Best room and TV reception in home to tune in Saorview.

dublinman1990

Hiya.

I had finally tuned in the Saorview channels last Saturday evening in my kitchen of all places; not in my usual living room. I bought a Laurus Saorview HD box in a Tesco store for €89 last Wednesday evening initially being placed in my living room; however, my problems had start to arise from there on.

I had started to look up the instructions about the saorview box which had the remote control (including batteries), HDMI Cable (which I didn't use), the box itself, but; lord behold, there was no scart lead included.

My television which is being used now is a 20'' or 21'' Beko Widescreen Television which was bought in a Power City store around the middle of 2007. The colour is silver. I cannot remember the price of the TV. It was in my living room but now being swapped to being in the kitchen.

I installed the box with a seperate scart lead for a VCR which were bad ideas when attempting to tune in the channels. Because; I had installed the box into a Black Diamond VCR on a number of occasions which I attempted for 2 to 3 days. I think one or two occasions I had fitted in the box and it said on the screen:

''No Signal''.

But; normally when apparently no channels are tuned in, it says this.

''No Channels had been added yet. Please go the installation menu to add channels''.

This sign drove me mad on a large number of occasions.

I had used both an un-amplified aerial first (which was completely useless)and then swapped with a recently bought amplified aerial from Argos. That amplified aerial became useless too.

Than on Saturday; I had decided to put the Saorview box and the TV into the Kitchen and after only 3 to 4 attempts; it worked. Well according to the instruction guide with regard to it's remote control; some buttons of the control did work and the rest of them are not working at all.

I installed the Saorview box into using an old coaxial cable which is screwed in a white box which was a basic cable box which basic channels like BBC 1 & 2, UTV Channel 4; MTV 1; E4 , Sky 1; Sky News and the other non digital channels (including all the irish channels pre Saorview). I also inserted an old video lead which was used initially for the VCR. This cable I think is causing some buttons on the remote control to not work properly.

I need advice on three queries.

1) Do I need to buy an up to date video lead which can inserted into both the TV and Saorview box? If yes; Where is the best place to buy them? Is there much demand for these video leads in the shops. (I ask this because I had seen a video lead in the Tesco store where I bought the set top box which cost only €6. Is this the best one to buy? Are these video leads compatible with Saorview?)


2) It is recommended that I buy a Saorview approved TV (idTV) for my living room? If yes; I would like a recommendation as I live in Dublin to get one with the best value for money which is the cheapest one on offer. Is there a decoder located inside an IdTV which can tune in the channels automatically? Is there a need for an aerial to be inserted onto it?

3) Is there any extra costs incurred on using a dormant coaxial cable connection integrating it with Saorview? I haven't used this cable in the last 4 years or so.

Any feedback is welcome!

STB

Okay a few things.

The old Scart lead is fine. All a scart lead does is just connects the Laurus box to the scart in on the TV. This displays the picture and sound on one channel on your TV. It doesnt act as an aerial or affect a remote control.

The Aerial connection on back of box. This just receives the signal into the box in order to pick up the channels.

I gather from what you have said that you have connected an old UPC/NTL cable to the new Laurus box. The reason this is working is because that cable which goes up the side of your house and comes back in to the old UPC/NTL cable connection is acting as an aerial. No there is no extra cost - you are just using an old disconnected cable run, the length of which is acting as an aerial. Its not exactly the ideal scientific way to get saorview working but since the amplified aerial didnt work for you and that works fine, then let the cable act as an aerial.

By the way, on the subject of indoor aerials. The key to indoor aerials is positioning. Think window cill (away from water obviously - as you mentioned kitchen!). Indoor Aerials need to be near a window to work. With amplified indoor aerials you way find that the power lead and the aerial run cable are too short to get it to the window cill. But you can extend the aerial part of the cable with a coax extender - this link is an example of one but they can be bought for €5 allowing for more distance between the TV and the window cill and nearby power socket for the amplified aerial.

Saorview TV. Yes once they have the Saorview logo, they have an integrated tuner for its reception.

All Saorview equipment (if its a box or a TV) requires an aerial or aerial feed.

Have you thought about installing an outdoor aerial and running the cable to each room so that you wont need a load of indoor aerials ? Ultimately thats what you should be thinking of. Its cheaper than you would expect. If you are handy you could do it yourself. Outdoor aerials in Dublin do not need to be on the roof. A small pole in your back garden or on top of a shed/wall would suffice. As the house sounds like it was previously wired for cable TV, you could use those redundant cable runs (including the pre-drilled one coming into the house) to get the signal around the house.

