Digibox

[smurfchops]

My father has a very old TV which still works, he really can't afford a new plasma screen, if he buys a Freeview Box, can he connect it to his old TV, so he gets the channels by satellite, and is it easy to connect ?

[ACtheTROLL]

easy .... yes
however

there are two ways to connect the box ....
plan A
the most usual these days is via a scart cable
however.....
depending on how old your dad's TV is ...
it may not have scart
if it does ... easy peasy .... just get any set top box you fancy

If not....
plan B
via the ariel socket
Probklem here is not every set top box has a second transponder (ariel out) - esp the cheaper ones .... so if you are forced to go with plan B
talk to the assistant and make sure that the box you buy does have what you need .....
also check that the output frequency is between chanel 21 and 69

[vehelpfulguy]

> if he buys a Freeview Box, can he connect it to his old TV, so he gets the channels by satellite.

Just to clarify, you dont get the signal from Freeview via satellittte.

You get it via your aerial, the same as your existing analogue TV programs.

The only difference is the signals will be digital rather than analogue.

The Freeview box picks the digital signals up and converts them to analogue to be shown on the TV.

He MAY need to get a new aerial as some older aerials are not very good for picking up digital signals.

[vehelpfulguy]

One other thing.

Dont let the TV industry talk him into thinking he needs to buy a plasma or LCD TV to pick up digital TV.

There are plenty of good CRT TVs out there, and they can all work with digital. With the advent of flat screens these CRTs have really dropped in price.

You can get a good CRT TV for between �100 and �200 (depending on screen size).

Why dont the family club together and buy him one for Xmas?.

A moderm TV will have a scart socket so it will be easy to connect up Freeview.

[vehelpfulguy]

For example here is a 21" CRT TV for under 90 pounds

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-4530.aspx

and here is a 28" CRT for about 180 pounds

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-0950.aspx

(It says out of stock for the second TV, but it is just an example, you can get a TV like this from Comet, Currys, Woolworths, Argos, Homebase etc)

[plowter]

Hi ACtheTROLL. I always thought that to get Freeview you needed to connect a set-top box to a TV with the SCART connections. Does it depend on the Freeview box?

[smurfchops]

Thanks for your help, everyone :)

[WoWo]

"I always thought that to get Freeview you needed to connect a set-top box to a TV with the SCART connections. Does it depend on the Freeview box?"

Does depend on your free view box, the one I have can do either scart of a standard ariel socket for older TV's.

[ACtheTROLL]

plowter

me old mum got a cheapie from the local electrical shop (about �20) strangely ... there was an ariel out (most cheapies I've seen are the other way round)

the guy who runs the shop bought up a batch specifically for the oldies who are still running valves ;-)

the box is still going .... sadly her telly isn't