Sagem IDT81-SD picnic box

Rick_

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

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_

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

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_

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

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

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

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

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_

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:

coylemj

I finally managed to pickup DTT from 3rock on ch54 with my indoor UHF aerial on Saturday and I also used the Picnic box to pick up Cairn Hill DTT from my sister's house in Mountmellick using her rooftop grid aerial. PQ was noticably better than analog.

kah22

Just pointed my browser in the direction of Currys see what you mean they have them advertised there at £400 and also say out of stock and sold out.
What is going on?

Kevin

Rick_

Like someone has already said, maybe they have a shed load of them and realise they might actually be popular as they are cheap and there was a sales spike for them, so they have 'withdrawn' them for a while to bring them back again with a higher price?

In seriousness though, I have read loads of complaints about the software etc. so maybe they were just sick and tired of people bringing them back and complaining so they are not selling them any more.

kah22

Quick question. I'm living in Armagh City and have been receiving a good picture through my Seagam ITD81 Box, albeit I'm suffering from freezing every now and again but in honesty I'm putting a lot of that down to the signal not been put out at full strength.

However, over the past number of days the picture on all stations both the UK and the Republic have been degrading for a few seconds - a slight wobble, a secondary freeze, picture out of sink and a crackling sound every so often.

What I'd like to know is are other users of the Seagam box experiencing the same problems and do you think it is down to the current weather conditions.

Kevin

Sam Russell

kah22 wrote: »

Quick question. I'm living in Armagh City and have been receiving a good picture through my Seagam ITD81 Box, albeit I'm suffering from freezing every now and again but in honesty I'm putting a lot of that down to the signal not been put out at full strength.

However, over the past number of days the picture on all stations UK and the Republic I've been getting brook up pictures the picture degrades for a few seconds and there is a crackling sound every so often.

What I'd like to know is are other users of the Seagam box experiencing the same problems and do you think it is down to the current weather conditions.

Kevin

I get that if the box has been on for some time. I think it is overheating. It happens late in the evening, it is not related to signal as analogue comes in fine. It is noticeable that the front lh underside is warm. I would return the box, but I would rather keep it as it works. I will open it up when I get the chance and am prepared to write off the waranty. [There is a screw behind the paper label on the back that must be removed.]

BTW, the box looks like a very cheap and nasty manufacture, so a heat problem plus software bugs in to be expected.:mad:

Rick_

I also live in Armagh City and would love to help, but unfortunatly Currys would not sell me a box... the b*****ds! I am in the process of getting a new TV though that has an MPEG4 tuner built in so hopefully should be up and running with the RTÉ channels in no time!

Hairy Ned

Hi i bought the picnic box a few weeks ago in currys of enniskillen,its not anything to do with signal i live outside longford town looking up at cairn hill with full signal and mine freezes,i raised my box about half a centimeter for Ventilation as under side gets very warm and have had no problems the last few nights.The other problem i have with this box is that the epg dose not work properly half the program info is missing ,is this rte or is it the picnic box.

cheers
Damo.

marclt

Hi

Been into Currys in Carmarthen... they had one ex-display model priced up at 19.99.

Next door in PC world, they had one boxed product left, but the price tag on the front of the shelf said £400 !!

Not just a local error then... it's across the group! I wonder did anyone actually buy it?

Marc

sesswhat

marclt wrote: »

Hi

Been into Currys in Carmarthen... they had one ex-display model priced up at 19.99.

Next door in PC world, they had one boxed product left, but the price tag on the front of the shelf said £400 !!

Not just a local error then... it's across the group! I wonder did anyone actually buy it?

Marc

Might consider selling mine for £390

gooner99

Hi,

Anyone buy a "sagem IDT81" box on ebay uk?
If so could you pm me the details of the shop you used and your experience with them and the box.

Thanks,
Gooner

kah22

Hi Guys I’m wondering if you can help me?

Since connecting a Sagem Picnic Box ITD81 (Freeview) to my system I’ve been unable to figure out how to record from the digital channels, in fact I don’t seem to be able to record from the standard VHF signal. Apologies in advance if the post seems long winded but I want to supply the maximum amount of information I can.

Here’s what I have:
a television with two scart sockets, and an aerial socket. There are other sockets on the front of the TV but I don’t want wires coming out at the front of the TV.

A DVD Player with one scart socket; a coaxal socket, sockets for left and right speakers, a video socket and an s-video socket.

A VCR Recorder with two scart sockets, an aerial in and aerial out socket.
And a s-video socket, and audio sockets for left and right speakers.

A Digi-box with two scart sockets, and an aerial in and and aerial out socket.

My roof-top aerial cord goes into what I assume is a signal booster which is plugged into the power supply. My digi box is tuned to AV2


Here is how my system is connected
The aerial is connected thus
1 Outdoor Aerial in-BOOSTER-out to DIGI BOX
2 in-DIGI BOX-out VCR
3 in-VCR-out TELEVISION
4 connects to TELEVISION aerial socket.

My scart cables are connected like this
TELEVISION two scarts are named AV1 and AV2
AV1 connects to DVD Player’s Scart Out socket (it only has one scart socket)
AV2 connects to scart socket named TV on the DIGI BOX

The second scart socket on the Digi Box named VCR connects to a scart socket on my VCR named audio video decoder 2.

I am left with a spare scart connection named audio video decoder 1 on the VCR.
In total there are three scart leads.

