FREESAT REVIEW ON THE NIKKAI HQ 5.8GHz VIDEO SENDER KIT.
NIKKAI HQ 5.8GHz Video Sender Kit.
Nikkai are no stranger to video senders and testing the 5.8GHz system showed up a few surprises. For those old enough to remember the strong video senders of the past, ie; any old video sender from the past could be plugged in to any old spare socket and send it half way along the street to most of your neighbours - todays video senders are a completely different package which have to conform to legal legislation to avoid local Police and Ambulance interference etc...
The Nikkai was the third recent video sender tested, the other two previous to this simply did not perform and the previous two performed at 2.4GHz.
The 5.8 GHz Video Sender Kit out of the box is simple straightforward and easy to set up. Because of all the different freesat and future freesat box combinations then this video sender has got to be sound buying. The Kit itself is analogue but the benefit of the Kit running at 5.8GHz is you are rewarded with less hassle and no interference from other equipment, such as the Internet, Microwave, etc...
I tested first through my lounge into a bedroom (approx. distance 40 feet) through one brick wall and many furniture obstacles, the result was the picture was as good showing on a 20inch LCD HD ready TV as the original BBC HD coming from my Plasma screen in the lounge.
(yes we do know this opens a floodgate of would be recorders switching into action.)
Testing the signal on the TV next door it again showed no picture difference - this Kit is excellent.
O.K. the Kit is a little bit more expensive than the rest but it is worth while if you have long term plans for other TV or viewing set ups.
The Nikkai Kit has one section which transmits and another section which receives, a small push on power source which converts from the power socket that goes into a normal household three prong plug. Also going into the transmit section you have again a small push in plu that has the small IR remote repeater (for use with remotes) which seems to work on some equipment but not others.
Both the receiver and the transmitter sections have mini square type satellite antenna plates which need to be tweaked for best signal quality while transmitting at distance - if the signal is short these can remain folded down.
The forecasted transmitting range given in the Nikkai directives says up to 100 metres - we got close to this at one point and the picture quality did not degrade. The transmitter and receiver can both be changed by a simple button press over four channels - we tried all four but in our area this made no difference.
Technical;
Frequency range - 5.745 - 5.805 GHz
Connectivity - 3 phono (RCA) sockets on each of the transmitter and the receiver.
Connection to equipment is by Scart. All connectors have readable instructions.
Channl selection - 4 selectable channels.
Antenna type - High Gain Patch Antenna (separate UHF IR Remote antenna)
Supply voltage - DC 9v
IR operating frequency - 433.92 MHz
Transmitter output power - 50mVm@3m
Receiving sensitivity - -85dBm (min)
In the Box;
HQ 5.8GHz video sender
HQ 5.8GHz video receiver
2 x Power supplies
2 x 3phono (RCA) - SCART AV cables
IR remote extender cord
Conclusion;
high end pricing that returns good picture quality - probably one of the best video senders around at the moment.
