Experience With Imported Australian Tv & Getting Cable Installed

[Adventurer]

I brought a brand new Sony TV with me from Aussie recently. It is an interesting story as I had to travel on trains, taxis, ferry's, buses, planes, tricycles to bring it here. I even managed to get it through with no fees or taxes. The problem though was when I got here to my province and got a person to install cable it never worked initially. The only presets on factory reset were for Australia, new Zealand & Singapore. The cable channels showed up but there was no sound or colour. I then thought I might have a TV that is useless here in the Philippines. The cable guy said he would come back the next day with a more skilled person. That night I fiddled around with the settings for the channels and I was able to work out how to set the channel to get color manually for each channel. That was a good breakthrough and a start but there was still no sound. I had tested sound from USB, PC etc and even on start up so there was sound in the TV, it was just the channels were not set right.

Anyway, they came back and just fluffed around with the sound settings etc and really had no idea what it was. After an hour or more of them going through every setting on the TV they finally found the way to set each channel to get sound manually by accident. In fact they could not set the channels but we could get sound temporary while in the settings menu, They said they would take the manual and come back the next day. I paid them 300 pesos after I asked how much they wanted. They also wanted to get me to purchase a lightning protector and to give them 1200 pesos to buy the parts so that was going to be done then next time after they got the TV working and I said I would consider it when they come back and fix the TV.

That night I managed to work out how to set each channel to get sound, again it had to be set manually for each channel so it took some time.

I'm disappointed though as most of the channels are very low resolution, is this normal in the Philippines? The TV iis only a lower end model but I ran it is Australia and the res was much better there plus when I play a DVD etc it is fine. Also, they gave me a flyer before I signed up and it says' 60 channels but we only get around 48. Some of the ones I really wanted and are listed on the flyer are not showing up like ESPN. Would this be because we are in a more remote area?

They never came back although they did text to confirm, I have been busy and have not worried too much about the lightning protector although it is something I would like to get as we are close a beach and there is thunderstorms here a lot. I would be interested though to know a bit more about them before I pay someone to install one.

So is a lightning protector something I should have installed or should I buy it myself and install it?

Can I get my TV to display higher resolution from the Cable?

Is there a way I can get the channels that are missing like ESPN?

Edited July 15, 2012 by Adventurer

[MikeB]

So is a lightning protector something I should have installed or should I buy it myself and install it? Can I get my TV to display higher resolution from the Cable? Is there a way I can get the channels that are missing like ESPN?

You can buy a surge protector at any hardware store. I think I paid in the neighborhood of 600-700 for a 4 outlet one at Tru Value and that was about the best one they had. It's sounds like they are trying to hose you which is not uncommon with the contractors the cable companies hire, not only here but everywhere. If you paid for the cable service and installation (usually extra) I'm curious why you paid them p300 more.

Did they install a digital cable box or is it coax going directly into the TV from the pole? If it's not a box you are getting an analog signal and the picture quality will not be as good. Where I live that's the setup, there are no boxes (yet) so the picture is not great, some channels much better then others. There are many possibilities for poor picture quality but, bottom line, it's their responsibility to fix it but if you're comparing HD channels from back home to the picture you're receiving in the province there will be a vast difference.

Check your plan on the missing channels, if you're paying for them they have to provide them.

[Adventurer]

You can buy a surge protector at any hardware store. I think I paid in the neighborhood of 600-700 for a 4 outlet one at Tru Value and that was about the best one they had. It's sounds like they are trying to hose you which is not uncommon with the contractors the cable companies hire, not only here but everywhere. If you paid for the cable service and installation (usually extra) I'm curious why you paid them p300 more.

OK so a surge protector will work? from my research it seemed I had to get a special setup with the device been earthed. I had a good surge protector in Aussie that I sent in a B box before I left but that won't be here for sometime, I should have packed it in my luggage but I will check out the shops next time.

I only paid the 300 as I felt it was my TV that was not compatible since it was from Australia and they also kept saying it was my TV and they even borrowed another TV from a neighbor to show it was my TV that was the problem although I knew they were going to say that as I said to my girlfriend. This guy was not the original guy that came around but he brought this so called expert to help since my TV would not work. I'm not going to worry about the 300 pesos and at least he sort of found the problem. I would like my manual back though so I will get on to that but I think I will not bother with the lightning protector as I also felt it might have been a bit of a con.

Did they install a digital cable box or is it coax going directly into the TV from the pole? If it's not a box you are getting an analog signal and the picture quality will not be as good. Where I live that's the setup, there are no boxes (yet) so the picture is not great, some channels much better then others. There are many possibilities for poor picture quality but, bottom line, it's their responsibility to fix it but if you're comparing HD channels from back home to the picture you're receiving in the province there will be a vast difference.

