Freeview box for "old TV's"

[paulsherwin]

The same physical remote is used by quite a few boxes, though the programming may vary. Presumably all the boxes that use that remote are made by the same OEM.

[Welsh Anorak]

These are pretty good boxes and are also found under the Alba name. They scan quickly and reliably. Unfortunately no other remote I've come across will do.
The two LT smoothing capacitors bulge and fail with the symptoms of an unstable picture, often confused with a TV or aerial fault. They are well worth fixing if this happens.
Glyn

[ntscuser]

Originally Posted by Welsh Anorak

These are pretty good boxes and are also found under the Alba name.

The Alba ADR10

http://images.esellerpro.com/2384/I/230/29/adr10.JPG

[hamid_1]

You're in luck! The Goodmans GDR11 box does have a built-in modulator, and it can be tuned in without the remote control. These are rare features on Freeview boxes.

The modulator is set to UHF channel 68 by default. Just connect an aerial lead from the box RF Out to the aerial socket on your TV. Switch on and tune your TV to channel 68. If all is well, you should see pictures on your TV if a suitable aerial is plugged into the box and it's set up for your area. Even if not, you should see the menu on the screen when you press the menu button on the box. Without the remote control, you can navigate the menu using the channel and volume buttons on the front of the box; I think a quick press of the power button selects OK. You should be able to get into the installation menu and do an auto-tune if you need to.

This is an excellent box to use with an old black and white TV, as the menu is very clear and does not require the use of the coloured buttons on the remote control to navigate or select an option. This is a problem with some digital boxes, which are awkward to use on black and white.

Now the bad points. First, as Glyn mentioned, these boxes suffer from faulty power supply capacitors. They can fail after only a couple of years use. It's obvious once you open the box - you'll see one or two "Chang" capacitors (470uF or 1000uF) that have gone dome-shaped on top. Replace them and all will be well. I get my replacement capacitors from other modern equipment that is no longer useful, such as BT Vision boxes, broadband routers, inkjet printer power supplies etc. Loads of this stuff is thrown away every day. Capacitors can be salvaged from it for free. I hardly ever need to buy any new electrolytic capacitors.

Secondly, the remote control. It won't really be cost-effective to buy a new replacement remote, but have a look round your local car boot sale (e.g. Kassam Stadium in Oxford on Sunday mornings) or secondhand / house clearance / charity shops. Lots of these boxes were supplied to people who qualified for the digital switchover help scheme a few years ago. Most are no longer used, either because the owner has upgraded their TV with built-in Freeview, or the owner or box has died, in which case the box and remote will end up on the secondhand market for little money (few people want them anymore). You could also look on ebay for any boxes complete with remote controls that are listed locally to you as Collection Only. There probably won't be much interest and bidding will end in a low price. Something will eventually turn up if you're prepared to wait.

If all else fails, you can use the Goodmans box without the remote simply as a modulator. For example, if you get hold of another Freeview box with a working remote but it doesn't have a modulator, just connect it by SCART lead from VCR SCART on the Goodmans box to TV SCART on the other Freeview box. Switch on your TV, the Goodmans box, then the other box. You should see the other box on your TV and you'll be able to control it with its remote. You can also connect a DVD player to the VCR SCART on the Goodmans box in the same way and watch DVDs on your vintage TV through the aerial socket. I'm sure your Goodmans GDR11 will be useful one way or another.

[paulsherwin]

This is good news, as I've just checked my box of spare remotes and couldn't find anything suitable. It may be possible to get a Poundland universal to work after the usual endless button pressing.

[dave walsh]

I've never thought of that solution Hamid but I was feeling a little "boxed in" by the end As he's viewing in the the shed and there are no aesthetic considerations, I'd suggest that Martin risks £20 or less on a modern FV box and uses any old VCR as a Modulator interface. Somebody will give him one.
It doesn't even need to play tapes but if it does-that will be a bonus.

As an aside, I have 4" screen Sony B+W portable fed by a DVD player via a VCR as Modulator. WW2 films look very good, especially the much more recent but disappointing "The Haunting of Toby Jug DVD [Dennis Wheatley]. It's a very bad film but looks just right in B+W.

Dave Walsh

[Martin Bush]

Thanks to all for the feedback.

I will report back when I have tried the box. Guess what the biggest challenge is right now? Finding an RF lead. I used to have them all over the place, but over the years the need for them diminished. I'm sure I have some in a leads box in the shed though.

[Lloyd 1985]

If you can't find one, any old bit of wire stuffed into the sockets will do as a quick test! I have some croc clip leads I made up that get used for this occasionally... Not ideal, but for a quick test it'll be ok.