What buttons dont work on the laurus remote control ? record play etc ? You have to connect a small usb drive/or usb pen for those options to be enabled. Think of it as being the equivalent of your old VCR except it records to that small digital USB device.

kbell

You're going to need an aerial installed either outside or maybe in attic space depending on where you live, signal strength, etc..

Edit..

STB in before me there.

dublinman1990

STB wrote: »

Okay a few things.

The old Scart lead is fine. All a scart lead does is just connects the Laurus box to the scart in on the TV. This displays the picture and sound on one channel on your TV. It doesnt act as an aerial or affect a remote control.

The Aerial connection on back of box. This just receives the signal into the box in order to pick up the channels.

I gather from what you have said that you have connected an old UPC/NTL cable to the new Laurus box. The reason this is working is because that cable which goes up the side of your house and comes back in to the old UPC/NTL cable connection is acting as an aerial. No there is no extra cost - you are just using an old disconnected cable run, the length of which is acting as an aerial. Its not exactly the ideal scientific way to get saorview working but since the amplified aerial didnt work for you and that works fine, then let the cable act as an aerial.

By the way, on the subject of indoor aerials. The key to indoor aerials is positioning. Think window cill (away from water obviously - as you mentioned kitchen!). Indoor Aerials need to be near a window to work. With amplified indoor aerials you way find that the power lead and the aerial run cable are too short to get it to the window cill. But you can extend the aerial part of the cable with a coax extender - this link is an example of one but they can be bought for €5 allowing for more distance between the TV and the window cill and nearby power socket for the amplified aerial.

Saorview TV. Yes once they have the Saorview logo, they have an integrated tuner for its reception.

All Saorview equipment (if its a box or a TV) requires an aerial or aerial feed.

Have you thought about installing an outdoor aerial and running the cable to each room so that you wont need a load of indoor aerials ? Ultimately thats what you should be thinking of. Its cheaper than you would expect. If you are handy you could do it yourself. Outdoor aerials in Dublin do not need to be on the roof. A small pole in your back garden or on top of a shed/wall would suffice. As the house sounds like it was previously wired for cable TV, you could use those redundant cable runs (including the pre-drilled one coming into the house) to get the signal around the house.

What buttons dont work on the laurus remote control ? record play etc ? You have to connect a small usb drive/or usb pen for those options to be enabled. Think of it as being the equivalent of your old VCR except it records to that small digital USB device.

Ok, the buttons on the remote control that are not working are as follows

• Guide
• Mute
• Text
• Vol - (Turns volume down)
• CH - ( e.g. Channel going down from 3 to 2 etc...)
• Numerical buttons (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 0) - These also show letters for recording.
• REC (Record button) - Possibly used for recording USB device at back
• Exit
• Back (To reverse functions on controls)
• LANG (AD) - Probably to change language
• Info button

It seems a lot there; does it. :eek:

An outdoor aerial is something I will consider in a couple of months. I had seen Techinka branded Saorview approved TV's in my local Tescos starting at 179.00 going up to 209.00. The rest of them are Freeview; Can I ask are those Freeview TV's are there problems integrating them with Saorview?

I also got a RF (Radio Frequency) lead in the local Tesco's today for €6.99 to plug into the back of the Saorview box. Was that a good idea or not?

The Cush

dublinman1990 wrote: »

An outdoor aerial is something I will consider in a couple of months. I had seen Techinka branded Saorview approved TV's in my local Tescos starting at 179.00 going up to 209.00. The rest of them are Freeview; Can I ask are those Freeview TV's are there problems integrating them with Saorview?

I also got a RF (Radio Frequency) lead in the local Tesco's today for €6.99 to plug into the back of the Saorview box. Was that a good idea or not?

What have you connected to the other end of the RF lead? The RF plug on the Saorview box requires an aerial - http://www.rtenl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Saorview-DTT-October2010.pdf.

A Freeview certified TV may or may not work with Saorview, to display the Saorview channels the TV requires an MPEG-4 video decoder (Freeview uses MPEG-2). Some Freeview TVs have an MPEG-4 decoder others don't. Always check the specs for a non-Saorview certified receiver.

