My mother bought ONdigital back in 1999 when I was 6 years old. Happy times. One of those Pace models was my introduction to television and everything it offered (all 40ish glorious channels we had). In early 2001, we moved onto Sky Digital and, for some strange reason that doesn't completely make sense in retrospect, we kept the ONdigital subscription, and the ON box was moved into my bedroom, I'm guessing to keep my primitive mind occupied during the school-free hours. 99% of the time, I watched nothing but Cartoon Network, so I'm guessing we had a basic package at that point. I'm not sure. 23 years, ONdigital is a great source of nostalgia for me. Not sure why. Objectively, it was a terrible TV service! 😀
I thought that video was great I had that pace box got it when the day they switched over from ON/ITV digital from Argos and watched This Morning This Afternoon on it on itv 2 also they refused the let me have a monkey which got on my nerves
I had one of the Pioneer boxes in regular use as a UHF modulator until last year. I discovered it would modulate anything inputed on the VCR SCART socket onto its UHF output channel, even in standby condition. I assume by the coolness of the unit that the power consumption in this mode was low. Two provisos, it was necessary to have the 12v+ switching signal on pin 8 of the VCR SCART input (usually provided by the source, in my case a digital satellite box). Also after a power interuption, it was necesary to turn the box ON briefly with the remote control, then OFF into standby.
I kinda do wonder if ON/ITV Digital customers mostly got the Nokia box, considering that a lot of people said the reception of it was awful, the software was slow, etc. AKA the box you fingers crossed didn't want.
I actually bought a 9850T off of ebay the other day. I knew what I was getting and that they no longer work but just wanted one as I used to have one back in 1999. It's just an ornament in my game room now. It's definitely seen better days but it it does still power up even though its clearly been in a shed for twenty plus years lol. Great video btw. 👍🏻
I had a Nokia mediamaster, brought one just after the crash to use as a freeview box, if I remember right the Pioneers went for quite a bit more on eBay, however like you say it was woeful, looked good but slow and sluggish
The Sony is a rebranded Pioneer, isn’t it? Sony later rebranded Pioneer DVD Recorders and even their first available UK/EU Blu-ray Player (ironically!). The Pace looks a lot like Philips equipment at the time. Maybe some connection. I wonder what the bestselling ones were - maybe Philips as they were huge in the UK at the time. I remember when OnDigital launched - I think they took out a wraparound ad on RadioTimes (something about the future of TV with a teaser, in September 98, maybe!) and RadioRentals pushed the boxes hard as an alternative to Sky (I think they had the Pace and Nokia). Seemed exciting!
No connection between the Sony and Pioneer units in the video. The design of the boxes were pretty much of their era. Certainly, the Philips receivers were heavily promoted at the time, although Pace and Nokia did feature occasionally too.
@@ONhistoryplus Are you sure they’re not? They look near identical on a hardware level to me and Sony has been known to rebrand Pioneer kit. They often ‘test the water’ with rebranded country specific products like these to see if there’s a market for a Sony version (I was once told by a Sony rep). I wouldn’t be surprised if inside there are connections.
@@interstat2222 Sony were a player in their own right in the late 90s/early 00s with various ONdigital/Freeview/Sky receivers, not to mention being one of the first manufacturers to make integrated digital televisions.
@@ONhistoryplus I’m still convinced this is a Pioneer rebrand. There will be a Pioneer STB from same year that looks just like it. I can already see too many similarities to your Pioneer.
Is the Nokia 9850T easy to to find without it having been upgraded for Freeview? Trying to find an original OnDigital box but not coming up with anything
The ONdigital boxes all ceased to work at digital switch over, which was completed nearly 12 years ago. Since then the boxes have been e-waste, so it will be difficult to find one as most will have been disposed of.
i remember having one tho it was from a market and it worked with freeview but i guss as times moved forward codacs or rates changed shame theres no way to install a Mod OS to make it work in todays world. tho they do look nice if u could make youre own board inside it. lucky i know it dose not work even for normal freeview i was thinking of getting one for the basic and time use to step back in time
Could a 2k box possibly work in the Philippines? There are still analogous signals in rural areas , outer provinces ... I had a wintv PAL dongle and was able to get 2 local channels although it's ATSC here ..
What happens when you switch them on and plug them into the TV? Would be interesting to see the startup and what screen displays on the TV and the display on the actual unit
