Hi All

 

I'm very new to B&O and have recently purchased two 28" VCR Avants (both with a ML socket) and plan to purchase a 32" DVD Avant in the near future.

 I have a Virgin V+ box plugged into one of the 28" Avants and plan to have another external device attached to one of the others (not sure what yet..perhaps a DVD recorder) or perhaps one into each of the others (3 devices in total).

My intention is to be able to watch any of the external devices on any of the three TV's. I would also like to be able to control all these external devices via the Beo4 in each of the 3 rooms. For the control part am I right in saying that so long as the STB in each Avant has that device in its list then that shouldn't be a problem.

 

What I am more confused about is how the sound and picture is piped around the house? As far as I know each TV only has one ML socket so once on is plugged into another there are no more sockets available for the third TV!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks

 

3 Avant!!! Have you got a fetish?

Only one of the TV can distribute its sources to other TVs. You need to connect the sources you want to distribute to one TV, and change its option to V.OPT 2.

On the other TV, you can connect sources, but they will only be accessible to that TV. The other TV need to be in option V.OPT 6.

The Antenna cable needs to be connecter to the Main TV's RF In. On the back of the main TV, there is a RF out, you need to connect a cable that goes from this TV to the 2 other TV's RF In.

The RF Cable will carry the Video signal and low quality sound.

You also need to connect a Masterlink cable from the main TV to the 2 other TVs. You can split the cable using a junction box.

There are 2 type of junction boxes. One where you need to cut the cable, the other one where you can plug up to 6 ML cables.

You will also need to tune the frequency of the 2 link TV to the frequency of the master TV. See the Setup Manual.

p.

Wow.....thanks for the detailed response. I am a bit of an Avant fan - mainly for the excellent sound.

Can I ask a few more questions to clarify?

1. Can I connect more than one external device (e.g. the Virgin V+ box and a DVD Recorder) to one of the avants and have the STB control them both (assuming I have the right STB software for both devices)?

2. Do I need some sort of junction box to send the RF signal from the primary TV to the other two? If yes, any recommendations?

3. Why is the sound quality poor? The reason I've decided to go with B&O is due to their excellent reputation for sound, so it really surprises me that linked TV's will have poor sound. Is there anything I can do about this? I often watch music channels on Virgin so I would really be disappointed if the sound on all but the main TV is bad!

4. Is the ML link simply used for piping around the signal to change channels, and not for sound or picture?

5. Can you recommend a junction box that allows for 6 ML cables (the second option you stated above)

 

Thank you so so much for your help!

 

 

1. I am not sure about this one. The DVD Recorder, or from B&O (DVD2) is not compatible with the Avant with integrated V.Tape.

2. You just need a RF splitter. They are easily available.

3. Yes the signal is FM and mono. Do not worry, the higher quality stereo audio signal is transmitted by the ML cable. If you press DVD from a link room, you'll get the low quality signal, if you then press AV-DVD you get the better signal.

4. See above. ML = Data + Stereo sound.

5. http://eu.bosscom.com/products.asp?m1=1331&m2=1350

p.

If you become a member, you can download from this site a program for your PC (Windows only). It is made by B&O. You enter your configuration and it tells you exactly how to connect them and to configure them.

It is called the PCG and is available here: http://www.beoworld.org/manuals_view.asp?pid=1238 (subscriber only)

In answer to your questions

You said

1. Can I connect more than one external device (e.g. the Virgin V+ box and a DVD Recorder) to one of the avants and have the STB control them both (assuming I have the right STB software for both devices)?

My Comment

You can connect more than one external STB to the AVANT and if at least one of the external boxes is a product which uses AVL on pin 8 of the SCART, then on your AVANT DVD it is possible to control 3 boxes when using the VTAPE SCART as well. Products which use the AVL include B&O DVD1 and non B&O products such as Force 1122S satellite receivers.

You said

Do I need some sort of junction box to send the RF signal from the primary TV to the other two? If yes, any recommendations?

My Comments

You need more than a junction box, you need an 75 ohm impedance matched splitter like the one below and quality 75 ohm coax cable

You said

Why is the sound quality poor? The reason I've decided to go with B&O is due to their excellent reputation for sound, so it really surprises me that linked TV's will have poor sound. Is there anything I can do about this? I often watch music channels on Virgin so I would really be disappointed if the sound on all but the main TV is bad!

My Comment

Sound (audio left & right) goes over the Masterlink cable, but if you use it via the RF connection it will be poor because it is limited by the quality of your RF feedback which based on your previous question is most likely teh way you have it connected at present.

You said

4. Is the ML link simply used for piping around the signal to change channels, and not for sound or picture?

My Comment

The Masterlink has control signals and left and right audio channels but NOT video which goes via the seperate RF coax cable described above

You said

. Can you recommend a junction box that allows for 6 ML cables (the second option you stated above)

My Comment

If you are connecting 6 Masterlink cables at the same place then I would not use a junction box at all. I would twist and solder the wires and then insolate each connection

Keith,

Does the more recent AVANT DVD passes the RF signal through, or is it like the BV7 where you need an amplifier that merges all the signals together?

Whilst it does do RF passthrough there are some pitfalls, so I always suggest using the amplfier as you get a much better result.

You can see more details of the B&O amplfier HERE

Keith,

Can you explain how an amplifier can be used in a setup where the TV passes the signal through. I am particularly interested as I am going to configure a friend similar setup in a few weeks.

