Sagem IDT81-SD picnic box

stam · 25-10-2009 1:52pm

I hope to get my hands on few of these boxs this week can you tell me are these boxs working a 100% as i see the last post is having a few problems and where is the best currys to go to in the north for these thanks

polyfusion · 25-10-2009 2:14pm

foxire wrote: »

There is a slight fault with the box. When I switch it on the digital signal will not come on. It will not respond to pressing any of the buttons on the remote control except the red on/off button. The analogue signal stays on. When I press the on/off red button at the top and press some of the other buttons it will come on with the digital signal.

I don't think this is a fault. When you switch on the power to the unit, it's probably like booting a PC, it's finding settings, channels, favorites, EPG details and time and so on. It displays "init" on the display while doing this, then goes into standby, with the clock displayed. Then when you press the standby button, it will then start decoding the signal and send it to the TV.

Analogue will stay on because it's looped through the unit.

I haven't noticed the other problem you mentioned. Is the unit in a well ventilated place?

coylemj · 25-10-2009 2:54pm

stam wrote: »

where is the best currys to go to in the north for these thanks

Currys in Damolly Retail Park Newry is the closest to Dublin, stay on the Belfast road which takes you on to the Newry bypass, when you get to a roundabout called McCann's Corner you'll see the shopping centre on the right.

Aepos · 25-10-2009 5:15pm

Hi all,
Got one in Currys Newry last Thursday, I reserved one on line. they only hold until the end of business the next working day. When filling in the form it will not recognise an ROI phone number so I used their own number with a digit changed. :rolleyes:

The yoke works just fine, originally had an hour out of sync problem but that has sorted itself out since the time change this AM.

Enjoy. AE

winston_1 · 25-10-2009 5:50pm

stam wrote: »

I hope to get my hands on few of these boxs this week can you tell me are these boxs working a 100% as i see the last post is having a few problems and where is the best currys to go to in the north for these thanks

The only problems are the Irish channels are put in the 800's. You can't move them or change the order.

In standby the clock shows GMT when Irish channels are stored. Not a problem in winter, a bit annoying in summer. Not sure what happens if both UK and Irish channels are stored.

Can't help re stock in the north as I'm based in London.

lawhec · 25-10-2009 6:08pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9Lqf8uGqXk

Above video shows the Sagem IDT81 browsing channels from both sides of the border with TG4 & TV3 teletext and RTÉ MHEG Aertel.

mrdtv · 26-10-2009 12:02pm

foxire wrote: »

I bought a Picnic Box from Curry's by telephone and it was delivered by DHL.

I get great pictures from RTE1, RTE2, and TG4. They are solid and very clear compared with the analogue reception. I get the signal from Cairn Hill in Longford and I live in the Mid Tyrone area. On TV3 I first got the test card and then recently I got full reception.

The signal strength was between 47% and 52% on all three channels and the signal quality was 97% on all three. These channels are every bit as good a reception as BBC NI. I get the BBC signal from Brougher mountain. The signal strength of the BBC is 46% and picture quality 98%.

There is a slight fault with the box. When I switch it on the digital signal will not come on. It will not respond to pressing any of the buttons on the remote control except the red on/off button. The analogue signal stays on. When I press the on/off red button at the top and press some of the other buttons it will come on with the digital signal. On some other occasions it will not respond to pressing any of the buttons on the remote control even the red on/off button. This might only happen once a night. I switch it off at the socket and on again and it is back to normal again. But I have to do as above - press the red on/off button and press some of the other buttons before digital picture comes on.

These problems are only minor. Has anybody else encountered any problems?

I had an old STB but I only could get RTE in sound only. The digital BBC picture on the Picnic box is far superior to the picture I was getting on the old STB box.

Very interesting. What kind of aerial systems are you using. BTW that Sagem box reads out the C/N ratio in the signal information page: do you know what it is as that is the most important parameter. It would be nice to know for Brougher Mt and Cairn Hill. I agree that's an excellent MPEG4 bargain basement STB.

sesswhat · 26-10-2009 3:56pm

A few readings from the RTE Mux from Holywell Hill and Freeview Mux D from Limavady. You can see that the Network is identified as RTE NL for both, maybe because this mux is scanned first?

I'm near Ballybofey, 40km from Holywell Hill and 65km from Limavady. The aerial is a flat grid with Fringe mast-head amplifier.

I included a couple of pics of the connections at the back of the box as I haven't seen any here.

mrdtv · 26-10-2009 4:38pm

sesswhat wrote: »

A few readings from the RTE Mux from Holywell Hill and Freeview Mux D from Limavady. You can see that the Network is identified as RTE NL for both, maybe because this mux is scanned first?

I'm near Ballybofey, 40km from Holywell Hill and 65km from Limavady. The aerial is a flat grid with Fringe mast-head amplifier.

