Hi all!

HD-wise, I currently have a 1080P telly with freeview only and a
DVB-S2 tuner in my PC, but the distance between the two is too great
to link them up. I'd like to get some kind of HD tuner rigged up on
the TV so that I can get some HD channels on it.

My primary driver for this (no pun intended) is the F1 appearing in HD
in 2 months time. I've been using a Topfield TF5800 for the last few
years, but it appears that they have let the rest of the world
overtake them and they don't have a half-way decent HD system on the
market (a crying shame).

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either, which
limits me to freesat.

So, I guess I have one of two requirements, namely...

1) A replacement for the Topfield i.e. twin tuner PVR, freesat HD,
HDD, ability to copy recordings to my PC.

2) A cheap & cheerful freesat HD box which I can use in the interim
until such point as a better PVR is available or Freeview HD appears
on the scene.

So, can anyone else out there who's already been down this road
possibly steer me in the right direction? Is there anything out there
that fits the bill?

TIA!

J.R.Hartley wrote:

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either,

?

Bill

"J.R.Hartley" wrote in message
...
Hi all!

HD-wise, I currently have a 1080P telly with freeview only and
a
DVB-S2 tuner in my PC, but the distance between the two is too
great
to link them up. I'd like to get some kind of HD tuner rigged
up on
the TV so that I can get some HD channels on it.

My primary driver for this (no pun intended) is the F1
appearing in HD
in 2 months time. I've been using a Topfield TF5800 for the
last few
years, but it appears that they have let the rest of the world
overtake them and they don't have a half-way decent HD system
on the
market (a crying shame).

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either,
which
limits me to freesat.

So, I guess I have one of two requirements, namely...

1) A replacement for the Topfield i.e. twin tuner PVR, freesat
HD,
HDD, ability to copy recordings to my PC.

2) A cheap & cheerful freesat HD box which I can use in the
interim
until such point as a better PVR is available or Freeview HD
appears
on the scene.

So, can anyone else out there who's already been down this road
possibly steer me in the right direction? Is there anything out
there
that fits the bill?

TIA!




If you are receiving off-air from Sutton Coldfield then Freeview
HD is already available to you albeit at lower power than the
main stations.


--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

On 19/01/2011 07:40, Woody wrote:
wrote in message

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either,
which
limits me to freesat.

If you are receiving off-air from Sutton Coldfield then Freeview
HD is already available to you albeit at lower power than the
main stations.

The HD mux (from nearby Lichfield) is directional, the main lobe is
south west towards Birmingham, it covers most of the *county* of West
Midlands I suspect, but perhaps not areas that are commonly referred to
as West Midlands.

Perhaps 'JR' would like to elaborate on his/her location ?

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

http://www.paras.org.uk/

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
On 19/01/2011 07:40, Woody wrote:
wrote in message

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either,
which
limits me to freesat.

If you are receiving off-air from Sutton Coldfield then Freeview
HD is already available to you albeit at lower power than the
main stations.

The HD mux (from nearby Lichfield) is directional, the main lobe is south
west towards Birmingham, it covers most of the *county* of West Midlands I
suspect, but perhaps not areas that are commonly referred to as West
Midlands.

Perhaps 'JR' would like to elaborate on his/her location ?

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

http://www.paras.org.uk/
Or just go fishing and forget it? Ducks behind cactus.

Brian

On Jan 18, 9:52*pm, J.R.Hartley wrote:
Hi all!

HD-wise, I currently have a 1080P telly with freeview only and a
DVB-S2 tuner in my PC, but the distance between the two is too great
to link them up. I'd like to get some kind of HD tuner rigged up on
the TV so that I can get some HD channels on it.

My primary driver for this (no pun intended) is the F1 appearing in HD
in 2 months time. I've been using a Topfield TF5800 for the last few
years, but it appears that they have let the rest of the world
overtake them and they don't have a half-way decent HD system on the
market (a crying shame).

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either, which
limits me to freesat.

So, I guess I have one of two requirements, namely...

1) A replacement for the Topfield i.e. twin tuner PVR, freesat HD,
HDD, ability to copy recordings to my PC.

2) A cheap & cheerful freesat HD box which I can use in the interim
until such point as a better PVR is available or Freeview HD appears
on the scene.

