TechDigital HomeExclusive Hands On Review of the Black Gold BGT3620...

Exclusive Hands On Review of the Black Gold BGT3620 Dual DVB-T/T2 Tuner Card

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Using the BGT3620

Fitting the card inside the Tranquil ixL was easy, just a few screws and some panels moved and I was ready to go. I would also add that I also tried the card in a different PC as well and it worked just as well.

After Windows rebooted, the first that happened was that the card couldn’t find the driver (not exactly unexpected).

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Sol I installed the drivers manually.

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It only took a few moments and I didn’t have any problems at all.

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Then I was ready to go!

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As I mentioned, I don’t know what software will come with the card normally so the installation of the drivers may be different.

Now it was time to fire up Windows Media Center.

I went through the menus and selected TV setup again in order to find and use the new card.

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It found the card without problems and so I told Media Center to configure the TV signal using the card.

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Once all that was complete, and the latest TV Program Guide data was downloaded, it was time to perform the TV Channel Scan.

I have to be honest, this was the part that I held my breath and crossed my fingers!

Within a few minutes it had found a couple of Freeview HD channels so I knew it was working. I started to breathe again at that point!

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At the end of the scan, it had found 103 channels, which made me very pleased as previous cards (ignoring the Freeview HD part) had only found around 80 channels, and that includes normal Freeview boxes connected to my television and even the built in Freeview tuner in my Pioneer Plasma!

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And just to prove it, here were the 4 Freeview HD channels:

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And that was it – the setup and configuration was completed – today time – about 10 minutes.

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So now it was time to hit the Guide to see what was one – and that’s when I hit my first problem.

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Yes, you are reading that correctly – there was no Guide data for any of the four Freeview HD channels.

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Andrew Edney
Andrew Edney
I am the owner and editor of this site. I have been interested in gadgets and tech since I was a little kid. I have also written a number of books on various tech subjects. I also blogged for The Huffington Post and for FHM. And I am honoured to have been a Microsoft MVP since January 2008, including as an Xbox MVP until 2023.

31 COMMENTS

  1. Have just ordered a Tranquil iXL with the T2 tuner, so looking forward to getting into it. Hope the guide problem gets fixed quickly.

  2. Mine arrived this morning 🙂

    No driver disk though 🙁

    Anyone got one or can point me in the direction of it?

    Not on the Blackgold download site

    Cheers

    Jerry

  3. I got my card and have it working on Win7 x64 Media Center. Thanks for the info on getting the guide to work on most of the HD channels. My only problem is that I dont get Dolby Digital audio with the HD channels. I have an optical SPDIF connection and my receiver shows DD/DTS for blurays/DVDs/mkvs but not for the HD TV channels. Does anyone know how I would get this working?

    Cheers

  4. Got mine today, said was gonna setup as analog and dvbt tuners

    Recieved 75 channels.

    However didnt find hd ones sadly,

    checked postcode said hd in my area is available since 2009.

    So not too happy at the moment

  5. Scanned just using dvbt, finds 102 channels now, but no HD, maybe the multiplex is weak on hd ones?

    Some channels just give a blank screen, but this is likely a weak signal?

    Didnt wanna have to wait for the digitv hd product when its comes available, but maybe it will work better with a weaker signal.

    Im using direct feed from ariel, but limited channels so far…..

    using the 8.00 drivers from website, product had no driver disk with it, but downloaded from your site.

    will keep trying, getting fed up with scanning channels now though.

  6. in media center w7 64, it mentions only dvbt not dvbt2, i assume this is fine, as driver should use dvbt2 also.

    gets to about 50% first tuner finds some channels at this point, then goes to tune rest red led comes on the other tuner then, finds about 102 channels but no hd ones

    Is it only scanning dvb and not dvbt2?

    dunno, just assumed i could pay my money plug it in and it works.

    seems hd isnt as simple as i would of thought, not sure how the standard joe will cope with all this switchover and dvbt and dvbt2 and etc etc etc etc,

    • Pete

      Im not sure why you are having so many issues – perhaps as you say it is down to weak aerial signal?

      As I said in my review above, I just plugged the card in, installed the drivers, did a scan and that was it – it worked perfectly for me.

      I would contact Black Gold if I were you just in case you have an issue they are aware of.

      Andrew

  7. Thanks Andrew, generally im quite lucky,

    Hardware wise, build is excellent, cant believe how small it is.

    I think it must be working, prob maybe hd isnt available and the freeview site is reporting incorrect?

    However if the signal is weak i guess the hd channels are likely to be missing?

    I wouldnt of minded if they showed up in list and were say a bit breakyey up or corrupt, as then i could sort things from there.

    i used media center to see signal strength and most report 71% or 100%, but im guessing this is no indication of if you can recieve or not?

    will keep trying, at some point i will buy a hd freeview for the tv and if this works, then i should have more of an idea.

    oh well, cant do much else for the moment, was getting excited to see how good the hd channels were aswell.

  8. I think freeview testing today, as managed to scan and recieved hd channels,

    So happy with the card now, got a nice 1 hour or so of testing, a bit weak now though,

    Thanks for any help.

  9. Has anyone managed to get this card working in WHS 2011 – perhaps using DVB logic as well.

    I’d _love_ to hear if anyone has.

    John

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