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gafferbee

macrumors newbie
May 7, 2005
20
0
London, UK
As many of us have discovered, the included aeriel is not quite up to the job. My one managed to receive all stations but not ITV, C4 and E4. As posted earlier I went and nicked my housemate's bigger aeriel and all was well. Try replacing the aeriel, and if not then maybe there is a problem.


andym172 said:
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.
 

andym172

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2003
335
3
UK
gafferbee said:
As many of us have discovered, the included aeriel is not quite up to the job. My one managed to receive all stations but not ITV, C4 and E4. As posted earlier I went and nicked my housemate's bigger aeriel and all was well. Try replacing the aeriel, and if not then maybe there is a problem.

Thanks for the advice :)

As I stated in my original post, I've already tried the unit with three different aerial's, but nothing - nada, zip!

The unit is being collected tomorrow, and hopefully a new (working) unit will be delivered in the next couple of days :)
 

mpw

Guest
Jun 18, 2004
6,363
1
SpaceMagic said:
...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 :(...
Did you contact the TV Licensing Authority?
The website's FAQ just says;
tvlicensing.co.uk said:
Aren't I covered by my parents' licence while I'm away?
No. Unless your TV is powered by internal batteries, such as a pocket-sized TV...
I'd say a laptop was powered by internal batteries.
 

andym172

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2003
335
3
UK
Received my replacement unit, and same problem - no channels being received :(

I've e-mailed Elgato for some guidance ad am hoping for a reply soon. I wish they had telephone support so that I could go through it with them step by step, but this is no longer the norm these days :rolleyes:

Sadly, I suspect my area's tv signal strength just isn't strong enough (despite using a mains powered bloody big aerial!).
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
andym172 said:
Received my replacement unit, and same problem - no channels being received :(

I've e-mailed Elgato for some guidance ad am hoping for a reply soon. I wish they had telephone support so that I could go through it with them step by step, but this is no longer the norm these days :rolleyes:

Sadly, I suspect my area's tv signal strength just isn't strong enough (despite using a mains powered bloody big aerial!).

If you are using an aerial with a built in amp try turning the amp down! I have mine at about 1/3 gain to get the best reception. At 100% I get nothing.
 

0098386

Suspended
Jan 18, 2005
21,574
2,908
im seriously considering one of these. was going to get a freeview box for my room, but it may be better getting an EyeTV. quality would be beautiful (digital TV on an LCD!) so yea. must buy.

Manchester even gets the wonderful Channel M. :D just a few centimetres from being absolute tripe!
 

andym172

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2003
335
3
UK
With my dunce cap sitting proudly on the top of my head, I've just discovered that Freeview isn't available in my area :mad: :eek: :confused: :eek:

What a waste of £100! :rolleyes:

Thanks to those who offered advice :)
 

mpw

Guest
Jun 18, 2004
6,363
1
andym172 said:
With my dunce cap sitting proudly on the top of my head, I've just discovered that Freeview isn't available in my area...
Where are you?

We don't get Freeview either, they can't transmit a digital signal here 'cause we're too close to France and it would interfere with their signal. After 2010 we're not going to have access to any terrestrial TV. :mad:
 

andym172

macrumors 6502
Oct 24, 2003
335
3
UK
mpw said:
Where are you?

We don't get Freeview either, they can't transmit a digital signal here 'cause we're too close to France and it would interfere with their signal. After 2010 we're not going to have access to any terrestrial TV. :mad:

I live on The Wirral:

map_uk.gif


Wales isn't too far, but I'm not sure why this prevent freeview being available :confused:

We have Sky digital and all is ok there...
 

Richard1984

macrumors newbie
Sep 15, 2005
2
0
Derby
bought one!

After reading 4 pages of this thread i've just bought one (EyeTV for Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT)), i don't expect their areil to work so i'll just use the one i already have connected to my tv, which i can now hopefully get rid of, its crap. i'll let you know how i get on with it, i've checked the dtt signal for my area and i'm supposed to be able to get every channel and my mate can on his freeview box so hopefully theres no problems. Rich.

i don't spose you know how it looks full screen? i have a 20inch screen and was unsure of the quality. One more thing, is there any way of connecting my ps2 up to it?
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
Richard1984 said:
i don't spose you know how it looks full screen? i have a 20inch screen and was unsure of the quality. One more thing, is there any way of connecting my ps2 up to it?

