RF Output on NTL Cable

smacaodha

hey, is it just me or wasnt there a analoge output, like thru RF on the NTL STB's? where u cud tune the STB to a actuall channel number instead of SCART or AV? we used to have the origianal black mammoth of a ntl stb but ever since the whole UPC thing we had to get a new silver one, but there isnt any output? it was great cuz u cud watch the ntl digital station on other tvs or we had it tuned to our DVD recorder....
is there anyway of getting this output back?

steveon

Not sure if the NTL box has two Scart outlets but if it does then it might be possible to use an "RF Modulator" to send the signal to another room.

This is a simple device that enables you to convert an av signal to an rf frequency of your choice and allow you to tune them into another tv..Usually bout €4o for a good one

gerryo

steveon wrote:

Not sure if the NTL box has two Scart outlets but if it does then it might be possible to use an "RF Modulator" to send the signal to another room.

This is a simple device that enables you to convert an av signal to an rf frequency of your choice and allow you to tune them into another tv..Usually bout €4o for a good one

Or an old VCR works too, if it has A/V in connectors/SCART connector.
Bit bulky for the job, but should be cheap.

The tax man

Only the first stb NTL supplied,Di400s had a DTV RF output. Anything else is scart only. The new DC22iNK only passes the analogue via it's RF output. VCR or some AV device as suggested above would work for you.

Solair

Legally speaking, all EU AV equipment MUST have a SCART (EN 50049-1) connector aka "Euroconnector", it doesn't have to have anything else

RF output ports aren't required.

However, it would be considered unfit for purpose if you were to say sell a TV without an RF input. However, there's nothing to say you have to put an RF output on a VCR.

In other EU countries, particularly France, RF outputs are gone since the 1980s!
It was made compulsary in France in 1981 (with a lead in from 1978!)

steveon

Didnt know that about France not using RF outlets, isnt it the same in Australia where they use RCA Phono Connections also instead of Scart connections ??

watty

TV without an RF in is called a video Monitor. I have Philips one, with SCART and RCA composite inputs.

It's most of the world outside Europe & ME that uses RCA composite or RCA Y U V "component video"

SCART is a French idea.


A VHS is cheaper to buy now than a RF modulator, but won't work if the signal has evil Macrovision on it.

Solair

SCART was a very big deal in France since the roll out of Canal+ in particular in the 1980s.
Canal+ originally started out as a single pay tv channel, broadcast as a normal TV channel over the terrestrial network. It required a box which connected to your TV/VCR via a single SCART connector. You may have seen diagrams in some tv manuals which show how to setup a decoder inline with a scart connector.

SCART is bi-directional regarding standard composite video and analog audio. A television can be configured to send the antenna audio and video signals to the SCART sockets all the time and watch for returned signals, to display and reproduce them instead. This allows "transparent" set-top boxes, without any tuner, which just "hook-up" and pre-process the television signals without any complicated wiring. (This is how CANAL+ worked).

CANAL+ was the first serious PayTV operator in Europe, having gone on air in 1984 it had over a million paying subscribers within a year.

There were rumours around that French public TV, BBC and other licence fee based channels would follow the same route, requiring a decoder and valid smart card to view the channel. At the time, it would have been rather complex.

SCART means : Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseur.
Would translate as : The Association of Manufacturers of Radio Receivers and Televisions

Ironically, the French rarely call it SCART, prefering the trademark Péritél
.

The logic of SCART was to get rid of a whole raft of completely incompatable standard of connector which had been in common use in Europe.

You had various combinations of DIN (German origin round multi pin connectors still used on things like Keyboards and mice).
BNCs (type of coax connector)
RCA (phone jacks)
and even completely propriatry connectors that required you to purchase cables from the manufacturer!

SCART was kind of the USB sollution for analogue TV signalling, made wiring things up a whole lot easier and more compatable.

watty

Another logic of SCART was to block non-French imports. But everyone else decided it would be nice to have anyway, so the import blockade part of the scheme never worked.

Strictly speaking, the R G B signals uses the same wires for in or out = bidirectional. Composite and Stereo use separate pins for in or out.
There is also a pin for serial signalling.

The SCART would work fine for HDTV, but unfortunately the Japanese & Americans use Component, so the 1st HD equipment used that, then the DRM / Copy protection bandwagon wanted the HDMI.

The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is an all-digital audio/video interface capable of transmitting uncompressed streams. HDMI is compatible with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) Digital Rights Management technology.

I've made simple VGA to RGB SCART adaptors in the days of DOS, and run a small utility to reprogram the Trident VGA card to PAL timings and interlace.

Some equipment has S-Video C signal on a SCART pin and switches the composite to "Y" when you select it.

It's unfortunate that most SCART cables are either madly over priced or all the wires in one screen instead of separate mini-coax (9 required) for the audio and video signals. The ones without separate coaxes, you get flickering on the screen from the sound, buzz in the sound from the video frame and crosstalk (faint ghost picture) between video in and video out.

Gold can damage the SCART sockets. As Gold and damp results in lesser metals getting corroded.

Also many don't have the proper design of metal shell, falling out with little provocation.