I included a couple of pics of the connections at the back of the box as I haven't seen any here.

This display tells you a lot:

a) Your RTE reception is OK but marginal, with very few errors. The C/N fail point for 64QAM in the real world is approx 20dB

b) Your Mux D 16QAM reception is acceptable, has some errors. The C/N fail point for 16QAM is about 14dB so there is very good reception margin. Do you get all muxes for Limavady or only a few?

Others who have this box can similarly interrogate their receiver: the results from Welsh DTT reception would be most illuminating.

sesswhat · 26-10-2009 6:56pm

mrdtv wrote: »

a) Your RTE reception is OK but marginal, with very few errors. The C/N fail point for 64QAM in the real world is approx 20dB

b) Your Mux D 16QAM reception is acceptable, has some errors. The C/N fail point for 16QAM is about 14dB so there is very good reception margin. Do you get all muxes for Limavady or only a few?

Good to know what to aim for when adjusting the antenna set up.

I get all the Limavady muxes except for Mux 2 (C58). This is obliterated by the local Ballybofey Tx which unfortunately is almost in line with Limavady. I get all the missing channels through a FTA sat system anyway so it's not a big loss.

Overall, this seems to be a good enough box, although I have to say the picture seems to be darker than that from some other Freeview equipment when using the same leads. The interface looks dated but the software works well and I presume the recording timer can be used to make sure the box is on and set up on the right channel for recording to a DVD recorder or VCR through Scart. I haven't noticed any problems but then I haven't used it much.

I only bought it as a cheap way to try out the mpeg4 RTE Mux. It won't be replacing the existing Freeview PVR under my main TV but I'll certainly be using it for World Cup games and other events on RTE and TG4 if the tests continue. It is also the first time I have ever seen a decent picture on terrestrial TV3 anywhere in Donegal (now that I've seen it though, I'll just continue to never watch it).

All we need now is a PVR version at a similar bargain basement price

.

foxire · 26-10-2009 10:50pm

mrdtv wrote: »

Very interesting. What kind of aerial systems are you using. BTW that Sagem box reads out the C/N ratio in the signal information page: do you know what it is as that is the most important parameter. It would be nice to know for Brougher Mt and Cairn Hill. I agree that's an excellent MPEG4 bargain basement STB.

I am not familar with aerials. I just have a standard aerial. When I get home its dark and don,t know how many elements there is. I have two aerials, one for Cairn Hill and another for Brougher Mountain, both horizontal. I will be able to find out at the weekend. Both are up a number of years.

For Cairn Hill on RTE1, Viterbi BER is 1.OE-7 and C/N is 24 dB

For Brougher Mountain on BBC2, Viterbi BER is 1.OE-7 and C/N is 24 dB.

As I have no knowledge of what the above means I would be very grateful to know what they mean.

foxire · 26-10-2009 11:14pm

polyfusion wrote: »

I don't think this is a fault. When you switch on the power to the unit, it's probably like booting a PC, it's finding settings, channels, favorites, EPG details and time and so on. It displays "init" on the display while doing this, then goes into standby, with the clock displayed. Then when you press the standby button, it will then start decoding the signal and send it to the TV.

Analogue will stay on because it's looped through the unit.

I haven't noticed the other problem you mentioned. Is the unit in a well ventilated place?

This is exactly what happens when I switch on the power. When the clock is displayed nothing happens. I then press the standby button and the display goes blank. If I wait will the signal come to the TV.

Perhaps I have no patience when I press other buttons to get it to come on.

The other problem hasn,t happened since. It may be only happen occassionally. The unit is under the TV and well ventilated.

mrdtv · 27-10-2009 11:04am

foxire wrote: »

I am not familar with aerials. I just have a standard aerial. When I get home its dark and don,t know how many elements there is. I have two aerials, one for Cairn Hill and another for Brougher Mountain, both horizontal. I will be able to find out at the weekend. Both are up a number of years.

For Cairn Hill on RTE1, Viterbi BER is 1.OE-7 and C/N is 24 dB

For Brougher Mountain on BBC2, Viterbi BER is 1.OE-7 and C/N is 24 dB.

As I have no knowledge of what the above means I would be very grateful to know what they mean.

These are excellent error free signals. A BER like this is equivalent to virtually zero picture errors (stands for Bit Error Rate). The C/N (carrier to noise) ratio must be over 20dB for 64QAM transmissions ( as used by RTE, ITV/C4 and SDN in N. Ireland and all post-DSO UK stations eg the ones in Wales now being received in Wicklow and Wexford) and over 14dB for the 16QAM transmissions used in pre-DSO UK regions such as N.I by the BBC on Mux 1, BBC B and the two commercial multiplexes which used to be called Muxes C and D (now Arqiva A and

. If your C/N comfortably exceeds the failure points then you are always going to get perfect reception. Do you get everything from Brougher Mountain including ITV/Four/Five and where are you roughly speaking?

polyfusion · 27-10-2009 2:01pm

foxire wrote: »

This is exactly what happens when I switch on the power. When the clock is displayed nothing happens. I then press the standby button and the display goes blank. If I wait will the signal come to the TV.

