Digispy

My idea
How about this:
A little black box
This box is placed, like a booster, between the main aerial and the tv modulator.
The box recieves all signals in digital format, converts them to analogue, and rebroadcasts them ALL to the tv/vcr modulator
The tv/vcr then doesn’t know the difference and acts as normal

Why is this not possible? DTT boxes recieve all signals in digital format, and the tuner for some daft reason is always built in to the box. Anyone know why this is? The eventual signal that reaches the tv/vcr is always analogue via the rf output.
Why not have the box only as a plain decoder which decodes the signals from digital and rebroadcasts them to the existing equipment?

For pay tv this method won’t work, but why not have a simple box which old Grannys can go out, buy, and plug in between the aerial and tv to watch channels previously broadcast on analogue? – problem solved!
Has nobody came up with this idea yet? Are there problems with the idea? I can’t see any….

comments? am I talking rubbish?

Details for ITV Digital’s Seca 2 rollout have this week been announced! According to an official press release, the digital terrestrial provider will issue its new Seca 2 viewing cards throughout April, and will then switch-over to Seca 2 encryption in early May.

The news will undoubtedly come as a shock to the many thousands of unofficial ITV Digital viewers who will lose access to the service once the new Seca 2 encryption system is introduced.

ITV Digital, on the other hand, must surely be hoping that its introduction of Seca 2 will force a high percentage of unofficial viewers to take out paid-for access, bringing a much needed cash-injection to what believe is a company on the brink of closure.

Well, after making the mistake of renewing my pre-pay in August, I’ve decided that the time has come to get Sky Digital. However, I’d like to see if I can use my pre-pay up in a certain way.

I quite like the ITV Sport Channel, and as its not on Sky yet, it will be nice to still get it. So….. I’ve pre-paid the ammount to get all the primary channels (£120 for a year). What I’d like to do is change to having the smallest number of primary channels you can have (which I believe now is 6, not 1) and have the ITV Sport Channel.

Now if I were paying monthly, it would cost £12.99 a month for all the primary channels. To have 6 primary channels costs £9.99 a month (and if that 1 primary channel package still exists its £6.99 a month). So the cost of 6 Primary channels and ITV Sport is £16.98 a month. What I would like to do, as my pre-pay is basically worth £12.99 a month, is to change to that package and pay the £4 difference. If only it were that easy…….

I phoned up ITV Digital tonight and ‘tested the water’ on this idea. Until recently I haven’t had any problems with the customer services and OND/ITVD. That was until I found out that instead of taking £14 out of my account, they’d taken almost £30. They refunded it as a ‘credit’, but it took for me to notice on my statement and complain for it to be refunded directly to me. So when I called up tonight, I spoke to a clearly inexperienced guy- who basically said that I had pre-paid for primary channels, and couldn’t change. All I could do was add the ITV Sport channel on top.

This quite annoyed me. Maybe I should have read the terms and conditions more closely when I renewed, but there was no mention of being locked into a certain channel package. They are quite happy for me to add premium channels, but not to slightly alter my primary channels.

I would think, given their current state, they should be quite keen to please any of their customers. So, what should I do? Can anyone suggest something? Phoning back and trying to speak to another person? Threatening to leave completly and demanding a refund because of shoddy service? They have after all broken the direct debit agreement- I think? Can anyone help with any suggestions? Much apperciated if you can.

when ondigital finnaly changes over to ITV Digital will there be more channels? if so will the prices be going up?

AndyB

Admin edit: Link removed – please input the url into your profile so that the ‘home’ link is activated.

If I have been viewing ITV (channel 3) and wish to change channels I cannot do so on the remote control number pad. For example if I select channel 1 the little green square channel number appears then dissappears on the right hand side of the screen but nothing else happens. The + – buttons still work as does the select button. The other channels seem unaffected by this. Does anyone know the cause of this? BTW I have a Philips STB.

Why does it take sometimes more than a few seconds to change the BBC channels over, if it is because they have their digital text connected to their channels why would it affect the lengt of tim it takes to switch channels, also OVview is crap…

Does anyone know if it Is it possible for people who maintain web sites to pre load changes in advance eg monthly events that change for a club? Thanks.

what’s the easiest way to do this?

do vm effectively lease a static IP or will switching off the modem for a few minutes do this.

it’s for a mate who’s VM IP appears to be in the US and so can’t properly access the bbc.

cheers n

How do you either change to a dyna IP or change it yourself?

I am getting a new PC that is supplied with Vista Home Premium and need to swop over the broadband connection … I have an NTL Broadband Modem and the PC is connected by an Ethernet or LAN cable … I don’t have a router as there is only one PC in the house.

My six year old PC is fitted with XP … Is it just a simple matter of swopping over the cable to the new PC … I had to use a CD-ROM when I put the Broadband onto the old PC about six years ago …

Will I need a new CD.

Any help would be gratefully received.