kenno

Hi bok12 I assume you have run automatic ch tuning and 7/2 are missing? Have you checked your sig strength via Thomo menu/Channel setup? If you find ch 7/2 are in the red or yellow (while other ch are in the green) then it may well be a reception issue. Do you have any objects in line of sight to transmitters (hills, trees, buildings etc)? I have found my DTI 1500 HD to be very sensitve to the direction my antenna is pointed - slight change in direction can make a big diference in sig strength. You could experiment with your antenna direction and also check that it is horizontal. regards kenno

Sorry - been offline for a few days... AVR=audio visual receiver Accepts audio/video input from STB and other sources and outputs to speakers/TV (I personally only use my little AVR for audio but many folk sent both audio and video thru AVR) You will find a wealth of info on AVR's in the 'home theatre' posts cheers

Yes, your HD STB will need to convert 1080i to 576p for TV display, if that's the only HD input it will accept. I think most (all?) HD STB's will do this but I'm not sure - my Thomson will convert any input to 576p, 720p or 1081i output. A suitable AVR should also be able to convert. cheers kenno

Sydney/Melb have Live8 tonight @ about 8:30pm followed by Wimbledon mens final. In Perth we have Wimbledon @ 8:30pm tonight and Live8 @ 8:30pm MONDAY night - at least we should be in bed by midnight both nights. (next time we may not be so lucky - wonder if I could sneek a toppy into my rack without the wife noticing??) kenno

Here in Perth we won't be getting ANY coverage of the Swans/Collingwood game tonight - no SD, no HD, absolutely nothing! My wife is a 4th generation Collingwood person and I have followed Sydney since mid 80s when they moved up from South Melbourne - my oldest daughter was born in Sydney about the same time. NOT HAPPY WITH OUR NETWORKS! I thought the cricket on 7 was ok with the extra channel for replays - handy when you get home late from work and can catch up with the action. However it seems in the UK up to 6 extra FTA channels are allocated for major sporting events - and we can't even get the Swans/Woods game on one channel here in Perth. kenno

cemalley Thanks for the tip - specs on the pana76DTX40A look pretty good- fine pitch tube and price is in our ball park - we will check it out. regards kenno

Hi all My mum has asked me to buy her a new tv - she has been told an 'integrated' Tv will be easier to use, one less box etc. The Sony KD32NX200 on sale in Perth for $1650 looks to be a good choice for her (although remote has tiny keys). I am more inclined to recommend the KVHX32M31 at $1599 with a $200 SD STB. Are there any owners out there able to comment on PQ, ease of use etc, particularly KD32NX200 owners? thanks kenno

Just for the record, I lost all ch2x from about last Saturday - no signal. My son thought ABC had been flooded which seemed not unreasonable given the rain we have had! However, I eventually resorted to 'DBA Forum' and discovered 'the truth' (well, sort of..) - strange no statements from ABC about this problem. Did an auto rescan on my Thomson 1500DTIHD last night - Ch2x pics returned looking good on SD & HD - sound on SD very poor - HD sound seemed fine - when I get home from work I may try the MPEG setting on SD. Any other Perth Thomson 1500DTI owners out there had problems with ABC? cheers kenno

I don't have this problem with my Palsonic 76WSHD/Thomo1500DTI. My Brighness/Contrast settings are both about 50% via menu system and I rarely change the settings. Great pic with dark or light scenes. What's it like with DVD? If you get the same effect with both DVD and STB then it sounds like a TV fault. Sorry I can't offer more help. kenno

Hi Dominic If your room is small make sure a CRT will fit! Most 76cm CRTs have depth 56cm+, weight 55kg+ ( they are BIG & HEAVY - 86cm even BIGGER). I agree with other posters that the Sony HRs are the best CRTs in both 76 and 86. However the Pana 200A is not far behind. With Sony HX and Pana 200a reported to be available for about $2000 it becomes difficult. Don't think you can go wrong with pana or sony crt. Don't know much about the rest, except Palsonic which I own and am very happy with! With prices crashing, Palsonic have not be as good value as it was 3-6 months ago. Before you buy you must have a STB in mind to match your TV. have fun kenno

Thanks for your review of the 76 Omni HD GreenBoots Should give first time dig tv buyers something to think about.

Nothing wrong with the Denon 1603 for under $800. http://www.audiotrends.com.au/closer-look/...avr1603-ssr.htm <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You must be joking! Denon AVR 1604 is now well under $600 with tosh cable thrown in!