Perhaps I have no patience when I press other buttons to get it to come on.

Yep, you just have to be patient with a cold boot. When you press the standby button, it takes 10-15 seconds for the picture to arrive; pressing buttons will not make it load faster. If you leave it in standby constantly, it will switch to the channel almost instantly.

I'd be interested too in whether you are getting 4, 5 etc (muxes 2 and A at this page http://www.ukfree.tv/txdetail.php?a=IH350527 ). I was doing some experiments with the same box about 50km west of Broughter, but only once got a sniff of them with a very large group A aerial. How far are you from the transmitter, and in what direction?

EDIT: Just read one of your previous posts and see you're in Tyrone, so you're probably well able to get those muxes. Incidently, would Truskmore not be a closer solution for the RTE channels at you location?

Digifriendly · 27-10-2009 10:41pm

BBC Radio Ulster had as its lead report yesterday (Mon.) the vast amount of shoppers coming up North from across the Border on ROI's Bank holiday. Wonder how many purchased the Picnic Box?

foxire · 28-10-2009 12:00am

polyfusion wrote: »

Yep, you just have to be patient with a cold boot. When you press the standby button, it takes 10-15 seconds for the picture to arrive; pressing buttons will not make it load faster. If you leave it in standby constantly, it will switch to the channel almost instantly.

I'd be interested too in whether you are getting 4, 5 etc (muxes 2 and A at this page http://www.ukfree.tv/txdetail.php?a=IH350527 ). I was doing some experiments with the same box about 50km west of Broughter, but only once got a sniff of them with a very large group A aerial. How far are you from the transmitter, and in what direction?

EDIT: Just read one of your previous posts and see you're in Tyrone, so you're probably well able to get those muxes. Incidently, would Truskmore not be a closer solution for the RTE channels at you location?

Thanks for the information regarding the switching on of the unit. I now know it works perfectly.

I am getting all the channels except for a couple of minor channels (muxes 1, 2, A, B, C and D). I can get BB1, BBC2, BBC Three, BBC Four, ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 etc.

On the webpage you provided above it says I am 1,429km northeast of Brougher Mountain. I live in the Carrickmore area about equal distance from Omagh, Cookstown and Dungannon.

foxire · 28-10-2009 12:20am

mrdtv wrote: »

These are excellent error free signals. A BER like this is equivalent to virtually zero picture errors (stands for Bit Error Rate). The C/N (carrier to noise) ratio must be over 20dB for 64QAM transmissions ( as used by RTE, ITV/C4 and SDN in N. Ireland and all post-DSO UK stations eg the ones in Wales now being received in Wicklow and Wexford) and over 14dB for the 16QAM transmissions used in pre-DSO UK regions such as N.I by the BBC on Mux 1, BBC B and the two commercial multiplexes which used to be called Muxes C and D (now Arqiva A and . If your C/N comfortably exceeds the failure points then you are always going to get perfect reception. Do you get everything from Brougher Mountain including ITV/Four/Five and where are you roughly speaking?

Thanks for the information. I am learning a lot from this board. When I bought the box I ordered a Pure/AV Belkin scart lead. Would that have given the good readings?

I am getting all the channels from Brougher Mountain including ITV/Four/Five and Dave etc. I have an eight element aerial for Brougher Mountain. Behind the last element there is a flat piece of metal about 2" wise and then a deflector with four elements - two at the top and two at the bottom like an arrow.

For Cairn Hill I have the same type of an aerial as Brought Mountain but with sixteen elements.

I live in the Carrickmore area of Co. Tyrone.

mrdtv · 28-10-2009 9:49am

foxire wrote: »

Thanks for the information. I am learning a lot from this board. When I bought the box I ordered a Pure/AV Belkin scart lead. Would that have given the good readings?

I am getting all the channels from Brougher Mountain including ITV/Four/Five and Dave etc. I have an eight element aerial for Brougher Mountain. Behind the last element there is a flat piece of metal about 2" wise and then a deflector with four elements - two at the top and two at the bottom like an arrow.

For Cairn Hill I have the same type of an aerial as Brought Mountain but with sixteen elements.

I live in the Carrickmore area of Co. Tyrone.

No, its your aerial system that determines the quality of your reception. You are not far from Brougher which is only 500W DTT until DSO when it becomes 20kW which will be excellent, and Cairn Hill DTT tests are probably running at a minimum of 20kW or more. And you have two dedicated aerials multiplexed together.

lawhec · 28-10-2009 4:35pm

polyfusion wrote: »

EDIT: Just read one of your previous posts and see you're in Tyrone, so you're probably well able to get those muxes. Incidently, would Truskmore not be a closer solution for the RTE channels at you location?

