You can contact us in the following ways

Mail:
GTA Ltd
PO Box 1055
Buckingham
MK18 2XN

Support & Technical Enquiries:
support@gta-ltd.co.uk

Sales:
sales@gta-ltd.co.uk

Tel:
01296 733268

 

 


Hours Mon-Fri 09:00 - 16:30

We will be releasing Dual PCI Cards Shortly

Please watch the site!

   
Go to GTA Home PageGo to GTA Promotions PagesGTA New Product ReleasesGo to GTA Support PagesGo to Software - Other DownloadsView Basket or CheckoutHow to Contact Us at GTAAbout GTA
PCI Single Digital TV Tuner Cards PCI Dual Tuner Cards PCI-express Dual Tuner Cards USB TV Digital Tuner Modules TV Card Accessories Black Gold TV Software Product Brief

All new Black Gold cards including the PCI-express dual tuners are fully Vista compliant.

The Black Gold Single tuners are Vista compliant when used in single tuner systems.

We do not currently have drivers to support multiple tuner systems for the Single Tuner cards.

 

We are currently building this page and further topics will be added shortly. However, since Vista uses MCE2005 as the core for TV. Most issues are already dealt with under the MCE section.

We will add Vista specific issues as we become aware of them.

Black Gold Application Support

Q. I've installed my card and tried to register but I get the message "Too many repeat attempts"
A. You're allowed only ten attempts(to stop unscrupulous companies copying the software. NOT to prevent end users installing as many times as they wish!), something must have prevented the registration working correctly. e-mail support@gta-ltd.co.uk and give us the e-mail address you used to register the product and the approximate date. We will then reset the counter so that you can register your product. Also double check that you have entered the correct licence code. The licence codes can contain only the following characters 0123456789 ABCDEF, that is zero not O!

Q. I've tried to register but I get 'Bad Server Response' and my software will not unlock.

A. This can occur if the software sees a corrupt response from the server. Try again a bit later. If the problem is persistent it may be due to a third party application or firewall blocking the active content our server is trying to send. Try temporarily disabling any firewall. But make sure you only do it for a short time whilst you are unlocking, or your computer may be at risk.

Q. I installed my card, but when I click on any of the buttons nothing happens.
A. You may well have placed the card in the PC before installing the software. Contact support@gta-ltd.co.uk. If this is the case then you may have to go back to a previous known 'restore point' or re-install windows with a clean registry.

Q. The card tunes to stations, but they are jerky and the picture freezes. Or, I don't get as many stations as I expected.
A. This is probably a signal quality problem. Check you have a good TV signal. The signals can be TOO STRONG as well as TOO WEAK. First of all go through the checks on our front support page Black Gold Support. You may need a different type of aerial. If that looks OK then contact support@gta-ltd.co.uk and we will send you a test program that will check what the problem is likely to be. See also the General Reception Issues. See also the page on General Reception Issues

Q. When I play recorded files using Media Player, I cannot use the 'Seek' slider to move backwards and forwards in the recording.
A. This is a known Media Player 9 fault when playing dvr-ms format recordings. You can download a fix from the Microsoft website called KB810243 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=810243. MP10 is OK.

Q. Can I record and watch separate channels at the same time?
A. Yes, if you have a Dual Tuner or more than One Tuner installed. But not if you just have a single tuner card.

Q. Does Black Gold need to be running for scheduled recording to work?
A. No, Black Gold is supplied with a separate monitor application that runs the main TV application at the appropriate time.

Q. Why does volume Mute sometimes?
A. Black Gold is shipped by default to Mute Audio when the application is not active. You can change this setting
Black Gold can also automatically mute sound when it is not the active application, or it has been minimized.
To control this setting, use The Preferences Dialog by clicking the button Prefs.

Q. I am trying to use a composite or S-VHS source connected to my Black Gold Hardware and the video is in Black & White
A. The wrong type of source is selected. Edit the Video channel settings and select the channel type appropriate to the equipment you have connected to your TV card.

