Offers of advice welcomed.
I have an HD ready TV to which I would like to add an HD set top box.
My present set up is:-
Panasonic 1080p built in freeview TV. (two Scarts and one HDMI)
Toshiba recorder with hard drive.
Sky non-subscription box.
I am considering buying a Goodmans GDB 300HD set top box, this has two Scarts and one HDMI.
Do I simply connect the STB to the TV with an HDMI cable and Bob's your Mum's brother? Or is it more complicated than that?
I rarely use the Sky box and I am not bothered about recording in HD.
TIA.
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Yes, connect the new box to the television with an HDMI cable.
The new box will need an input, so you have to connect the co-axial aerial cable to it.
That cable is most likely currently plugged into the Toshiba box, although it could be routed via the Sky box.
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Thanks Iffy
Yes, the Aerial lead seems to go into the Toshiba box, with a lead from that into the TV.
If I go ahead should I connect the aerial lead into the HD box, then from that into the Toshiba box?
It's actually quite hard to see, all the stuff is in the corner of the drawing room, with a maze of cables behind.
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Yeah, I'd stick the HD box first in line, as it is the most likely to have problems if the signal level is low. Does the Toshiba box record from the aerial or via SCART?
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...If I go ahead should I connect the aerial lead into the HD box, then from that into the Toshiba box?...
Ah, things get a bit more complicated if you want to keep the Toshiba box - most people would see the Goodmans as a replacement.
The Goodmans should have two co-axial sockets, one in, one out.
Simplest way would be to connect the aerial lead to co-ax in on the new box, HDMI to television, then a separate co-ax lead - known as a fly lead - from the co-ax out on the Goodmans to the co-ax input on the Toshiba.
Leave the rest as it is, and all three of the boxes should work.
Edit: I was hoping Spammers might be along, he's more up on this stuff than me.
Last edited by: Iffy on Thu 5 Jan 12 at 09:50
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For sure there's more than one way of plumbing this, my initial proposal would be:-
tinyurl.com/6vcgcay
I'm assuming the Toshiba can record from SCART, if it can't then may as well connect it directly to the second SCART on the telly.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Thu 5 Jan 12 at 10:16
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Why is HJ on the screen of the TV?
Is he waving his arms about trying to get us to go back there?
I think we should be told :-)
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>> Why is HJ on the screen of the TV?
>>
LOL, didn't think it would take long for someone to spot that :-)
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>> tinyurl.com/6vcgcay
>>
Why thank you for that spamcan. Could you just sign it please?
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>> Ah, things get a bit more complicated if you want to keep the Toshiba box
>> - most people would see the Goodmans as a replacement.
The Goodmans box is simply an HD set top box, not any sort of recorder.
I still want to record, that's why I want to keep the Toshiba, but not bothered about the recordings being in HD.
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...I still want to record, that's why I want to keep the Toshiba...
Thanks, with it now.
I can't see any point in doing other than what Spammers says in his diagram.
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>>
>> I can't see any point in doing other than what Spammers says in his diagram.
>>
But that it might be worth having the Tosh connected directly to the TV via Scart.
And you could put a double / triple aerial socket on the wall with an RF cable to each device indivdually for a cleaner signal.
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>>
>> And you could put a double / triple aerial socket on the wall with an
>> RF cable to each device indivdually for a cleaner signal.
>>
I was trying to avoid spending Duncan's money for him ;-). I tend to start with the cheapest solution, if that doesn't work then trying something more expensive - OK hardly £££s in this case.
One could keep the single aerial socket, but then split the RF feed with a low gain distribution amplifier, but I suspect it wouldn't be worth the bother, the Sky box doesn't really need an RF signal, so that could be taken out of equation, not sure about the Tosh. 'cos we don't know what it does (Freeview or just standalone recorder) - so maybe one could just have the HD box in the RF line feeding the telly directly.
I suck a direct Sky-Toshiba SCART in just in case the Tosh. can record from SCART, you could then use that with the 'Autoview' function on the Sky box to give a clunky basic PVR solution.
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Just had another squint round the back of the telly. There is a lead coming out of the aerial socket on the wall into a little mains powered box marked "Vision V23-560". there is in and out on this box, the out goes - I think - into the back of the Toshiba. Would it be some sort of signal amplifier?
I am afraid I got lost with the talk of "RFs". are these easy to buy? Can the Vision box be bought with more than one outlet, or is that what Cheddar was talking about?
Thanks for the help.
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ooohhh its getting (more) complicated now.
The Vision box is a power supply for an RF (signal) amplifier, the latter is presumably sitting in your loft or next to your TV aerial. That should stay in the circuit then, ideally between the wallplate and the first box (Goodmans in your case)
Any cable I described as 'RF' in my earlier 'artwork' means a flylead as iffy describes:-
tinyurl.com/82nvqp5
as an example.
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Just been up in the loft.
There is a Vision box "Masthead Amplifier V20 1420" with five wires coming out of it.
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>> five wires coming out of it. >>
with four going to other rooms?
>> For sure there's more than one way of plumbing this, my initial proposal would be:-
tinyurl.com/6vcgcay >>
spamcam: why do you need to have the RF out from the Tosh going to the Sky RF in, followed by RF out from Sky going to the TV RF in?
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>>
>> spamcam: why do you need to have the RF out from the Tosh going to
>> the Sky RF in, followed by RF out from Sky going to the TV RF
>> in?
I thought the Tosh may as well have an RF feed, in case it does have off air recording capability; the Sky box is probably not work the bother from an RF point of view to be honest; as I said upthread one could go straight out of the Goodmans into the TV if the Tosh doesn't need an RF feed.
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Connecting TV to HD Box? - Iffy
