video sender

snowmen

hello!
we currently have the virgin media V+ box in the living room and were looking to get it in the bedroom too.
a friend recommended we look into getting a video sender to transfer the signal upstairs instead of paying virgin for an extra box. At the moment we are not in a freeview area and our analogue aerial reception is very poor so the outside aerial isnt really an option.
anyone have any dealings with these contraptions/can recommend any.
I have heard that interference can be a problem too - we dont have wi-fi on the computer but we do have a baby monitor if that will effect things.

sillygoose

Can be a problem with Virgin boxes. Most video senders send the audio/video signal out to the TV receiver box but, also have a wireless channel to send the remote control signals back. You can use your remote in the bedroom and point it at the sender receiver, it picks up the infrared, transmits it via wireless and 're-creates' it at the transmitter end. You attach with a sticky pad a small infra-red emitter to the front of your Telewest/Sky box near the sensor area on it. Anyway - Virgin boxes use high frequency (IRDA) infrared that most senders can't cope with but I am not sure if this still applies on a V+ box. If you can live without remote control any sender will do. I have had expensive flashy ones but were prone to reflections when people moved around the house causing disturbed images. I now have a cheap Thomson (£12!) set that work the best, more powerful signal and they 'adapt' quickly to signal changes. All senders have up to 4 channels on a switch so you can avoid interference with other devices. Finally there are new but more expensive 5.8 Ghz ones around that avoid pretty much anything else on air.

Best bet is to look at some of the cableTV areas of AV forums http://www.avforums.com/forums/index.php or join and ask if someone who has V+ and knows a sender works for sure. Virgin system is a pain, I used to have nightmare getting universal remotes for it.

mysterio_2

I have these running on our V+ box....did have some initial probs but soon sorted when switched to another channel on the seder (a little more expensive than the thompsons though)

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5348066/Trail/searchtext%3EVIDEO+SENDER.htm