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Test Reports
Better Satellite : TechniSat SkyFunk SL3 video sender

Video senders are handy devices for transferring TV signals to any part of the house. Grant Rennell 'beams up' his DigiBox with the latest video sender from TechniSat.

Additional satellite receivers or Freeview adapters are all well and good for watching different TV channels around the house , but if all you're after is a bit of late night digital TV watching upstairs in the bedroom, say, then there are two less expensive ways of achieving your aim. One solution is to run a length of coax cable from the UHF output on your set top box to the rear of the second TV drilling holes in the wall where necessary. Or you can take the less messy and labor-intensive route and use a video sender like the SkyFunk SL3, which transmits video and audio signals from the source to the second TV using radio waves.

The SkyFunk SL3 uses the conventional setup of a transmitter for the source (i.e a set-top box or DVD player) and a receiver which plugs into the second TV. As with many other video senders, it sports a rather eye-catching design, with each unit looking not unlike futuristic hood ornaments. The transmitter and receiver units connect to the source and second TV respectively with colour coded Scart leads. The transmitter cable also has branching lead ending in an infrared remote eye for relaying remote control commands to the source.

Each unit is powered by a 9V adapter and has dip switches on the rear for switching between frequency channels, should there be any difficulties in reception or even signal interference with the neighbours. The SkyFunk SL3 uses the 2.4 GHz transmission system and has a range of 30 metres indoors and 100 metres outdoors. Provided your home doesn't contain too much metal in the walls, floors or ceilings, this should be sufficient for most users. We transmitted signals from our Sky DigiBox to the floor above at a distance of about 15 metres.

Considering that video senders only transmit composite video signals, results were comparable with watching direct from the box on the first TV with only a softening of the picture. The stereo sound meanwhile was pretty much identical to the sources. While other, more expensive, video senders from the likes of Philips may offer a little more user- flexibility (such as the ability to remotely control multiple sources) the SkyFunk SL3's compact size, ease-of-use and
convincing results still make it an attractive purchase - and a design talking point - for bedroom TV watchers everywhere.

Published Summer 2003 , Better Satellite