Elisa cable connection question

[Sideshow Bob]

Hi,
I've just moved to a house with Elisa cable, and the cable works fine, no problems. But, if I try to connect up my DVR which has a built in digital tuner instead of the cable box I get no channels at all

So does this mean that the signal Elisa run in to my house does not also have the terrestrial digital signal, only the Elisa cable signal? Even if I have cable I should be able to connect a TV with a built in digital tuner to another aerial socket in the house and get the standard channels?

[sinikala]

I've just moved to a house with Elisa cable, and the cable works fine, no problems. But, if I try to connect up my DVR which has a built in digital tuner instead of the cable box I get no channels at all

So does this mean that the signal Elisa run in to my house does not also have the terrestrial digital signal, only the Elisa cable signal?

Sounds about right. Presumably you have a DVB-T PVR.

Even if I have cable I should be able to connect a TV with a built in digital tuner to another aerial socket in the house and get the standard channels?

Doubt it. If you have a separate feed from a roof aerial, perhaps, but it sounds unlikely. Doesn't make much sense to run two sets of cables to each apartment does it?

Much of the cabling which suits (DVB-C digiboxes) predates the implementation of DVB-T technology which has only been in use here for a few years.

Depends where you live, but a small indoor aerial might be enough to do the trick.

[Sideshow Bob]

But it wouldn't take 2 sets of cables, both signals would share the same. This was no problem in my previous house where I had canal+ and that carried both signals.

also this house is very new so the age of the cabling is not a problem.

It just seems unlikely that to get terrestrial TV in many rooms I would need multiple cable receivers. a Digi TV or digi box from anywhere should be enough

[sinikala]

But it wouldn't take 2 sets of cables, both signals would share the same. This was no problem in my previous house where I had canal+ and that carried both signals.

also this house is very new so the age of the cabling is not a problem.

Ummm... you misunderstand what I meant about age / infrastructure.

The cabling in the house probably carries a TV signal originating from under the pavement... not one connected to to an aerial anywhere near you. i.e. you get what the cable company pumps down it ... DVB-C ... not what you would like which is DVB-T.

In your old house ... if you had Canal+ and normal channels through the same wire... is it possible that you had Canal+ (digital) and normal channels (analogue)?

Perhaps I'm talking through my hat, but squirting DVB-T and DVB-C signals down the same wire sounds unlikely to me... though there are some pros who post on here who know much better.

It just seems unlikely that to get terrestrial TV in many rooms I would need multiple cable receivers. a Digi TV or digi box from anywhere should be enough

That's what we have ... 3 digiboxes.

And now you understand why TVs here are starting to ship with both DVB-T and DVB-C capability. Digi TVs with just DVB-T will still need a DVB-C box if you have cable in your building.

I suspect the answer is to go out and buy a new PVR.

[Sideshow Bob]

Hi,
well, there's no problem with the DVR, it's just inconvenient having to program both the digibox and the DVR to record something but that's not the end of the world. It's mainly there as a home cinema system anyway so no biggie.
Did some research last night and Elisa are sending the old analogue RF signal so people can tune to those channels if they like. I guess I has assumed they would do the same with the DVB-T as I thought they couldn't make houses dependant on their signal.

ah well, thanks for the info. Not a crisis I was just interested

[Jukka Aho]

Perhaps I'm talking through my hat, but squirting DVB-T and DVB-C signals down the same wire sounds unlikely to me... though there are some pros who post on here who know much better.

Welho (another cable tv operator) does just that: they rebroadcast the multiplexes A and B in both DVB-T and DVB-C formats in their network, for the benefit of those who may haved moved into a cable home from a terrestrial home. (However, the continuation of the DVB-T service in their network is not guaranteed. IIRC, the next time they’re going to reconsider that will be in 2009.)

I suspect the answer is to go out and buy a new PVR.

You see these trade-in offers in classified ads and on buy/sell forums (such as sfnet.tori.*) from time to time: people will want to trade their expensive DVB-T PVR – such as a Topfield – to a DVB-C version of the same device, or vice versa.

[Jukka Aho]

Did some research last night and Elisa are sending the old analogue RF signal so people can tune to those channels if they like.

Yes – for the time being, all cable operators are doing that. But according to the original plans, all cable operators were to switch off analog channels already on September 1st – the same day when the analog terrestrial broadcasts were switched off. However, due to the then-poor availability of DVB-C equipment – especially tv sets with integrated DVB-C tuners – this planned switch-off was postponed for February 2008, as far as the cable networks were concerned.

Now, we’ll see about what will actually happen in February (there has been some fierce debate about it, and some think the switch-off date will be postponed again), but whatever the actual switch-off date will be, the analog cable channels are likely to disappear sooner or later, anyway. If not in February, then in a couple of years time, at the latest. (The analog channels consume just too much of valuable bandwidth that the cable operator could put in a more lucrative use for Internet connections, HD channels, etc.)

I guess I has assumed they would do the same with the DVB-T as I thought they couldn't make houses dependant on their signal.

They’re obliged to carry the free terrestrial channels as a part of their “free”, unencrypted basic service (i.e., among those channels which you can view without having to get a subscription card from the operator) – but they’re not obliged to carry them in the DVB-T format.

People who are moving from a cable home to a terrestrial home face the same problem but in reverse: their existing DVB-C equipment will not work for receiving the terrestrial (DVB-T) channels. Considering that about half ot the Finns get their tv via cable and the other half via rooftop antenna, dual-standard equipment would be most welcome on the market, and some new tv sets now indeed do come with both DVB-T and DVB-C tuners built into the same set.