The Mid-Tyrone area that foxire lives in can normally get good signals from Truskmore and most of the homes in the area have aerials for RTÉ aimed towards Sligo however in some places Carin Hill comes in fairly well to, thanks to the locality being quite high up.

Historically a UHF signal for RTÉ1 & RTÉ2 in Tyrone, be it from Carin Hill, Clermont Carn or Holywell Hill, had an advantage over Truskmore in that (a) all TV's and VCR's sold locally could easily tune in to RTÉ otherwise you'd need either a TV or VCR with a VHF tuner which wasn't common on sets designed for the UK market or a frequency shifter which brought the VHF signals into the UHF band, and (b) a second (UHF) aerial wasn't required when TnaG and TV3 launched and could be received by just tuning in with their current set up.

Carrickmore is on the inside edge of the analogue service area for Brougher Mountain, a short trip a few miles east to Pomeroy starts to favour Divis.

TVDX · 28-10-2009 6:40pm

I went as far as signing up for a uk mail redirect, 19.30 for the month to get two of these shipped to them and in turn to me. It still works out nice and cheap per unit in the end after their delivery charges.

http://www.my-uk-mail.co.uk

Thanks for the recommendation of this box. I needed something quick and now for a low price and this box will do the trick. Hope it all works out now.

foxire · 28-10-2009 11:36pm

lawhec wrote: »

The Mid-Tyrone area that foxire lives in can normally get good signals from Truskmore and most of the homes in the area have aerials for RTÉ aimed towards Sligo however in some places Carin Hill comes in fairly well to, thanks to the locality being quite high up.

Historically a UHF signal for RTÉ1 & RTÉ2 in Tyrone, be it from Carin Hill, Clermont Carn or Holywell Hill, had an advantage over Truskmore in that (a) all TV's and VCR's sold locally could easily tune in to RTÉ otherwise you'd need either a TV or VCR with a VHF tuner which wasn't common on sets designed for the UK market or a frequency shifter which brought the VHF signals into the UHF band, and (b) a second (UHF) aerial wasn't required when TnaG and TV3 launched and could be received by just tuning in with their current set up.

Carrickmore is on the inside edge of the analogue service area for Brougher Mountain, a short trip a few miles east to Pomeroy starts to favour Divis.

I used to get RTE1 and RTE2 from Truskmore. After TnaG and TV3 launched I noticed when moving from one channel to another that I was getting a faint picture on one of the spare channels. I got a TV engineer to see if I could get TnaG and TV3. He informed me that I was picking up the signal from Cairn Hill through the Brougher mountain aerial.

The engineer put up an aerial for Cairn Hill and he said that the VHF service would be coming to an end anyway. As well my brother was getting the signals from Cairn Hill and Brougher mountain with one wideband aerial and he is living in Killyclogher close to Omagh. It meant that I had no need for three aerials and I had a wider choice when going to buy a new TV. I wasn't confined to my local area. All my neighours are getting their signal from Truskmore.

kah22 · 17-11-2009 6:02pm

Hi I've bought the Sagem Picnic Box from Curry's online and there is one bug in it that is making me screem :eek::eek::eek: and that's that the dam box keeps freezing!

From a few articles I've read online this seems a common fault with the Picnic Box but I'm wondering if anyone has come up with a fix.

My own particular box arrived without a manual so I had to set it up by trial and error, another bug though is RTE been away down in the 800's and from what I can see unless you put all your channels into a favourites list there is no way of altering the order of channels - not that the favourites issue is a big deal

Go into a shop and they'll tell you that digi boxes are non returnable but I'm wondering if that is the case with Curry's and the Picnic Box as it may not be fit for the purpose it was intended. I've posted a question about returning the box on the Which Online website and it will be interesting to see what they have to say.

Sam Russell · 17-11-2009 8:19pm

kah22 wrote: »

Hi I've bought the Sagem Picnic Box from Curry's online and there is one bug in it that is making me screem :eek::eek::eek: and that's that the dam box keeps freezing!

From a few articles I've read online this seems a common fault with the Picnic Box but I'm wondering if anyone has come up with a fix.

My own particular box arrived without a manual so I had to set it up by trial and error, another bug though is RTE been away down in the 800's and from what I can see unless you put all your channels into a favourites list there is no way of altering the order of channels - not that the favourites issue is a big deal

Go into a shop and they'll tell you that digi boxes are non returnable but I'm wondering if that is the case with Curry's and the Picnic Box as it may not be fit for the purpose it was intended. I've posted a question about returning the box on the Which Online website and it will be interesting to see what they have to say.

