Freeview box with a modulator

[peteratnith]

Hi,
Sony playstation tv modulators work well but they come with strange plugs fitted. They're abundant at car boot sales in this area at least, usually for about 50p. I think they need about 8 volts, but they work well.

Peter

[HamishBoxer]

Normally good stuff Triax, I have a freesat by them. Hope thats not OT.

David

[twocvbloke]

Just a bit of a suggestion, I went into Cash Converters today (well, originally on wednesday, but went back today) and bought myself a 2nd Humax box for a penny shy of a tenner, so if you have one local to you, it may be worth a look to see what they have for sale, I shall be using this box on my girly Toshiba upstairs via UHF rather than using the VHS recorder as the modulator...

[ben]

Agreed. I've also picked up older televés STBs with modulators in, down at El cash converters! I think the last one I got was about 15€.

[Baggrus]

another fantastic source of modulators (I have realised since moving) are old analog sat boxes.. but by far the best I have ever seen are from old Sony betamax vcr's.. the deadfinger top loaders.. dual standard output vhf/uhf .. very useful but also very very scarce these days

[neil29]

Ive removed several modulators from sony betamax machines too. and they are still sitting in a box waiting for me to do something with them . cheers neil.

[Pete_kaye]

Can someone explain how to set up a freeview box via old Matsui 1200 VCR to my B and W TV with old style aerial input? I ahve good aerial but can only get 5 analogue stations via channel 40.The freeview box has no effect however I connect up.
How do I tell if VCR is suitable?

[ben]

Any vcr can be used for what you propose. But: I'd avoid Philips, which have an annoying power save mode - if you forget to disable it every time, they switch themselves off after 5 mins if no button is pressed.

This sounds like a weak signal problem, you should get far more than 5 stations.

be sure to connect as follows:
aerial into STB
STB scart /AV out into matsui vcr AV in (select the right channel - AV, EXT, E1 etc)
VCR RF out to B&W Tv aerial input

play a known tape, and tune in the TV to that. Then try to get EE pic from the decoder.

edit: have you entered the STB setup menu and re-scanned for digital channels?

[Pete_kaye]

The signal is fine with other setups but I think I ahave connected STB to VCR from RF OUT not AV as VCR has no scart connector.I will try again when I get home.Yes the STB has been previously set up with another set in same location.

[paulsherwin]

There seems to be a misunderstanding here. The main reason to connect a Freeview box to a TV via a VCR is to make use of the VCR's modulator to feed a non-SCART TV. If the Freeview box doesn't have a modulator itself, you must connect it using a SCART cable. If the VCR is pre-SCART you may be able to connect composite video from the box to the VCR's composite video input, using a SCART-BNC or SCART-phono adaptor cable.

[Pete_kaye]

Ok where would I get a cable to suit my equipment? Scart to phono?

[oldticktock]

Could start here, ridiculously cheap too

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Switchable-Sca...2#ht_927wt_989

[ThePillenwerfer]

Pound shops often have them too, but never when you actually need one!

[Meat Pye]

I bought a Scart to phono converter in poundshop so that I could connect the audio o/p of my freeview box into my amp. Unfortunately the signals could only flow from phono to Scart and wasn't switchable. I had to prise it open and change the pins around so that the a/v signals now flow out of the phono jacks. I then epoxied it back together. Amazing how ingenious you can be with something that only costs £1.

[paulsherwin]

Most open markets have stalls selling various SCART-phono cables and converters for a pound or so. You can always modify the connections should the need arise. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scart

[Tazman1966]

Originally Posted by Mr Moose

The Ferguson F01SDB has a modulator and seems to be still available.

Just in case anyone missed my post in another thread, here it is in a more appropriate one!

I thought I'd better warn readers about new versions of this box. I had one as mentioned for the spare bedroom which gets used with one of my old colour sets and as I said above, it works very well and the modulator is particularly nice - good correctly contrasted picture and good sound too.

