Freeview TV Receiver

[Miker]

I've just had a Goodmans GDR10 Freeview receiver installed but find that as well as not being able to record one channel while watching another, I cannot switch channels for recording while I am away. The latter is a bit of a B, to put it mildly. As the receiver has no timer it looks as though I would have to leave it on and switched to one channel. So much for reducing my carbon footprint!

Obviously, I should have done my homework before I got the Freeview box. I have a Sony HXD995 recorder and a Sony CRT TV. What is my cheapest option, please, come the Granada region switchover this November for obtaining the same facilities on Freeview that I enjoy now? I am planning to get a digital TV sometime but was going to leave it until next year.

 

[matthewpiano]

Your Sony HXD995 has freeview built-in for recording so your freeview box doesn't need to deal with this. Connect the freeview box directly to the TV and use this for your viewing. Use the Sony's built-in freeview tuner to feed any recording you want to do. Then you can watch one and record another, and set timers up easily for when you are out.

Just to make sure: Have you got the Sony set up properly for digital recording, using the middle set of aerial sockets and the 'Digital EPG'?

 

[Miker]

Thanks. Sounds encouraging if I can sort out what connects to what. The installer has connected the TV aerial to the receiver and then via a scart to the Sony recorder, which makes the Freeview receiver the limiting factor.

Is it just a simple matter of changing the order of connection? Connect the TV aerial to the Sony 995 digital aerial in. Connect the digital aerial out to the Freeview receiver RF In. Connect the Freeview receiver SCART TV out to the TV?

The Freeview receiver is set up to the various TV channels. How do I also set it up to play the Sony 995 recording?

 

[Cliff1]

How many scarts on your tv ?

If you have 2,connect them independently by scart cable to the tv & daisy chain the aerial lead,tv to recorder to freeview box to tv.

I may have misunderstood what you've written about your installer,but it sreads to me as though he has only used 1 scart cable,is that correct ?

If your tv only has 1 scart i should do as Matthew has suggested & daisy chain them but you will need 2 scart cables. TV to recorder in & recorder to the Goodman,don't think it should make any difference which way round you do it.

 

[Anonymous]

Miker:

Is it just a simple matter of changing the order of connection? Connect the TV aerial to the Sony 995 digital aerial in. Connect the digital aerial out to the Freeview receiver RF In. Connect the Freeview receiver SCART TV out to the TV?

The Freeview receiver is set up to the various TV channels. How do I also set it up to play the Sony 995 recording?

Correct, and in addition connect the 995 with SCART socket to the TV for playback of recorded programs.

 

[Miker]

Thanks again. I have 2 SCART connections on the TV. Can't go near the TV at the moment as my wife is watching some cookery programme. Will play around tomorrow and report back.

 

[Miker]

Cookery programme finished. The Freeview receiver is connected to the 995 by both SCART and an aerial lead. And the same from the 995 to the TV.

 

[matthewpiano]

The scart that runs from the Freeview receiver to the 995 needs to go from the Freeview receiver to the TV instead.

To watch Freeview you will then simply need to switch the TV to the input that the receiver is plugged into and then use the Goodmans remote to change channels.

There is absolutely no need at all to connect the Freeview receiver to the 995. I'm appalled that a professional installer has made such a mess of this.

Presumably he has also switched the 995 to L1. You will need to use the 'Input' button on the 995's remote to make sure that it is switched to the Digital input rather than L1, L2, or PR (the last of which is analogue).

 

[Miker]

Still a bit puzzled I'm afraid. The Goodmans has RF in and out sockets plus a TV SCART out and VCR out sockets. According to the instructions, I connect the TV aerial (via the 995?) to the RF in and the TV SCART out to the TV.

The 995, I assume must sit before the Goodmans. So I take it that I connect the TV aerial to the 995 digital in and the 995 digital out to the Goodmans RF in? Now to the part that I'm not sure about. Where (in non techie language) is the digital signal received and recorded by the 995 converted to analogue and sent to the CRT TV? If it is via the Goodmans, is it through the digital out connection, there being no other route? Or if the 995 is clever enough to to it, do I also connect the 995 direct to the analogue TV? If the latter, which connections do I use?

 

[matthewpiano]

You need a seperate scart lead running from the 995 to the TV.

So, in total:

RF lead into the Digital Aerial IN and out of the Digital Aerial OUT of the 995, into the Goodmans, and then out of the Goodmans into the TV.

1 Scart lead from the Goodmans to the TV, and 1 Scar lead from the 995 to the TV.

 

[Miker]

Sorry to come back again. The TV is a Sony KV-28FX68U with 3 SCART input sockets. The instruction booklet, given its age, does not list a digital receiver input. Socket E (S1) is for a playstation or decoder, F (S2) is for a DVD and G (S3) is for a VCR. Do I use E for the Goodmans and F for the 995?

 

[matthewpiano]

It doesn't make any difference, but yes, it would make sense to use E for the Goodmans and F for the 995. By 'Decoder' it means any sort of external receiver, whether that is a Sky box, cable box, or freeview digital receiver.

However, the labels are just for ease of use and the 3 scart sockets would all work fine with any unit that connects using scart.

 

[professorhat]

Just checked the manual, definitely use E and F (marked 1 and 2 on the back of the actual TV) as according to the specs, these two are RGB Scart inputs as opposed to G (or 3) which is plain old S-Video (using the RGB inputs should result in a better picture).

 

[Miker]

Thanks again everyone. I seem to have got it all working now. My wife is not over the moon about having to switch between AV1 and 2 for TV and DVD. What is puzzling me is that after I go past AV4 I get an analogue (?) TV service and then back to AV1 for the digital one.

Perhaps I can convince my wife that we need a new TV sooner than later!

So much for the service provided by the BBC changeover organisation. At least the Goodmans box was £13 cheaper than from Currys.

 

[professorhat]

The analogue service will be the TV's built in tuner - this broadcast will disappear when the switchover happens in your area.

Unfortunately, not even a new TV will help with having to change inputs to switch between TV and the DVD recorder I'm afraid.

 

[Miker]

That's a pity. At least a new TV will be one less remote to juggle with. It would be better if the present CRT TV would stay on AV1 for the digital service unless switched to the DVD. It seems to come up on analogue every time when switched on which, I suppose, might suit my wife until the service disappears.