I have a Sagem Picnic box that has exhibited a fault a one point but generally it has functioned. The box overheats and should be well ventilated. It is also poorly shielded and should not be put near other boxes.

It has a number of other faults. The remote is poorly designed and the whole product is cheaply made. It is not possible to change country code, no surprise there. Consequently, it puts the Irish stations in the 800s. Bizare, is the reverse order. The changeover to radio is clunky, and the change back is odd. When on radio, it does not have a screen saver.

It does give EPG and teletext on RTE1 in H264. If it was not cheap, I would not recommend it. But it does work, and picture quality is good. Display shape is a bit variable. It does not depict 4:3 properly sometimes, and does not return correctly after an ad break.

Overall, I'll let you know. The jury is still out.

marclt · 18-11-2009 11:29am

Sam Russell wrote: »

I have a Sagem Picnic box that has exhibited a fault a one point but generally it has functioned.

The changeover to radio is clunky, and the change back is odd. When on radio, it does not have a screen saver.

You don't have to press the radio button on the remote control to access the radio channels. You can just go straight to the channel number.

So if I access 700, it brings me straight to BBC Radio 1 complete with the BBC radio mheg and various information that throws up. Much easier.

I agree though, the box does have some quirks... and the initializing at the beginning is a pain, but then the Chorus sagem box operates in the same slow way too!

Sam Russell · 18-11-2009 1:34pm

marclt wrote: »

You don't have to press the radio button on the remote control to access the radio channels. You can just go straight to the channel number.

So if I access 700, it brings me straight to BBC Radio 1 complete with the BBC radio mheg and various information that throws up. Much easier.

I agree though, the box does have some quirks... and the initializing at the beginning is a pain, but then the Chorus sagem box operates in the same slow way too!

In Dublin, the local 'foreign' stations are all allocated numbers starting with 800. The radio stations are 800 and up, the TV stations are 800 and up. To access a radio station, you have to press the radio button wich is maked with a music stave symbol. To return to TV, you press the 'exit' button.

As I say, clunky.

It has frozen a few times on me, I suspect overheating as analogue reception is fine.

Sagem produce two versions of this box in France, a SD box like this, and an HD box with HDMI connector. I wonder if the software for the French box would work? H264 might be a casualty though.

marclt · 18-11-2009 2:21pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

In Dublin, the local 'foreign' stations are all allocated numbers starting with 800. The radio stations are 800 and up, the TV stations are 800 and up. To access a radio station, you have to press the radio button wich is maked with a music stave symbol. To return to TV, you press the 'exit' button.

As I say, clunky.

It has frozen a few times on me, I suspect overheating as analogue reception is fine.

Two points.

Firstly, to access the radio channels you don't have to press the music symbol button, you can just key in the channel number. It works, I've tried it. You can, of course press the 'radio' button and it will give you a list of the radio channels all in one place. Useful - This is different to some other boxes but as I have already said, I've seen it in other sagem boxes too.

I've a box, it never freezes and doesn't over heat - certainly the box never feels that warm. Each box is different I guess :rolleyes:

Secondly, the box was never intended for the Irish market hence Irish channels going into the 800 range. It was intended for the UK for a service that didn't get off the ground in the end. The fact it is capable of receiving the test channels is a bonus - when you compare price and spec and availability of similar boxes.

One area that the box does excel in is digital text, very quick with virtually no associated problems as far as I can tell.

It's not all bad... and all for £20!

Sam Russell · 18-11-2009 2:44pm

marclt wrote: »

Two points.

Firstly, to access the radio channels you don't have to press the music symbol button, you can just key in the channel number. It works, I've tried it. You can, of course press the 'radio' button and it will give you a list of the radio channels all in one place. Useful - This is different to some other boxes but as I have already said, I've seen it in other sagem boxes too.

I've a box, it never freezes and doesn't over heat - certainly the box never feels that warm. Each box is different I guess :rolleyes:

Secondly, the box was never intended for the Irish market hence Irish channels going into the 800 range. It was intended for the UK for a service that didn't get off the ground in the end. The fact it is capable of receiving the test channels is a bonus - when you compare price and spec and availability of similar boxes.

One area that the box does excel in is digital text, very quick with virtually no associated problems as far as I can tell.

It's not all bad... and all for £20!

The radio stations on my box are 800 - 803. The TV stations are also 800 - 803. So how does it know which 800 you mean?

I think the box performs well and very well for the price. The equiv Sagem box in France is €139.

However it is of cheap construction with inadequate shielding which causes interference on analogue. The pass through UHF causes excess noise if the box in not powered, it must be in standby at least. It does get warm, particularly in the front LH side as you look at it. It is after long use, late in the evening that it freezes/ pixalates the picture. The case is clearly warm, so the insides are warmer. Lack of a fan and presumably heatsinks would explain the overheating. I had to move the box away from the Freesat receiver because of interferance.