So, can anyone else out there who's already been down this road
possibly steer me in the right direction? Is there anything out there
that fits the bill?

There are plenty of both. See the right-hand column on this page...
http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/

If you don't care about a PVR or EPG, then any FTA HD DVB-S2 box will
do, e.g. the cheap Ross one that was sold by B&Q.

There are some channels on Freeview that aren't on Freesat, and there
are some channels on Freesat that aren't on Freeview.

Word of warning: the BBC puts some extra content behind the red button
(e.g. "press red for extra coverage of whatever", but not all "press
red" services are available on Freesat (you often here "digital
viewers, except Freesat, can press red now to watch...". These extra
streams are broadcast free-to-air for Sky boxes, and most Freesat and
FTA boxes can pick them up if you find them manually (i.e. don't press
red, but just find the channel/transponder and select it), but
annoyingly the Humax Freesat boxes won't let you tune into them at all
- they're blocked.

Cheers,
David.

On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 01:26:18 +0000, Bill Wright
wrote:

J.R.Hartley wrote:

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either,

?

Bill

Why the question mark? We don't have Freeview HD until late September
from my transmitter, as it's the last area to be cut over, so it's not
an option I can use.

On 19/01/2011 10:02, J.R.Hartley wrote:
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 01:26:18 +0000, Bill
wrote:

J.R.Hartley wrote:

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either,

Why the question mark? We don't have Freeview HD until late September
from my transmitter, as it's the last area to be cut over, so it's not
an option I can use.

What transmitter are you using ? Because, Lichfield is providing a
limited HD signal for some areas served by Sutton Coldfield. Are you
using a relay station ?

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

http://www.paras.org.uk/

On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:14:41 +0000, Mark Carver
wrote:

On 19/01/2011 07:40, Woody wrote:
wrote in message

As I'm in the West Midlands, we're still waiting on the digital
switchover, so we have no Freeview HD for eight months either,
which
limits me to freesat.

If you are receiving off-air from Sutton Coldfield then Freeview
HD is already available to you albeit at lower power than the
main stations.

The HD mux (from nearby Lichfield) is directional, the main lobe is
south west towards Birmingham, it covers most of the *county* of West
Midlands I suspect, but perhaps not areas that are commonly referred to
as West Midlands.

Perhaps 'JR' would like to elaborate on his/her location ?

I'm out towards Coventry, so technically on the southern edge of the
West Mids, just over the ridge that runs between Brum & Cov. It's
about 15 miles south east as the crow flies from the transmitter.

The normal freeview here is dropping muxes on a semi-random basis, due
to them apparently running part of Sutton Coldfield via a bent coat
hanger until September. Not an issue for many who are nearer, but
things like Film4 are a distant memory forthose of us out in the
sticks.

Given these existing issues, I doubt I'd be able to get the Freeview
HD to work if it's not pointing at me or on full power :-(

I based my original assumption on the predictor on Freeview.co.uk. I
know it's not guaranteed to be 100% accurate by any means, but it'd be
a lot to spend on an HD box just to find out the hard way.

On 19/01/2011 10:18, J.R.Hartley wrote:

I'm out towards Coventry, so technically on the southern edge of the
West Mids, just over the ridge that runs between Brum& Cov. It's
about 15 miles south east as the crow flies from the transmitter.

The normal freeview here is dropping muxes on a semi-random basis, due
to them apparently running part of Sutton Coldfield via a bent coat
hanger until September. Not an issue for many who are nearer, but
things like Film4 are a distant memory forthose of us out in the
sticks.

What sort of aerial and downlead arrangements do you have ? Any
splitters ? Outdoor or loft aerial ? Age ? What do the five analogue
channels look like ?
SC is indeed on lower than optimum power for DTT, but my brother in law
who lives further away than you in Leamington, but about the same
bearing from SC/Lich has perfectly stable Freeview reception.

As far as the HD mux from Lichfield is concerned, I've just stuck his
postcode in he-

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/postcodechecker/

It indicates 91/98% for the HD mux for him, I'd expect similar for you.

Try your postcode in the link, it's important that you tick the "I am in
the aerial installation trade" Tick box

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

http://www.paras.org.uk/