dear all,

just recently, i've realised that i cannot watch normal (analogue) TV without turning on the dv- b420

how the boxes are currently connected:

- external antenna -> VCR -> dv- b420 -> TV
- dv- b420 -> TV (scart to scart)
- dv- b420 -> VCR (composite)
- dv- b420 -> amp (digital optical link)

if i just want to watch TV without involving the dv- b420, it can't be done. i get sound out of the TV but NO image and naturally both image (digital) and sound is there whenever i turn on the STB.

i did notice that if i unattach the scart cable, the analogue signal is restored to the TV, thus, i am thinking the fault maybe with the STB.

before we all suspect the scart cable, i had a kone STB a couple month back and was able to watch TV in analgoue format before i swapped it for the dv-b420.

i did play with the configuration in the dv-b420 and if i set the SCART signal to s-video, analogue signal is now restored but digital TV image quality is very noticeably bad when i turn it on.

anyone else encountered such an issue? any solutions?

thanx in advance

Ok, first up, connect your antenna directly to the STB, you wanna preserve the best reception and get it straight to the STB. Having it on the end of a daisy chain can result in reception issues and possibly more electrical noise.

The reason you may not be getting the analogue signal through might have something to do with the VCR. Try using its TV/VCR setting which toggles whether the VCR acts as a loop through or outputs the VCR signal. It is strange that you can get sound but not picture...the only way I can get my DV-B420 to recreate this is to connect my TV's audio/video out sockets to a VCR and try and record and the result is sound but no picture. I think this has something to do with the TV's circuitry not being able to convert the component signal that the TV is displaying to a composite signal out of the back.

My setup is the antenna connected to the STB, then the VCR, then the TV and it all works regardless of what is turned on or off. Try doing this.

Also, I must warn you that the sound quality (and possibly picture quality) will decrease if you are using the SCART connection and the composite connection on the DV-B420 at the same time. There is some technical explanation for this but I am unsure exactly why it happens. If you crank the volume up you should notice the sound is a bit distorted and fuzzy.

Ioki,

Just read your post about not being able to get ch2 when you have the antenna connected to the STB first. Try the TV/VCR setting on your VCR. If your VCR doesnt have this function it's gonna be a problem. I recently got rid of a 2 year old Sony VCR for a 6 year old Akai VCR cos the Sony didn't have a TV/VCR setting and the result was a poorer picture quality for all channels, and there was no way of fixing it.

If none of this works then I would guess there is something wrong with your STB as the connection/disconnection of the SCART cable shouldn't have anything to do with the RF signal that is going through the loop-through.

> Ok, first up, connect your antenna directly to the STB, you wanna
> preserve the best reception and get it straight to the STB. Having
> it on the end of a daisy chain can result in reception issues and
> possibly more electrical noise.

will try that tonight.

> The reason you may not be getting the analogue signal through
> might have something to do with the VCR. Try using its TV/VCR
> setting which toggles whether the VCR acts as a loop through or
> outputs the VCR signal. It is strange that you can get sound
> but not picture...

i had no idea a VCR can do that.. i just assume it always does the
loop through and if one does connect the VCR to the TV also via
composite and when i switch the TV to the appropriate "video IN"
slot, image transmission from the VCR will show also... this is
currently how i've hooked up the VCR and it was also like this
before the STB came along.

> My setup is the antenna connected to the STB, then the VCR,
> then the TV and it all works regardless of what is turned on or
> off. Try doing this.

*nods*.. have tried this already. the same no image and yes to
sound problem persists, but now i get the added "bonus" of one
very dodgy channel 2 analogue reception via the VCR
(as per other posting)

hence i'd like to leave it at antenna -> VCR -> STB -> TV as it
resolves one issue

> Also, I must warn you that the sound quality (and possibly
> picture quality) will decrease if you are using the SCART connection
> and the composite connection on the DV-B420 at the same

that's quite a dodgy box as the box comes with 1 X SCART and 1
X composite... one would exepct both to work.. alas sound is not
an issue for me tho... altho, i've never tried just unhooking the
composite cables off the back of the teac.. will also try that tonight

>If none of this works then I would guess there is something wrong
> with your STB

i did call Teac and they advised for me to take the box to Seven hills for
a health check up... i'd much rather return it to the store and try my luck
on another unit.


oh.. this was a problem with software 1.00 and i upgraded it to 1.0.2 (or 1?) in
the hope that it was going to fix it.. i was little too optimistic!!

The TV/VCR function only controls what comes out of the RF out, the composite out will work regardless, as you mentioned.




You mean you got a SCART and a composite cable? Mine was bought a couple months ago and it only came with composite!

This is really peculiar, because if you watch normal analogue TV you are watching it through the RF cable which carries both sound and picture signals, so if you are losing just the picture then it doesn't make sense at all! It must be dodgy hardware somewhere along the line, either a bad RF cable or something connected to the RF cable is ruining the signal.

Let me get this right - your RF cable from your antenna is going to the VCR, looping out to the STB, then looping out to the TV. This should work either completely or not at all! I can't imagine how you are losing just the picture.

