# Problems with French TVs



## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

Hi Please can you help.I posted a message last night but I am unable to trace it .The message was asking for help with two French TVs I have brought back from France now we have bought a motorhome. I am unable to get any sound on either set . They are both Secam and Pal.and both worked ok in France. Can you help me put this in the correct site please. Ever grateful wallis


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## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

wallis said:


> Hi Please can you help.I posted a message last night but I am unable to trace it .The message was asking for help with two French TVs I have brought back from France now we have bought a motorhome. I am unable to get any sound on either set . They are both Secam and Pal.and both worked ok in France. Can you help me put this in the correct site please. Ever grateful wallis


Sorry Wallis but your post on the site before the one above was on 18.02.08 and headed "Wi-Fi on campsites".
It looks as though it never left your computer.
Did it have a title?


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

You will need to go deep into the menus.

Change the sound from whatever it is at the moment (system B/G or poss L) and select system I.

If you cannot do that then you have bought a bummer!


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

pippin said:


> You will need to go deep into the menus.
> 
> Change the sound from whatever it is at the moment (system B/G or poss L) and select system I.
> 
> If you cannot do that then you have bought a bummer!


Yes that's right the PAL system in France has its audio and video separated by a difference frequency to that in of the UK PAL system. So you can have either picture or sound but not both unless it can be switched in a menu.


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## krull (Jul 22, 2006)

Best of luck Wallis. I have fiddled with my 'universal' TV for hours and never got it to work in france (sound or pictures). I gave upin the end and bought a satellite kit so I could watch french tv in france.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*PAL*

Hello there,

I had the very same problem with a TV I bought in the UK.

I am away at the moment so not near the TV. As others have mentioned it is down deep in the settings menu and you need to change the B/L thingy.

What Brand are your TV's?

Trev.


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## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

*replies to French TVs*

HI Thanks for your replies. Could you explain what you mean by deep into the menu.We have looked but cannot find anything like you suggest.We have a super picture and the sound is there but covered with a buzzing THe brand is Orion. wallis


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## Motorhomersimpson (May 9, 2005)

*Re: replies to French TVs*



wallis said:


> HI Thanks for your replies. Could you explain what you mean by deep into the menu.We have looked but cannot find anything like you suggest.We have a super picture and the sound is there but covered with a buzzing THe brand is Orion. wallis


Hi Wallis,

do these TV's have a DVD player built in by chance? Also just to be sure are you using them from the mains, or are you trying them in the van with any form of inverter etc.

MHS...Rob


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

If you can't find a menu that allows you to change the sound system from B/L to I or a menu that allows you to set the tv to UK from France or maybe Europe then they ain't going to work I'm afraid.

You need to find a menu that either has B/L as the option or a Menu that has FRANCE as the option and change them. You will have one or the other, Language maybe one of the menus.


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## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

*French TV set*

Hi Pete 4x4 Looked on menu Nothing which looks like B/L(what does this mean?) or I . Tried the French language -nothing.We can fine tune the buzzing out ,but we loose the picture quality. Still very grateful. wallis


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## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

*French TV (cont)*

Hi Pippin. How do you go DEEP into menus. wallis


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Wallis - I assume that you received an instruction manual with the TV?

OK, it might be in French but it should be fairly obvious if you go through it.

Look for "installation" (which is _installation_ in French!), tuning or set-up in the menus.

You are looking for anything that mentions _systéme_, B/G, K, L or I.
You do not want SECAM. Or L.
You do want PAL, but PAL with I.
You do not want PAL with B/G or K.

If necessary, get back to us on here with details of the menus and sub-menus to help point you in the right direction.


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

I would have thought it would be in the tuning menu, somewhere close to autotune. Could be called Installation.
Do you get to choose PAL or SECAM or does it automatically? It maybe that Auto is biased towards French TV

I assume you have managed to get the menus in english? 

Pete


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## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

*Final French TV*

Hi Pete4x4 & Pipin. Tried everything Nothing in the booklet of any use.As you said in the begining I think we have a "bummer" Many thanks for your efforts, its back to Sky .wallis


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

Never one for giving up until all avenues exhausted  
Have you got a model no?


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## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

Hi Pete 4x4 .I can only admire your tenacity ,the model no is MD17S and the make is Orion. Best of luck and many thanks, wallis


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

Sorry Wallis it is definitely only for the French/European market. It is never going to work in the UK wrong sound sub-carrier frequency and that is set at manufacture. It's meant for French PAL systems.
Pete


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## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

*Final French TV*

Hi Pete 4x4 Many thanks Pete for your efforts I hope we can meet sometime. wallis


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## pneumatician (May 1, 2005)

*Tv In France*

A slight deviation in that I have the reverse problem when in France.
Using my laptop Hauppenage TV widget I get wonderful pictures but no sound I can change to the various TV systems but have yet to find a sound menu.

Any Ideas


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

Exactly the same applies, if you can't change the overall system to French SECAM or PAL B/G then it won't work.
Pete


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## bob12tsc (Dec 29, 2005)

Hi there
everybody helping here are all correct about selecting the correct sound from within the sets menu system , however if there is no such option it is possible for the set to be changed to uk sound which is at 6 mhz in the sound processing stages within the sets circuitry , it is a relatively straightforward job for a tv engineer, as it only involves a change of a ceramic filter from 5.5mhz to 6 mhz and possibly tweaking the quadrature detector coil , the question is , is it more cost effective to pay an engineer to do this simple job, or bin the set ! 
speak to a local tv engineer get a price .
regards 
robert jackson


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

That is a job I have done many, many times - in both directions.

Somewhere I still have a tub full of various ceramic filters even though I packed up my TV repair business five years ago!


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

Just had a thought, Hauppage Win TV units take there regional settings from Windows. So the probable reason it's not working is because you haven't set your Regional settings to France.
Its in Control Panel- Regional options. Hopefully you should not have to change the Language as that could get interesting, how good is your French!!

Pete


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## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

*French tvs*

Hi Pippin-pete4x4.Are you now taking about the laptop or my tv.wallis


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

pippin here - I was talking about TVs.


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

And I was talking about laptops in pneumatician's hijack of your post!!


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## wallis (Sep 27, 2007)

*French TV (cont)*

Hi Pippin. Is this a job that I could attempt if you told me what a quatrature detector coil looked like and where I could buy the ceramic filter? or not. wallis


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

It depends on how handy you are with a small soldering-iron!

Identifying the ceramic filter is the tricky bit but it has only three legs and is not difficult to replace.

The quad coil would require just a slight tweak to remove residual buzz.
Again, once identified it is a simple job with a special tool (costing pence).

The service manual would reveal the locations of the two.

The likes of (clever!) me would be able to locate them by instinct, without a manual!

However, the usual caveats regarding working on dangerous electrical/electronic equipment apply.


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