That’s where I am at. Do any of my connections seem faulty? My VCR manual has long since disappeared. So any ideas on how I might record from Freeview to my VCR?

Feel free to PM me if you think it would be more helpful.

Kevin

Another quick question: as the Sagem can decode mpeg4 as well as mpeg2 does that mean it has two tuners?

rurs

Hi Kevin
The connections you've made seem right. Presumably you had no trouble recording before you added the Sagem?
First thing to check is can you see the digital channels through the VCR on the TV?
You'll need to select AV2 on the VCR, and select the video channel on the TV. If you can see picture, you should be able to record it. You could also try AV1 instead of AV2 on the VCR. Are there little symbols beside these sockets? A sort of rectangle with arrows? You'll need to use the one with an arrow in, or in and out. Also try some other cables if all else fails.
My own setup is quite similar to yours, other than I have a DVR instead of VCR. The DVR has a handy feature, Synchro Record. I schedule a recording on the Sagem, turn it off, then put the DVR into Synchro Record by holding down the Record Stop button. This puts the DVR into standby, but it will wake up and start recording when it senses a signal on AV1, from the Sagem.
Maybe your VCR has something similar? Otherwise, you'd have to set a timer on both the Sagem and the VCR.
As a matter of interest, when you initially apply power to the Sagem, and after it's gone through "88:88" and "init", does it show the correct time, or just four dashes?
As regards the tuner, I would think there's just one, but it's backwards compatible, as MPEG4 is an evolution of MPEG2.
Hope that helps, otherwise ask away!

kah22

Came across the following diagram from Which Online. It seems to suggest that a two way scart switch is required for what I want. I had a look on ebay and found the following examples of two way switches. They are not particularly expensive but would rurs example work just as well?

I've attached the image to a small creative writers blog that I'm involved with as it is tolarge to post here. Hope it comes out right.

lawhec

Got a bit of a surprise this evening in the workshop. There is a software update for this STB! It's available if you can receive Mux 1 (NI) or BBC-A (Wales), upgrading to version V 0.24.31 but if you can, be quick as it'll be gone on Friday morning.

To get the update, power on the STB, tune it to BBC1, and then put the box back into standby - the LED at the front will flash, when it stop flashing after a few minutes, power it back on and a message of a software update should be available. If you select "Now", the process takes around 15 minutes, the screen will go off during this and the front display will do a count up from 00 to 05 during the update.

First quick impressions are that there is no obvious extras to the menu, but the STB feels a bit cooler to touch in operation. It's still crashing too often on me though

And it doesn't go without saying - DO NOT BUY THIS STB (Sagem Picnic ITD81) FOR THE PURPOSE OF WATCHING SAORVIEW AS IT WILL NOT HANDLE HD BROADCASTS WHEN DONE SO BY BROADCASTERS. I've had mine a year for testing, I'll know at some point in the near future it'll be progressively less useful as broadcasters use more HD streams as opposed to SD.

sesswhat

I'd give it a go except Freeview from Limavady has gone to the dogs since they did the work there last month, and Mux1 is gone.

By the sound of it though, the improvements are minimal. Hardly worth packing everything in the car and driving up to Scraghey quarry for Brougher

FREETV

lawhec wrote: »

Got a bit of a surprise this evening in the workshop. There is a software update for this STB! It's available if you can receive Mux 1 (NI) or BBC-A (Wales), upgrading to version V 0.24.31 but if you can, be quick as it'll be gone on Friday morning.

To get the update, power on the STB, tune it to BBC1, and then put the box back into standby - the LED at the front will flash, when it stop flashing after a few minutes, power it back on and a message of a software update should be available. If you select "Now", the process takes around 15 minutes, the screen will go off during this and the front display will do a count up from 00 to 05 during the update.

First quick impressions are that there is no obvious extras to the menu, but the STB feels a bit cooler to touch in operation. It's still crashing too often on me though

And it doesn't go without saying - DO NOT BUY THIS STB (Sagem Picnic ITD81) FOR THE PURPOSE OF WATCHING SAORVIEW AS IT WILL NOT HANDLE HD BROADCASTS WHEN DONE SO BY BROADCASTERS. I've had mine a year for testing, I'll know at some point in the near future it'll be progressively less useful as broadcasters use more HD streams as opposed to SD.

Pity as I cannot receive Freeview here in Swords as I can't put up an outside aerial and point one towards a Welsh transmitter, the joy of not owning the place. I cannot see any other way of forcing an update either as there is no connection but there is a card slot.

gtg60

Has to be OTA has it?

With is the likelihood of it coming again in a few weeks/ months?

Sam Russell

I was onto Sagem in the UK and I was promised an email to give a link to a version of the update that I could upload through the USB port. SIZE=2][I]I will post any answer I get[/I][/SIZE.

Of course my picnic does not have a USB port, but we will see. The nice guy I spoke to had no idea what the update would do for the product.

There is hope yet for the picnic, not much, but at least some.

B][I]I would not advise anyone to buy a Sagem Picnic box as they will not work in the long-term[/I][/B

rurs

The manual mentions RS-232 capabilities through the AUX Scart port, so that should work if you get a file and pin-out schematics, and are able to make up a cable. It will be interesting to see how this develops...

watty

Null modem cable. Though some of those serial port FW updating SW only work on Win98.