Q. Can I access interactive information services available with some digital broadcasts?
A. We are currently working on this and also digital Teletext support. In the meantime, we recommend that you use your computer’s connection to the internet to gain access to information services related to what you are watching.

Q. When I click to open my BlackGold TV application, I get a Windows Fatal Exception Error.
A. This is sometimes due to WinDVD or one of its retail cousins being installed. WinDVD cannot find the appropriate codec files:

If you do have WinDVD installed then try the following 1st:-

Go to the following folder: \Program Files\GDI\Black Gold Media Centre (CD)

Copy all of the *.ax files (On most systems should be 13 of them)

Paste them into: \Program Files\intervideo\common\bin

This should then fix the problem.


 

 

Support Topics
General TV Reception Support Issues Support for Black Gold Digital DVB-T TV USB Modules Support for Black Gold Digital TV Cards Support for PC TV Under Windows XP Support for PC TV under Windows VistaSupport for PC TV under Windows MCE2005 Black Gold Application Support

Black Gold Media Centre Digital - Check if You Should have Good Reception

The link below gives a guide to expected reception quality from your postcode:-

FreeView Digital TV Homepage (www.freeview.co.uk)

In order to get a better guide, it is necessary to take into account the terrain between your location and the transmitter.

Follow the instructions and the links below to get a picture of the terrain between you and your nearest transmitter.

For this you need to know your Ordinance Survey Grid Reference and the Grid Reference of your nearest Transmitter.

Enter your Post Code at the link below the examples and click on the 'Post Code' button, then click the 'Convert' button.
Note down the corresponding Grid Reference. Note the Land Ranger (LR) Grid Ref. This is 2 letters followed by 6 digits. e.g. SP395257

See our example below:

The site then returns the table below. We've highlighted the LR Grid Reference in blue.

OS X 439598
OS Y 225736
Post Code OX7 4NP
Lat (WGS84) N51:55:43 ( 51.928737 )
Long (WGS84) W1:25:32 ( -1.425531 )
LR SP395257
mX -158689
mY 6753590
M Actual : FFFD941F_00670D36
Street : FFFD94DC_00670CDC
Road : FFFDB610_0066FF30
Road64 : FFFE0C00_00668A00
Road128: FFFE0C00_00659000
Click here to see location

Post Code to Grid Reference Converter (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?GridConvert?)

In the link below, enter your LR Grid Reference you obtained above or just your postcode.
Note the closest Transmitter to you. Also Note the Transmitter's Grid Reference (OS grid Ref.) and its height above the local ground level (AOD) also the height of the ground at the transmitter site (OD).
The right hand column gives a guide to the type of aerial you might need to receive from each transmitter listed.

The figures you need are highlighted for our example in the table below.

Note that the transmission aerials for different multiplexes are often at different heights on the transmitter mast.
e.g. Oxford, BBC is at 277m, but the other multiplexes are a bit higher up the mast at 289m. Not that a few metres will make much difference to the plot as it only has a resolution of 500m.

Guide to Likely Reception Quality and Details of Nearest Transmitters (http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe)

 

DTT transmitters within "local" range of OS grid reference SP395257

Transmitter 1: BBC 2: Digital 3 & 4 A: SDN B: BBC C: Crown Castle D: Crown Castle Gp Pol OS grid ref. OD
m		 Field
dBµV/m		 Distance
miles		 Bearing
degrees		 Antenna
(suggestion)
UHF ERP
W		 AOD
m		 UHF ERP
W		 AOD
m		 UHF ERP
W		 AOD
m		 UHF ERP
W		 AOD
m		 UHF ERP
W		 AOD
m		 UHF ERP
W		 AOD
m
Oxford 34 10k 277 68 10k 289 51 6k 289 52 6k 277 48 8k 289 29 8k 289 W H SP567105 130 50 14 131 Extra hi-gain
Hannington 50 10k 352 43 10k 352 40 10k 352 46 10k 352 44 10k 352 41 10k 352 B H SU527568 229 33 44 169 Amplified extra hi-gain
Crystal Palace 25 20k 321 22 20k 321 32 20k 321 28 20k 321 34 20k 321 29 20k 321 A H TQ339712 110 32 68 120 Amplified extra hi-gain
Sandy Heath 42 20k 267 45 20k 279 43 20k 279 67 20k 197 40 20k 279 46 20k 279 E H TL204494 55 31 52 74 Amplified extra hi-gain
Sutton Coldfield * 41 8k 395 44 8k 395 47 8k 395 51 8k 395 52 8k 395 55 10k 395 E H SK113003 169 28 50 339 Amplified extra hi-gain

Go to the link given below and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You will see a table like the one we've shown below.

