1. We're using a Pinnacle USB tuner, but all kits should consist of a software CD, a USB dongle and an antenna. You'll need to attach the aerial to the USB stick for use on the road, otherwise you can use your existing TV aerial. Insert the connector at the end of the antenna lead into the TV tuner.

2. Insert the TV tuner into an available USB 2.0 port on your PC or laptop. Once the hardware has been recognised by Windows, insert the supplied Pinnacle TVCenter Pro CD and follow the onscreen instructions to install the necessary drivers and software. Click the TVCenter Pro icon to launch the software.

3. The first time you launch the software, you'll be prompted to configure the TV tuner's settings. After this, the device will establish which TV channels are available. If you're using the supplied-aerial, you'll need to position it as close to a window as possible_ Reception can be affected by tall buildings and walls.


4. A list of TV channels currently broadcasting will be displayed iii! in the main window. Use the up and down buttons onscreen to select between the available channels. The Pinnacle package we're using here includes a smart remote control that lets you select a channel number from the outset.

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5. Live TV can be stopped momentarily by pressing the Pause button, To resume watching a programme from this point, simply press Play, It's also possible to rewind a recording or scroll back through a live broadcast although, obviously, you can go back only as far as the point where you began recording.

6. A The icons at the top of the screen provide access to other W media types, allowing you to toggle between watching TV, listening to digital radio stations and playing back video files stored on your PC's hard drive. The Settings option at the far left lets you adjust your setup.

7. Select the EPG logo to display the programme guide. This lists all the programmes available on the channels you can access, along with a brief description of each show. Use the buttons below the onscreen guide to elect to watch the programme imme¬diately, to set up recording or to edit the recording settings.

9. Programmes scheduled to be recorded are indicated in the EPG by a yellow circle on the left of the programme listing. Alternatively, pressing the red Record button automatically records the programme currently being- broadcast. By default, content is saved in Mpegl format; SVCD, Divx and Mpeg4 are also available.