[mythtv-users] PC TV 290e DVB-T/T2 USB SD/HD tuner - a caution

[John Pilkington]

On 19/03/13 14:10, Mike Perkins wrote:
> On 19/03/13 11:22, John Pilkington wrote:
>> I've had one of these for more than a year, and it works well  I took
>> it away at
>> the weekend and retuned using the procedure I described here:
>>
>> http://code.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/10217#comment:15
>>
>> Yesterday, on return, no scan of any sort would lock.  Today I found
>> that the
>> centre contact of the coax input socket was still attached to the
>> connecting
>> cable that I had used while 'away'.   It just pushes into place.  When I
>> replaced it all worked well - much better than when it had no input.
>>
> I have one of these and recently it too failed to obtain a lock. I
> assumed it was some variation in the scan parameters had changed but I
> have never been able to fix it.
>
> After seeing this I checked mine and it is visually okay. However, the
> tiny socket inside the end of the dongle feels lose. I suspect a broken
> connection from socket to board and I'm going to have to saw it open to
> check.
>
> This is poor design. Considering the size of the connector, then the
> adapter and finally a fat stiff UHF/sat cable I'm not surprised
> something had broken. What were they thinking of?
>
There is, as you say, a tiny socket - around 1 mm dia and 2 mm deep - 
buried at the bottom of the RF socket.  A probe sits inside that, but is 
insulated from it.  The top end of the probe carries a socket that mates 
with the coax-plug centre pin.

All this is connected to the body of the dongle by a brass tube about 3 
mm dia and 5 mm long.  I mount it with as much strain-relief as I can, 
but it still looks in danger of snapping.  That wasn't the cause of my 
grief yesterday but it _is_ an appalling mechanical design.

I saw one in Curry's last week for about 60 GBP, 20 less than last year; 
and my Panasonic 32" HD smart TV is now 329 GBP