EyeTV for Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT)

[assscat]

so i tried it downstairs and watched and recorded scrubs. worked fine. although how do i view the recordings afterwards? does the hardware need to be plugged in?

The programs are recorded onto your mac's hard drive, so the eyetv unit does not need to be plugged in to watch recorded shows. Start eyetv, goto Window>EyeTV Programs and select the recorded programme from the list of recorded shows that appears. Eyetv will then play the programme for you in it's own window.

 

[assscat]

I have read many things on this thread about connecting the EyeTV DTT to an external antenna and am considering purchasing one (EyeTV), how do you do this?

Just as you would plug the coaxial cable (connected to the external aerial on your roof) into the back of your TV, or into a Freeview set-top box, you plug the cable into the EyeTV unit. Install the software onto your Mac and using this, tune in the stations.

 

[iMacSE500]

Just got my EyeTV 200 (refurbished). It kicks ass. Great quality and it is small.

 

[gafferbee]

No ITV or Channel 4

I just bought one of these, and all seems fine - I even have a perfect picture with the ariel that came in the box (i live on the top floor of a good area).

But it doesn't seem to pick up ITV (1 or 2) or Channel 4. There's no E4 either, although there is E4+1, so I suppose that's OK.

Anyone explain this? All the others seem to be there...

 

[robbieduncan]

I just bought one of these, and all seems fine - I even have a perfect picture with the ariel that came in the box (i live on the top floor of a good area).

But it doesn't seem to pick up ITV (1 or 2) or Channel 4. There's no E4 either, although there is E4+1, so I suppose that's OK.

Anyone explain this? All the others seem to be there...

You don't have reception on a single transponder (the one for ITV). Try a bigger ariel ...

 

[gafferbee]

You don't have reception on a single transponder (the one for ITV). Try a bigger ariel ...

Great, more money to spend. Seems illogical to spend money when the reception is so good. I never knew you could have great reception but not get all the channels.

 

[robbieduncan]

Great, more money to spend. Seems illogical to spend money when the reception is so good. I never knew you could have great reception but not get all the channels.

Well you might well be able to live without those channels! Or you could try moving what you have around a bit. Get it as close to a window as you can...

 

[assscat]

Great, more money to spend. Seems illogical to spend money when the reception is so good. I never knew you could have great reception but not get all the channels.

Yeah, there are five or six multiplexes that broadcast the Freeview channels, with each multiplex carrying a selection of the channels. I have been having a problem receiving a signal from Mux C, which carries Sky News, E4+1 and some others, so of all the multiplexes to miss, that is the one I'd prefer.

 

[gafferbee]

Excuse my pessimism. I went downstairs, nicked my housemate's flashier ariel, and it all worked just fine. Left the useless one in the lounge connected to a TV that doesn't need it anyway. Problem solved.

 

[robbieduncan]

Excuse my pessimism. I went downstairs, nicked my housemate's flashier ariel, and it all worked just fine. Left the useless one in the lounge connected to a TV that doesn't need it anyway. Problem solved.

Sweet, so everyone wins

 

[warren7145]

Hello I am currently intrested in purchasing one of these.

Couple of questions.

Would it be able to replace my TV?
Can I record one channel whilst watching another?

Cheers,
Warren

 

[robbieduncan]

Hello I am currently intrested in purchasing one of these.

Couple of questions.

Would it be able to replace my TV?

Possibly, mine has.

Can I record one channel whilst watching another?

Cheers,
Warren

No. You cannot watch a live channel whilst recording another live channel. You can watch a completed recording whilst recording a live channel though.

 

[gafferbee]

I've had the DTT for a few days now and in general I'm very pleased. One thing does bug me a bit though - the box seems unable to get a signal after my computer has been asleep for a while.

This means that if I schedule a recording while I'm out, even though the computer waked from sleep to record, there is no data to record. Unplugging the USB cable and reconnecting it sorts this out.

I've left it to try a recording again today while I've been at work but it's failed two days in a row already, so I'm not optiimistic. For me, recording stuff while I'm not at home was the main reason I bought the thing so I would like it to work.

Elgato's website reccommends tinkering with the computer's energy saving settings, but they do seem to be based on a software problem, not addressing a hardware issue.

The problem is mentioned on this blog entry too.

Anyone with any experience of this issue?

 

[onsuper8]

eye TV DTT woes

Just got one of these and cannot get a signal at all - it keeps saying 0% for strnegth and quality. Also tried it with my normal aerial through which we recieve all the available Freeview channels (we live in line of sight of a transmitter) and still nothing. Am I being numb - or is it malfunctioning?