Phil,

The DVD2 does work with the Avant VCR version. I had this set-up, ut actually went back to a DVD1 (hated the DVD2)

Jonathan

PhilLondon:

Keith,

Can you explain how an amplifier can be used in a setup where the TV passes the signal through. I am particularly interested as I am going to configure a friend similar setup in a few weeks.

The B&O RF amplifier is a little different from most available RF amplifiers because it is an RF combiner as well. What I mean is that your main aerial or other RF source will go into the ampilfier as well as the RF output from the AVANT, then both the AVANT and the link TV's will be supplied by the RF amplifier. This has the following advantages:-

• The quality of the link TV signal is much better particularly if you have several link TV's
• There is RF passthrough from the main aerial or other RF source without the need for the AVANT RF modulator being on.
• You can feed an RF source other than your main aerial into the amplifier which is then available to all link TV's regardless of the state of the master AVANT
• The amplifier uses "F" connectors instead of the standard 75 ohm plugs which provide much better impedance matching and therefore quality of signal. "F" connectors allow the centre core of the coax cable to feed directly into the socket without an additional pin

Yes Keith, the Amp merges the signal from the TV and the signal from the roof. But in this case, on an Avant, the signal is merged inside the TV as well.

Isn't it going to create a conflict when the Amp merges a signal that contains already all the channels with another signal that contains all the channels as well, plus the link signal.

Jonathan: I meant HDR1 or HDR2... Got confused.

PhilLondon:

Isn't it going to create a conflict when the Amp merges a signal that contains already all the channels with another signal that contains all the channels as well, plus the link signal.

Any comment anyone?

The Link channels are tuned to unused areas in the frequency range. You have the ability to change the Link frequency and the received frequencies for each component on the link TV.  The Product Configuration Guide (on site!) is most useful in configuring the system and will give you an idiot's guide to how to do it.

Hi Guys

 

Thanks for all the advice as always. I've now become a gold member and have downloaded the  PCG software.The problem is that I can't put the Avant into V. Opt 1 as it states I should. I follow the instructions and press the correct buttons on the Beo4 but the TV does not give any indication that it is in V.Opt 1.

 

Furthermore, I can't activate the decoder in the TV tuning section of setup

 

Here's what the PCG said:

 

************************* VIDEO SYSTEM SETUP **************************


BeoVision Avant 28" 100 Hz MKIII (832x) SW 3.x
TV Decoder (I have a Virgin V+ box so I assume this is a TV Decoder)
Set-top Box Controller ( 1 STB )

Connection Video


Connect the Decoder to the DECODER socket of the TV-set using a 21/21-
pin A/V cable.

Connect the TV-socket on the Set-top Box to the TV AV socket using
a fully mounted 21/21-pin AV cable.
Connect the IR transmitter delivered to the IR-OUTPUT socket on the back of
the BeoVision Avant and mount the IR-diode above the Set-top Box IR receiver.

Connect the aerial to the aerial input of the TV-set.

Selecting option on the TV-set
(All done - no problems here)

Option: OPTION 1 (Factory setting), with Beo4

                Press:                          | Display:
               --------------------------------------------
                STANDBY + LIST at the same time | OPTION?
                GO                              | V.OPT
                1                               | Observe confirmation
                                                | from BeoVision
(The Avant shows no confirmation of V.OPT 1)
Programming the setup


Decoder Setup Tv:
 
In the TV Tuning MENU of the TV-set the Decoder must be activated on
the TV programs for which a Decoder is required.
Press: MENU, 4 or 5 (Setup), 1 (Tuning), 1 (TV).
Select MORE and set the Decoder On/Off.
(When I go to more there are only the options of Fine, Sound and Format - nothing for Decoder at all!)
Set-top box setup:

Select Set-top box type as follows:
         MENU / Setup / Source
Select "Set-top box" under the point AV using STEP UP and STEP DOWN and
press GO. Select the relevant Set-top box on the list and press GO to confirm.
(Under AV there is no option for Set Top Box, but right next to AV there is the category of Decoder where I can find Set Top Box)
Note!


If the TV is equipped with a Dolby Surround Module, the TV's default
SPEAKER mode will be 3. This has the effect that the speakers of the Avant
will not play stereo.
To avert this, the TV Front Speaker Setup must be set to 'None'.
This is effected via the menus Setup -> Sound -> Speaker.
However, this is not possible on Avant 50Hz with S/W lower than 2.0

BeoVision Avant must be equipped with software (S/W) 3.2 or
higher. Order No. 8343548

The VTR in BeoVision Avant must be equippped with software (S/W) 2.1
or higher. Order No. 8343137

Possibility to built-in a STB-C from Approx. Serial No. 13803272 or higher.

In case of interference between the modulator frequency and other
signals in the UHF region, adjust the modulator frequency
from the TV menu. Procedure:
         Setup / Tuning / Link Frequency
When you have found the desired frequency, press (GO/PLAY) to save it.
The recommended distance between stations in the UHF region is 16 Mhz.

********************* REMOTE CONTROL FOR MAIN ROOM ********************


The recommended remote control is Beo4

The following remote controls may also be used:
Beo5

Setup for Beo4 remote control:
 

Beo4's "LIST" must contain the following items in order to be able
to operate the Main Room products.

FORMAT STAND CLOCK
LARGE REVEAL INDEX UDDATE MIX SUBCODE STORE
AV      (only with S/W 4.0 or higher in Beo4)
 (
See Beo4's operation manual page 10/12 on REMOVE and ADD functions
from/to the List