Thanks for the advice AlanH ( & Santa & George) I had planned to buy some, cable, crimping kit, antenna etc and do it myself but now I think I'll call Nic at Northside. Site survey could be usefull. Tazza - sorry to break into your thread and good luck thanks again guys kenno

Hi tazza I'm in Carine and 'went digital' 2 months ago. My advice? If you can go WS/digital then do it! Unlike you I have had years of crappy analogue reception, I now have perfect dig pq on all channels but ch10 gives me intermittent reception problems (my very old antenna I think) Santa's advice is valid. Try to check if you have a good dig signal. Ask around the area etc. If so, dig and WS is the only way to go. good luck kenno ps.. Santa (or George) if you are listening .. Can you offer any explanation why ch10 should be weaker sig in Carine compared to all other channels?

howdy ruthless your problems are very similar to mine - are you in Perth? 1. I get audio drop out with ch10 both thru RCA (direct to TV) and thru optical (via Denon AVR 1604). My video/audio drop out usually occurs simultaneously suggesting I have a signal problem, not STB or AVR problem. 2. Rarely get 'loss of signal' 3. Windy, wet weather makes it much worse and it spreads to other channels ( but my antenna shakes in the wind so I'm not surprised). - Agree with shiny_car about the following - check ch10 sig strength in comparison with other channels, via thomo menu. My ch10 sg strength is low compared with other channels, and I accept that to be the root of my problem. A forum member who lives south of me reports excellent reception on all channels with thomo 1500HD. - check that thomo display mode settings are suitable for plasma (e.g. if HD try HD1 with M1, M2, M3) - consider at least component video cable for best pq. - Are you running audio from thomo thru AV receiver? The thomo firmware upgrade is only to support audio thru AVR's (usually via optical) and is unlikely to make any difference if your audio is direct to TV. - To apply the firmware upgarde I used a male/female 9pin serial cable. USB cable - don't know. I've had my thomo for a couple of months and I'm still on a steep learning curve! good luck kenno

Hi Napalm I loaded up firmware v1.1.1.6 to my thomo DTI 1500HD a few days ago via laptop - no problems. The intructions are quite detailed. Are you sure you followed the instructions exactly? I am STILL getting sound & video drop outs with ch1/10/11/12/13/15, but not with other channels. For some reason ch1/10 is weaker signal than other channels, although they all transmit from same location. Next move is to set up a new antenna close to TV - currently have a 25m run of 20yo RF cable from 20yo antenna which has bits broken off. Quite amazing that my pq is excellent apart from ch1/10 intermittent drop outs best of luck kenno

Hi guys Just a note to say thanks again for the advice, and to report that I came home last weekend with a Denon AVR 1604. Not exactly high end but we are very happy with the 1604. I think I would have been happy with a baby NAD T742 but finally realised that the main useage will be HT (family adicted to DVDs). Also, I have lost a lot of my high frequency hearing due to nerve damage so not I'm the sort of person to get too fussy. Got the 1604 at a good run out price with an optical audio cable thrown in. Hooked up the Denon to my 4 Celestion-Ditton 33's - mains & surrounds only, all set to 'large', no centre, no SW. Never heard my Dittons play so well. With my Luxman the Dittons have always sounded 'bassy' (thought it was my poor hearing) but with the Denon the bass is well defined with a lot more from the mid and high cones (I can still hear bass and mid very well). Family also report easy, pleasant listening. We have played a DVD - (Bruce Willis 'Tears of the Sun') lots of explosions etc, via coax, and it was impressive, even with 4 speakers. Ch 7 HD demo loop sounds good DD thru optical from Thomo. Surprised that I cannot find much DD on HD FTA apart from Ch7 loop - with 9 & 10 HD the Thomo info says 'DD' but the Denon reports - 'PL II' (confirmed by speakers). Have to check my settings again. mungo brush .... I have not been able to find Focal.JM Labs speakers in Perth - wouldn't mind checking out the 'Chorus' range but they seem to be unavailable in Perth. Next move is to try to find a matching centre but my wife says she no longer likes the 'look' of the Dittons and would like new 'good looking' floor standing mains (what they sound like seems secondary to her) - problem solved! Sorry to ramble on but thanks again for helping me get my modest system going. cheers kenno ps.. I have not noticed any additional audio drop out with Thomo thru Denon via optical - I do have reception problems with ch10 from time to time but it seems no worse thru the Denon. I have downloaded the new firmware for Thomo but will not install it for a while so that I can judge any before-after changes.

