Seeking hidden mpeg4 receivers for LCDs

IrishHomer

Seem to be sold out everywhere.

Anyone know where to buy a couple of the small mpeg 4 receivers to fit behind LCD or plasma tvs?

Doesn't matter about being non Saorview approved.

watty

They are stupid products. You can easily put a PROPER box on a longer HDMI cable or put it behind the TV near the edge with a small 45 angle on a mount plate to reflect the IR remote.

You need to feed aerial and PSU to them anyway and in terms of space for cooling there barely any difference in depth.

Why do people buy expensive TVs and then want to put a rubbish receiver?

homer911

ebay?

watty

Plenty on Ebay. Note that 21% vat and €6 An Post handling is possible as declaring it as "gift" is fraud (read the Customs definition of Gift), postage is included in calculation of €20 limit and I think the only DTT stuff under €20 inclusive of shipping is a USB stick.

Be warned that on eBay

• Not all do MPEG4
• Not all that do MPEG4 do HD
• Many have PSU unsafe for Ireland
• Many have fake CE marks and fail on fire safety and PSU interference
• You may rue not caring about Certification. The ONLY way for anyone to really know if it will work properly today and next month.

The cheapest non-certified DTT adaptor I could find on ebay that on paper does everything needed was €47.95 including shipping, VAT and An Post handling. I bought it as an experiment. I have no way of knowing how compatible it is even though I do have a well equipped "lab". It passes on RF interference, heat and Electrical safety though.

The cheapest DTT with MPEG4 & HD I could find on eBay would work out at €35.04 if Customs stop it. It doesn't have a safe PSU and has no MHEG5 and looks like it might overheat based on size and power consumption.

The Cush

IrishHomer wrote: »

Anyone know where to buy a couple of the small mpeg 4 receivers to fit behind LCD or plasma tvs?

http://www.eiretv.ie/ferguson-ariva-t65-mini-digital-terrestrial-receiver.html

IrishHomer

watty wrote: »

They are stupid products. You can easily put a PROPER box on a longer HDMI cable or put it behind the TV near the edge with a small 45 angle on a mount plate to reflect the IR remote.

You need to feed aerial and PSU to them anyway and in terms of space for cooling there barely any difference in depth.

Why do people buy expensive TVs and then want to put a rubbish receiver?

My tvs are not expensive they are small 15inch portable LCDs don't think regular boxes will be easily concealed behihe them.

excollier

The Cush wrote: »

http://www.eiretv.ie/ferguson-ariva-t65-mini-digital-terrestrial-receiver.html

Looks just the thing I am after too. With the USB recording facility, can timers be set and then left in stanby to record at the correct time?(Like a VCR) If it does, it's for me!

edit. the Opticum T90 is cheaper still, happy days.

watty

IrishHomer wrote: »

My tvs are not expensive they are small 15inch portable LCDs don't think regular boxes will be easily concealed behihe them.

Yes they will

About A6 size and 4.5cm thick.

snaps

excollier wrote: »

Looks just the thing I am after too. With the USB recording facility, can timers be set and then left in stanby to record at the correct time?(Like a VCR) If it does, it's for me!

edit. the Opticum T90 is cheaper still, happy days.

I've installed a lot of them for customers that wanted them hidden away (guest houses especially) they do the job perfectly. No mheg 5 text currently but if a picture is all you want, then these are perfect. The Ferguson is a better choice than some of the less known brands.

excollier

Sounds good to me.

IrishHomer

The Fergusons at Eire.tv are expensive, €55

my little lcd tvs are only €99 each

Compton

they're less than 50?

snaps

IrishHomer wrote: »

The Fergusons at Eire.tv are expensive, €55

my little lcd tvs are only €99 each

Thats a good price for them. Yes there are cheaper versions out there. But the ferguson T65 mini is a quality item.

You can get them cheaper from abroad, but with postage not much cheaper.