As I say, good for the price and good for the current 'TESTS - NOT A SERVICE!'

kah22 · 19-11-2009 4:54pm

As I mentioned in an earlier post I had a problem with my itd81 box freezing when I was switching from channel to channel. I'm guessing that one of the reasons for doing so was that I was switching to quickly.

However, I have discovered that if I set up a favourite list, and set is as my default then I can order the stations in whatever way I want. I've also discovered that if I use the program guide to travel up and down the list that it doesn't freeze, at least it hasn't so far.

There is another difficult I seem to be having and haven't figured out what to do yet. I was watching 'Murder She Wrote' on BBC 1 this afternoon and noticed that the picture did not cover the full of the screen there was a bar on the right and left of the screen.

I popped over to another American made for TV movie and that had the same problem. Other programs view as normal. Any ideas as to why this should be. My old digii-box filled the full screen as does analogue.

As far as aerials are concerned I had mine completely updated about 18 months back, new cabling and all by a registered aerial man so I guess everything is pointing in the right direction.

Perfect picture otherwise.

Kevin

mrdtv · 19-11-2009 5:16pm

kah22 wrote: »

As I mentioned in an earlier post I had a problem with my itd81 box freezing when I was switching from channel to channel. I'm guessing that one of the reasons for doing so was that I was switching to quickly.

However, I have discovered that if I set up a favourite list, and set is as my default then I can order the stations in whatever way I want. I've also discovered that if I use the program guide to travel up and down the list that it doesn't freeze, at least it hasn't so far.

There is another difficult I seem to be having and haven't figured out what to do yet. I was watching 'Murder She Wrote' on BBC 1 this afternoon and noticed that the picture did not cover the full of the screen there was a bar on the right and left of the screen.

I popped over to another American made for TV movie and that had the same problem. Other programs view as normal. Any ideas as to why this should be. My old digii-box filled the full screen as does analogue.

As far as aerials are concerned I had mine completely updated about 18 months back, new cabling and all by a registered aerial man so I guess everything is pointing in the right direction.

Perfect picture otherwise.

Kevin

you use the program guide and work my way up and

People need to realise that this was not fully tested by Sky as Ofcom canned Picnic. Sagem was left with a big box order to offload on the market: Curry's just sell it with a warranty so they will replace it with something else if it fails in twelve months time. There will be no OTA downloads for this box because it is NOT supported in the UK. However if Irish DTT does launch as MPEG4 T1 then Sagem will be in pole position to launch a zapper box: it just requires OTA downloads to fix the box bugs which an operational Irish DTT service would have to support. The benefits of synergies with the UK are obvious: software updates and wider box choice. For now its a very interesting tester box at bargain basement prices. No further whingeing given its status and context!

Sam Russell · 19-11-2009 5:27pm

mrdtv wrote: »

No further whingeing given its status and context!

This is not wingeing, it is reviewing a box for its performance and failings, as a service to others with more sense not to be first to purchase.

Sagem do produce this box, or something like it, for the French market, so software should be available for it in the future, particularly if Sagem market the box here. It does work very well, but it is difficult to test it, with the service 'Tests - not a service' keeps on reconfiguring and switching off from time to time.

I would like to test my one with the UK overspill, and will before too long.

Rick_ · 19-11-2009 5:41pm

Seeing as Windows Media Centre won't pick up the tests but a cheap Digifusion STB will but just gives me audio, I was thinking of getting one of these boxes myself and enjoying having RTÉ and Freeview in one box rather than having to keep switching between analogue and Freeview to channel hop.

Are these boxes still available? Can channels be renamed and reordered to suit?

Sam Russell · 19-11-2009 5:45pm

Paddy C wrote: »

Can channels be renamed and reordered to suit?

No, you cannot change the stations, but you can set up 'Favourites'.

marclt · 19-11-2009 5:48pm

Paddy C wrote: »

Are these boxes still available? Can channels be renamed and reordered to suit?

Just searching on Currys... and they no longer seem to be listed! There was only ever going to be limited stock anyway.

Perhaps there are some left in store?

Rick_ · 19-11-2009 6:09pm

Rang their reserve line, no stock in Newry or in PC World at Sprucefield... damnit. Ah well.

Digifriendly · 20-11-2009 11:51am

Paddy C wrote: »

Rang their reserve line, no stock in Newry or in PC World at Sprucefield... damnit. Ah well.

Have you tried Rushmere (Craigavon Shopping Centre)? Saw a few there recently.

PyeContinental · 20-11-2009 12:03pm

Paddy C wrote: »

Seeing as Windows Media Centre won't pick up the tests

Yes it will.
You either don't have a DVB-T tuner in your media center pc or you don't have an mpeg4 codec installed. If you have Win7, it has a native mpeg4 codec installed.

