Aldi - Technosonic PVR £99.99 - Freeview

Babbler

Not sure if its been posted here but Tesco have a bush PVR with 80gb hard drive - 1 digital tuner - for 99 quid instore. Not sure of model though...

talkshop

shovon wrote:

Thanks for this. Mux C & D hmmm.... Would i have to buy a new aerial entirely or is there a way to boost the signal between the aerial and the freeview box?

You say your Humax picks up the weaker C and D signals, this might make my mind up about returning this 101 and getting a Humax 9200T when some companies start getting it back in stock that is!

You could try an aerial amplifier which plugs in between the aerial and receiver.
If you get one from Argos you may be able to take it back if it does not help.

Beware that an amplifier is best installed as near to the aerial as possible, and may not help at all if the signal is too weak.

A new aerial fitted outside is the best solution.

More info here http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?

thereaper101

OK guys, has anyone got one that they are happy with, ie pretty much working as it should.

I got one that I'm going to take back tomorrow, I like others, was going to wait for the update, but C'mon, do you think they will address all these issues? I think not!

These boxes are a mess.

mines going back, will keep a look out for a better alternative.

pjmony

shovon

One thing to check for - have you got anything, like a VCR, between the aerial and the input to the PVR?
I had a problem where I couldn't receive any channels from one 'MUX'.
It turned out my video was outputting to the same UHF channel as the MUX and blocking it.
I changed the VCR so it output on another channel to avoid the clash and this fixed the problem.

HTH

shovon

No VCR etc between aerial socket and PVR thx.

I tried the predictor and it said i am approximately 12 miles from my transmitter and suggested a hi-gain aerial. Is this one of the newer ones?

Perhaps i'll try the signal booster too. Thanks for your suggestions.

talkshop

shovon wrote:

I tried the predictor and it said i am approximately 12 miles from my transmitter and suggested a hi-gain aerial. Is this one of the newer ones?

A hi-gain aerial is simply an aerial with a rating of at least 12dB (the higher number the better)
My own aerial has a gain of 16dB, and I have a masthead amplifier fitted, but I am 46 miles from the transmitter.
A high-gain aerial will usually have more elements than a lower gain one.

Don't be fooled by people selling 'digital aerials' . All TV aerials will receive digital TV.

dollop

Hi all.

Just phoned Technosonic helpline. The engineer i spoke to recommended i go for the swap out and not wait for any ariel update as he was not sure this would even happen. On the swap out scheme you just give your name, address and phone number to Technosonic and sometime after Christmas a new fixed pvr101 will be delivered to your home in exchange for your faulty one. I strongly suggest contacting the Technosonic helpline soon if you want to be part of this scheme. It took me about 20 minutes to get through and the engineer had heard of virtually all the faults that i mentioned i had read about on here.

dfarry

talkshop wrote:

A hi-gain aerial is simply an aerial with a rating of at least 12dB (the higher number the better)
My own aerial has a gain of 16dB, and I have a masthead amplifier fitted, but I am 46 miles from the transmitter.
A high-gain aerial will usually have more elements than a lower gain one.

Don't be fooled by people selling 'digital aerials' . All TV aerials will receive digital TV.

Yeah just to echo what Talkshop said... just go to a B&Q, Homebase, Wickes etc... and get a High Gain aerial... packed down they are not very big, but once erected they are around a metre long.

There is this one at Argos but I think it is expensive.... http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5352069.htm
£25 should be enough for a decent aerial... if you can I would just fit it in your loft... the wiring is easy.... just finding the best position will take time... before permanently fitting it... try holding it up steady and you should be able to get a reasonable picture (it might be easier to initially get an analogue reception), then switch over to digital and try tuning.

dfarry

This one looks like the rolls royce of aerials to me :snow_laug

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FREEVIEW-DIGITAL-AERIAL-TELEVES-X43-8044ultra-high-gain_W0QQitemZ5842172375QQcategoryZ101365QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And this one is the same as the Argos one (apparently)... but over £10 cheaper including p&p
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5836799562&ssPageName=MERC_VI_ReBay_Pr8_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT

tecstar

dollop wrote:

Hi all.

Just phoned Technosonic helpline. The engineer i spoke to recommended i go for the swap out and not wait for any ariel update as he was not sure this would even happen. On the swap out scheme you just give your name, address and phone number to Technosonic and sometime after Christmas a new fixed pvr101 will be delivered to your home in exchange for your faulty one. I strongly suggest contacting the Technosonic helpline soon if you want to be part of this scheme. It took me about 20 minutes to get through and the engineer had heard of virtually all the faults that i mentioned i had read about on here.

mmmmmm. I have spoken to the Technosonic helpline twice, and they never mentioned to me about getting my box swapped out. Did you directly ask about it?