Giles
www.onsuper8.org

 

[robbieduncan]

Just got one of these and cannot get a signal at all - it keeps saying 0% for strnegth and quality. Also tried it with my normal aerial through which we recieve all the available Freeview channels (we live in line of sight of a transmitter) and still nothing. Am I being numb - or is it malfunctioning?

Giles
www.onsuper8.org

It sounds faulty to me. You could try unplugging it, leave it for a couple of minutes and plug it back in before scanning for channels. Also make sure you selected the correct country (!). If all of that does not work there are a number of config files you could try trashing before giving up completely.

 

[warrior]

DTT in USA?

now that USA is broadcasting HDTV through the airwaves for free--- would this piece be able to work in america?

 

[robbieduncan]

now that USA is broadcasting HDTV through the airwaves for free--- would this piece be able to work in america?

Being as it does not receive HDTV I doubt it would work! It is for terrestrial digital broadcasts (DVB-T) a standard that we use here in Europe. It is not HD.

You need an EyeTV 500.

 

[mpw]

Two interesting points about the DTT, and other Elgato boxes:

1) Combine the DTT with a laptop (not a desktop) and you don't have to pay the UK TV license when you're a student at college if your parents have a license at home. I know all the students here WILL be paying their £126/year, right?

2) Did you know that your name & address are passed to the TV Licensing Dept. every time you buy a new or used TV, VCR, DVD recorder, Set-top box, SKY Digibox, PC with TV card or TV card.

Big Brother is watching you while you're watching Big Brother!

 

[gafferbee]

Robbieduncan, I just wondered if you have had any problems with your DTT unit not waking from sleep to programs, as I posted a few days ago?

You said you've effectively replaced your tv with this box, which says to me that you trust it to do what you want when you want...

 

[Project]

As I will be getting this with my soon to be purchased iBook, I was wondering just how much disk space recorded programmes take up? Obviously HD space on the iBook is at a premium and I have a healthy iTunes collection to port from my PC...

 

[robbieduncan]

Robbieduncan, I just wondered if you have had any problems with your DTT unit not waking from sleep to programs, as I posted a few days ago?

You said you've effectively replaced your tv with this box, which says to me that you trust it to do what you want when you want...

My Minis don't go to sleep. I've told them not to.

 

[onsuper8]

Working

It was a duff unit - Apple Store London kindly replaced it and now its working.... just got to get in the loft and start swinging the aerial so its pointing at the transmitter correctly!

Giles P
www.onsuper8.org

 

[SpaceMagic]

Two interesting points about the DTT, and other Elgato boxes:

1) Combine the DTT with a laptop (not a desktop) and you don't have to pay the UK TV license when you're a student at college if your parents have a license at home. I know all the students here WILL be paying their £126/year, right?

mpw - my hero Is this true?! The only thing putting me off buying one for university (which i start on the 27th) is the fact that I'll have to pay once for the unit £99 and then again for the license (£127)... But if this is true.. can I see it written down? An official link? Etc Thanks!!

Update: It isn't true... well not strictly. Basically, if the thing running the tuner is battery based (e.g. a laptop on the move, a portable tv, etc) then it comes under your house. However as you'll be living in halls during uni term time, they assume you'll be using your powercord at some point (its a shame my ibook lasts 5 hours, not 5 months ), thus one needs to buy a license. Sorry

2) Did you know that your name & address are passed to the TV Licensing Dept. every time you buy a new or used TV, VCR, DVD recorder, Set-top box, SKY Digibox, PC with TV card or TV card.

Big Brother is watching you while you're watching Big Brother!

This is true... by law in the UK, everything with a built in tuner gets reported. Technically, users who sell theirs on eBay should tell the licensing people! Odd, heh!

 

[gafferbee]

My Minis don't go to sleep. I've told them not to.

Fair enough, but that's a bit of a bodge. I would like my iMac to sleep because it's in my bedroom and i can't sleep myself with it on. Oh well, i suppose i could settle for just sending the display to sleep until elgato fix this.

 

[andym172]

I received my new DTT just 3 hours ago and have been trying to set it up since then, but to no avail.

I suspect the unit could be faulty, but before I send it back to the AppleStore I was wondering if anybody could please give me a couple of pointers?

All the software is installed and registered, the USB cable is plugged into a USB2 hole (have tried on two separate computers) and I've plugged three separate external aerials into the DTT, but there's no signal being received.

I went through the setup process maybe 10 times, even trying the 'Exhaustive Search' but still nothing.

Is there something simple I've overlooked, or do I have a faulty unit?

Thanks in advance

Andy.