Techie Help Needed Please

[jeral Profile]

Ah, I forgot about the HDMI reverting to DTV. I'm out of my depth. It might be that recording as HDMI is what was causing the playback problems mentioned on that forum so perhaps that is how Sony "fixed" it. Still as long as you could still watch as HD, then good ho.

On stripes and settings, do you have a 4:3 Letterbox option? You could try switching to that.

[Alison Wright Profile]

Thanks for your latest comments jeral.

I've been away since Sat afternoon & haven't had a chance to digest them yet. It won't be tonight though - it's a Downton Abbey night!

[jeral Profile]

Hope you're having a lovely worry-free evening

[jeral Profile]

I realised yesterday that your equivalent of my swap button is most likely to be the REC1/REC2 button as yours calls tuners "recorders".

Hope you're speeding ahead and haven't chucked it out of the window yet

[Alison Wright Profile]

Hi again jeral,

I'm not speeding ahead, but it hasn't gone out of the window either I haven't progressed much further with the workings of it & doubt if I will - at least for the moment.

My sister & I are having worrying concerns about our Mum, she'll be 92 in a few weeks & she's causing us real problems which we're finding quite difficult to manage.

But .... I can record & watch play-backs, but it still flips between DTV & HDMI for whatever reason, but that's not a problem, at least I can still watch what I need to. I know I haven't got the full measure of it - but it'll have to do for now. OH doesn't watch much TV & only wants to record the odd programme, so it will do for now, until such times I can apply myself to read the manual through with a clear head.

But I'm grateful for all your advice. Considering all the posters who have viewed this topic -you've been the only one who has bothered to respond & for that I thank you again

[jeral Profile]

Hi Alison Wright. You're right that there's more to worry about in life than a TV gadget.

My best regards for your mum. A friend once said (instructed?) to me simply the word "Fortitude!", which means strength but also implying trying to find inner strength from somewhere when you need it. I hope all three of you find some to carry you forward. Best wishes.

[Alison Wright Profile]

Evening jeral,

Just a quick little update. I haven't had much time to peruse the manual, but by last weekend I worked out how to use the 'timeswitch' (pausing live TV) & how to pause playing back a recording.

I can hear some saying "what's so hard about that" The verbiage in the manual is too technical for my brain, I just kept pressing different buttons & eventually found the right ones.

I'm getting there

NB: Thanks for your best wishes - there's no improvement with Mum, & likely not to be at her age.

[jeral Profile]

Evening Alison Wright. Onwards and upwards

Been a busy evening here so I'm off to sleepybyes soon.

There are other advantages of the pause button, and something which mine calls "Watch from Start" during a recording (so one not yet crystalised as a past recording). I'll try to find the equivalent of what I'm on about in your manual, hopefully tomorrow though can't promise, but sounds like you're getting to know it

[Joanbunting Profile]

Hi again jeral, But I'm grateful for all your advice. Considering all the posters who have viewed this topic -you've been the only one who has bothered to respond & for that I thank you again

Hi Alison

Jeral has been brilliant. I would have helped if i were not far more clueless than you about such things

We got a new TV just before the games and I can still only switch it on and off and switching between box to French TV is a total mystery and as for catch-up and record - useless. I am trying to follow Jeral's advice with limited success.

Sorry to hear about your mum - I know she is much loved and you have the support of your sister too. I'll be thinking of you. It is only when you have been there yourself you appreciate what it all means. No matter how old they are they are always our parents. It is 12 years since Mum died and I still miss her and sometimes think "Must ring Mum and tell her, ask her"

[jeral Profile]

Hi again. Pause-related thingies:

1) “Recording a TV Programme While Watching”
See Page 22 and 23.

This is very useful if you are watching a programme live and get called away. The recording will be saved in your Title List. Then press the Pause button, which will stop your screen display but the recording will continue in real time. I can hear you asking why you don’t just simply pause it. Well, yes, fine, unless you are away for longer than your pause timing is set for. Pausing alone doesn’t record the programme.

Apparently how long your pause alone lasts for before it reverts to live (so have lost any paused time) can be changed (as can mine). Yours are on Page 35, but I haven’t figured out how you access Playback Settings yet. If the default is 30 mins, it’s usually long enough to make a cuppa or answer the phone. See Page 35:

Playback Settings: Time Shift Duration
Sets Time Shift recording time
(“30 Min.”/“1 Hour”/“2 Hours (SD Only)”).