I have it running on a Dell 2005FPW and it looks great as long as you view it from a sensible distance. You have to remember that the input signal quite low resolution. The upscaling is great, but it can only do so much!

PS2 connection is not possible as the DTT cannot deal with anything put DVB signals and there is no way I know of getting the PS2 to output that.
 

Scazza

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2005
53
0
got ine today from the apple store in london. using the ariel provided and get lots of channels, apart from C4 and the ITV channels so will find a new ariel soon but this will do the job now :D

well done, excellent purchase, just wot i needed for uni as i have no tv socket in my room.
 

zed2

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2004
606
59
Bucks
Does any one know how to manually tune the eyetv 410?

I note that some of the channels are not encoded but rather just masked..other sites for other tuners seem to imply that if you retune to a different PID then you can see the channel.


Cheers.
 

0098386

Suspended
Jan 18, 2005
21,574
2,908
they're apparently releasing a freeview satellite service in 2006. so those who cant get a signal now need not worry. hopefully it will work with EyeTV.

i get a brilliant signal here though. right on the hills above manchester. even got a good signal on Virgin Mobile which i hear has terrible reception :eek:
 

pulsewidth947

macrumors 65816
Jan 25, 2005
1,106
2
A couple of questions.

I've been looking at this EyeTV device for a couple of days now, but I just have some questions.

How does it perform on a Mac Mini? I have a 1.25 Mini with 512mb Crucial, with a LaCie 250GB drive. I guess it can handle it seeing as its better than the minimum specs.

Does the tvtv service work well? I like the idea of being at work and setting my mini to record re-runs of Scrubs or Cheers or something. I dont usually put my mini to sleep so I dont think I'll come across the problem that others are having.

Is it easy to export your recordings onto DVD? Do you have to do it through iDVD which takes soooooooo long!? Or does it take no time at all as its already MPEG2? Possible to put like 4 half hour shows on one disc?

Erm... what else. Well I'll leave it at that for now :D
 

Richard1984

macrumors newbie
Sep 15, 2005
2
0
Derby
it works fine, had it up and running in minutes. got it after about a week, the quality of the picture is awesome, the box is tiny and its like having sky+ which is pretty nifty (although you can't watch something else while you record) i only have trouble getting channel 4 and the itv channels however they've worked fine the past couple of days.

anyway, heres my setup, 20 inch is quality.
 

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Scazza

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2005
53
0
Richard1984 said:
it works fine, had it up and running in minutes. got it after about a week, the quality of the picture is awesome, the box is tiny and its like having sky+ which is pretty nifty (although you can't watch something else while you record) i only have trouble getting channel 4 and the itv channels however they've worked fine the past couple of days.

anyway, heres my setup, 20 inch is quality.

Hey Richard.

I have the same prob, getting C4 and the iTV channels, i have a signal strength averaging 70%, could u tell me wot u did to get them?

Thanks :)
 

MrDave

macrumors newbie
Oct 1, 2005
1
0
I got my EyeTV DTT yesterday and excitedly tried setting it up immediately. The supplied aerial didn't work but i wasn't too surprised having read about other peoples' difficulties. When i plugged in the roof aerial i got a perfect signal...except, like many others it seems, for ITV1 and Channel 4 (and maybe others that i don't know about). I know that this aerial can receive these channels perfectly well because it does so when plugged in to the Freeview box that is connected to my living room television. The Freeview box is in fact also brand new, bought yesterday, so i know that it scanned for channels yesterday and was picking up the signal for these channels. There is a coaxial output on the back of the Freeview box (for connecting VCRs/DVD recorders) so i thought i would try plugging this in to my Terratec box. Since the channels were there on the Freeview box i assumed the signal must pass through and in to the Terratec box. However, again all the other channels tuned in perfectly but ITV1 and Channel 4 remained absent!

I'm desperate for any help anyone can offer because this problem seems to be one with the Terratec box yet is not unique to me.

