In-Dash TV with VICS

[Mrk_VR4]

I got it from Parklea Markets here in Sydney, but i have seen them pop up on ebay, and there must be other places around and on the web that you can get them. There is another portable set top box on ebay that is similar, it is a bit more expensive (~$60-70), and you'd have to check that it outputs NTSC format, but if it does it would work fine.

 

[pu-11-me]

G'Day Fellas,

They also sell these units at Dick Smith's ($59-) and Strathfield ($69-). Don't ask me what the brand is or anything coz i don't know but the $59 at Dick Smith's sounds alright to me...... Its NTSC and DC powered, dunno the rest of the details yet, but i'll let everyone know when i buy one!

 

[Hotwire]

This is the DSE one:
Click

Looks the same as the Telefunken unit to me:

Specs are:
MPEG2 compatible
Electronic Program Guide (EPG)
5 languages: English, French, German, Russian, Italian
Video text with integrated 2200 pages storage
Sleep timer
Automatic search run
Favourite list
Manual channel selection
Digital broadcasting function
Children protection
Fast Zapping
Software update possible
Remote control
Accessories: AV cable, remote control, external remote sensor, 12V adaptor, instruction manual.
Dimensions (WxHxD): 23mm x 100mm x 64mm
Weight: 40gms

Will confirm its NTSC output and give it a go!

 

[Mrk_VR4]

That should work, it looks like the same unit just re-badged

 

[Hotwire]

Mark, have you used the TV while driving?
How does TV reception stackup while moving?

 

[pu-11-me]

Mark,

Further to Lee's question about the reception, what have you used as an aerial?

My other question is, how did you get power to the unit?

Cheers,

Dawso

 

[Mrk_VR4]

Reception while driving is generally not to good, in some areas it can be fine, but in others it just drops in and out all the time. Being digital its either their or its not so there is no fading out of picture or audio. When you start to loose reception it just cuts out completely which is quite annoying if your driving in and out of a reception area and its cutting in and out all the time. When stopped though i can get most channels most of the time depending on where i am.

As far as antennas i have tried a few types. When i first put the TV tuner in i didn't have an incar antenna so i just put a normal house antenna in the boot to test it out while i was waiting for my incar one to arrive. This actually wasn't to bad as it was a good quality high gain external house tv antenna, but obviously was never going to stay because it took up the entire boot.
The incar antenna i initially got was one of the 4-way diversity types which i put through a diversity controller which takes the 4 antenna intups and gives 1 output which can be fed to the TV tuner. This antenna stuck to the rear windscreen and had a built in amplifier but was pretty poor and didn't work very well, the house antenna in the boost was actually better.
I now have a much smaller digital TV antenna that also sticks to the rear windscreen and has a built in amplifier. It is not a diversity type just a normal style single antenna that plugs directly into the TV tuner. This one is the best i have tried and takes up a lot less space and is less noticable once installed. I got it from ebay here.

As for getting power to the TV tuner, i just spliced into the accessorie power wires that powered the factory tv tuner so that digital tuner would turn on and off when i turned the car on and off.

 

[pu-11-me]

I was thinking about using the body of the vehicle (steel component) as an antenna by modifying some cheap rabbit ears to use the body steel instead of the 2 antenna "things".....

Could anyone see a problem with this? Apart from the fact it might not work lol......

Dawso

 

[Hotwire]

The body is the return for the electrical system, so the voltage of the vehicle will mess with the reception... otherwise factories would have been doing it.

 

[pu-11-me]

Cheers for the reply Lee..... I knew that this would be the case, but my thoughts were that if we're running digital, which only works when the vehicle is stationary, and is an ON or OFF only setup, is the current fluctuation in the body of the car going to cause this to be enough of an issue?

Good point about the car manufacturers though..... lol.....

I guess i may have to test some different setups to see how it goes.

Mind you, if you can get TV reception in Tamworth, you can get it on the moon hahaha

Dawso

 

[Hotwire]

Reception while driving is generally not to good, in
As far as antennas i have tried a few types. When i first put the TV tuner in i didn't have an incar antenna so i just put a normal house antenna in the boot to test it out while i was waiting for my incar one to arrive. This actually wasn't to bad as it was a good quality high gain external house tv antenna, but obviously was never going to stay because it took up the entire boot.
The incar antenna i initially got was one of the 4-way diversity types which i put through a diversity controller which takes the 4 antenna intups and gives 1 output which can be fed to the TV tuner. This antenna stuck to the rear windscreen and had a built in amplifier but was pretty poor and didn't work very well, the house antenna in the boost was actually better.
I now have a much smaller digital TV antenna that also sticks to the rear windscreen and has a built in amplifier. It is not a diversity type just a normal style single antenna that plugs directly into the TV tuner. This one is the best i have tried and takes up a lot less space and is less noticable once installed. I got it from ebay here.

As for getting power to the TV tuner, i just spliced into the accessorie power wires that powered the factory tv tuner so that digital tuner would turn on and off when i turned the car on and off.

Mark,
I have been trying to determine which antenna to use with the digital TV tuner. My car came with a 4 way diversity antenna which fed the 4 signals to the Pioneer NTSC analogue tuner/screen. I was intending to use this antenna with a diversity amplifier to feed a single signal to the DSE tuner (like this one -Link ), however the seller informed me "That booster is really made for analogue signals only".

SO my question for you (as you seem to be pretty cluey with this) is, do you think that he is correct that it WONT work with the digital signal, OR will it work, but just may not be fantastic reception? I would rather not have a redundant antenna stuck to my roof, as I can't remove the diversity antenna as it will ruin the paint.

Cheers
Lee

 

[Mrk_VR4]

Don't get that diversity controller. I have that exact one from brash imports, which i tried with a 4-way diversity antenna feeding into my digital set top box. It doesn't work. That unit comes with a 3.5mm stereo connector which you have to change to a standard IEC PAL connector before you can connect it to your digital box. Once connected you'll find that you have no reception at all, if you hold the connector about 10mm away from the set top box aerial socket without connecting it you will get reception though, so i think they have not matched impedances properly which won't allow the TV signal through. I don't believe it would be something to do with it being a digital signal, but i haven't looked into their circuit to check their impedances and so forth, so maybe it is something weird to do with their design. I just decided to go with a different antenna, that would connect straight up and was smaller taking up less space on the rear windscreen, and the one i mentioned which i have now is quite good.

 

[Hotwire]

Thanks Mark. On that note then, looks like i have 4 useless antennas permenantly fixed to my roof
What your thought's be on this antenna then? ebay link
A number of guys on SAU use this with the genuine Asuka tuner ($348!) so presume it's decent antenna...

 

[Mrk_VR4]

That antenna would work with your tuner, but probably not as good as when it is used with its original asuka box as it has no built in amplifier (its probably amplified within the asuka box). I'd be interested to know what the guys on SAU think of the asuka box as it looks like a good unit, but i have not been able to find any review of it from someone who has actually used it. If you wanted to make use of the 4-way diversity antenna that is already attached to the car you could get a tv tuner like this, that accepts 4-way diversity antennas. I believe this one is only standard tv not digital, and you'd have to check that it outputs NTSC format to before purchasing, but something like this would work.

 

[Hotwire]

I enquired about that tuner as I was thinking this would be a better way to go, BUT the tuner is analogue and NTSC or PAL only; ie. to output NTSC it would recieve NTSC signal (same as the tuner i have now).

For comments on the ASKUA tuner see this thread: SAU Link The thread starter (and others) think very highly of it, but it is expensive.

 

[Chris Rogers]

not really - there are better ones that are more expensive again.

HITV & GME make two good units. both are about $1k