a) We have a really good aerial (prev occupants must have really wanted channel 5), and we rarely get dropout. (it does during hairdrying/hoovering but hey)

b) Dunno. I guess the main difference there would be the software. A decent one would give inset screen during the ‘guide’.

c) When is this? I would have thought so.

d) Heh, I saw “Flesh” and was quite impressed by Patti D’arbanville’s monologue.

wonky scart socket. srly!

Thank you, Mark. I believe you are in the same valley as us, so your input is especially appreciated. Whistle Test Years is BBC 4, rockumentary tonight, then a year or two every night for a week, I think. But I might be wrong. It involves staying up late though.

Not wonky scart, no. All scart connections are firm and snug.

I was hoping for expert input from ED and KOOGY.

b) How much difference would a decent quality “set top box” make? Ours is le cheapo crap “Digifusion” and it offends my sensibilities.

Potentially loads. If you’re in a touch-and-go reception spot then the different senstivities of different digiboxes can make all the difference. My old cheapo Panasonic was pretty dodgy in my new flat, even after aerial was fixed, but then I bought my Humax and it’s all been fine since. Also, the picture is much better, quite apart from the lack of drop-outs—ITV4 et al used to be blocky as hell.

Our house is quite high up (never gets leaves in the top guttering hray hray), however every time we ‘tested’ our postcode for freeview coverage, it never came up as ‘acceptible’.

So, we got a box anyway, even though it had a ‘don’t come back expecting a refund if we told you your area is bad coverage’ sticker. Oh yeah? You so smart Currys Reading, why you sellin’ the damn boxes hmm? We WILL get one if we say so actually!

(it was fine)

Years? alright! The DVD has PIL doing ‘Careering’ which was awesome then and now, so maybe ‘Poptones’ might get an airing also.

As I said some time ago, the biggest shock on the DVD was Bob Harris saying “Mock Rock” after the NYDolls famously, but smiling like he enjoyed it as he said so.

You can get an aerial signal booster, £10–20 from your local reputable electronics retailer. Or Argos or something.

Get a set top box from these people :http://www.humaxdigital.com/global/

I got one that has dual hard disks and you can record two or three programs at once, do time-shifting etc etc. It’s quite pricy—about £180, I think, but really, really worth it.

Tips here incl. use good quality cable:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-30830.html

I live so close to the Crystal Palace transmitters I could practically sling a washing line over them and dry some shirts, but we still get dropouts in bad weather. The worst was just as Carragher retook his penalty vs Portugal in the summer; this incident has probably put the Pinefox off digital telly for life. Usually it’s pretty good though.

Here’s a question—where to buy a Sony VTX-D800U remote control for cheap? We’ve “lost” ours (by which I mean it’s been sucked into our domestic maelstrom of garbage; I did find my house keys this morning, which is a start).

So, we got a box anyway, even though it had a ‘don’t come back expecting a refund if we told you your area is bad coverage’ sticker.

For real? I thought Currys et al offered a 14 day or so no-quibble refund policy on all purchases? Do they specifically exclude digiboxes from this now because they get so many returned?

Well, that was how it seemed to be sold. They’d ‘approve’ our postcode or not. If not, you were expected to ‘agree’ to waive the ‘refund if it don’t work’ as it could conceivably be not the machine’s fault. As I say, I’d have argued the point if there’d been a problem.

I’ve been told my apartment building has an aerial on top of it for Freeview. How do I connect to it? There are a couple of vaguely cable-TV-ish looking ports on the wall—should I try putting a coax cable between that and the box, and then connecting the box to my TV, or what? (Note: I have no TV, Freeview box, or idea what I am talking about — YET!!)

Thank you all.

I have just been ogling Humax.

I seem to remember The Pinefox STANDING UP to watch/listen to the extended red button only post-match analysis on that occasion.

Our dropouts have been increasing of late, which makes me thing it could have a lot to do with the crappy box, which is just over a year old, meaning it is out of warranty. Not that it ever warranted a warranty.

