Purchased this Panasonic today because our old Panasonic DVD recorder died after five years good work. We told them at the store that we cannot receive Freeview in our area and in order to get eg Channel 5 and BBC three & four etc we have Sky Freesat. We have tried to set the DVD recorder up but all we get is 'no stations found' both in auto and manual modes. It appears from reading the instruction book that this machine only works with a digital aerial which of course we don't have. Is this correct and have we purchased the wrong product? Any help will be appreciated.

[ramjet]

yes , panasonic models are freeview only , no analogue

you can record from the sky box using a scart lead and selecting the correct input

[Gavtech]

The chances are that you will be able to receive Freeview after the analogue switch off.
Do you know how soon that will be in your area?

[ Send me your postcode via private mail if you do not know and I will look it up. ]

thanks for your responses.

Gavtech

We will be the last area to switch to digital so not in the foreseeable future.

Ramjet

We don't seem to be able to set up the DVD recorder at all - appears not to be possible to tune in any TV channels. So do we need to take this machine back to change it for one that works in areas that don't get digital yet (do they still manufacture those?)

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by twizzle

thanks for your responses.

Gavtech

We will be the last area to switch to digital so not in the foreseeable future.

Ramjet

We don't seem to be able to set up the DVD recorder at all - appears not to be possible to tune in any TV channels. So do we need to take this machine back to change it for one that works in areas that don't get digital yet (do they still manufacture those?)

If you connect a scart lead from the Sky freesat box [ TV output socket] to AV2 [ bottom scart socket] of the EX78... and then select AV2 as the input on the EX78 [ It will show as A2 on the display ] you will be able to see and record the sky channels from the freesat box.

To select AV2 use the channel up/down buttons on the EX78 remote and go backwards through the channels 4,3,2,1, etc and keep on going , cycling through the AV inputs until you reach A2.

Try that and see if you think such an arrangement will suit you.


If not, your best alternative is to return the unit and get a Sony machine [RDR HXD890 ] which has both an analogue and a digital tuner on board that will tide you over until the analogue switch-off... but note that it will be generally harder to operate than the Panasonic.

Thank you for your help.

After trying to get hold of the retailer all day I finally have just spoken to them. The Panasonic apparently (as mentioned here) will record from Freesat but not our usual TV channels! They have suggested swapping it for a LG RHT397h but having read the blurb about it I don't see anything that says it has analogue as well as digital. I will find out if they do the Sony one recommended as it does seem to do what we need and importantly it does say it has both analogue and digital.

[comnut]

get the manual here...
LG DVD Recorder : LG UK

I think the sony looks a lot better though...