EyeTV for Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT)

[curmi]

Anyone solved the sleep problem yet? I've had my computer set up never to sleep for ages now, but sometimes it would be nice to put the mac down for a bit without the dtt forgetting how to get a signal when it wakes up.

v annoying when you set programmes to record and they don't work, and hardly helping to save the world either.

also, does anyone know if there's a way of using the terratec remote to send my imac to sleep?

Elgato know of the problem - but you should let them know too, as the more people who contact them, the more info they can get on hardware.

I have found a solution. What you do is to close eyeTV before you put the machine to sleep. Then when you wake it, start eyeTV again. This seems to fix that problem - but is a pain in the butt.

 

[raincoat]

Eye Tv Guide page

I have just created a guide for this subject, please take a look and add your knowledge and experience. Please note that the guide is not a forum.

http://guides.macrumors.com/Eye_Tv

 

[Cordless]

Be sure to find out which transmitter supplies your DTT signals, and then "aim" the antenna in that direction.

I got a £5 antenna from Maplin, and it worked just fine, sitting about 4 ft away from my Mac and aimed out the window in the direction of Crystal Palace.

Type your postcode into this:
http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/coverage_retailer.pl

to find your local transmitter, then use streetmaps.co.uk to figure the angle you need to aim the antenna. Once that's done, fiddle around a bit while using EyeTV > Device Settings > Signal -- and watching the signal strength.

Thanks for info. Checked your link and coverage is fine here using Crystal Palace. External aerial connected to main TV picks up all Freeview channels as does the EyeTV when I tested it using a coaxial reel, but the difficulty for me is the computer is at the back of the flat where I can't easily get access to outside aerial and putting up another one is not an option. Will buy an indoor amplified aerial today and report back. If no luck it'll be on eBay tomorrow

 

[donelson]

If no luck it'll be on eBay tomorrow

Don't give up. It took me a couple of days of trying different antennae, in different positions, with the Signal strength showing, to get a good signal.

AND, during a rain storm this morning, I had terrible reception...

 

[Cordless]

Don't give up. It took me a couple of days of trying different antennae, in different positions, with the Signal strength showing, to get a good signal.

AND, during a rain storm this morning, I had terrible reception...

Bought a OneForAll amplified aerial this morning and it actually managed to pull in everything including the ITV stations. Some quite acceptable but ITV were very unstable, which is what I particularly want to timeshift from. Tried auto-tuning again and in various positions - the aerial not me - but I can't get them back. Sadly I think it's meant for those areas that can get really first-class signals, which it seems isn't here.

Cheers

Ivor

 

[Cordless]

Bought a OneForAll amplified aerial this morning and it actually managed to pull in everything including the ITV stations. Some quite acceptable but ITV were very unstable, which is what I particularly want to timeshift from. Tried auto-tuning again and in various positions - the aerial not me - but I can't get them back. Sadly I think it's meant for those areas that can get really first-class signals, which it seems isn't here.

Cheers

Ivor

Following myself up...returned it this afternoon. IMO it really needs a very strong signal to work properly, which I don't have.

Ivor

 

[stevep]

Following myself up...returned it this afternoon. IMO it really needs a very strong signal to work properly, which I don't have.

Ivor

I'm not actually in your shoes, but Robbie Duncan (post 81) makes the point about amplified aerials - you might need to turn the gain DOWN. Good DTT signals are usually lower strength than comparable analogue signals. Crystal Palace broadcasts its digital signals within the analogue spectrum, so in theory at least you should get away with using a conventional UHF aerial. If you use a digital aerial it will probably have to be a wideband aerial to pick up the complete range of stations.
Perhaps an 'outdoor' type aerial mounted indoors would work (assuming you can mount it somewhere out of the way, like in a loft, or even a wardrobe???!!).
Lastly, can you check with close neighbours to see if anyone else can receive DTT ok?
Hope you get it sorted - its a pain to have to return things.

 

[aseefs77]

Sky+ setup with Apple Mac Powerbook

Hello all,
I have an Apple Mac Powerbook and was wondering how do i tranfer my TV shows from the Sky+ box into my Powerbook for converting and the use in Final Cut Pro.
If anyone knows how to do this I'd be most greatful and maybe could they send in some jpegs with their setup

 

[donelson]

Hello all,
I have an Apple Mac Powerbook and was wondering how do i tranfer my TV shows from the Sky+ box into my Powerbook for converting and the use in Final Cut Pro.
If anyone knows how to do this I'd be most greatful and maybe could they send in some jpegs with their setup

The only way to get video out of the Sky+ box is to play them and record them on tape or DVD. There is NO way to get the data off the hard disk in a usable format.

 

[tghewett]

Where is the channel list (and ordering) stored?

I'd like to be able to keep a backup copy of the scanned channel list and ordering in case I want to use this DTT receiver in a different location (meaning a re-scan which would overwrite the existing channel list). I can't find where it's stored - it isn't in the com.elgato.eyetv.plist preferences file or in the archive folder location.

It's got to be stored somewhere, does anyone know where? In the USB device itself perhaps?

 

[Will Cheyney]

I'm getting an EyeTV for xmas! I can't wait
Sorry - can't help you with the channel listing... yet!

 

[robbieduncan]

I'd like to be able to keep a backup copy of the scanned channel list and ordering in case I want to use this DTT receiver in a different location (meaning a re-scan which would overwrite the existing channel list). I can't find where it's stored - it isn't in the com.elgato.eyetv.plist preferences file or in the archive folder location.

It's got to be stored somewhere, does anyone know where? In the USB device itself perhaps?

