Thank you - Its OK , I have their catalogue so I know the one you mean. Just one question - if you put both of the inputs on standby and then power up the one that is NOT selected, will it still make the TV switch to the AV source? A lot of these boxes just pass pin 8 through with diodes, which can cause odd effects like this - particularly with widescreen TVs.

The tv switches to AV input, you just don't get a picture till you press the switch button.

Many thanks - you've answered my question. Unfortunately this would give me a problem because the channel that I am not watching could over-ride the widescreen switching on the one that I am.

So, does the Holdan HSR-1000 do pin-8 switching (the widescreen switching that is)? Can Funboy or any other HSR-1000 owner comment on this?

Thanks
Peter

all i can say to that is my sky constantly bounces in and out of widescreen modes between adds and shows/ movies/ sport.

so i presume its adusting to the automatic change in signal

Cheers mate, that's what I wanted to know.

Peter

Just in case anyone is interested, I bought one of these for £5.50 from Beyond Hi FI. It has a simple 8pole 2 way slide switch and switches the 3 basic signal channels plus RGB and pins 8/16. It leaves pin 10 open circuit so Q Link etc don't work, but pretty well everythimg else does. There is no visible signal deterioration, but I would have some concerns about long term reliability in heavy use with this type of switch.
One slight oddity is that it loops outputs to inputs between the two 'input' channels - primarily to allow cross recording if one or both is a VCR.
One piece of good news is that the PCB is very accessible and simple modifications would be dead easy. So you could disable the cross linking if it doesn't suit you, and I was even thinking of using one of the RGB positions to switch pin 10 so I could have CVBS and S-Video with Qlink control for a VCR connection.

I've just bought the Argos box but looking on a DVD magazine's web site it says that as well as linking my equipment to the box I should also have a scart lead from my SKY box to the VCR . As my VCR only has one scart socket and that will be connected to the Argos box I'm a bit confused!

Should I just follow the instructions that came with my Argos switching box? Is the lack of the other connection going to create a problem?

I don't think you will have a problem because the Argos box links the signal from the other inputs back out to the VCR.

Thanks for the above advice - I will give it a try!

Have completed my set up through the Argos box and all appears to be fine apart from the fact that when playing back through the VCR the picture has black bars top and bottom. We have a square screen and am sure that the picture filled the screen before making the changes.

Any suggestions anyone?

I think you'll find its to do with the way that the Argos box deals with wide screen switching on SCART pin 8. Can I take it that the same thing happens whether the recording was made before or after the changes? If it does,try putting the the devices connected to the other inputs on standby and then disconnecting them altogether. If that works, one solution would probably be to disconnect PIn 8 on the Scart lead to your TV. Or possibly the setup menus on your TV might give you an option to disable this function.

Thanks again for the advice. Yes the problem occurs even with recordings made before the introduction of the switch box.

I'll have a look at the TV instructions. The problem is not something we can't live with.

Hi all,
I have a B-Tech BT21 Mk3 and wondered whether anyone else has this problem. Basically if I turn on the PS2, with the Sky box in Standby, and switch the scart box to the PS2 channel, theres a slight blue tint to the screen, which is a lot more evident when a disc is put in & the 'PLAYSTATION' logo comes up (in blue and not white). If I unplug the SKY box, Power or Scart , then the blue disappears and all is well.

It appears to me as if the Scarts arent isolated from each other and hence theres interference. Is my B-Tech BT21 Mk3 knackered or is this just a 'feature' and if so can anyone recommend a suitable scart switcher that doesnt do this

thanks

I'm no expert, but I think it is knackered!

Gdb

Thanks, might get the Argos clone and try that out...(can always take it back..)

I have one of the argos ones and have had it for ages now. Mine only has RGB on the 'A' input. I also get the colourisation of the screen on certain combinations.

