# Now that's a small Freeview box



## b166er (Oct 24, 2003)

http://www.rtdirect.readeroffers.co.uk/


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## BaggieBoy (Dec 4, 2000)

b166er said:


> http://www.rtdirect.readeroffers.co.uk/


I'm pretty sure I saw one of those in Makro at the weekend, under £30 + VAT.


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## b166er (Oct 24, 2003)

BaggieBoy said:


> I'm pretty sure I saw one of those in Makro at the weekend, under £30 + VAT.


     I don't think I've ever seen anything cheaper in Makro


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

Only £50 at Argos if you don't have a Makro card (I don't).
Looking at the first picture in that link it looks like it has an external 'wall wart' power supply and an external IR sensor.

I'm quite tempted just to plug it into a spare socket on my SCART switcher for the odd occassion when I want to deal with a clash.

Yes, but importantly - does it play nicely with Tivo?
You could presumably just plug it into the back of Tivo, run the remote eye to the front and forget about it!


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

That's certainly the smallest I know of for a standard TV. If you have a PC, however, this is much smaller


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## johala_reewi (Oct 30, 2002)

Looks very similar to the Freecom DVB-T USB stick receiver.

http://www.freecom.com/ecProduct_detail.asp?ID=2234&nr=25451&prodn=DVB-T+USB+Stick


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## EvilBoB (Nov 6, 2002)

I like the bottle opener


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## tankstage (Jan 8, 2005)

AMc said:


> Yes, but importantly - does it play nicely with Tivo?
> You could presumably just plug it into the back of Tivo, run the remote eye to the front and forget about it!


I bought one from Makro just to try, and it works fine with TiVo.
Its listed on the TivoPortal site as compatible.
Tank


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## sjp (Oct 22, 2001)

EvilBoB said:


> I like the bottle opener


if you buy one as a prezzy for somebody, charge it up first. it's no fun wanting to play with it when the batteries are flat


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

Tank said:


> I bought one from Makro just to try, and it works fine with TiVo.
> Its listed on the TivoPortal site as compatible.
> Tank


Any other comments on it. I'd be interested in hearing a real user review if you have the time/energy to type it out.
Is it reliable?
Is it fast?
Does it cope with a weak signal OK?

I'd be tempted to get one as a clash resolver and my folks would probably like one for the VCR.


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## tankstage (Jan 8, 2005)

AMc said:


> Any other comments on it. I'd be interested in hearing a real user review if you have the time/energy to type it out.
> Is it reliable?
> Is it fast?
> Does it cope with a weak signal OK?
> ...


I have only had the unit for about 2 weeks, but it seems reliable.
I think it may not be very good with a weak signal, as I am in an area that in theory will not get freeview, but I have a serious aerial, with a 28DB masthead amp, feeding an Antiferance 8 way amp that has a 26DB gain output that I feed into the DFTA1000.
The standard outputs from the amp were not enough for the DFTA1000, but were enough for a Matsui box and a Packard Bell box.
The unit is plugged straight into the scart on the TiVo, and I have taped the IR wand to the little pod that controls the DFTA1000.

HTH Tank


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

Thanks for the thoughts Tank

Hmm - I'm only a few miles from Crystal Palace but suffer from a bit of electrical impulse interference.
I stuck a high gain wideband antenna up but when I did it in summer I didn't need a masthead amp - then the weather went a bit more cloudy and I wish I'd spent the extra few quid and done the job while I was on the roof. It's been a back burner job for a couple of years but as we have Freeview in the bedroom and cable in the lounge it's not been urgent.

Perhaps I'll need to do that before I look. Mind you with Telewest adding £2 to my cable package in March I'm getting more and more tempted to ditch them.


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## johala_reewi (Oct 30, 2002)

£47.49 at Tesco.com with free delivery and clubcard points 

http://www.tesco.com/electrical/product.aspx?R=8289499&bci=285|TV Stands, Accessories & Freeview


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## johala_reewi (Oct 30, 2002)

Just a couple of gotcha's with the BUSH freeview adaptor. It doesn't have RF loopthough just RF in, so you might want an RF splitter (and a cable) as well. When it is switched off, there is no way Tivo can switch it on and it doesn't have a power up button. The only way to switch it on is with the remote. Major problem if it switches off and Tivo wants to record something. 

Other than that, it is quite compact. The menus are the same as the Pacific/Durabrand STBs and it has a similar EPG. Channel changing is quite leisurely. Reminds me of the old Ondigital days. Gold scart contacts on the adaptor. It also has a very short extension SCART cable in case you can't plug the adaptor straight into the SCART socket.


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## staffie2001uk (Apr 1, 2004)

johala_reewi said:


> The only way to switch it on is with the remote.


Would one of the chaps with a Pronto be able to create a new IR code set that transmits the "on" code before a channel change?

The thing that interested me with this was that it has an IR input socket. Does anyone know if you can plug the TiVo straight into the DFTA1000 and so avoid actual IR flying around and the interferences we experience?


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## johala_reewi (Oct 30, 2002)

staffie2001uk said:


> Would one of the chaps with a Pronto be able to create a new IR code set that transmits the "on" code before a channel change?
> 
> The thing that interested me with this was that it has an IR input socket. Does anyone know if you can plug the TiVo straight into the DFTA1000 and so avoid actual IR flying around and the interferences we experience?


Unfortunately, the ON code is also the OFF code. (It's a toggle) so no point in Tivo sending that.  After it had been on for a week, channel changing on the DFTA1000 became very sluggish (up to 12 seconds) and often, it didn't change channel at all. 

Well, the IR wand from the Tivo socket has two wires, and the IR eye for the DFTA1000 has two wires so you could chop the IR bits off the ends, join the wires together and see what happens  It is probably a lot safer to position the DFTA1000 IR eye in front of the Tivo and use Tivo's front IR blaster. The eye also has a green LED which is on when there is power to the DFTA1000 so that is handy.


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## staffie2001uk (Apr 1, 2004)

johala_reewi said:


> Unfortunately, the ON code is also the OFF code. (It's a toggle) so no point in Tivo sending that.


Ah well, in that case it will not do the job 

Thanks for the info.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Anyone still got one of these things? Was thinking of getting one for a Kitchen TV (not for my Tivo!) but read on Amazon that they are prone to over-heating if left on for a long time.


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## Gadders (Feb 4, 2002)

For those that clicked through to the ad page, I bought the "Genus Hi-Fi DAB Upgrade" for £20 on Saturday in Comet. They have it listed as £50 there.


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## tankstage (Jan 8, 2005)

cwaring said:


> Anyone still got one of these things? Was thinking of getting one for a Kitchen TV (not for my Tivo!) but read on Amazon that they are prone to over-heating if left on for a long time.


I've been using one with one of my TiVo's for nearly a year now. 
It's on 24/7 and the only problem I have had is with the software update check. 
It checks for new software every night, and switches to a different channel when the check is finished. 
This can be quite annoying if you happen to watch a program that is recorded at that time!!. 
As for the temperature, I have no idea as it is at the back of my "electronics cupboard" straight into the TiVo.

Tank


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