PS. I also have the very latest update of the EyeTV software installed so its not a software bug or anything..i assume!
 

adambrennan

macrumors newbie
Oct 4, 2005
1
0
Hi all,
Just to confirm for others, I was considering getting an EyeTV DTT for my iBook in uni, and deceided to play it safe as far as licensing was concerned so emailed them.

Reply
If you are using your laptop powered solely by its own internal batteries to receive programmes, a licence held for your main address will cover its use in other places. However, if you use an external power source then a separate licence will be required.

:D

Time to spend money.
 

wdaly

macrumors newbie
Oct 9, 2005
21
0
Sorry to hi-jack this thread, but I have a question regarding using my USB Analogue EyeTV box with Freeview. I got a Freeview box recently and have tried setting it up so that I can receive Freeview via my Eye TV box (using a coaxial cable), but have had no luck. I did contact Elgato, but their suggestions didn't work. Can anyone help me out and let me know what I should do and if indeed it's possible? Many thanks.
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
wdaly said:
Sorry to hi-jack this thread, but I have a question regarding using my USB Analogue EyeTV box with Freeview. I got a Freeview box recently and have tried setting it up so that I can receive Freeview via my Eye TV box (using a coaxial cable), but have had no luck. I did contact Elgato, but their suggestions didn't work. Can anyone help me out and let me know what I should do and if indeed it's possible? Many thanks.

Does your FreeView box output the (tuned) FreeView channel on the coax cable? That would be very unusual to say the least. They normally only output the tuned channel on SCART, the coax is simple a pass-through to allow the connected TV to show the normal non-digital channels.

You could test this by connecting the FreeView box to a normal TV via the coax only and seeing if you can tune to a FreeView channel.
 

wdaly

macrumors newbie
Oct 9, 2005
21
0
robbieduncan said:
Does your FreeView box output the (tuned) FreeView channel on the coax cable? That would be very unusual to say the least. They normally only output the tuned channel on SCART, the coax is simple a pass-through to allow the connected TV to show the normal non-digital channels.

You could test this by connecting the FreeView box to a normal TV via the coax only and seeing if you can tune to a FreeView channel.

So you reckon I should try a Scart? The EyeTv box only has red, white and yellow sockets on the back, while my Freeview box has both TV and video scart sockets – do you recommend something like this?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0003057B4/ref=pd_cpt_gw_2/026-2189252-1338047

Yes, the standard five channels still tune in with the freeview box connected to my EyeTv using a coaxial, but obviously no digital channels come up. Part of the problem is I have no access to a standard TV – do I need to tune the Freeview box first with a standard TV before I can use it with my EyeTv?
 

robbieduncan

Moderator emeritus
Jul 24, 2002
25,611
893
Harrogate
You partially misunderstand me!

If you want to watch FreeView channels you need to be connected via SCART to almost all FreeView boxes. It does not matter if you are using a normal TV or not, I was just suggesting this as a way to check what was going on.

The linked product will work if it goes from SCART to composite/L/R. With S-Video it does make a difference what the "direction" is. I'm not sure if it makes any difference with composite.

If it does go in the correct direction, or direction does not matter you should be able to get a picture from the FreeView box on your Mac. You will then need to run a channel search (basically tune) on the FreeView box.

Edit to add: I've had good service from tvcables.co.uk. This product is cheaper than the linked one, indicates that SCART/Composite is directional and this one is in the correct direction!
 

wdaly

macrumors newbie
Oct 9, 2005
21
0
robbieduncan said:
You partially misunderstand me!

If you want to watch FreeView channels you need to be connected via SCART to almost all FreeView boxes. It does not matter if you are using a normal TV or not, I was just suggesting this as a way to check what was going on.

The linked product will work if it goes from SCART to composite/L/R. With S-Video it does make a difference what the "direction" is. I'm not sure if it makes any difference with composite.

If it does go in the correct direction, or direction does not matter you should be able to get a picture from the FreeView box on your Mac. You will then need to run a channel search (basically tune) on the FreeView box.

Edit to add: I've had good service from tvcables.co.uk. This product is cheaper than the linked one, indicates that SCART/Composite is directional and this one is in the correct direction!

many thanks for the link, can't do any harm to try. What's the general default picture on a freeview box (prior to tuning) or does it vary depending on brand?

Thanks for the advice.
 
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