Sky HD component box - useful ?

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I found two Thomson units in the shed over the weekend , they were in a remote distribution system a out six years back and have not been powered up since.

Component output used to be useful but is it still needed for any reason nowadays ?

I have a need for a hard drive or two in the next few days and these would serve the requirements.

So, save or dismantle ?
 

moonbase

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I found two Thomson units in the shed over the weekend , they were in a remote distribution system a out six years back and have not been powered up since.

Component output used to be useful but is it still needed for any reason nowadays ?

I have a need for a hard drive or two in the next few days and these would serve the requirements.

So, save or dismantle ?


Possibly useful I would say?

Component carries no HDCP so can be used in cases where the HDCP on the HDMI output is a nuisance. Having said that, most HDMI splitters will remove HDCP from the HDMI output. I would keep one and harvest the HDD from the other.

If its HDD's you are after I have a few 3.5" 500gb HDD's that are to small for my needs, they were all working last time I used them. You can have them for nowt as I wont be using them again. I probably need to wipe them but not sure I could get it done in the next day or two.
 

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Analoguesat

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Thomson boxes havent been supported by Sky for quite a few years - there was an active swap out of them when they were withdrawn. They arent getting any more updates so no point keeping hold of them for pay tv purposes
 

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That answers it, taking apart tomorrow.

Thanks
 

jeallen01

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Have fun taking them apart - a good pair of long-nosed pliers with angled tips will prove most-useful/essential!

Also, as I am sure you already know, the discs are PVR-optimised, so maybe not the best for rapid read/write applications - those from the (modified - but ultimately unsuccessful as PVRs) 2x DRX-890's that I stripped earlier this year went into a USB3 4-bay back-up unit attached to one of my NAS boxes, and they are OK in that sort of application.
 

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Perhaps Thomson made theirs different to others, all that was required was a good Philips screwdriver, everything came apart without 'tearing down', including the two fans inside which have been held in with rubber piping.
The box has yielded a Western Digital 300GB drive, just what was required.
 
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