MagicTV - 3700TD - No Channels found

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Morgenmuffel

631 posts

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#93301 17-Nov-2011 18:17

Okey doke after reading this forum, I decided to blow my money on a magictv doohickey as it seemed the most popular.

Plugged it in and everything and it can't seem to find any channels.

I am running the aerial directly into the Magic TV box and then running the loop-out aerial connector to my tvs aerial in, If i switch to my TV i can view the freeview channels, so they are definitely there.

My aerial is 2 aerials both a UHF and a VHF coming into a splitter, This is amplifified as well as we don't seem to get any signal without the amp.

I have read other threads that have said this is common with too much signal, or with a VHF aerial attached interfering.

I don't suppose there is any way to test with out

a) Spending lots of money OR

b) disconnecting the vhf aerial

And on a completely different note

HDMI cables, I knew i should have got one when I purchased the magictv box, given that the magic TV box is unlikely to be very far from the TV what should i be paying for one?

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

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90 posts

Master Geek

#546624 17-Nov-2011 18:52

An HDMI cable on Trade Me is $10-$15. The lack of channels will be because of the VHF. You don't have to disconnect it, just buy a diplexer. Use it in reverse, ie: connect the output to the aerial, and connect the UHF input to the Magic. You'll probably need an extra couple of connectors to use it in reverse. If you get it from Dick Smith, you have 2 weeks to return it if it doesn't work.

Morgenmuffel

631 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#546639 17-Nov-2011 19:37

Cheers I'll have a look for one tomorrow as I'm in Matamata which should have a better selection of shops than here, so much for recording SGU tonight

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#546692 17-Nov-2011 21:57

Stupid question.
How have you connected it to your TV?
Presumably not just the the coax to Tv input?

illicit

553 posts

Ultimate Geek

#546725 18-Nov-2011 07:19

Morgenmuffel:
I am running the aerial directly into the Magic TV box and then running the loop-out aerial connector to my tvs aerial in, If i switch to my TV i can view the freeview channels, so they are definitely there.

Morgenmuffel

631 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#546735 18-Nov-2011 07:59

B1GGLZ: Stupid question.
How have you connected it to your TV?
Presumably not just the the coax to Tv input?

Not sure what you mean?

as mentioned in the previous post the aerial connector goes from the aerial (via the diplexor and amp) to the magictv box ant in connector, then the magic tv is connected using its ant loop out connector to the TVs ant in.

The TV works perfectly in this scenario, it gets all the channels it previously did, but the magictv box just can't find any channels.

The aerial signal is going through the magicTV box, otherwise the tv wouldn't have a signal either.

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

CraigHumphrey

61 posts

Master Geek

#546762 18-Nov-2011 09:18

Hey Morgan,

I think the question is how do you see what the MTV is displaying? If your only connection between the MTV and your TV is the aerial, then the TV wont be able to display what the MTV is seeing. You need to connect the MTV via HDMI or Composite.

I don't believe the MTV works like classic VCRs, where you can tune the TV to the channel that the VCR "broadcasts" over the aerial cable.

I'm surprised you're having trouble with the combo of VHF and HF aerials. I have both attached quite happily and given that the TV doesn't have a problem, the MTV _should_ be fine.

Hope that helps.

Later'ish
Craig

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#546779 18-Nov-2011 10:04

Morgenmuffel:
Not sure what you mean?

I mean what physical connections (cables) do you have between the Magic TV and the TV.
As far as I can tell from the manual the Magic TV doesn't have any rf out so the Tv can't tune to the Magic Tv like a VCR. It only has rf passthrough so your TV can still tune channels via its inbuilt tuner.
To see what the Magic TV is tuning it must connect to Tv via Composite, component or HDMI cable and most like HDMI may be the only HD output.
So as the last poster says, how do you know the Magic TV is not locating channels?

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Spyware

3761 posts

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#546796 18-Nov-2011 10:35

Morgenmuffel:
B1GGLZ: Stupid question.
How have you connected it to your TV?
Presumably not just the the coax to Tv input?

Not sure what you mean?

as mentioned in the previous post the aerial connector goes from the aerial (via the diplexor and amp) to the magictv box ant in connector, then the magic tv is connected using its ant loop out connector to the TVs ant in.

The TV works perfectly in this scenario, it gets all the channels it previously did, but the magictv box just can't find any channels.

The aerial signal is going through the magicTV box, otherwise the tv wouldn't have a signal either.

Wouldn't it be very odd to buy a digital set top box and then expect to tune to an analog PAL signal on an RF channel to view its decoded channels (which negates the benefit of improved image quality from digital transmission) or do you expect a DVB-T transmission to your TV??

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PimpMyMagic

267 posts

Ultimate Geek

#546856 18-Nov-2011 12:41

Actually Ross, not totally, given that TVNZ were running a programme a few months back, advising viewers they didn't have to give up their beloved old TV sets when they couldn't afford a new digital one.

They advised that all that was needed was one of these nifty set-top boxes to plug into it and they'd be sweet.
They neglected to mention the need of a UHF aerial and being in a suitable coverage area.

I wondered where you got a STB with an RF modulated output but I recently read specs for some DishTV units which do claim to have these built in.

(Yes I know the MTVs certainly don't have this)

Morgenmuffel

631 posts

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#547024 18-Nov-2011 17:50

OK

You all know how the aerial is hooked up,

The magictv box is connected to the TV via the composite cable (that come with the magic tv box), so i can tell its not getting any channels because when I set the tv to composite, and go through the magicTV setup (the setup appears on the tv screen), i see it scan for channels and not find any

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

fatjulio

90 posts

Master Geek

#547027 18-Nov-2011 18:03

You're definitely in a Freeview HD reception area?

Morgenmuffel

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#547028 18-Nov-2011 18:05

Yep, I watch Terrestrial freeview on my TV currently, i just want to be able to record some decent TV which tends to be outside of prime time which is too damn late for me to stay up and watch

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

Morgenmuffel

631 posts

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#547057 18-Nov-2011 20:25

Ok I have tried using a diplexor, makes no difference, tried setting it backwards, forwards etc, it doesn't remove any signal.

Is there a link for a signal attenuateor somewhere,

seriously starting to think of pulling the vhf out of the splitter/amp on the aerial and running it seperatly to the old TV at the other end of the house, so i just have uhf coming through the aerial to the main TV.

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

fatjulio

90 posts

Master Geek

#547078 18-Nov-2011 21:29

So you tried aerial connected to the diplexer output, and magic connected to the diplexer UHF input? That worked for me, I had no channels, then with this it got everything.

Morgenmuffel

631 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#547162 19-Nov-2011 09:02

Yep first thing I tried, and even set like that I can still receive the analogue VHF signals on my freeview tv thats connected to the magicTV box via the aerial loopback connector, so i assume it passes everything through in reverse rather than filtering out everything but the UHF.

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

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