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TV tuner on Walkmans - does it work in Europe?

fortexg - 2008-04-02 03:44

Hi, a newbie question, so sorry if it was answered already (could not find it on forums thou):
The TV tuner Walkmans can receive channels 2 - 13. Assume those are US channels?
According to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_channel_frequencies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_television_system

Channels 2-6 are @ freq 60-88Mhz, 7-13 @ 180-216
In Europe, those frequencies cover ch. 3-4 & 5-10
Both systems supposedly use FM modulation.
So, does it work?

71spud - 2008-04-02 11:12

Has Europe switched over (or are they in the process of switching over) to all digital TV transmission? We are in the USA and I would imagine very soon that none of these TV bands will work. Unless they are still planning on broadcasting TV audio via analog.... I highly doubt that.

fortexg - 2008-04-02 15:25

Yes, total analog switch off is planned for 2011 in Slovenia. Only MPEG4 DVB-T after that, so this question will be irrelevant by then.

masterblaster84 - 2008-04-03 08:37

Yep, won't be long and none of the old analog tuners will receive anything. That includes walkmans, TV radios, TV boomboxes, etc. The only way for any to work is if they have an RF input and you have a seperate digital tuner with RF output, this probably will only apply to TV boomboxes though. I'm not sure if these new digital tuners will have an RF output, I haven't seen one yet.

fortexg - 2008-04-03 11:30

AFAIK none of the DVB receivers has RF out, only analog video & digital (HDMI). They're gonna cost a lot too - The MPEG4 one about 150 Euro ($240), which is more than a new CRT TV, so people with older TV's will be better off buying a new set Somebody's gonna make a killin' on those millions of (hundreds in US & EU alone) tuners & TVs.
Anyway, I still do not have answer to my original question...

baby.boomer - 2008-04-03 17:43

Check out this Wikipedia article for lists of current analog TV channels and their corresponding audio/video frequencies from around the world. I only gave the lists a quick glance, but it looks like you should be able to pick up some (but not all) TV audio in Europe on your U.S. spec Walkman, so long as the tuner on your Walkman is a continuous analog dial and not a series of preset frequencies.

fortexg - 2008-04-08 13:56

Thanks boomer; the same Wiki link is in my original post Wink
I too know it should work in theory, but would appreciate input from someone who has tested this in Europe - Agent, Autoreverser,...?