STB

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Ok, the buttons on the remote control that are not working are as follows

• Guide (This is actually the 7 day EPG showing what programmes or on in grid format)
• Mute (Cuts the sound/Turns back on the sound)
• Text (display MHEG5 "teletext")
• Vol - (Turns volume down)
• CH - ( e.g. Channel going down from 3 to 2 etc...)
• Numerical buttons (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 0) - These also show letters for recording.
• REC (Record button) - Possibly used for recording USB device at back (yes - only becomes enabled when device is connected - see post above)
• Exit (exit out of set up menus/On screen display features)
• Back (To reverse functions on controls) (to go back in menu or go to last channel that was being watched)
• LANG (AD) - Probably to change language (Audio Description - For Visually impaired people - describes whats happening on screen - not always broadcast)
• Info button (to get more information within guide or see name of programme and details and how far into the programme it is)

What the buttons actually do (I have described in red). They should be working regardless. Give the box back to Tescos and get a refund or a replacement. Its faulty if those buttons are not working.

Do not buy Freeview branded equipment. Saorview logo. And read my thread again. An RF lead is no good. Its the equivalent of an aerial without the aerial part! I have laid out what you need to do in my previous response. Best of luck.

darth_maul

to check a if a remote is functioning, point a camera phone at the ir sender on the remote then press the buttons, you should see the infrared light flash on the camera screen, a camera will make normally invisible infra red light visible.

wil

darth_maul wrote: »

to check a if a remote is functioning, point a camera phone at the ir sender on the remote then press the buttons, you should see the infrared light flash on the camera screen, a camera will make normally invisible infra red light visible.

Never realised I had an IR camera in my pocket, cheers for that.:) I assumed all cameras had IR filters as standard.

dublinman1990

darth_maul wrote: »

to check a if a remote is functioning, point a camera phone at the ir sender on the remote then press the buttons, you should see the infrared light flash on the camera screen, a camera will make normally invisible infra red light visible.

How many times do I need to do that? I am trying it now at the minute and it is not working atm. I maybe need to change the batteries as the ones supplied are not working.

What buttons on the remote control should I need to press to make it work? Does my phone need to have a video camera?

Ronnie Raygun

So you've had a dodgy remote all this time & it never even occurred to you to try new batteries?

dublinman1990

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

So you've had a dodgy remote all this time & it never even occurred to you to try new batteries?

It has occurred to me a number of occasions were I am thinking of buying new batteries; I just keep forgetting to buy them, that's all.

Ronnie Raygun

Well, new batteries would be the 1st & easiest thing to try & if that offers no improvement, do as mentioned above & take the whole lot back to where you bought it.

zg3409

dublinman1990 wrote: »

How many times do I need to do that? I am trying it now at the minute and it is not working atm. I maybe need to change the batteries as the ones supplied are not working.

What buttons on the remote control should I need to press to make it work? Does my phone need to have a video camera?

You seem to mis-understand the procedure.

Use a mobile phone that has a camera. Put the mobile phone into camera mode. Get a known good remote first. Get someone else to point the remote at the camera, while you look at the screen on the mobile. Every time a button on the remote is pressed, you should see a flashing light on the end of the remote, but ONLY when you look at the screen on the phone.

So the camera on the phone should be looking at the front of the remote. Try with a working remote and you can see.

You will need a proper outside aerial. without a proper aerial the box will not work correctly. For example EPG may not work if it getting no signal. By the way RTE1+1 is not on during the daytime, evenings only.

dublinman1990

I came back this evening to try and work the remote control to an extent with getting new replacement duracell batteries. They were upstairs in my bedroom. The good news is that I have all of the channels back as normal which I had done through an automatic channel scan.

A question though for zg3409; I have two TV's in the house were the one had saorview located in my kitchen and the other TV is located in my living room. Should I therefore get two rooftop aerials for the 2 TV's OR can I use 1 aerial for both of them?

zg3409

One rooftop aerial with a splitter.

dublinman1990

zg3409 wrote: »

One rooftop aerial with a splitter.

Do I need to order this from a electrical engineer or get in the shop? How much would it cost to buy a splitter?

zg3409

Generally if you have never been on a roof the you need a professional to install it. For just the aerial and splitter installed to feed both TV's 150 euro would seem a fair price.

If you want the BBCs etc you would need a satellite dish and a box for it. This would cost more but once it's set up then no monthly bills.

The Cush

dublinman1990 wrote: »

Do I need to order this from a electrical engineer or get in the shop? How much would it cost to buy a splitter?

Use a distribution amplifier like this - http://www.tvtrade.ie/proception-2-way-tv-amplifier.html, aerial in and 2 outputs to the TVs. You can get them online or in Powercity, B&Q etc.

Peter Rhea

I doubt he'll need any amplification with an outdoor aerial if he's already receiving signal on the UPC cable, probably just end up with overload or needless complication at the least.

In any case, based on reading this thread, I would advise him to get a pro to do the install.