TM-RF HD IR, HDMI RF Modulator with 9V IR Control and HDMI Loopthrough

Model: Technomate TM-RF HD IR, HDMI RF Modulator with 9V IR Control and HDMI LoopthroughThis is quite amazing for the price. I've been using it with my Panasonic DMR-BTW720 Blu Ray recorder, so I can watch HD content in my bedroom via the aerial distribution in my bedroom. I once had a sky hd box in there, but ditched it a while ago in favour of Freeview.The recorder's HDMI out is connected to the HDMI input of the Technomate device, its RF Input to the recorder's RF output, and the RF output of the modulator back into the aerial distribution amp to be fed to the main distribution. Then set the I device up. Currently I am using UHF channel 60 on the Technomate's RF settings, to transmit the signal, a frequency now used by LTE mobile phones, but one all my televisions will tune to, and LCN channel 119 just because it is in the HD group of channels for Freeview. Channel 60 may soon get swamped by mobile use, in this case an RF filter might later be required on the antenna feed or use of a lower channel for the modulator. I've also tried it on UHF channel 37 but not fully tested for any possible digital broadcast channel being lost at this frequency.After inserting the device, I did lose BBC4 HD and the other channels on MUX 7, but my small UHF antennal is in the loft, so signal could be stronger. This loss was corrected by connecting a signal amplifier I already had, between the UHF antenna and the RF in to the DVD recorder, which restored the BBC4 HD and other associated channels. Technomate - this is something you need to check, it seems there's a small signal attenuation here, as the channels were restored when bypassing the unit, before the extra amplifier was added.The unit is in place with a room containing the Blu-ray recorder and a Panasonic PT-AE5000E full HD projector, and the Technomate's on-board HDMI output (input relay/splitter out socket) works fine to feed the signal to the projector via an ONKYO surround sound unit, always used in stereo mode.. The pictures were superb, but I did notice some small movement judder, which was cleared by setting the HDMI source to 1080i rather than 1080p, with no other obvious issues, even on the projector screen. The picture on the televisions after retuning is stunning, with pin sharp definition and no issues whatsoever. It's like having the source in the room, rather than being fed by RF. I've not set the sound to anything but stereo, as I'm not a fan of Dolby surround sound or other similar formats.I can control the HDMI source device from the bedroom and elsewhere with the remote relay, which works perfectly. As my UHF distribution amp supports passback of "magic eye" signals I've also tried another old "magic eye" I had, on another TV in the house, and this too worked fine, but I wouldn't suggest anything other than a Technomate device should always work. I was lucky!One criticism is the use of "F" connecters on all RF connections which to me are clumsy and require experience in using them. Even the magic eye input required this, which ought to have had a standard UHF RF in connection instead like similar devices have. The only settings I changed, were the UHF modulator's RF channel, and the LCN channel for the freeview channel number. Every other setting on the device remains as it was. I've tested with blu ray disks also, with no problems.It seems the output cannot be recorded on another device with a HD recorder. My TV sets support this, but none will record the added channel. I guess this is a limitation of allowing HDCP content protected signals to be converted by the device. Not a problem for me however. I just wanted to watch my recordings elsewhere in my house. Nothing would detract from the just award of 5 stars for this unit, given the price for such staggeringly complex technology, but something so easy to deploy.Pros: Stunning performance, (recommended to use 1080i input source), easy to use, not much needed to configure, does exactly what it says on the tin. Price is amazing for a device which would have been thousands not so long ago. Excellent operation of remote relay. Good documentation provided for the device. Easy to install for people used to dealing with UHF TV distribution, or those with a technical background, or people who can read instruction books! Has everything you might need. HDMI pass-through, remote relay, nothing extra normally required given a good aerial signal.Cons: Possible slight attenuation of the UHF signal levels passing through the device, This can be corrected with a small signal amplifier.Use of "F" connectors rather than standard UHF TV connectors, especially on the magic eye. No recording of channel created by device on my gear at least, but only to be expected given the HDCP protected content, and I wasn't expecting this to be allowed.Disclaimer:I'm just a recent owner, and have nothing to do with any supplier, or seller. An ex TV engineer in fact.Update: I've now tried this on a Samsung 24" 1920x1080 TV / monitor which I have in my office. This set has no Freeview HD tuner, only SD Freeview, (DVB-T) but will decode this HD signal perfectly nevertheless giving the only HD RF "reception" available to it. It's a Samsung T24D390EW if anyone has one of these they want to use. Key issues seem to be 1080 screen size and h264 decoding. I would also imagine that a Freeview HD box would down-convert the signals for owners with 720 res TVs as it would do, with on air 1080 Freeview HD channels.

All these years I have been watching analogue Sky picture quality on my other TVs around the house, I was put off by the price of these RF modulator but now I wish I got one of these earlier.My original setup was using a Sky+HD box with RF2 output up to a loft box then distribute the RF signal to other TVs around the house. The RF2 was also providing 9v to power the magic eye on each TV. This setup was providing an analogue picture from Sky and in 2019, it is just not up to the job.With the RF distributor, I plugged the aerial into the Technomate and then the RF out into the aerial socket of the Sky box. You will also need to plug the HDMI from Sky to Technomate then HDMI out from Technomate to your main TV. The 9v power is still being provided by the Sky box with this setup and all magic eyes remain working. Now that all the cables are in place, you will now need to retune your main TV Freeview channels and on channel 800 you will find your Sky picture in HD. I have left all my Technomate settings as default apart from changing the channel name. There is no noticeable lag in the sound with picture but there is a half second delay when using the Sky remote. This is not a big deal at all and you will just have to get used to the delay response.Just a note that on my first cable run of the Technomate, I plugged the aerial into Sky but had the RF2 from Sky box to Technomate then RF out from Techomate to my loft box. With this setup, I was using the 9v from Technomate and turned off the 9v from Sky box and all magic eyes remain working. The Sky picture on channel 800 is good in HD with no problem but interference problem started to appear on the Freeview channels. The Freeview picture quality is good until a press of any button on the TV remote will lead to a breakup of sound and picture on the channel. If you don’t touch the remote then the picture quality is good but with every press of, for example, volume button the picture will breakup on each press. By plugging the aerial into Technomate first solved all the problem.

I have a Virgin Tivo box with an internal hard disk for recording programs. This internal Hard disk was becoming full and I did not want to delete the programs on it to open up more space so I decided to play the programs and at the same time re-record them on a much larger USB drive (1TB) connected to my Sony TV USB port. But for copy protection reasons the TV only allows recording to its USB port be made from programs received on its terrestrial areal input. Since the Tivo box output was a HDMI, I needed a device to convert this HDMI to RF signal that I could play on one of the TV's unused terrestrial channels and hence record it to the connected USB drive. The Technomate was the exact device for this, with perfect results and no loss of picture quality. An excellent design and well thought out product with perfect instructions, which has a trouble shooting section that came very handy.