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TF5800 manual: rear panel connections

Rear panel connections

The TF5800 PVR has a wide range of connections on the back panel, and it can look a little complicated at first. Don’t worry – it’s much simpler than it looks, and not everyone needs to use all the connections. We’ll explain some of the most common ways of connecting the PVR after we’ve looked at the rear panel.

Rear panel diagram

1. ANT 1

This is the input to one of the TV tuners in your PVR (it has two, so that it can record two things at the same time.) This socket should be connected to your TV aerial.

2. RF LOOP 1 OUT

This is the output from the first tuner. Normally, you should use the supplied loop cable to connect this to the ANT 2 connector.

3. ANT 2

ANT 2 is the input to the second of the tuners in your PVR.

4. RF LOOP 2 OUT

This is the output from the first tuner.

5. Video output

This yellow socket carries Composite video. This format is used by some video projectors, and audio visual amplifiers; most users will not need to use this socket.

6, 7 Audio outputs.

These two connectors provide left (white) and right (red) channel audio outputs, which can be connected to a hi-fi system, if you wish.

8. S-Video

The S-Video output is another way of connecting some televisions, projectors or AV amplifiers to your PVR. Again, most users will not need to use this socket.

9. TV SCART

This is the main output socket from your PVR, carrying both audio and video connections using the large SCART connectors. You should normally use the supplied SCART cable to connect this to the corresponding socket on your television set.

10. VCR SCART

This is a secondary SCART socket. It is intended to be used to allow other devices to record the material you are watching or playing on your PVR, and can also pass their signal through to your television, so that even if you have only one SCART connector on your TV you can use, for example, both the PVR and a DVD player, selecting one or the other via the Satellite button on the remote control.

11. USB port

By connecting to your computer using this USB port, you can upgrade the built-in software of the PVR, transfer recorded programmes to your computer, or transfer music files from the computer to play back on the PVR.

12. RF IN

The RF in connector allows you to feed a signal from a TV aerial into the PVR, where it will be combined, on the RF OUT socket, with a signal showing the PVR’s display.

13. RF OUT

This output provides the display from the PVR as an ordinary TV channel, so it can be selected on televisions that have no special AV inputs.

14. S/PDIF optical connector

If you have an audio visual system with a surround sound decoder or an amplifier that has optical input, you can use the S/PDIF connector to link it to your PVR. (Note that multi-channel digital surround, such as Dolby Digital, is not currently broadcast on UK digital terrestrial TV channels).

15. RS-232 Serial port

The Serial port connector allows you to update the software on your PVR using a computer that does not have a USB connection.

Next: connecting up