Kristopherus

IrishHomer wrote: »

The Fergusons at Eire.tv are expensive, €55

my little lcd tvs are only €99 each

http://www.satsklep.pl/en_US/p/Receiver-DVB-T-Ferguson-Ariva-T65-Mini-Black/872

€42.49 landed at your door. No customs or other hassle as its coming from within the EU.

watty

But still a waste of money and not properly compatible. Wrong plug too.

excollier

Good price! I have a couple of those 2 pin to 3 pin adaptors somewhere.

snaps

Kristopherus wrote: »

http://www.satsklep.pl/en_US/p/Receiver-DVB-T-Ferguson-Ariva-T65-Mini-Black/872

€42.49 landed at your door. No customs or other hassle as its coming from within the EU.

long delivery time though. Approx 1 week.

snaps

watty wrote: »

But still a waste of money and not properly compatible. Wrong plug too.

why not compatible? They are mpeg 4? No mheg 5 text though.

winston_1

snaps wrote: »

why not compatible? They are mpeg 4? No mheg 5 text though.

You answered your own question. "No mheg 5 text though".
Also is Ireland in the country list? Do shared streams work properly? The mains adapter is not suitable.

excollier

No mheg 5, no no problem, if you don't need text, or epg, then as long as they are legal, and do what the buyer wants, they are perfectly adequate, whether or not they are deemed incompatible.
Plenty of people import and drive left hand drive cars, they are incompatible, but legal, so they are adequate for their owner.
Buyer's choice.

snaps

excollier wrote: »

No mheg 5, no no problem, if you don't need text, or epg, then as long as they are legal, and do what the buyer wants, they are perfectly adequate, whether or not they are deemed incompatible.
Plenty of people import and drive left hand drive cars, they are incompatible, but legal, so they are adequate for their owner.
Buyer's choice.

totally agree. Only thing they are missing is mheg 5. Epg is fine, recording seems to be fine and picture quality also fine, plus half the price of a full size soarview approved box.

watty

totally agree. Only thing they are missing is mheg 5. Epg is fine, recording seems to be fine and picture quality also fine, plus half the price of a full size soarview approved box

1) MHEG5 is a MANDATORY part of the Irish Specification.
2) Without Certification you can't KNOW what works and doesn't*


[* You can make an educated guess. I found a very nice box €39 inc shipping ex VAT etc, that apparently works perfectly. My son's LG TV apparently works perfectly. Neither is Certified nor will have the OTA upgrade option though... Well actually, scarily the box MIGHT upgrade, as I suspect a certain Brand NOT using Vestel is selling it with Saorview approval]

Note that not all Certified products give the same speed of reaction on MHEG5 text.

wil

watty wrote: »

They are stupid products. You can easily put a PROPER box on a longer HDMI cable or put it behind the TV near the edge with a small 45 angle on a mount plate to reflect the IR remote.

You need to feed aerial and PSU to them anyway and in terms of space for cooling there barely any difference in depth.

Why do people buy expensive TVs and then want to put a rubbish receiver?

These are a very clever idea and the route that should have been taken by mainstream "stb" manufacturers.
And they definitely aren't aimed at those who recently bought expensive TVs, but those that dont want or need to replace every TV (big or small)purchased in the previous 5 to 10 years.

They are smaller than the smallest stb, easy to mount and hide
have HDMI and Scart out
have remote eye for permanent mounting and hiding.
USB for recording,
12v low wattage power with slim dc cable.
Any different plug types havent been an issue for decades. Cut off, replace, or adapt.

As an engineer these tick far more technical requirements than most of the approved slabs.
If I could find similar for freesat, I would be delighted.

When the specs were being drawn up for Saorview boxes, was there even a mention of whether people would be happy to have an awkward metal box to replace their current invisible tuner. So many oldschoolers can't see beyond the chunky metal box for everything. Open them up and you find EMPTY SPACE. You need cooling? design it BETTER not bigger.
Peoples houses are already cluttered with "new" technology.
Why do people have to bow to marketing execs and accountants looking at the bottom line, let the real engineers design the finished product.

excollier

watty wrote: »

1) MHEG5 is a MANDATORY part of the Irish Specification.
2) Without Certification you can't KNOW what works and doesn't*

These boxes don't claim to meet mandatory Irish Saorview spec. So that's irrelevant. As long as they are safe, legal and do what they claim, i.e. show Irish DTT channels without issues, no one is misled.
I learned how to use and set up satellite receivers using generic boxes, not Freesat boxes, and hey, turns out they receive exactly the same channels, and in some instances, are better receivers in terms of flexibility and picture quality. Not self updating, but as long as the user knows how to keep them updated, then they are prefect for the intended purpose.
I use a Feeview HD box, it's not Saorview certified, works well enough for me.
Add in a substantial cost saving for the Ariva T65, and it's a no brainer for those that want them.
If they are dangerous, or shoddy then that's a completely different argument.