2) After pausing even if live, you can still fast-forward once you resume (i.e. set it going again by pressing the play button). Jolly useful as can fast forward through any ad breaks during the paused time.

3) If you do record whilst watching live, it will be in your Title List once finished (you might be called away for longer than expected). At that point, you can go into the Title List and follow Chase Play instructions:

Playing from the beginning of the programme you are recording (Chase Play).
See Page 25.

If you set the record going half way through a live programme “the beginning of the programme” will be the point at which you started to record it.

4) Record two programmes at once but are also able to watch a recorded one as well:

Yes you can too , as it says so on Page 25, foot of left column:

“You can also play a previously recorded programme while recording programmes (Simultaneous Rec and Play).”

This means that as you (and I) have only two recorders, it’s OK to have two programmes recording simultaneously, but I can let them get on with it, adverts and all, and watch something from my Title List (that I can fast forward through adverts and recaps whatever).

5) An older query as to why your recordings reverted to non-HD. Does this happen with all recordings?

If you look on the EPG (scroll to the programme you want to record), if it’s being broadcast in HD a symbol shows at the bottom of the page. It won't be recorded in HD if not broadcast in HD of course.

Alternatively, does this happen when the TV is switched off by the TV remote, e.g. overnight even though recorder is left on standby? See Page 17 System Power Off about half way down left column.

Page 37 (bottom right) says: Other Settings (Others): “Control for HDMI”

The default is “On”. If it has been turned to Off, try switching it to On.

I “think” it would be via the Sync Menu button the TV’s remote, as noted on Page 17, but just guessing.

This probably covers what I was thinking, so just remains to offer your mum best wishes and hope she is comfortable.

[jeral Profile]

Hi Joanbunting. A lot of peeps around here have either Sky (satellite dish) or Virgin Media (cable) due to not being able to mount external aerials, so not sure how many peeps have recorders/tuners. Mine just happens to be similar to Alison Wright's (though not as fancy). At least a recorder/tuner doesn't mean a monthly fee for life well unless I choose to buy Sky premium channels via the recorder/tuner.

Hope you get to grips with your TV

[Alison Wright Profile]

Evening Joan,

Thanks for your kind thoughts about our Mum, we do look after her - as much as she will let us that is!

I also hope you get to grips with all your techie stuff!

Thanks again jeral,

Wow, that's a lot to take in at one go! I'll be working my way through it, but doubt I'll ever get the full measure of it, buuuuuut ........ it seems to do what I want it to do at the moment

I thought you said you weren't techie !!!

[jeral Profile]

Hi Alison Wright I'm not techie, so always start from the premise that I must be doing something wrong The more things you get "under your belt" in terms of button and screen familiarity, the easier it gets.

Anyway, have you kept your eyes open as you might have a necessary re-tune coming up (it's almost three weeks, being the typical time after initial digital changeover that one is required).

As a reminder, your instructions are on Page 54:

The up or down and left or right arrows and the "+" sign I'm pretty sure refer to the "wheel" in the middle of your DTR remote control, shown as no.11 on Page 8 displaying your remote buttons.

How to re-tune:
1 Press SYSTEM MENU. (Button no.8 on your remote as shown on Page 8.)

2 Select “Channel” using </>, and press +. (On remote "wheel", right or left arrow and centre button of wheel to select.)

3 Select “Channel Scan” using ^/v, and press +. (On remote "wheel", Up or down arrow and then centre button of wheel to select.)

4 Select “Full Rescan” using ^/v, and press +. (On remote "wheel", Up or down arrow and then centre button of wheel to select.)

5 Follow the on-screen instructions.

You can do a full re-scan at any time incidentally, so it's OK to have a practise before you're told to. Don't do it if you're recording something though.

[jeral Profile]

Hi Alison Wright. For some unknown reason, my DTR (your Sony tuner equivalent) tells me today Fri 19th Oct that if I'm missing channels I should do a scan (see last post about your Page 54).

It actually said 19 Sept, but only popped up today (me confused). Anyway, I don't know if I'm missing channels or not, so I've done a scan (not whilst something is recording) as there's no reason not to since a scan can be done at any time. It takes a couple of minutes (less than 5) to run through on mine.

Hope you're still OK.

