Freeview yays nays

[Munday's Chylde]

I've been and come back without one.

I rang an enquiry line and they advised me that although I could get it in my area I would not be able to do it with, what they described as, a 'Rod Hull Friendly Receptor' and a rooftop one would be neccessary. So I haven't bothered.

I did however go to hmv who are a doing a 3 for £20 dvd offer and purchased:

Brazil.
Jacob's Ladder.
Happiness.

So it's not all meh.

[The Region Legion]

I've been and come back without one.

I rang an enquiry line and they advised me that although I could get it in my area I would not be able to do it with, what they described as, a 'Rod Hull Friendly Receptor' and a rooftop one would be neccessary. So I haven't bothered.

I did however go to hmv who are a doing a 3 for £20 dvd offer and purchased:

Brazil.
Jacob's Ladder.
Happiness.

So it's not all meh.

Couldn't you have just stuck the aerial out your window?

Once your DVDs have been watched, what are you going to do?

And to think, for £60 more you'd have had endless entertainment. *tsk*

[wasp_f15ting]

£60 more? oO

I saw a freeview box in curry's for £39.99 even top sony playstation looking thingy is only under a hundred.

[Bilko]

I've got one of the old ITV/on digital boxes. The biggest problem is the reception, whenever there is a heavy down pour or high winds it totally fucks up the reception. Either the sound dips out and you'll get a intermittent clicking noise or the whole picture disappears and you only get a red dot. Since the reception has got nowt to do with the box the new Freeview boxes wouldn't have changed this.

[Timmay]

Since the reception has got nowt to do with the box the new Freeview boxes wouldn't have changed this.

Certain boxes are a lot more sensitive to interference or signal interruptions than others. The original ON/ITV Digital boxes are now very poor in comparison to newer ones in this respect, and the newer ones are higher-gain, so can get a signal even where it's very weak.

[bespoke]

I've got a setpal box, which is supposed to be good at combining the signals from two transmitters to maximise reception.
I'm probably about 20 miles from the Crystal Palace transmitter and use a portable booster without many problems, it does require adjusting sometimes though.

[Matthias]

Go to Argos and buy This one. It's a Pace Freeview box with Hard Disk Recorder (like Sky+) built in. And all for only £198! Bargain!

If it's just a Freeview box you require, this Sony box is the best I've ever seen for performance and quality of EPG and onscreen info.

[Artemis]

As I understand it, all the topup.tv people need is a slot to put a card in a digital box. Previous Freeview boxes won't work because they don't have a card slot but as I understand it, new or soon to be new boxes will have the card slot so all youd pay the opup people is the monthly fee and initial outlay.

TVX makes anything worthwhile.

[blue jammer]

Brazil.
Jacob's Ladder.
Happiness.

So it's not all meh.

(Most) TV is shit anyway, stick with fillums Munday's :)

Jacob's Ladder & Happiness are fantastic, excellent choices there, I must get round to watching Brazil, never seen that-un...

[Matthias]

As I understand it, all the topup.tv people need is a slot to put a card in a digital box. Previous Freeview boxes won't work because they don't have a card slot but as I understand it, new or soon to be new boxes will have the card slot so all youd pay the opup people is the monthly fee and initial outlay.

TVX makes anything worthwhile.

The old ITV/ONDigital boxes had card slots as they were subscription services. The first batch of boxes under Freeview didn't have the slots, but the latest bunch all seem to have one.

The channel line-up for top-up.tv is total shite. Don't bother.

[gazzyk1ns]

Mundays a wideband rooftop aerial from B&Q is £12, go and buy one. One of the reasons (i.e. aside from plain poor reception) they advised you not to buy a set-top aerial is that these days, most of them are amplified and any kind of booster isn't really recommended for digital TV.

Go and give the zombies at B&Q a tenner, buy some coaxial TV cable for about a fiver if there's not a decent length with it, and then shove it up on the roof, it's easy.

[Munday's Chylde]

you are acting as if you are talking to someone who knows his way round a toolshed gaz. I couldn't fit an arial on my roof for love nor money. I wouldnt know where to start, tie it to the chimney with a belt? Where would the wire go? It's going to involve drilling or something isn't it?

You come and do it and I'll give you five quid and a packet of Lamberts.

[Lord Spong]

(Most) TV is shit anyway, stick with fillums Munday's :)

Jacob's Ladder & Happiness are fantastic, excellent choices there, I must get round to watching Brazil, never seen that-un...

Brazil is brilliant, one of my favourite films.  I didn't even realise it was out on DVD!  Must raid my piggy bank.

[gazzyk1ns]

You come and do it and I'll give you five quid and a packet of Lamberts.

Uuurgh dirty smoking bastard, get your fags away from me!

The aerial is attached to the chimney by what is called a "wire lashing". A length of twisted metal wire, with little metal brackets which attach to the corners of the brickwork. The co-ax cable goes into a little box on the aerial itself, you just strip the cable down and attach the shielding (bunch of messy wire) to one terminal and the central cable to the other.

There must be a comprehensive guide on the net somewhere?

Maybe you should pay someone to do it, I suppose you'll have to do it eventually when they turn analogue off anyway.

[Munday's Chylde]

Brazil is brilliant, one of my favourite films.  I didn't even realise it was out on DVD!  Must raid my piggy bank.

Indeed you must. But you won't need a big piggy bank - fortunately the film is obscure enough to warrant a pathetic £4.99 price tag in most places (or be part of a three for one offer) - you get an 'award winning' documentary on the making too.

[Still Not George]

top-up.tv can't start broadcasting Freeview as it is intergrated with it. It's just as subscription service on top of your basic Freeview package. Tune into Channel 26 for a preview of what's on offer. It uses up four unused digital terrestial channels and... Well, if you want to learn more you should go and ask someone who knows more about the technology, but I've told you pretty much all you need to kow. Ya get me?

I meant broadcasting for free, on Freeview boxes. But as someone's already pointed out (damn this weak human need for sleep) Freeview boxes are already appearing with card slots...

I was just backing up this simple opinion: With Murdoch TV holding the subscription market to ransom, and Freeview available for any fucker (once the reception issues are worked out), no way is any subscription digital terrestrial service going to take off.

[weirdbeard]

I meant broadcasting for free, on Freeview boxes. But as someone's already pointed out (damn this weak human need for sleep) Freeview boxes are already appearing with card slots...

Some of the newer Freeview boxes already have card slots such as the Pace Twin and the Nokia 221T.  However, Top-up.tv have have said that their cards will only work on old ITV/ON boxes and a new range of boxes made specially for them, which I believe will be made by Thomson.   They've not even hinted that any Freeview boxes with card slots will be made compatible.  So, fuck 'em.

[TTT]

Ive got an on digital thing built in to my widescreen tv, the picture is excellent and i dont get any interference when i use the roof aerial.

The picture quality on mine is pretty much the same quality as my telewest box which is downstairs.

[Artemis]

Actually, they have hinted that new freeview boxes will slowly be made compatible - it's on their website. When I had OnDigital about three years ago, the whole thing was such shit that I didn't pay for it and argued the toss with the cunts for about six months, since their so called 'good quality reception' when I purchased my ariel upgrade never maerialised. In the end, I just three away the box and got Sky. If I'd have kept it, I'd still have it.