Loss of digital channels through my aerial

Depending largely on the age of the TV, the location of the TV tuner varies. An older analog TV tapping a digital signal does so with an external DTV converter box. For cable and satellite subscribers, there is a a set top box. Most TVs purchased after March 2007 have built-in digital tuners. Look on the front and back of the TV for a marking that indicates a digital tuner. It may say ATSC, DTV, HDTV, Digital Ready, HD Ready, Digital Tuner, Digital Receiver, Digital Tuner Built-in or Integrated Digital Tuner. Any of these is an indication that the TV has a built-in digital tuner. You may have to go to the manufacturer's site to determine such specifications. If you are having a problem with a tv switching channels, remedies may be rather specific and you might try googling for a specific model while including the problem in a simple phrase.

It is no different that channel scanning for cable or analog over-the-air channels. You simply ensure that you have selected the digital tuner of the set prior to scanning. Some older flat panel sets do not have integrated digital tuners. A digital antenna alone will not allow these sets to receive digital broadcast channels. A converter box is needed to convert the digital broadcast signals to analog for the tuner in the set. Also, sets that do not have digital tuners may not support the resolution rate of digital TV broadcasts. Most digital HD broadcasts are 720p and a few are 1080p.

Is your TV designed for digital signals, if not you will need a set top box. Make sure the aerial is in good order and all connections are tight and clean , go into settings on the TV, select digital tuning and press ok , if the TV is in good condition and there is a signal digital to the aerial it will download

It likely has a weak tuner, made that way, not a product fault and will work with catv, devices and boosted signals. Other than that, check inputs on setup menu and see if there's an option to switch from cable to aerial as well as settings for a default channel setup that switches between clear signal and a set top box for scrambled channels.

What is your source? Since the DVDR3305 has an analog PAL tuner and most TV stations are broadcasting in digital, you probably have some sort of set top box connected to the recorder. If you change the channel on the set top box, you will record the program on the new channel. If you are recording PAL and your TV has a PAL tuner, you should be able to just record one show while watching another with the DVDR3305 daisy-chained to the TV. Just make sure to change the TV channel not the channel on the DVDR3305.

If your TV has a digital tuner, you can split the signal before the set-top box to record one channel and watch another. (Note: basic splitters will cause some extra loss of signal and may reduce a digital signal below the threshold needed to tune in the signal. An amplified splitter can avoid this - when the amplifier is working properly.) Otherwise, you need a second set-top box (or a dual tuner set-top box).

On my set-up with an aerial antenna, I would put the splitter between the wall jack and the electronics. The incoming cable goes to the splitter, then cable 1 goes to the TV. Cable 2 goes to the set-top box. Tune the set-top box to the channel to record and check the settings with the TV set to the DVD source. (DVD set to record on Tuner (and the specific channel of the set-top box output) or front s-video or EXT1 or EXT2.) Then change the TV back to the TV source and change to the channel for the second program.


The manual for the DVDR3305 is available from Philips. The link to the manual is http://download.p4c.philips.com/files/d/dvdr3305_05/dvdr3305_05_dfu_eng.pdf .
I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells
(I actually use an A/B switch and do not try to watch a second program on the TV connected to the DVD recorder. However, most of my recordings are for time-shifting of programs that air when I can't watch any TV program.)

Hi Victor,

You can't record the Freeview channels from the TV. It doesn't work that way. The reason you can still record terrestrial channels is because the VCR is still connected to your roof aerial with a co-axial cable and the VCR has its own built-in analogue tuner for recording terrestrial TV programmes.

To record the digital Freeview channels, you will either need to connect a separate Freeview set-top box to the VCR, or buy a VCR which has a built-in digital (DVB-T) tuner.

The VCR does not record programmes from the TV. It needs to be connected directly to the signal source, i.e. your aerial.

If you need any further assistance, please let me know.

Regards,
BElectric

Buy a digital antena,hook it up.Will get a stronger signal,rescan all the channels again.Should get every channels back.

it's the aerial, tv has nothing to do with channels. it's the signal that carries the channels. i'm pretty sure if you had it hooked up to a cable box, you'll get all the channels, so i'm sure your tv is fine. i would double check on the aerial and positioning the attenna has some factor into it.

Its hard to work out without looking at your cables. I assume the problem started when the freeview box got set up. I would guess that the aerial cable is now in the set top box instead of the vcr as the vcr sounds like it is unable to record when there's no signal (a common feature) so there shouldn't be a fault with the vcr,

just unplug the aerial from the set top box & plug it back into the vcr. Ch 1 2 3 4 should be back on vcr but set top box wont have any Ch.

most set top boxes have an aerial output, so you'll need another aerial cable, plug this into the aerial input on the vcr & ch 1 2 3 4 will be there but these will be analog (if your area has stopped analog transmission thats the prob rite there)

If you plug the matching cables from the set top box into L1 on vcr you'll be able to record digital tv as L1 use a signal from another tuner eg set top box, dvd player whereas the vcr channels 1 2 3 4 use the vcr's built in analog tuner. so it shouldn't be a biggie another cable should fix it,

Hope this is helpful, ask if you need more info

Direct from the Hitachi website - "Integrated HDTV Tuners: Hitachi's new top-of-the-line XWX series features built-in ATSC terrestrial and cable HDTV tuners to provide integrated high resolution, high-definition signal decoding." You will need a seperate HDTV tuner if you do not have cable or satellite and want to watch off-air High Definition channels.