[Alison Wright Profile]

Afternoon jeral,

For some reason I'd marked on the calendar "Retune?" for Oct 17th & 30th. I can't recall when or why I did it. But for the last ten days or so a message has flashed on screen to say retune on the 17th. (Tyne Tees region)

We've been away for a few days & got back on Fri night (19th) & when I checked - no channels seeemed to be lost - so we haven't needed to do a retune?? I'll wait & see what the 30th brings!

Current status is as I last posted. It's still doing all that I need, so I won't rock the boat by tinkering with it.

OH was fine about the pricey recorder - if I'm fine - he's fine

[jeral Profile]

The channel numbers I personally use seem the same. I seem to have gained some sports channels and religious ones I don't remember having.

If you're happy, see what the 30th brings. A good reason for doing a rescan is to get rid of the irritating pop-up reminder if it's persistently and annoyingly still appearing.

If you find that your programmes are not recording, it might have become out of sync with the clock on your wall. Mine does that occasionally. If so, I switch it off at the plug for a minute or so, then after switching back on, leave it to sort sort itself out for five minutes before doing anything. If you find that now, but didn't before, that would be a reason to do a rescan in case it's now out step.

I was wondering if OH might have been upset. I did read that the TVonics one gave off a loud buzz (fan whirring) even when in standby, which would do my head in. (Mine's almost inaudible so hope yours is also.) Since you couldn't get a TVonics anyway and have got one that's pretty much state of the art, I'd say you did good

Hope mum is holding her own.

[Alison Wright Profile]

The channel numbers I personally use seem the same. I seem to have gained some sports channels and religious ones I don't remember having.

Same here - I'll have a look-see for the sport & religious ones - not that I want them!

If you're happy, see what the 30th brings. A good reason for doing a rescan is to get rid of the irritating pop-up reminder if it's persistently and annoyingly still appearing.

I'll wait for the 30th & see what transpires, no pop-up reminders on screen since we got back. And programmes are still recording fine - two at the same time!

The recorder is noiseless - not a peep from it. OH is totally non-techie, so is more than a bit pleased I've recorded two eps of Classic Car Rescue on channel 5 for him - as we've had a few classic cars over the years - his passion.

Hope mum is holding her own.

Thanks, she's not doing so well just now - but we're keeping a close eye on things.

Edited to add ...... Don't know what happened when I posted this last night - so have just amended hopefully to make more sense!

[jeral Profile]

Hi. I further learned that one of the 19 Sept changes was that HD on Freeview moved to 100-104. Now, I suspect you got that change when you set yours up initially, so see what the 30th brings...

A friend of an ex-partner kept classic cars which he rented out for TV period dramas. My then partner got the bug (he loved Morse's Jag at the time) bought a classic car which sat in the garage. It never worked properly and maintenance was horrendous, until it was rusting away and he finally saw sense and got rid of it. Hope your hubby has had better luck.

[jeral Profile]

@ Alison Wright: I forgot that they're advertising a BBC2 Top Gear Special about Bond's cars over the 50 years past. This coming Monday, 9pm.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/top- ... 2012-10-15

It should already be on your EPG. It'd no doubt be more than your life's worth to miss recording it

[Alison Wright Profile]

My then partner got the bug (he loved Morse's Jag at the time) bought a classic car which sat in the garage. It never worked properly and maintenance was horr[endous, until it was rusting away and he finally saw sense and got rid of it. Hope your hubby has had better luck.

Hi again,
Oh that's such a shame! OH has always been mad on old cars from being seventeen. First was a late 1930's maroon MG TD with a drop-down racing windscreen which his Dad went ballistic about - though he'd kill himself. Then came a silver fibreglass Ford Special - that didn't last long! Next was a 60's Hillman Minx in salmon pink! I loved that car! In quick succession were an MG Midget, a 1960 frog-eyed Sprite, a 1966 Triumph TR3, then an Austin Healey 3000 - all convertibles.

They were always used & enjoyed all summer & laid up all winter when he & an equally obsessed friend rebuilt & pimped them up.

The last one to go in 2011 was my beautiful 1966 'D' reg MGB Roadster in Old English White with red leather interior, chrome bumpers & spoke wire wheels which I bought for myself in 1981 - I had it for 30yrs & it was much loved, & only cost just over £50 a year on a treasured car insurance with Footman-James & free of tax.

The present Ford Focus just can't cut the mustard after so many years of enjoying treasured soft-top cars. Happy days!

Many thanks for the heads up on the Top Gear prog - it will be duly recorded without fail!