Digital TV

[justin0]

Hi,

With most of the Analogue transmitters now down I wonder if anyone has gone down the Freeview Box route to avoid a Hybrid Tuner swap.. I have looked on Ebay etc and the Hybrid Tuners are now demanding high resale prices..

I have looked at the Veba unit which is twin tuner/aerial setup at around the £200 mark!

Anyone had any results with a freeview install?

Cheers

[phill]

you could try contacting the OP of the link below as he had a Veba unit fitted but has not commented on how good the reception is.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1526&p=16466&hilit=freeview#p16466

Phill

[B5tew]

Hi I have just got my X5 with built in freeview but had a 330i sport before that had analogue tv. I upgraded it with a beat tv tuner and it was brilliant I got a far better signal than I do from the tuner in the X5 it also had a record function and USB so you could listen to music off of a memory stick all you need to connect it is a av input cable that plugs in to your existing tv tuner but the sound is only mono if you search on eBay it is all available on there. Good luck with it - Stewart

[bonerp]

is there any way that the signal can be amplified on the standard tuner?

[sapphireblack]

I swapped mine to the upgrade BMW digital tuner that was originally in my E39 and i virtually never use it now. Reception in my location anyway is rubbish, i don't think any more than four maybe five channels have ever tuned in at any one time and of course, every time you switch it on your location has changed so reception is compromised and it's a another quite lengthy re-tune . It's become a rather pointless accessory imo

If the signals get boosted when analogue finally goes, possibly it will have a use again but i doubt it.

Personally i'd save your money.

[fenj66]

i'm in devon where analogue was switched off 18 months ago so full digital signal now i presume??
Anyway, i'm not impressed with my digital tv, as said, every time you move, the tuner has to retune which takes ages and even then your not guaranteed a watchable signal. If i was specifying a new car i wouldnt bother with built in tv at the price.

[justin0]

The story so far,

I have just installed a Veba Freeview with dual aerials, I am very happy with the result. I have read numerous posts regarding poor picture quality on the move with the OEM tuner! The Veba unit is spot on, at 80mph the picture is perfect, city driving same! It does drop very intermittantly but it is definately worth installing.

I picked up a brand new, boxed unit including dual aerials for less than £90! If anyone is considering the OEM route I would strongly recommend this as it's considerably more cost effective.

You will obviously need to install a AV cable adapter to the tuner box to complete the job.

The Veba also has EPG, and DAB (limited)

I have spoken to BMW and they are not looking into supplying any digital upgrade kits for the analogue tuners, I think this is the way to go.

[bonerp]

where did you get it from for £90?

Group buy...?

[Sanj]

One on ebay sold for £51 plus postage last night...

[bonerp]

wouldnt a pair of boosted aerials to the original box do the trick?

[B5tew]

Most high gain aerials come with F connectors on them is there a way to get a converter to plug them in to the standard tv tuner in the car if there is I will try that and hide them in the bumpers.
My tv will not work at all on the move but when I had a aftermarket tuner in my e46 with high gain aerials the picture was great, only breaking up in really built up areas.

[wilkoturbo]

I'm with you bonerp you can get a pair for £34 on eBay would they work ???

[Kris2011]

Slight thread creep, but does anybody have a recommendation for a good I.C.E specialist in the South (ish) with good X5 knowledge? I'd like to get the above work done with TV in motion etc and a DVD player etc etc.

Sorry for the thread creep. I don't even own an X5 yet, but I've got plans...