I bought another one just the other day also from Comet and tried it out today and what a disappointment through the RF output. Weak contrast and a pronounced buzz on sound. The output also clashed with an off air signal - we still have analogue here. I delved into the set-up menu to "move" the output to a different channel like I had to originally with the other box and couldn't find the option to do so. I consulted the leaflet and sure enough that option has vanished. I compared it with my original one and the menu's different. I checked the original leaflet which does mention that the modulator is adjustable but the new leaflet has a space where it was printed.

I can only assume that an inferior (and no doubt slightly cheaper!) modulator is now fitted as standard. I shall be taking it back for a refund.

Unless you can get an old stock one I would steer well clear of the updated one. A real shame.

[Tazman1966]

Well I went back to Comet today and asked them to exchange the unit for another in case it was a fault with the modulator. This they did with absolutely no quibble. The sales woman even wrote down on her paperwork that there was a problem with the modulator.

I tried this new one just now and the same results. Weak picture, virtually no sound and a harsh buzz. I tried my original and very nice box and fiddled with the settings - on my original box you can select between system B/G, D/K and good old system I. With my original box set to system B/G it was almost the same as the new box (which doesn't have menu options to select!) From this I can only conclude that this is part of a batch for export.

It'll be going back for a refund sadly.

[hamid_1]

That must be frustrating. It seems like the new boxes have come from a different supplier.
Personally I've never needed to buy a new Freeview box, there are stacks of secondhand ones very cheap or even free! Car boot sales are the best source, also secondhand shops, eBay, Freecycle and even your local dump / recycling centre. Be sure to get the remote control with a secondhand box, most are useless without one. Secondhand remote controls can sometimes be found in car boot sales if you're lucky and you know what the original one looks like.
See this website for a massive list of old boxes. Look for the [Mod] caption beside the picture, this indicates the box has a modulator. Memorise the pictures (or store them in your phone) so you know what you're looking for when you're out bargain-hunting.
My favourite at the moment is the Goodmans GDR10 (also sold as Alba ADR10). It was given away to some people as part of the digital switchover help scheme. It works surprisingly well, it's good with weak signals (I get bad reception on ch. 34) and the menus are clear and easy to navigate, even on a black and white TV. There's also a headphone socket for listening to the digital radio stations without having to switch your TV on. It will also modulate an external device such as a DVD player connected to its VCR SCART socket. The only downside is that the GDR10 looks and feels cheap. Apparently the power supply capacitors fail quite quickly, but it's not too difficult to replace them.
I was recently given two Humax F2-Fox-T boxes by a fellow forum member (thanks Alvin). They were both dead, but the fault was simple. A 1500uf 10v capacitor in the power supply was bulging. Replacing it (I used a 2200uf 10v) fixed both boxes. They have a nice front panel LED display which shows the channel or time when in standby. They are not as good with weak signals though.
Another box that deserves a mention is the Thomson DTI2300 Top Up TV box. It does have a modulator but it's switched off by default. You will need a TV with SCART or an external modulator to set it up initially, and again if you factory reset it.
Finally the Panasonic TU-CT20 and TU-CT30 boxes have RF modulators. I don't recommend them though. Secondhand ones almost always have out of date software which causes the channels to be stored in random order. Panasonic broadcasted a software update to fix this but the last broadcast was in 2009 and no further updates are expected, so if your box missed the update you are stuck with it. Additionally, the menu is almost impossible to use on a black and white TV because the highlighted item appears the same shade of grey. They have another little quirk too. When scanning for channels, the modulator is disabled and the LED flashes alternately red then green. When the channel scan is finished, the LED goes solid green. At this point, the Panasonic box chooses an RF channel that it thinks is clear and sets the modulator to that channel. This may be a different channel to what it was on before. So if all you see is snow after retuning the box, you'll have to retune your TV as well! Yes, I've had a lot of fun with these boxes.

[Mick Mearman]

I've just had one of these today
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Icecrypt-T50...5394850&sr=1-1
to use on a TV without scart, works very well, although I did have to tune it twice (no ITV first time) a bit miffed though i'ts come down £10 today! the aspect settings are a bit buried in the menu but they are there.
Mick

[Mick Mearman]

Gone back to £27 now!