Enter the Grid Ref for where you are in the "NGR of base station box", enter the grid reference for your transmitter in the other box. Enter the height of your aerial above ground (15m is usually a good enough estimate for most houses.) Enter the height of the Transmitter aerial above ground. You will need to take the OD from the AOD to get this figure. So in our example above AOD = 277m, OD = 130m. Therefore we enter 277-130 = 147m in the box for "height above ground for distant aerial"

The website then shows a plot of the terrain, if any part of the graph comes close to the red line, then you may have some problems with reception.

Plot of Terrain between two grid references (www.megalithia.com/elect/terrain.html)

For or example the plot looks like this:

All of the above of course don't take into account any trees, buildings or other man made obstacles that may be between your aerial and the transmitter. But it should give a good idea if there is anything of significance in the way.

Ofcom Transmitter Guide

Shows channels / frequencies and power output for all UK digital transmitters.

 

 

 

 

 

General Reception / Tuning Issues

The most important thing is always to ensure you have a good quality signal.

First of all check the expected quality of your signal from the following links:

The link below gives a guide to expected reception quality from your postcode:-

FreeView Digital TV Homepage (www.freeview.co.uk) you can get a more in depth guide to your expected signal quality by looking at our Reception More Info page.

At the moment Digital DVB-T signals are transmitted at very low power compared to the standard Analogue signals, so as not to affect existing reception. This means that often a better aerial is required to receive Digital TV.

Checking your Signal Quality:

  1. Download our Field Test Application from here Support/Download/GDI DVBFieldTest 5.19.zip (or it should be on the driver disk if you purchased direct form GTA)
  2. Unzip the file to a convenient place.
  3. Double click on the .exe file to open the program. Then click the 'Run Full Test' button.  This will go though all UK channels, even those frequencies not transmitted by your local transmitter, so most will say "Is the aerial Plugged In".

    It take ten minutes or so to complete.  Once complete click 'Save Log'.  This will save a file on your root drive c:\dvb.log, please email these to us at support@gta-ltd.co.uk and we will check them.  If you also include your postcode, we can check your local transmitter.
  4. Alternatively, you can see our tech guide to the results, if you are of a mind... Test Decipher PDF

Things that make Signal Quality Poor:

  1. Low Signal Strength, a long way from transmitter or obstacles in the way.
  2. Poor Aerial, lead or connectors
  3. Low quality or older analogue signal boosters
  4. Noisy motherboard
  5. Card situated close to other card that is noisy, graphics and WLAN cards are often noisy
  6. Other external electrical noise

 

MCE Support
Frequently Asked Questions:

MPEG Decoders /Codecs
Q. My card is installed and I find all the channels when I scan, but when I try to watch TV I get the following error message: " Decoder Error, the video decoder has either malfunctioned or is not installed..."

A. MCE requires a MCE approved MPEG2 Decoder to be installed in order to watch TV or view digital streams. This is not included as part of the MCE2005 operating system. DVD Software usually includes this as part of the package. Do a internet search for "MPEG2 Decoder" and you should find lots of links or visit 'The Green Button' site for a more detailed explanation: The Green Button MCE MPEG Decoders.