I'm looking at the quintro and the HSR as mentioned in the first post, and I was wondering if people can reassure me as to the best to go for. I need RGB in and outputs (composite looks horrible on my philips 32" WS set, red bleeds/cross-hatches badly), and I could do with not getting any interference across the connections.

I've got the Quintro and it's great, RGB on 4 of the 5 inputs, and the latest version has two RGB outputs, mine only has one.

Not noticed any interference on my picture

I have this one:

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...roductId=60608

I get RGB in on A and B (I don't know about 'C' because I have nothing to fill it with! (Yet, DVD player coming soon!)

Input 'c' has 'RGB' written on it, so I'd assume that has RGB too. Maybe Argos have updated the switcher over the years?

Gdb

I have one of the Argos boxes discussed earlier in this thread and also have the problem with interference between the sources. I have a Philips Freeview box and Pioneer DVD player attached to it and I have to make sure that only one of them is turned on at any time. The pioneer logo is clearly visible when the Freeview box is selected.

As an aside, I got no instructions with my switchbox, does anybody have any they could send me (if they are any use)?

What might be worth you doing is checking your actual scart cables. They all need to be shielded and RGB compliant.

I know once when connecting Sky to the VCR, I got interference on the tv. I bought a new cable and it was sorted.

Just a thought.

After living with both of the above for a while, herewith is my opinion.
These switch boxes currently output to my high definition Panasonic 42" plasma screen and so any deficiencies are quite apparent.

1. Both boxes produce some noise - especially speckles around vertical sharp changes of brightness - eg text. But it is not noticeable from normal viewing distances. It's just that having paid £5000 for a plasma screen, its a bit of a niggle to have the picture degraded, however minimally.

2. The Quintro is a more modern box with all scarts inputs and outputs RGB enabled. There are 5 input scarts and 3 of them (including the TV out) are also outputs. So you can record any input to any two outputs in full RGB quality. You can lock any one in-to-out and then direct any other input to the TV, eg you can record Sky satellite to your DVD recorder and watch a VCR on your TV. There are 9 LEDs to tell you what is happening. They are widely spaced on the box front and it is easy to see what is happening from your armchair. Functionally, it works very well with a good remote control - "auto" never seems to work properly but so what - you have the remote. Big do not like: after a few months of use, intermittent interference - as though an electric switch was causing a brief disruption to the picture every so often. Being a perfectionist, I just could not live with that - most irritating. On a minor note, both set and remote look rather trashy.

3. The Holdan HSR-1000 is clearly a rather old design, although it looks much more professional and upmarket that the Quintro. Both Box and remote are very smart. It shows its age by having only one RGB out - to the TV. There are however, 4 RGB inputs, so you can watch four digital inputs in full quality. This of course means that you cannot use it to copy between digital sources in RGB quality. The 2 non-TV outputs are only composite Video. However, I have to say that the picture quality, even through the composite video connections is excellent. I just can't tell any difference at normal viewing distances between the RGB output and the composite video output. (Maybe the difference between digital input and analogue input swamps any difference between RGB and composite?). I am really pleased with this box - the picture quality is always excellent and totally stable. This is the one I will live with until an update to all RGB is available.
The front of the box has no less than 30 LEDs to tell you precisely what input is routed to which output. With so many LEDs, you can't identify them from your armchair but the remote is imprinted with the order of them, so it is not too difficult to "guess" which you have selected - I expect that you would soon get used to them and in any case, for viewing, you can see on the TV screen what you have selected. For cross-recording, you are better off using your legs (if not atrophied due to lack of exercise with all those remote controls!) and viewing the box front. The remote will cycle each output through all available inputs.

The Quintro cannot be switched off without unplugging it. The Holdan can be switched off from the remote.

The Quintro box is available from a number of sources eg:
http://www.lektropacks.co.uk/dept.as...om&dept_id=112
but I have only found the Holdan from Whitedog Games at
http://www.whitedog.co.uk/catalog/pr...roducts_id=332

Hope this helps you all,
Regards,
Hugh
PS please feel free to email me for any further info.