Rick_ · 20-11-2009 12:52pm

I have Windows 7 and a Hauppauge HVR4000. Nothing coming up on my system whatsoever. A cheap-ass £10 Argos receiver we were given free with a mobile phone purchase a few years ago picks it up perfectly, just audio only...

Never thought of trying Rushmere... Will investigate further!

PyeContinental · 20-11-2009 1:20pm

Paddy C wrote: »

I have Windows 7 and a Hauppauge HVR4000.

That's what I have and it works great. Are you getting nothing at all with this or just audio? What are you connecting to your HVR 4000, to receive?

Rick_ · 20-11-2009 1:37pm

I'm not even getting audio, but when I am setting up the guide the first thing it asks me is where I live and it has pre-selected UK and then asks for my postcode, I presume from there Microsoft has a database of which 6 MUX frequencies to scan for my area which is why I get Freeview and nothing more. Maybe if I went to other and didn't put in a post code it would do a full scan of the spectrum and I might pick something up that way?

Is there no way in Media Centre to do a manual DTT scan on a particular frequency? I don't want to lose my channel order and customisations again just to add 4 channels. Such a pain that everything is re-added if you set up your signal again.

I have the aerial and satellite connected to the NVR4000. Microsoft's satellite database is horribly out of date though, many FTA channels and transponders are not there or have the wrong frequencies so even after a lenghty scan I have to spend another 20 minutes tuning other channels in that should have been there from the start.... :rolleyes:

PyeContinental · 20-11-2009 1:54pm

Paddy C wrote: »

I'm not even getting audio, but when I am setting up the guide the first thing it asks me is where I live and it has pre-selected UK and then asks for my postcode, I presume from there Microsoft has a database of which 6 MUX frequencies to scan for my area which is why I get Freeview and nothing more. Maybe if I went to other and didn't put in a post code it would do a full scan of the spectrum and I might pick something up that way?

Is there no way in Media Centre to do a manual DTT scan on a particular frequency? I don't want to lose my channel order and customisations again just to add 4 channels. Such a pain that everything is re-added if you set up your signal again.

I have the aerial and satellite connected to the NVR4000. Microsoft's satellite database is horribly out of date though, many FTA channels and transponders are not there or have the wrong frequencies so even after a lenghty scan I have to spend another 20 minutes tuning other channels in that should have been there from the start.... :rolleyes:

From what I can see, the satellite tuning is done by a database of known channels, whereas the DVB-T tuning is done by actually tuning to each channel and seeing what's there.

You can do a rescan for more channels on DVB-T only and it will add any new channels found. If you are picking up the UK channels, then you have a UHF aerial pointed at a UK transmitter. It's possible even with this setup to still pickup the Irish channels if the signal is very strong, but I suspect that the solution to your problem is to find out where your Irish transmitter is and point an aerial at that too. You'll need to add another DVB-T tuner to your media center pc unless you want to have to swap the aerial feeds (not very practical) or combine the feeds but this will exacerbate co-channel interference problems (effectively wipe out the UK DTT channels that broadcast on the same frequencies).

By the way, if you are receiving the freesat channels, what do you need the uk DVB-T channels for? Is it just the Virgin and Dave channels, Fiver and Five US, Quest and Yesterday? If so, you're in the same situation as me!

Rick_ · 20-11-2009 3:18pm

I already have the aerial for RTÉ and BBC combined and piped throughout the house so all TV's can receive Freeview and RTÉ through one downlead. apart from MUX 2 (which isn't the strongest in this area although the last few weeks have seen significant improvement for some reason) the reception of all UK and Irish terrestrials is brilliant and Freeview is quite solid too, even ROI's DTT signal is to but I just don't have any MPEG 4 equipment capable of receiving it.

I have the FTA channels mainly for more stable reception of the most watched channels, such as the BBC's, ITV's, C4's and FIVE and also BBC HD and ITV HD but as you say the DTT side is purely to fill in the few channels not available FTA, such as VIVA, Dave (and +1), Virgin 1 (and +1), Quest, Yesterday, Sky 3 and FIVE USA and FIVER. I would prefer to have them all in one handy EPG that can be navigated and recorded from at any time - much better than having several different boxes connected to the TV and neither of them can be recorded from.

PyeContinental · 20-11-2009 3:38pm

Paddy C wrote: »

I already have the aerial for RTÉ and BBC combined and piped throughout the house so all TV's can receive Freeview and RTÉ through one downlead. apart from MUX 2 (which isn't the strongest in this area although the last few weeks have seen significant improvement for some reason) the reception of all UK and Irish terrestrials is brilliant and Freeview is quite solid too, even ROI's DTT signal is to but I just don't have any MPEG 4 equipment capable of receiving it.