> You mean you got a SCART and a composite cable? Mine was bought a couple months ago and it only came with composite

*nods*... SCART and the digital optical were the major reasons why i went for the dv-b420 (sub $200 stb category)

>Let me get this right - your RF cable from your antenna is going to the VCR, looping out to the STB, then looping out to the TV. This should work either completely or not at all! I can't imagine how you are losing just the picture.

yep.. you got the "picture" right... the interesting thing was, when i had the antenna it going to the stb -> vcr -> tv, analogue TV signal was picked up by the VCR (albit channel 2 was dodgy) and with the kaon, analogue signal was received by ALL no matter what the set up was and with the exact same set of cables.

and the fact that analogue signal WILL be picked by the TV when i tweak the menu setting for the scart signal output from RGB to s-video, its even more mystifying!!

oh and the suggestions didn't work out. =(
thanx heaps for making them tho!!!

>It must be dodgy hardware somewhere along the line, either a bad RF cable or something connected to the RF cable is ruining the signal.

hence i am suspecting the STB as the problem is kind of connected to it.. i wonder if its the interested scart implemention TEAC has.. this is taking into consideration that any normal SCART -> S-Video cables don't work properly and it requires specific modified ones..

That's quite bizarre!

I think you are right about the STB being the problem. You should be entitled to a refund or exchange from the retailer. If you bought it a while ago Teac should definitely do an exchange for you, I"ve heard they are prettty good for exhanges.

Ioki,

Just a thought,

Is it possible that it is the TV that is the issue and not the STB at all ? You said that removing the Scart allowes the RF to work - this sounds like the TV is automatically detecting its input signals and selecting the appropriate input. With a signal pesent on the scart it selects that - without, it tries the RF input.


The poor picture quality on S- video is just the fact that the 420 s-video signal is on a different pin in the Scart connector than normal. In fact what you woud actually be seeing is composite video without the colour subcarrier filtered ie more defined dots than usual. See other threads in this forum to rewire the connector to get true S-video or ask Teac to send one to you - which they will - usually for free. The true s-video output on the 420 is first class quality.

It appears that if you can fix the s-video problem your first problem may also be resolved.
Good luck

DAC

> other threads in this forum to rewire the connector to get true S-video or ask Teac to send one to you - which they will - usually for free. The true s-video output on the 420 is first class quality.

yeah.. i could bite the bullet and go with the scart -> s-video cable (have it already from teac), but that would render my scart to scart cable useless.. =p

interesting question about could it be the TV, i didn't think so as when i had the kaon stb, i did not encounter the issue i am having now with the analogue signal, hence i didn't think the problem is at the TV end

> It appears that if you can fix the s-video problem your first problem may also be resolved.

*yep* the problem does go away if i use the scart -> s-video cable, but then, the TV won't auto detect the wide screen signal from the STB will auto switch to wide screen mode.. =p

i will most likely take it back to the retailer and get an exchange to see if its indeed the unit.

No point in using scart to scart as the Teac SVIDEO uses non-standard pins.
Now.. you mention you are using SCART-SCART, why aren't you using RGB then! This is *the* best method of connecting, and WSS/AV/etc will then work as expected, and the picture will be superb. Most TVs with SCART will support RGB on at least one of the SCART connectors.
Actually, even when using an SVIDEO cable, WSS should still work (then again, the Teac box is fairly cheap... I know the Topfield STB will insert the WSS into the VBI signal, and any PAL heritage TV that autosenses the WSS will still aspect switch using composite or svideo, well at least my Loewe does this fine when I tested it out to verify that Topfield got the WSS into VBI code working correctly).

When you choose RGB, the STB will also send out composite in full colour, which is perfect for sending off to the AV on a VCR for recording if you so wish.

One final option for you if the Teac box isn't sending WSS on VBI, or your TV doesn't understand WSS on VBI, and your TV doesn't support RGB on SCART is to somehow rewire the SCART-SCART cable to swap over the signals so that you can get SVIDEO over SCART-SCART to your TV.

Regards

> Now.. you mention you are using SCART-SCART, why aren't you using RGB then! This is *the* best method of connecting, and WSS/AV/etc

indeed i am... the teac system menu is configured for RGB as the signal type. i do get the best result for picture quality out of it

> When you choose RGB, the STB will also send out composite in full colour, which is perfect for sending off to the AV on a VCR for recording if you so wish.

only if one's VCR will accept SCART.. =)

> somehow rewire the SCART-SCART cable to swap over the signals so that you can get SVIDEO over SCART-SCART to your TV.

i am assuming the above intereting wiring out of the teac box is the reason why TEAC offers free scart -> s-video cables for purchasers of dv-b420!!!

Well, I was referring to the signals compatible and running in the system.
If you choose RGB, then if your STB has a seperate composite output, then this will be full colour. If your STB has dual-SCART, then you can hookup one of those SCART-6RCA AV/L&Raudio IN/OUT leads to the VCR scart connector, and connect all 6 cables to the VCR AV IN/out, and get full colour composite to the VCR while getting full quality RGB to the TV.
You can't ask for a better setup than this?
Regards