Freeview Box PC TV Card Question ??

mandi_moles

Hello...
Got a bit of a question, hoping somone can help me with a silly question here...

On my PC in my bedroom I have a pinnacle TV card. The only input it has is a RF (no scart)

Yesturday I bought a sagem freeveiw box. Plugged it all in but the PC card wouldnt detect the box. I called up Sagem but quickly found out from them that I have to use a scart lead in order to veiw. I am going to have to return it.

Does anyone know if there is a freeveiw box out there that I can use with my PC card that does not need a scart ? Surely there must be.....

oldrimes

I know this isn't the answer to your question, and may not suit your hardware, but thought it might be an alternative way of obtaining freeview.

Have a look at:
Freecom DVB-T TV Freeview USB Stick
https://www.ebuyer.com are selling them for under £40 - quick search code: 94486
Its also available at other places, if you are averse to purchasing from ebuyer.

It provides free to air TV direct to PC via usb stick - so there wouldn't be a need to configure your current card. Also because its portable, it would transfer to your laptop, or other computers. Some people can get signals on its little ariel, but most people would probably need to plug it into their external ariel (which limits portability!).

Joe_Bloggs

What model number is the pinacle card ? I am surprised that it does not have composite video input. You can get a scart plug with composite video socket and left and right audio outputs. You can get freeview TV cards that can replace a set top box and do recording. A more recent development are dual freeview tuner/hard disk recording set top boxes with usb to PC interface and RF modulator output. (Humax and Topward).

See here for a freeview box selector page that has an rf modulator option.
J_B.

mandi_moles

Thank you.
Ok, just had a look...
Its a Pinnacle PCTVRAVE and it has a S-Video input.
So If i get a scart -- svideo lead and it has the audio jacks, where do i stick the audio jacks ? I dont want to go buy a £10 lead only to find its still no good. There is just 1 audio input jack as far as I can see...no left/right, just 1

heres the tech data (copied off the box)
TV-Tuner - High quality tuner with full hyper-band cable TV support
- Stereo TV SOund with Nicam and dual FM carrier support
Aerial input - IEC Adapter TV
Video inputs - S Video (hosiden-socket)
- Composite video (RCA socket)
Audio outputs - 3.5mm stereo socket (external)
- 4-pin 2.8mm header (internal)


They may as well write it in dutch for all that means to me lol. help !!!

Joe_Bloggs

You have composite video in and shvs video in on the pinnacle card. There is also a crappy non stereo audio in on the pinnacle card. I would connect the audio output of your set top box to the line in of your sound card or to an input of your sound system. You don't mention the model of the Sagem box. It may or may not have svhs output available as a seperate socket or via a scart adaptor. Composite via scart is not a problem. Sometimes the RF modulator output from a set top box can kill a freeview multiplex when it clashes.

Pnacle PCTVrave review here. There is also o lot of other TV card info on this site.
J_B.

mandi_moles

Thanks Joe.
The box is a sagem 59 which is a cheapy option. the only outputs it has are the RF loop and the scart.
Shall I just go and get a scart to s-video cable ?

Joe_Bloggs

I can only read about references to the IDT58 and IDT60. There are no online manuals I could find. If you have a video player you could also view the material via the scart to composite adapter. The scart to s-video (also known wrongly as svhs) may be a risk unless there is some mention of the s-video capability in the product manual.

I tend to buy VIVO capable graphics cards. These have video in and out. I use Digital Freeview PC cards for their faithful recording features and the later ability to edit and collate stuff in archives. One could call it timeshift viewing.
J_B.

mandi_moles

ok... its sorted...
popped in to pc world... no comment
then comets..... useless and expensive
then maplins he had the correct lead for me but i ended up buying a new tv card with the freeview included for only 39.99 !! yipeeeeeeeeeee

Thank you for your help, its been valuable...

Mandi x

mandi_moles

and after all that........ signal is no good arghhhhhhhhh...

plan B ..... lol

espresso

If you enter your OS grid reference or your post cde into this website and then enter it into this website you should get the information regarding your nearest transmitter and the channel numbers for both digital and analogue.

Sometime the digital channels are outside the aerial grouping for the analogue channels, so your aerial may be unsuitable for digital reception.

vinylmusic

mandi_moles wrote:

Hello...
Got a bit of a question, hoping somone can help me with a silly question here...

On my PC in my bedroom I have a pinnacle TV card. The only input it has is a RF (no scart)

Yesturday I bought a sagem freeveiw box. Plugged it all in but the PC card wouldnt detect the box. I called up Sagem but quickly found out from them that I have to use a scart lead in order to veiw. I am going to have to return it.

Does anyone know if there is a freeveiw box out there that I can use with my PC card that does not need a scart ? Surely there must be.....

I just bought a TV card in Maplins Sale and its freeview so no need for a set top box as well
you can use it to record TV programs to your hard drive and if you have a DVD burner your computer becomes equivalent to a DVD recorder with HD. Such a stand alone recorder can cost over £150
The tv card I bought was easy to set up and works fine and cost only £39.99 (the average cost of a stand alone set top box)
Whats more you can get a further 10% discount by registering on Maplins website and downloading their vouchers to spend online or in their stores