Terrestrial channels via VM cable?

[nodrogd]

Originally Posted by Felim_Doyle

I'd imagine that the majority of TVs in use, by a huge margin, still have analogue tuners and I doubt that John wants the terrestrial channels for his 2012 model, 50-inch, flat panel, HD, 3D TV that he uses as his third set.

Probably not, but you did mention the Pace box and I just wanted to emphasise that this is not the way forward with a modern set, as I have seen posts from people expecting digital output from the RF socket.

Originally Posted by Felim_Doyle

Er, yeah, as one would expect which is why I asked "Is anyone in an area where they can receive DVB-T (Freeview) on a set-top aerial?" just to get an idea of how rare or common it is.

I do. I use an amplified set-top aerial on a window sill to receive Freeview in one bedroom. It is clear line of sight to the Hemel Hempstead relay 2 miles away, and I get 70 - 80% signal strength on all muxes

[Felim_Doyle]

Originally Posted by nodrogd

... I have seen posts from people expecting digital output from the RF socket.

Hmm! I can't think of any equipment, even a PC, where that might be the case but there's bound to be one. I'm involved in amateur radio and there are amateurs who transmit digital TV but I doubt that it is receivable by a standard DVB-T TV tuner although possibly it could be tuned manually.

Originally Posted by nodrogd

I do. I use an amplified set-top aerial on a window sill to receive Freeview in one bedroom. It is clear line of sight to the Hemel Hempstead relay 2 miles away, and I get 70 - 80% signal strength on all muxes

Here in Aylesbury, I have a choice of muxes, Oxford, Sandy Heath, Hemel Hempstead and maybe a couple of others but receiving HH on a set-top aerial through the Chilterns without line of sight straight down the A41 might be a bit ambitious.

---------- Post added at 16:51 ---------- Previous post was at 16:05 ----------

Originally Posted by jb66

Typical call centre response, it's not an obsolete box and us techs are told not to swap them unless faulty, we get measured on box swaps

---------- Post added at 16:52 ---------- Previous post was at 16:50 ----------

Engineer finds no fault, job not done

Yeah, I knew Masque was talking out of his analogue RF socket extension!

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by jb66

Engineer finds no fault, job not done

We were told that anything older than a 4200 was obsolete and if called to a property with one an automatic replacement work order would be generated even if you were looking at another box, this was when we were crosstrained onto FMC.

That box must be at least 8 years old and starting to creak.

---------- Post added at 17:23 ---------- Previous post was at 17:23 ----------

Originally Posted by Felim_Doyle

Yeah, I knew Masque was talking out of his analogue RF socket extension!

How old is the box and read the above.

[nodrogd]

Originally Posted by Felim_Doyle

Here in Aylesbury, I have a choice of muxes, Oxford, Sandy Heath, Hemel Hempstead and maybe a couple of others but receiving HH on a set-top aerial through the Chilterns without line of sight straight down the A41 might be a bit ambitious.

Hemel would not be an option for you, although Crystal Palace might be after the London Area switches over. Your strongest signal will be from Oxford, but bear in mind Mux A,C & D cannot operate at full power until April.

See if you can get a set-top from an outfit that will allow you to return it if proves not to work.

[Felim_Doyle]

Originally Posted by Masque

We were told that anything older than a 4200 was obsolete and if called to a property with one an automatic replacement work order would be generated even if you were looking at another box, this was when we were crosstrained onto FMC.

That box must be at least 8 years old and starting to creak.

---------- Post added at 17:23 ---------- Previous post was at 17:23 ----------


How old is the box and read the above.

How does one reliably age a box?

It's not our original 4000 which passed away after a long illness a few years back, maybe October 2009. Regular reboots would fix it but eventually, IIRC, it wouldn't power up at all. So we got a replacement Di4000i and now there are some problems but I'm not sure if it's the box or the TV. Also we have a low signal issue which I will report when I am in a position to schedule an appointment.

I was only kidding when I said that you were talking out of your "analogue RF socket extension". BTW, the acronym was accidental but priceless!

---------- Post added at 23:23 ---------- Previous post was at 23:17 ----------

Originally Posted by nodrogd

Hemel would not be an option for you, although Crystal Palace might be after the London Area switches over. Your strongest signal will be from Oxford, but bear in mind Mux A,C & D cannot operate at full power until April.

See if you can get a set-top from an outfit that will allow you to return it if proves not to work.

Oxford, Sandy Heath and probably Crystal Palace should be good for us and, with a few decent roof-top aerials, I'm sure we can get a couple of others. I'll have another look at the coverage maps in the spring when more transmitters are switched over and running at full power.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by Felim_Doyle

How does one reliably age a box?

Model number easy enough to work out its approx age.

[Felim_Doyle]

SpiderPlant is going to work it out from the MAC address.

Of course, that's just a ruse, in reality he's checking to see if it's a stolen, cloned or otherwise bogus box! It's not that he doesn't trust me, it's just that nobody can believe that there's a ten plus year old Pace Di4000-N still out there and working!

P.S. I just noticed that I said "Di4000i" in my previous post. It was late and I was just off to bed! Unfortunately the Edit option is no longer available on that one.

[Peter_]

Originally Posted by Felim_Doyle

SpiderPlant is going to work it out from the MAC address.

Of course, that's just a ruse, in reality he's checking to see if it's a stolen, cloned or otherwise bogus box! It's not that he doesn't trust me, it's just that nobody can believe that there's a ten plus year old Pace Di4000-N still out there and working!
.

No surprise there.

[Felim_Doyle]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

It was made on 18/09/2001, which makes it one of the oldest 4000s. They are super-reliable though.

If I had known that in September, we'd have had cake!