[mad mick]

Hi,

Ive just ordered the Toshiba 36ZP48 Tv and RDXS32 recorder and was wondering
what the connections will be before it arrives on thursday. I know both have
component, so have ordered the lead for this, but my biggest worry is my NTL cable
tv connection as my box is very old and only has an RF connection (no scart), so
how/where does this connect to and what sort of sound can I expect via the
speakers that come with the Tv ?. Also, will I need any sort of audio cables
as ive only ordered the component one.

Any help/info would be much appreciated.

[spocktra]

The sound from the supplied speakers is very good.You will need a optical or twin rca for sound if you are using component cables.Might be worth getting the pro-stand 3s for the surround speakers.Good luck.

[swin70]

Upgrade to NTL digital? We have it and I would prefer sky, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper on the basic package, especially if you have the phone line as well.

[mad mick]

Originally Posted by spocktra

The sound from the supplied speakers is very good.You will need a optical or twin rca for sound if you are using component cables.Might be worth getting the pro-stand 3s for the surround speakers.Good luck.

Thought I might need the audio cables, so will sort that out. Can't afford the
stands at the mo, but will be looking into it when cash allows.

[mad mick]

Originally Posted by swin70

Upgrade to NTL digital? We have it and I would prefer sky, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper on the basic package, especially if you have the phone line as well.

Not looked at upgrading, mainly due to having a chipped box which gives me
just about all I need, hence the reason for wanting to know the connections.

[mad mick]

Following on from my original post, I presume my connections will be:-

sat wall socket to catv on sat box (this can't go any other way)

outside-ant to ant-in on sat box.

tv-out on sat box to rf-in on rdxs32

rf-out on rdxs32 to ant socket on 36zp48 tv.

Can anyone confirm this as being correct.

[swin70]

Prety much, I would also suggest a SCART lead from the recorder to TV if avliable, this will give a slightly better picture (AV2 as this is not RGB - I think).

One other thing, you probably wont need the external arial. NTL supply the analogue channels 1-5 plus a couple of other in the normal UHF bands that can be picked up by a standard analogue TV tuner. These are usualy a better signal than is evedent from the analogue signal supplied by an arial. The only reason you may what to keep the external arial is if you wish it get a Freeview box.

[mad mick]

Originally Posted by swin70

Prety much, I would also suggest a SCART lead from the recorder to TV if avliable, this will give a slightly better picture (AV2 as this is not RGB - I think).

One other thing, you probably wont need the external arial. NTL supply the analogue channels 1-5 plus a couple of other in the normal UHF bands that can be picked up by a standard analogue TV tuner. These are usualy a better signal than is evedent from the analogue signal supplied by an arial. The only reason you may what to keep the external arial is if you wish it get a Freeview box.

Thanks for the reply Chris,

Im going to be using component from recorder to tv. The only reason I was
going to use the external antenna is so that I can record normal tv channels
while watching ntl or a dvd.

[swin70]

As I said, NTL broacast the normal 5 channels down the cable (or do in our area) along with a few others. For us it's S4C, E4 and News 24, but people in other areas get different channels.

To see if these channels are broadcast, shove the NTL cable connection diretly into the RF input on any old TV (without going through the box) and try and tune the TV. If you pick up any channels you don't need the outside arieal as they will be of a far better quality than your arieal reception. Some of the later DigiBoxes block these analogue channels but I'm sure the old analogue boxes allow them to pass through. If not you can simply split the signal before the box then join them again after.

[mad mick]

Originally Posted by swin70

As I said, NTL broacast the normal 5 channels down the cable (or do in our area) along with a few others. For us it's S4C, E4 and News 24, but people in other areas get different channels.

To see if these channels are broadcast, shove the NTL cable connection diretly into the RF input on any old TV (without going through the box) and try and tune the TV. If you pick up any channels you don't need the outside arieal as they will be of a far better quality than your arieal reception. Some of the later DigiBoxes block these analogue channels but I'm sure the old analogue boxes allow them to pass through. If not you can simply split the signal before the box then join them again after.

Oh im with you now Chris, I never knew that, so thanks very much for the
info, i'll try it out tomorrow and see what happens.

[mad mick]

NTL does indeed broadcast the normal 5 channels down the cable (tried your
suggestion this morning Chris), so looks like its time to go and get a splitter
and some connectors.

[swin70]

Ok, You need a decent splitter - still only five quid from mapplins. Such as http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Modu...dID=&doy=30m12.

You will obviously also need a decent coaix cable with F-type to F-type ends (to feed the NTL DigiBox), and one with an F-Type to RF male (or relevant adapters) (to feed the TV/Video). Most of these bit can also be found at maplin.

Then enjoy a decent analogue signal.