You can download a Microsoft Utility that will check if the decoders you have installed are OK: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DE1491AC-0AB6-4990-943D-627E6ADE9FCB&displaylang=en

Q. My TV Picture sometimes looks jerky on fast moving scenes.

A. With all picture problems you first need to make sure it is not related to signal issues. Follow our guide first.
If your signal definitely checks out OK, the it could be a decoder problem. Check the deocder you have installed is MCE compatible, also check that you have the latest drivers for your Graphics card (That too needs to be MCE compatible) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DE1491AC-0AB6-4990-943D-627E6ADE9FCB&displaylang=en

Or you can check which decoder is currently installed by Clicking START > RUN then type dvdupgrd /detect and you'll get a window displaying your installed decoders:

Installed Decoder

MCE Tuning Problems
See our general guide to tuning and reception issues first. But there are also one or two MCE related issues:

Q. MCE does not detect any channels when I scan. I've run your DVB Field Test and that doesn't see ANY channels either.

A. Check that at the top of the Test Log for your country code. Make sure it is the correct code (44) for the UK. If it is not correct MCE will try to tune for the wrong country.

Go to ‘Control Panel’, ‘Regional and Language Options’ and ensure ‘Regional Options’ is set to UK (or your country) , also on the ‘Advanced’ tab check that ‘Language for non-Unicode programs’ is also set to UK(or your country) .
The try a retest / retune.

Q. MCE tuned to most of the channels, but now when I try to watch the channels they're not listed in the guide. If I do a rescan I still don't see the channels.

A. Once again make sure you still have a good signal! MCE uses a database to store all the information it needs to tune to channels. Sometimes it can get this database corrupted and cannot tune properly. Even if you rescan, it says it is rescanning, but still uses the corrupt database.
We need to remove the database and force it to do a clean scan:

  1. Delete the *.sdf files in the following folder C:\Documents and Settings\AllUsers\Application Data\Microsoft\eHome\EPG
    They have very long alpha-numeric file names. No need to delete the sam.sdf if it's there.
  2. Reboot and then Open Media Center and go to 'Settings' - 'TV' - 'Set up Tv Signal' follow the instructions. (Make sure you 'Set up TV Signal' not'Scan for more services'

Q. MCE 'My TV' did show ITV in the channels list, but it's now disappeared. (or any other channels for that matter, but ITV is common)

A. The problem may be associated with a miss-match between the broadcast channel data and the guide listing details.  Please follow the menu selection sequence below to re-configure this relationship for the missing channels.

Start>Media Center
Settings>TV>Guide>Add Listings to Channel

Select the missing channel from the list, scroll to the bottom and select the appropriate guide listing name that is associated with the channel.

Repeat the above for each channel as necessary.

Q. My PC has been working fine for sometime. But recently when I try to watch TV sometimes, it will lock or crash.

This may be due to a known issue with MCE. MCE stores a temporary file each time it plays music or anything else. Sometimes the amount of these files gets to big for the PC to cope.

Try deleting the following Windows temp folder (note include your PC name in the directory path).

C:\Documents and Settings\*your PC name*\Local Settings\Temp

 



XP Support - Coming in the next few days...
Digital DVB-T TV Card Support - Coming in the next few days...

USB TV Product Support

We do not have specific USB TV related support guides just yet.

However many of the issues are common with all PC TV units.

So if your issue is reception or installation related see the the button on the left hand side relevant to the operating system you are using, MCE or XP.

Otherwise please email your query to us at support@gta-ltd.co.uk. We endeavor to respond the same day during normal working hours.

As we become aware of any questions and their solutions, we'll add them to the page.

GTA Support page for Black Gold TV Products.

GTA have been involved with the development of the Black Gold TV products from conception. We are therefore able to offer in depth technical support of the range from UK based operations. We normally try to respond to customer questions within a few hours during normal working times.

We're building our support database for Black Gold TV products. So if you have questions that are not covered, please contact us at support@gta-ltd.co.uk. We will add new content if the question/answer will affect others.

Click on the buttons to the side to select the support area that best suites the question you have.

All Black Gold support is UK based.

PCI-Express Dual Tuner S3 recovery 16/05/07:

We have been made aware of a limited number of problems with S3 recovery.

We now believe we have identified and addressed all of the issues related to the above problem.

There have been a number of reasons for cards not being detected. Most have been related to motherboard BIOS or card positioning. Contact our support team if you are experiencing problems.