On Thu, 4 Mar 2010 12:03:06 -0000, "Gary"
wrote:



"Poppa" wrote in message
...

Thank you to everyone who has responded, I've learnt a lot! I will try
the suggestions that I haven't already tried, but I think that my £5
bargain wasn't so much of a bargain!

Thanks again,
Dom.

you could list the digi box on eBay as for spares and see how much you can
get for it.

or still get the fixed-fee repair if a DodgyBox is a necessity ?

I would go for a Freesat box at around £30 they are good value. or a HD pvr
type for around £100 plus a hard disk.

Well, it moves on a pace, so to speak...

The box was completely unplugged the other day & so I thought I'd give it
one last try - the local Argos was out of stock of the Bush box!

I now get a picture, sound, epg etc, but it's all in black & white. On my
freeview box I can alter settings to get a picture, but I can't find
anything similar on the pace box. Is it possible, or is the none existence
of picture & then only a B&W picutre indicative of a faulty box?

Thanks,
Dom.

"Poppa" wrote in message
...
Well, it moves on a pace, so to speak...

The box was completely unplugged the other day & so I thought I'd give it
one last try - the local Argos was out of stock of the Bush box!

I now get a picture, sound, epg etc, but it's all in black & white. On my
freeview box I can alter settings to get a picture, but I can't find
anything similar on the pace box. Is it possible, or is the none
existence of picture & then only a B&W picutre indicative of a faulty box?

Thanks,
Dom.

I think it may indicate the box is not worth bothering with other than as an
" entertainment." It does give you the opportunity to see if sat is for you
but this box seems a tad unreliable, You could sell it to someone who only
has a Black/white TV or maybe is colour blind.

Reminds me of the problems I had working for a well established Radio/TV
shop which had 100's of oap's renting BW TVs' and we had to start
supplying colour sets with the colour decoder disabled to replace the old
monochrome sets as they came in.

Gary

A monochrome (B&W) picture provides a ray of hope. Your problem
might be nothing more than an incorrectly configured TV and/or
Sky receiver.

The "Options" menu of my Sharp Aquos TV invites me to choose
between "Auto". "CVBS", "RGB", or "Y/C" input. A mismatch
between the output from the Sky box and my TV would produce

a) a monochrome picture, if the TV is set to receive Y/C (or
S-video) input or
b) a black screen, if the Sky output is set to RGB and the TV
is set to receive CVBS (or composite video).

You will probably need to read the TV manual. Then, tune the TV
to receive the AV input.

Use the TV's set-up menu to configure the "Input Selection".
"Auto" is the most flexible setting (if your TV offers that
option). Otherwise, you should try "CVBS" (which might appear as
"Composite" (NOT "Component") or PAL.

Then, turn on the Sky box and press the "Services" button on the
remote control.

Press 4 for System Setup, followed by 1, for picture settings.

Set the Picture Format to 16:9 (if you have a widescreen TV) or
4:3 (for a standard aspect TV).

Set the Scart Control to "On" and the Video output to "PAL".

Save your changes.

Does that make any difference? If so, the next thing to try to
improve the picture. Change the output from the Sky box to
"RGB". To prevent a mismatch, you should also change the input
setting of the TV to "Auto" or "RGB".

RGB pictures are usually better quality than "PAL" (or
"Composite"). However, some older TVs do not cope too well with
RGB. If that applies to your TV, you should revert to PAL output
from the Sky receiver and "Auto" or "CVBS" input on the TV.




"Gary" wrote in message
...


"Poppa" wrote in message
...
Well, it moves on a pace, so to speak...

The box was completely unplugged the other day & so I thought
I'd give it one last try - the local Argos was out of stock of
the Bush box!

I now get a picture, sound, epg etc, but it's all in black &
white. On my freeview box I can alter settings to get a
picture, but I can't find anything similar on the pace box.
Is it possible, or is the none existence of picture & then
only a B&W picutre indicative of a faulty box?

Thanks,
Dom.

I think it may indicate the box is not worth bothering with
other than as an " entertainment." It does give you the
opportunity to see if sat is for you but this box seems a tad
unreliable, You could sell it to someone who only has a
Black/white TV or maybe is colour blind.

Reminds me of the problems I had working for a well established
Radio/TV shop which had 100's of oap's renting BW TVs' and we
had to start supplying colour sets with the colour decoder
disabled to replace the old monochrome sets as they came in.

Gary

On Fri, 5 Mar 2010 09:23:07 -0000, "Poppa" wrote:

Well, it moves on a pace, so to speak...

The box was completely unplugged the other day & so I thought I'd give it
one last try - the local Argos was out of stock of the Bush box!

I now get a picture, sound, epg etc, but it's all in black & white. On my
freeview box I can alter settings to get a picture, but I can't find
anything similar on the pace box. Is it possible, or is the none existence
of picture & then only a B&W picutre indicative of a faulty box?

IME a black and white picture can be produced if a SCART plug is not
fully inserted and presumably also if the jack is defective. It might
be worth taking a close look to see if any of the connections have
been pushed back into the box after e.g. someone has given the plug a
good shove.

On Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:13:16 +0000, Charles Ellson
wrote:

On Fri, 5 Mar 2010 09:23:07 -0000, "Poppa" wrote:

Well, it moves on a pace, so to speak...

The box was completely unplugged the other day & so I thought I'd give it
one last try - the local Argos was out of stock of the Bush box!

I now get a picture, sound, epg etc, but it's all in black & white. On my
freeview box I can alter settings to get a picture, but I can't find
anything similar on the pace box. Is it possible, or is the none existence
of picture & then only a B&W picutre indicative of a faulty box?

IME a black and white picture can be produced if a SCART plug is not
fully inserted and presumably also if the jack is defective. It might
be worth taking a close look to see if any of the connections have
been pushed back into the box after e.g. someone has given the plug a
good shove.

I missed the start of this thread so sorry if I've covered something
that's already been stated, or if I don't understand the problem.

I also remember getting a B&W picture when having a source
(Playstation 1) set to NTSC on a PAL TV. Certainly an incorrectly
inserted Scart lead can do this too, or using the wrong format (NTSC
versus PAL, RGB versus Composite, etc). Not all Scart leads are fully
connected, meaning you sometimes have to use Composite instead of RGB.
Not all TVs support RGB input.

--
Vincent

Again, many thanks to everyone who has replied, you've all been very
helpful.

I tried my other scart lead again last night, which I hadn't since getting a
picture...

Everything now works perfectly!

It would seem the 'problem' was the box updating itself & so not showing
anything, followed by a dodgy scart lead.

Again, thanks to everyone. Community isn't dead, it's just doesn't
necessarily live next door any more!

Dom.