I have the FTA channels mainly for more stable reception of the most watched channels, such as the BBC's, ITV's, C4's and FIVE and also BBC HD and ITV HD but as you say the DTT side is purely to fill in the few channels not available FTA, such as VIVA, Dave (and +1), Virgin 1 (and +1), Quest, Yesterday, Sky 3 and FIVE USA and FIVER. I would prefer to have them all in one handy EPG that can be navigated and recorded from at any time - much better than having several different boxes connected to the TV and neither of them can be recorded from.

Yes that's one of the best things about Media Center, that you can combine channels from multiple sources and arrange them in the order that suits you in the one EPG.

Try disconnecting the feed for your UK pointing aerial and connect only the feed from the one pointing to the Irish transmitter and do a rescan. It won't delete your existing channels unless you choose to do that.

What transmitters are you using or what region are you in? I'm guessing that perhaps you are receiving the RTE channels on VHF and you will need to point a UHF aerial at that transmitter instead to receive the Irish DTT.

Rick_ · 20-11-2009 3:58pm

I can't disconnect the feed for the UK aerial, it's combined in a diplexer beside the masthead on the pole on the side of the house, I have no way of getting to it and that amount of work just to test something is rather impractical I think.

I am receiving Freeview from Divis and RTÉ from Clermont Carn.

Like I have said before I can already receive the trial but only have MPEG2 equipment. Media Centre in Windows 7 is MPEG 4 compliant but for some reason the channels don't show up on a scan, but do if I scan using the same downlead in a MPEG2 box I get sound only, so I can receive the tests, the problem seems to be with the computer somewhere...

rurs · 21-11-2009 4:10pm

Sam Russell wrote: »

In Dublin, the local 'foreign' stations are all allocated numbers starting with 800. The radio stations are 800 and up, the TV stations are 800 and up. To access a radio station, you have to press the radio button wich is maked with a music stave symbol. To return to TV, you press the 'exit' button.

As I say, clunky.

You can add radio and TV to the same favourites list, so to choose a channel, you just key eg "1" for RTE1, "7" for Lyric FM etc. Also, press "OK" gives a list on screen of all the channels.
Setting up a favourite list is a bit clunky, however...

Rick_ · 22-11-2009 6:51pm

Well I found one of the STB's in Currys in Newry today despite being told there was no stock. :rolleyes:

When I took it to the till it scanned in at £400 and when I informed the girl it was actually £19.99 clearance, she ran off to check codes for the system etc. 10 minutes of waiting around and a man comes up to me and tells me the boxes have been recalled and he can't sell it to me. I argue my case but it falls on deaf ears. He just stands there with a smirk on his face repeating the same line over and over.

So, I finally find one and they won't give it to me. Last time I'll be going near Currys for anything ever again. :mad:

kah22 · 23-11-2009 1:35pm

Sorry you didn't get your box Paddy C. Sets me to wondering though why are they been withdrawn?

Two thoughts strike me:
1. I get the impression that the box freezes to often, at least I think mine does, but I'll stick with the inconvenience simply to get good RTE reception, and that they are been pestered by returns and refunds

2. More conspiracy theory. Now that they see how popular they are becoming they'll withdrawn them from the market for a few months and then increase the price.

Kevin

coylemj · 23-11-2009 1:50pm

They don't seem to have their act together by a long shot - I was told they had been 'quarantined' by a sales assistant in Currys in Sprucefield back in October but I went straight to their store in Newry and they happily sold me two of them. They must be using pigeon mail between the two stores.

Sam Russell · 23-11-2009 2:22pm

I reserved one in Sprucefield on the 10th November, and went and collected it next day, no problem.

If you press the top left hand button a few times (on the remote), it forces the scart selection, but it also, incorrectly, sets MUTE. There are other funnies, so it has not been debugged properly. It is little beyond beta level, probably waiting for a software upgrade on release.

With all the problems, I still think it is a good box, and great value. I do not expect that the software will ever be upgraded.

I suspect that you are right, lots of complaints. It interferes with TV3 analogue, and with the box underneath it, and it overheats. But it does give good reception of the Irish DTT. I intend to take it down to Wexford and try it with Preseli.:)

bmaxi · 23-11-2009 2:38pm

Recalled by whom? There's no mention of a product recall on Sagem's website and when I bought mine, which is trouble free so far, in Curry's, I supplied my name and address and phone number so why haven't I been informed? I suspect porkies.

Rick_ · 23-11-2009 3:12pm

I thought he was lying too but even when I told him other stores were still selling them but they were just out of stock and they never mentioned a recall he said that he couldn't sell it as there was a note on the system to say the boxes were recalled and the system wouldn't let him scan it through (which is why the price had changed to £400 to deterr anyone actually purchasing it apparently).

I always used to give Currys the benefit of the doubt after having some problems with them before and also hearing so many other disaster stories but screw that, I shall not be shopping with them any more. :mad:

Sagem IDT81-SD picnic box

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