I bet someone at a local car boot will have some...

Regards,
Lloyd.

[paulsherwin]

Again, Poundland is your friend if you have access to one. They have packs which include a length of (poor quality) 75 ohm coax and several Belling plugs.

I have dozens of male-female Belling cables, amassed over the years from scrap VCRs and digiboxes.

[ntscuser]

Originally Posted by hamid_1

If all else fails, you can use the Goodmans box without the remote simply as a modulator. For example, if you get hold of another Freeview box with a working remote but it doesn't have a modulator, just connect it by SCART lead from VCR SCART on the Goodmans box to TV SCART on the other Freeview box. Switch on your TV, the Goodmans box, then the other box. You should see the other box on your TV and you'll be able to control it with its remote. You can also connect a DVD player to the VCR SCART on the Goodmans box in the same way and watch DVDs on your vintage TV through the aerial socket.

Have you actually done that Hamid because I tried it and it didn't work. As far as I can tell both Scart sockets on the Goodmans are output only.

[ctc15]

The GDR10 which looks the same and has the same remote will work as a modulator I use one with a DVD player.
Keith

[dseymo1]

As regards the remote control, if you can borrow the correct one from someone, you could use it to 'teach' another remote with a learning facility.
There are more elegant options, such as hardware which will receive and store the commands on a PC, which can then be used to program a new ROM (or to directly program some high-end universal remotes), but that's probably a bit over the top in this case, unless you enjoy doing such things!

[ntscuser]

Just tried the GDR11's RF modulated output again with a different setup, nothing. (The Pioneer DBR-TF100 also wouldn't pass a RF modulated signal).

Assuming it did work how would you switch between the output from the box and the input from the Scart?

The GDR11 will pass a composite signal from one Scart to the other while in standby mode and I think that may have confused some posters here. It won't pass-through an RGB signal though.

[hamid_1]

The bad news is you're right - the GDR11 doesn't seem to work as a modulator.

I didn't realise I had actually been using a Goodmans GDR10 box, and that worked. At first glance, the GDR10 and GDR11 look identical from the front, and they use the same remote control. But I looked more closely at the back of both boxes. The GDR11 seems to have the TV and VCR SCART sockets the other way round from the GDR10, also the GDR11 lacks the phono audio and video output that the GDR10 has. When I tried the GDR11 in place of the GDR10, I got the same result - nothing.

Sorry about that. At least I've learned something. The OP will have to look out for a Goodmans GDR10 for sale with remote control. Tip: if searching ebay, look for the words "Goodmans Digital TV Receiver" as that's how it's described on the packaging.

As for the remote control, I have a One For All URC-7562 which can 'learn' from an original remote, so I taught it the commands from an original Goodmans GDR10 control. The URC-7562 can also be connected to a PC and the learned commands can be copied. I've done this too, so if anyone happens to have a One For All URC-7562 I can send a .WAV sound file which you can play through your computer's speakers and add the code to your URC-7562 universal remote.

The One For All URC-7562 has long since been discontinued but you might be able to get one secondhand. The manufacturer, Universal Electronics, Inc. (UEI) sells some new universal remotes which can have the Goodmans Freeview box codes downloaded via their website. I haven't come across one with the code built-in, which is strange, considering UEI actually made the original remote for Goodmans. However, a new one-for-all downloadable remote will probably cost more than another box. I wouldn't waste money on the Poundland universal remotes either, even though they're only a pound, they're pretty much useless for digital TV boxes.

At least you can tune in the GDR11 by using the method I described earlier. I just tried and it works using the menu and channel up/down buttons on the front of the box and a quick tap on the power button to select OK.

[paulsherwin]

I've just checked the code sheet for a Poundland remote. It lists 30 Goodmans codes in the 'RTV' section, and though that includes lots of satellite boxes and other stuff as well as Freeview, it seems likely that one of the codes will work with a GDR10/11. It's worth risking a quid to try anyway.

Support for Freeview boxes is much better than it used to be.

[Hybrid tellies]

I have repalced my old Philips Freeview box with a new Manhatten Freeview HD box. It does not have a built in modulator but it has the usual HDMI and Scart sockets. Using the VCR modulator I feed the scart output from the Manhatten box into the VCR with very good results. On my workshop aerial system I can now watch all the Freeview channels including HD. This box obviously downscales the HD channels through its Scart output and I have not noticed any unpleasant digital artifacts.
I would recommend this box to anyone thinking of future proofing their TV RF feed.

[ben]

I have a couple of boxes with modulators. One's a fairly big old Televés, the other is made by Ikusi. Not common though...