Hi j4 I've had my palsonic 76wshd for 6 weeks and it's great. Keep in mind that most of us happy 76wshd owners match the tv with a Thomson DTI1500HD STB - as described by Dugby, they work well together. I got my Thomo for $500. If you can get a good working 76wshd + thomo1500hd for about $1750 all up then I think you would have a good deal! Maybe you could ask the store to hook up a thomo to the TV via VGA and display the ch7 demo HD loop - what you see should be very good PQ - if not, don't buy! Sorry I know nothing about the Omni. best of luck kenno

Hi sunmick I'm also in the market for an AV amp and noticed a NAD T742 @ $699 in Perth this week - good price, no doubt reduced because the T743 has been released. My old stereo amp is a Luxman, still working great, and NAD has been recommended to me by a forum member as a 'musical' amp. May not suit your needs but might be worth a look. It seems a bit weak on video input (no component) but does have 5.1 audio inputs which I think can be connected to a DVD-audio player if you ever buy one. I don't intend switching video thru AV amp, and as I have a birthday coming up, I might be grabbing a T742 soon. cheers kenno

Interesting al, Just wondering why you take sig from plasma monitor out back to analogue audio in on HT amp? What do you use that for? ( I have probably missed something here!) kenno <{POST_SNAPBACK}> ah yes didn't explain that one. thats plasma monitor out (audio) via RCAs to an analog input(av2) on the HT amp. Again this is for flexibility. This way can leave the HT amp on one audio input (av2) and for whatever signal you are viewing on the plasma (stb,dvd or vcr) the audio is sent via the rcas from its monitor out to the HT amp. This helps other people out in the family/visitors as less confusion - no need to select inputs on the Ht amp etc. You just get audio coming through the HT amp for whatever you watch on the plasma. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> thanks for that al I will be trying a similar setup when I buy an HT amp - hopefully soon. kenno

Interesting al, Just wondering why you take sig from plasma monitor out back to analogue audio in on HT amp? What do you use that for? ( I have probably missed something here!) kenno

Hi Slayer Yep, my input from Thomo HD STB to TV is direct cable via XGA. This input (and the YPbPr) is for HD only, as described by Dugby above. I have not tested the Thomo to TV via SD (v1,v2,v3) input as yet. My PC has a Leadtek NVIDIA Titanium-500 graphic board which has VGA out (for monitor), S-video out (for TV) and a 'Digital Flat Panel Out' (whatever that is - large connector with many pins). Unfortunately the machines are in different rooms and for various reasons I can't move the PC down to the TV room at present. (No chance of moving the TV(66kg) to the PC!). My nephew and his boys visited last weekend with their XBOX. We connected the XBOX via Palsonic Video3 on the LHS, and within 20 seconds they were playing games at 16X9 with excellent results. all for now and good luck kenno Anyway, I thought one day, I will connect the S-video out to the Palsonic s-video in (Video1,,2 & 3 all have s-video in) and see what

Hi Slayer I'm a newbie but seems to me if you are getting exactly the same geometry problem with a new TV then something other than the TV may be contributing? Good to hear that Palsonic changed the set over. Maybe you could ask them to lend you a STB (they must have lots of STB's for testing etc) - preferably a Thomo HD - and let you tune it in and check the resulting geometry. You would then know if it is a TV or HTPC problem. best of luck kenno

Thanks geoff dugby mungo That's great information - gives me a lot to think about! Guess I'll be looking for an amp + centre first and take it from there bit by bit. Need to have matching mains in mind in case the dittons don't work out. I'm sorta hoping the Thomo STB audio drop out problem is fixed before I buy into an AVR - seems to occur with Sony, Pioneer, Denon and Yamaha at least, based on the posts. Thanks again for taking the time to reply - much appreciated. regards kenno

Hi I have 4 'Celestion Ditton 33' speakers - survivors of the 1970's. They stand 61cm high (large bookshelf?) and have 3 cones each - bass mid treble, 4-8ohms. I'm currently using 2 of these speakers with my PC/SB audigy sound card thru 1970's Luxman amp and the stereo from this setup is excellent. The other 2 dittons are used as coffee tables in the TV room. I'm looking for an AV amp and 5.1 speakers to go with my recently purchased Palsonic76WSHD, Thomo HD STB and Pana s27 DVD. My question is: if I purchase an AV amp (eg Denon AVR1604) will my Dittons be of any use as mains, centre or whatever? Or should I keep the dittons for stereo and coffee tables and buy new speakers for the 5.1 amp? The Dittons have rather crude cable connectors - just holes for copper wire and screw down nuts. I have no idea how modern speakers are cabled. Any advice appreciated. kind regards kenno