Digital TV Tuner help Please?

T

The Rookie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2009
Messages
142
Reaction score
2
Location
Johannesburg
Good Day members of MyBB

Please can you guys help me regarding a digital TV tuner I'd like to buy?
I understand that South Africa has adopted the dvb-t2 specification and that one is able to receive the free-to-air channels from SABC eTV etc.

I plan to bring a digital TV-Tuner:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SiliconDus...UTF8&qid=1477392256&sr=8-1&keywords=HDHomeRun
from the UK. Would the antenna we have here in SA work? or is there anything special that I would need to make it work here?

This specific tuner is also sold in AU and NZ.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Kind Regards
 
Yes, in our case we used a normal UHF grid antenna to connect to our DVB-T2 enabled television. Don't know whether it's the same in Johannesburg, but in Cape Town the digital broadcast is on channel 38.
 
dj_jyno said:
Yes, in our case we used a normal UHF grid antenna to connect to our DVB-T2 enabled television. Don't know whether it's the same in Johannesburg, but in Cape Town the digital broadcast is on channel 38.
Click to expand...
Hello @dj_jyno
Thanks much for that information.
I'm not too sure myself regarding the broadcast, but seeing that it will work, I'll have to do a scan when I get it.
Do you wreckon this antenna might work?
http://www.takealot.com/one-for-all-sv9125-amplified-indoor-tv-antenna/PLID27871569

So just to make sure, no special adapters or anything just a normal arial
will work fine?
I don't have to take this item which is usually purchased with the tuner right?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/kenable-Fe...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JAPHCPECF7Y32M5XK03D

Really sorry for all the newbe questions.
 
Hello there guys,

So I've finally got my digital TV tuner.
It seems as though I'm only getting the encrypted DSTV channels on 35 when I do a manual scan.
How do I go about accessing the freeview channels please?

Help would be much appreciated.
 
The Rookie said:
Hello there guys,

So I've finally got my digital TV tuner.
It seems as though I'm only getting the encrypted DSTV channels on 35 when I do a manual scan.
How do I go about accessing the freeview channels please?

Help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Have you tried channel 38? See if there's an option to set the country / region as well.
 
dj_jyno said:
Have you tried channel 38? See if there's an option to set the country / region as well.
Click to expand...

@dj, Firstly, thanks much for the reply.

Let me explain abit further.
The application that came with my tuner consists of a config and a setup program. I presume the setup program makes it easy for first-time people to setup the tuner. I have tried to follow the setup, even selecting that I am in South africa, but it doesn't find any channels. You see, the manufacturer of this tuner doesn't ship to SA, only in the US, UK,Europe, AU and NZ.
Nevertheless, going to the config application presents me with a few more options.
Whilst not asking for my country, I can select the various broadcasting methods, AU/TW doesn't find any channels. So only EU/BC works for me. I then select to autoscan, where it then starts to scan from a range of 1-69. At 35 it then finds channels like mNet mobile, CNN, Discovery, Africa magic, Cartoon network etc.
I've tried selecting 38, but no programs come up in the list.
I've bought this:
http://www.takealot.com/one-for-all-sv9125-amplified-indoor-tv-antenna/PLID27871569
Could it perhaps be the reason why I don't get the freeview stuff?
Any other recommendations I could try?

Your help would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards
 
Get a good external antenna. These amplified living room stuff brings lot of noise.
 
Hi

I'm wanting to do something similar [apologies for all the questions]

Did you get this to work properly ?
Do you get the Guide ?
Have you set-up DVR functionality ?
Does it stream over WiFi well ?

D
 
The Rookie said:
Hello there guys,

So I've finally got my digital TV tuner.
It seems as though I'm only getting the encrypted DSTV channels on 35 when I do a manual scan.
How do I go about accessing the freeview channels please?

Help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

What you are seeing is the GoTV package from DSTV. I would suggest that you get yourself a proper external antenna and find out what which transmitter is supposed to provide your area with DTT coverage. There are a number of dead areas in Gauteng, even though the theoretical coverage map claims full coverage for Gauteng.

Indoor antennas are never a good idea, and even less of a good idea for DTT reception.

The standard answer you will get if you approach Sentech and assuming you actually succeed in speaking to someone that can answer your question will be to go for the satellite DTT box instead. Satellite DTT coverage is definitely working across the whole country.

There was another one of the political briefing sessions on TV today and even then the panel, dodged just about every question about "when will DTT be available everywhere?".

So unless you can establish that you have coverage in your area and that there is more than GoTV available in your area, you may be running around looking for a problem with your setup that does not exist.

PS: It not a good idea to just import "stuff" before you establish if the equipment is ICASA approved for use in SA and therefore compliant with the local standards.
 
sajunky said:
Get a good external antenna. These amplified living room stuff brings lot of noise.
Click to expand...
Hi there, thanks much for the reply, will definitely test an external before going to buy. Didn't know that internal vs external could make a difference.
Thanks.
 
darrylb said:
Hi

I'm wanting to do something similar [apologies for all the questions]

Did you get this to work properly ?
Do you get the Guide ?
Have you set-up DVR functionality ?
Does it stream over WiFi well ?

D
Click to expand...
Hi there, Unfortunately I don't have much answers. And I'm yet to try the suggestions of these helpful people here. When I have proper answers, I'll reply. But until then, still trying to get things going. Sorry I couldn't help.
 
daniellgr said:
What you are seeing is the GoTV package from DSTV. I would suggest that you get yourself a proper external antenna and find out what which transmitter is supposed to provide your area with DTT coverage. There are a number of dead areas in Gauteng, even though the theoretical coverage map claims full coverage for Gauteng.

Indoor antennas are never a good idea, and even less of a good idea for DTT reception.

The standard answer you will get if you approach Sentech and assuming you actually succeed in speaking to someone that can answer your question will be to go for the satellite DTT box instead. Satellite DTT coverage is definitely working across the whole country.

There was another one of the political briefing sessions on TV today and even then the panel, dodged just about every question about "when will DTT be available everywhere?".

So unless you can establish that you have coverage in your area and that there is more than GoTV available in your area, you may be running around looking for a problem with your setup that does not exist.

PS: It not a good idea to just import "stuff" before you establish if the equipment is ICASA approved for use in SA and therefore compliant with the local standards.
Click to expand...
Hello Daniel,Thanks as well for the detailed reply.
I have a few questions, please excuse my ignorance, but I really don't know.
How to I determine coverage in my area? or who do I speak to?
What does ICASA approved really mean? I bought this tuner knowing that it supports dvb-t2, which is what was adopted for DTt? Is there more to just having a DVB-T compatible tuner?
I've read abit aobut compliance with local standards. The only issue I see is the recording capability that poses a problem? or am I missing many other things?

Sorry for the questions. Your answers would be much appreciated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X