digital set top box problem

mrg642004

Hi.

i've just inherited a Philip's Digital Terrestrial Receiver complete with ONdigital card. Trouble is, having connected it all to the television I cannot receive a picture. The channel idents come up to show BBC1, BBC7, UKTV History, etc, but all I can see is a small red dot. The box was working perfectly in the WR14 postcode region and is now in the SY1 postcode region. The tv itself is an old SONY Trinitron and the aerial (three years old) is digital compatible.

Any ideas to help a first-time poster?

Joe_Bloggs

Welcome to the forum. Have you tried selecting menu on the remote control then 'getting started' and the add 'channels option'. This will try and retune the box. Fingers crossed and it should work. You can run your post code through Wolfbane http://www.wolfbane.com and correlate your analoge TV reception transmitter options with the terrestrial digital options via the reception predictor. They may require different aerial groups. Neighbours who have digital terrestrial TV are a good sign. You can examine 'line of sight' transmitter issues via a topographical data base at http://www.megalithia.com/elect/terrain.html
J_B.

Browntoa

the red dot means the signal is too weak from your aerial, you may need to upgrade to a digital aerial, about £20 - £60 + fitting

Clueless_2-2

Browntoa wrote:

the red dot means the signal is too weak from your aerial, you may need to upgrade to a digital aerial, about £20 - £60 + fitting

This is spot on!!! Digi aerial required i guess.

andy88_2

Clueless wrote:

This is spot on!!! Digi aerial required i guess.

I'd go for the box retune first as it isn't clear whether that's been done yet

mrg642004

Thank you Joe_Bloggs, Browntoa, Clueless, and andy88. I tried the 'add channels'/'box retune' idea first and all seems to be working. Now all I need to do is find something worth watching . . . !

Joe_Bloggs

I use my ancient Philips On digital box to listen to the radio via the audio outputs and a cheap amplifier.There are about 25 radio stations to choose from.
A thing to note is the delay between analoge TV reception and digital TV reception. Channel four have created a record in the delay in their cricket coverage between the two streams. It is a good picture for a digitally covered live sporting event compared to those from the past. The grass textures were often a mess. If you can half listen to other audio commentary (eg radio five
live extra/Radio 4 longwave), then you can react in a near comatose manner to view the digital event 'as it happens' a few second later.
J_B.