We might have bad cable too.

Perhaps I should go and have a word with the friendly dur-brains at Maplins.

I have been told this one is good, and possibly the best, for reception and reliability: the Wharfedale DV832B. It’s less than 40 quid.

I’ve been told my apartment building has an aerial on top of it for Freeview. How do I connect to it? There are a couple of vaguely cable-TV-ish looking ports on the wall—should I try putting a coax cable between that and the box, and then connecting the box to my TV, or what? (Note: I have no TV, Freeview box, or idea what I am talking about — YET!!)
— Euai Kapaui (tracerhan...), January 3rd, 2007.

the aerial will be for TV in general but you generally will need an exterior aeiral to get freeview (most places you can rub along with an indoors aerial). so yes get

1x tv

1x freeview box

if you have a video it goes aerial port —> freeview box —> TV.

or video —> TV if you get a video.

£40 is still good going i think so if it’s good why not? you can get cheaper. (everybody else is getting digital recorder things like humax now apparently, so i guess set-tops boxes are getting cheaper.)

(the link between freeview box and video/tv shd be scart i think.)

I’ve been told there’s an aerial on top specifically for Freeview. I can’t imagine I would need to run a wire of my own all the way to the roof for this??

xpost: gah, f*ckin SCART. Feels like the 1970s.

SCART stinks but surely the 1970s is all about the RF lead?

The guy who sits directly across from me at work is over 50, and was chatting to me about SCART the other day. After I feigned interest, the next day he handed me a stapled packet of photocopies describing the SCART technical specifications!

The guy who sits directly across from me at work is over 50

THE HORROR!

Tracer’s tale has touched me deeply.

(what’s wrong with scart?)

Have you ever plugged in a scart cable?!? Jesus H it’s shittiest designed plug/socket ever, well nigh impossible to do blind and leaning awkwardly over the back of the TV, as is usually the case.

And it tends to fall out, break and generally takes up far too much room

c) Do you think The Whistle Test Years will consist of anything that is not on the DVDs?

I don’t know, but the 1971 Neil Young performance on Friday week is a cracker. He does this thing with the BBC paper cups.

My Freeview has an annoying habit of freezing up on a fairly regular basis. It’s remedied by unplugging it/plugging it all back in again and letting it re-set itself, but it’s a flipping nuisance.

I have heard about that, CJ.

I have never heard about that, Alba.

I do so enjoy “Rock Goes To College”.

> I was hoping for expert input from ED and KOOGY.

maybe ed can help? 8)

with mine i plugged it in and it worked but then i don’t live in the countryside (sticks). was old itv digital box that i subscribed to so we could watch buffy. freezes up at times (mainly bbc4).

mike, a universal remote maybe, maybe one that does tv and video and set top box. tenner for a 3-way at argos. (sounds a bit rude)

my dislike of scarts is largely to do with the way they come out at an angle, an angle that’s almost always inconvenient. i blame the french.

More digibox excitement: the other day I put it on top of the DVD player, and when I tried to play a DVD it wouldn’t work, just kept saying “CLOSE” and flickering about. Took DVD back to library as “damaged”. Got replacement DVD. Also refused to work. Tried DVD that is personal property and known to work. Would not work. Moved digibox. All was sweetness and light again.

That was a bit longwinded. To sum up:

a) I am a joey.

b) My digibox lacks some kind of “shielding”.

c) funny old world.

I want one of those Humax recording things.

I wonder if ITV Digital boxes are collectors’ items?

3-way at Argos sounds absolutely delightful. Brings a whole new meaninglessness to “please go to your collection point”.

> c) Do you think The Whistle Test Years will consist of anything that is not on the DVDs?

does he talk over the starts and ends of the clips on the dvds? (grrr)

a) I am a joey.

haha showing yr age there boy!

we get dropouts all the bloody time and we have a fuck-off communal arial on the roof. it’d never occurred to me that it might actually be the fault of the pikey cheapo stb.