that is the case then how have people been watching DTTV until
now? Are you saying that these are new boxes that will loose
BBC1/2?

I'm scratching my head at the moment wondering if I've made a mistake.
There is some characteristic of the transmissions which some boxes, such
as the Humax 9200T, cannot handle simultaneously, meaning they will not
work properly between DSO1 and DSO2.

Mark Carver has just pointed out that it is the 2k & 8k mode difference.
This is just one report of the effect with the PVR-9200T:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/11418160-post5.html

Since completion of dso here in the NorthWest the Humax PVR9200T
works perfectly now all transmissions are using the 8K mode. The
problems were caused by mixed transmissions on both 2K & 8K mode
during the interim period between start & completion of switchover.


--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
Woody wrote:

If that is the case then how have people been watching DTTV
until now? Are you saying that these are new boxes that will
loose BBC1/2?

Surely the change has been known long enough that any DTTV
box bought in the last few years should be able to do 16QAM
and 64QAM at the same time else it would be unfit for purpose
under SOGA?

The problem is not a 16/64QAM thing, all pre DSO areas have had
this mixed currency since Oct 2002.

It's the 2k or 8k FFT issue. Some receivers still in use,
(notably OnDigital boxes) cannot work at 8k. These will die at
DSO, when the muxes change from 2 to 8k working.

The best bit is that there is nothing about this on the
Digital UK web site!

Except there is ! :-)

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/21057/for_website_2K_only_models_ex_volumes_revised-Mar11.pdf



Sorry Mark, you've missed the point.

What you are saying is that such users will loose DTTV at DSO.
What DUK are saying is that some viewers may loose BBC1/2 at DSO1
but they will come back at DSO2 - which is patently impossible.



--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

Syd wrote:


Do you know if these £20 boxes will display to a 4:3 set correctly as a sky
box is capable of? I just bought a cheap box for the kitchen TV and its 4:3
letter box etc, 16:9 fills the screen with a stretch, not ideal.

These Currys ones will. Oddly the default seems to be 4:3 and the result
looks fine.

They run a bit warm but the PSU is inside and the thing is very small.

Bill

On Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:57:43 +0100, Peter Duncanson
wrote:

I'm scratching my head at the moment wondering if I've made a mistake.
There is some characteristic of the transmissions which some boxes, such
as the Humax 9200T, cannot handle simultaneously, meaning they will not
work properly between DSO1 and DSO2.

Mine worked fine (well, as well as it ever does, which is not very well)
between DSO1 and DSO2.

On Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:33:24 +0100, Mark Carver
wrote:

It's the 2k or 8k FFT issue. Some receivers still in use, (notably OnDigital
boxes) cannot work at 8k. These will die at DSO, when the muxes change from 2
to 8k working.

The best bit is that there is nothing about this on the Digital
UK web site!

Except there is ! :-)

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/21057/for_website_2K_only_models_ex_volumes_revised-Mar11.pdf

I'm currenly puzzling over a Panasonic TX-28DTX1 TV which is allegedly 8k
capable, is on the latest firmware (2.48), but resolutely refuses to see
any 8k multiplex. Only thing it is now receiving is SDN/Mux A and that goes
away on 12th October.
Anyone got any thoughts?

Panasonic were no help (when I could eventually get through to them after
their stupid call centre kept disconnecting my calls all day - "we are
experiencing a very high volume of calls... goodbye" type of message).

On Sep 4, 6:56*pm, "Syd" wrote:

Do you know if these £20 boxes will display to a 4:3 set correctly as a sky
box is capable of? I just bought a cheap box for the kitchen TV and its 4:3
letter box etc, 16:9 fills the screen with a stretch, not ideal.

On some current cheap boxes, the only two _menu_ options are 4x3 TV
with deep letterbox, or 16x9 TV anamorphic - BUT if you select 4x3
mode, then prodding the "WIDE" button (or similar) on the remote will
cycle through 4x3 centre cut and 14x9 shallow letterbox too.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
David.

"Bill Wright" wrote in message ...

Syd wrote:


Do you know if these £20 boxes will display to a 4:3 set correctly as a
sky box is capable of? I just bought a cheap box for the kitchen TV and
its 4:3 letter box etc, 16:9 fills the screen with a stretch, not ideal.

These Currys ones will. Oddly the default seems to be 4:3 and the result
looks fine.

They run a bit warm but the PSU is inside and the thing is very small.

Bill

Sounds good, cant tell online, does it have RF thro (for the sky tv link)?

Bill Wright wrote:
I just bought three basic DTT boxes from Currys, £20 each. Quite
impressed. Quick and easy install. I connected one to a feed which had
both Emley and Crosspool on it and at the end it asked which region I
wanted it to store, Yorkshire or South Yorkshire.
A quick sensitivity test suggests that it will work from a mux at 30dBuV.

Bill

Nothing to do with Currys but for anyone with access to them Makro are
doing the Grundig HD freeview box for 25 quid - down from their previous
price of 80+ and the Sharp HD Freeview box for 35 quid down from 79.
Don't know [yet] what the performance is like but the price seems good.

--
David Kennedy

http://www.anindianinexile.com