Check your plan on the missing channels, if you're paying for them they have to provide them.

It was direct to the pole I gather as I also had to fork out 1000 pesos for extra long cable. There is no TV box and I have seen ads on TV for cable with free HD box etc so I wonder if I have got a bad deal now? although that might not be available here in my remote province I paid 1800 pesos for installation plus these other costs but the monthly rate seems reasonable at 400 pesos a month.

I'm going to take your advice and look into why I'm not getting all the channels by calling the main office tomorrow.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Adventurer

[MikeB]

It was direct to the pole I gather as I also had to fork out 1000 pesos for extra long cable. There is no TV box and I have seen ads on TV for cable with free HD box etc so I wonder if I have got a bad deal now? although that might not be available here in my remote province I paid 1800 pesos for installation plus these other costs but the monthly rate seems reasonable at 400 pesos a month

They got me with the 1000 for the extra cable too. Check with the provider to see if you should have the box, it may not be available but if it is you want it. For p400 a month you're probably not getting many channels but there's not much worth watching anyway (except for "Wil Time Bigtime", of course).

[Adventurer]

yeah the channels are not that great, the majority of the ones I get are Filipino which makes the girlfriend happy. I like discovery and geographic but they repeat most of the content for a week. I'm streaming most of my sports like the tour of France from the web....

Does anyone know what channel the Olympics will be on here in the Philippines?

Edited July 15, 2012 by Adventurer

[OnMyWay]

So, for my education, does "lightening protector" = "surge protector" or is there a special grounded device very specific to protecting from lightening?

When you say that you are streaming from the web, like the TDF, do you mean clips or is there live streaming?

Thanks! :cheers:

[Adventurer]

So, for my education, does "lightening protector" = "surge protector" or is there a special grounded device very specific to protecting from lightening?

When you say that you are streaming from the web, like the TDF, do you mean clips or is there live streaming?

Thanks! :cheers:

i just find streams online, use to use justin.TV but they are not as good, lately been using VIPbox.TV

In fact my girlfriend is now in control of the TV, I barely use it or care as I just watch what I want on the laptop :)

There is a lot of free tv online these days, especially news channels like CNN, ABC offer free streams or you can use places like Freeetv.com

Edited July 15, 2012 by Adventurer

[OnMyWay]

So, for my education, does "lightening protector" = "surge protector" or is there a special grounded device very specific to protecting from lightening?

When you say that you are streaming from the web, like the TDF, do you mean clips or is there live streaming?

Thanks! :cheers:

i just find streams online, use to use justin.TV but they are not as good, lately been using VIPbox.TV

In fact my girlfriend is now in control of the TV, I barely use it or care as I just watch what I want on the laptop :)

There is a lot of free tv online these days, especially news channels like CNN, ABC offer free streams or you can use places like Freeetv.com

When I was living in Germany my friends in the US told me they watch a lot of things online for free, but when I tried in Germany it was usually blocked "Only available in the US". I didn't pursue it after that. Maybe that is not as much of an issue in Phils.

[earthdome]

Regarding the surge protector...

You need to protect anything that connects from the outside... not just the AC... but also the cable and phone if used. Also need to ensure the surge protector is grounded.

Friend of mine had alot of electronic & computer equipment zapped from a lightning strike that hit the cable tv/internet cable which the cable company had not buried yet.

[Jake]

Regarding the surge protector...

You need to protect anything that connects from the outside... not just the AC... but also the cable and phone if used. Also need to ensure the surge protector is grounded.

Friend of mine had alot of electronic & computer equipment zapped from a lightning strike that hit the cable tv/internet cable which the cable company had not buried yet.

Excellent point Earthdome......in my experience, most outlets in the Philippines do NOT have ground connection

for the three prong plug. If any of your appliances, audio and video components give you a slight shock upon

touching their metal surfaces, your home is not properly grounded. Protective devices such as surge protectors

need that ground to pass any electrical spikes/surge immediately to earth ground. Normally earth ground (a long

metal rod) is buried at the pole where the transformer is located. Often times that earth ground is compromised

due to road construction, floods or someone took all the grounding hardware to be sold in the black market. For

additional info: http://myphilippinel...ctrical-wiring/

Adventurer, based on your comment you have a coax cable going directly to your new Sony TV (no cable box).

Most modern TV's are cable ready and all you need to do is perform an auto search for the stronger channels.

With your current problem, I would assume that coax cable is "dirty" or the source TV signal from your provider

is weak or full of noise. The local field techs claimed that a borrowed TV worked at your location. Perhaps you

should further investigate their claim by having your brand new Sony TV checked out at your neighbor's set up.

As Mike B commented, put your foot down and strictly supervise these so called field techs. Otherwise, cut them

off and find another cable provider. Another option is the old school TV antenna (preferably indoor type).

Best of luck -- Jake