There are 2 or 3 elgato preferences files. iirc you need the ones in /Library not in ~/Library/

I can check up when I get back home and onto a Mac...

 

[tghewett]

Re: Where is the channel list (and ordering) stored?

Thanks, found it in /Library/Preferences/com.ellgato.eyetv.plist. Not sure why it's put there as it means all users have to share the same channel configuration.

 

[robbieduncan]

Thanks, found it in /Library/Preferences/com.ellgato.eyetv.plist. Not sure why it's put there as it means all users have to share the same channel configuration.

I assume it's to stop every user on the system having to scan for channels. Glad to be of help anyway!

 

[MinorBidoh]

ive just bought an EYE TV DTT rom apple.com and im in the first steps of installing. My BIG problem is that I cant find the activation key to install the software! where is it on the box/leaflet/manual? There is a really long number on the main unit which ive tried (with no luck) but i cant find anything else that could be it. To make things worse, Elgato still havent replied to my emails. Has anyone else had this problem? Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[cartoonfox]

Hey all, im new to these forums : ]

anyway, im thinking of buying a EyeTV EZ, so that i can play my gamecube on my mac.

but if im able to play gamecube with the EyeTV DTT, then i may buy this instead so i can watch TV too.

so my question is, does the EyeTV DTT have a slot for either a composite cable or a scart plug thing?

And if it does, Does the EyeTV DTT accept 60Hz?

oh, and is there any lag?

thanks.

 

[robbieduncan]

Hey all, im new to these forums : ]

anyway, im thinking of buying a EyeTV EZ, so that i can play my gamecube on my mac.

but if im able to play gamecube with the EyeTV DTT, then i may buy this instead so i can watch TV too.

so my question is, does the EyeTV DTT have a slot for either a composite cable or a scart plug thing?

And if it does, Does the EyeTV DTT accept 60Hz?

oh, and is there any lag?

thanks.

The EyeTV for DTT only works with DVB-T signals. It cannot accept composite, scart, cable etc signals.

It does not contain any digitiser hardware which is why it is so small. DVB-T is already digital (MPEG-2).

Basically you can use it to watch digital terrestrial TV only.

 

[cartoonfox]

ok, thanks for that : ]

peace

 

[Dreamkatcha]

FYI: EyeTV 1.8.4 was released a couple of days ago. It includes a few bug fixes along with a really impressive new feature - if you hold down control as you click on 'file' > 'open live TV window' you can watch two or more channels at once. You'd think you'd have to buy Elgato's premium hardware to get an upgrade like that!

I'm assuming this means you can watch one channel while you record another, though I haven't tested this out. What I did try was watching two channels at once. Sound is only available from the active window so you don't hear a garbled mix, which makes sense. I don't suppose the Mac Mini is the ideal computer to do multi-channel viewing/recording, but maybe if you closed everything else down you'd get stutter-free performance?

 

[mauly]

FYI: EyeTV 1.8.4 was released a couple of days ago. It includes a few bug fixes along with a really impressive new feature - if you hold down control as you click on 'file' > 'open live TV window' you can watch two or more channels at once. You'd think you'd have to buy Elgato's premium hardware to get an upgrade like that!

I'm assuming this means you can watch one channel while you record another, though I haven't tested this out. What I did try was watching two channels at once. Sound is only available from the active window so you don't hear a garbled mix, which makes sense. I don't suppose the Mac Mini is the ideal computer to do multi-channel viewing/recording, but maybe if you closed everything else down you'd get stutter-free performance?

Ever since I updated to 1.8.4 I get really poor signal quality/strength both going from 0% - 70%, I'm now unable to watch anything!!!! before the update I had 100% and amazing quality.

Anyone have the same trouble?

 

[Dreamkatcha]

Doh!, that's not good. Can't say I've noticed a drop in quality since the upgrade. I don't suppose re-scanning the channels would help? I ocassionally get a crackle or two when my Mini is struggling to run too many applications at once, though that's not Elgato's fault.

It's odd that my system seemed to perform better before I ran the gumut of Onxy maintainence routines - now I experience many more bouncing balls and slow-downs.

It appears that Elgato have fixed that annoying wake-from-sleep bug which caused timed recordings to fail so that's great news.

 

[smwatson]

I get pretty poor signal quality. i tried many places for the aerial but the signal quality varies hugely on different channels. i can either get BBC 1-7, or ITV Channel4+5 etc. Also, is the magnet on the base of the aerial dangerous to the screen?

 

[mpw]

...Also, is the magnet on the base of the aerial dangerous to the screen?

shouldn't hurt an LCD but even a weak magnet in close proximity to a CRT'll give problems

 

[Dreamkatcha]

smwatson, is there no way you can use a proper rooftop aerial? You may as well use the desktop one as a toothpick - it's a waste of space.

 

[nordesmic]

signal strength

I'm not sure if this is completely on topic but this seems to be the thread on everything related to Eye TV.

I'm looking at buying a EyeTV DTT but am a little skeptical about the signal received by the included antenna. It seems as though everyone has said that it is useless and they they have connected it to their roof antenna.

If this is the case can anyone give me some advice about connecting it?

At the moment I have two television sets connected in the ceiling two the antenna via some sort of "signal splitter". My current television reception is very clear, on both sets. If I were to connect the EyeTV unit via a "3-way signal splitter" would I notice any drop in quality compared to my current two tv setup?

Am I right in guessing that if my signal is fine for a two-way splitter, that there shouldn't be much difference for a three-way split?

Sorry this is really a tv question and only loosely related to the EyeTV, but I'm sure someone has a good answer for me here.

Thanks very much