Need someone to pick out best satelite and receiver.

twig

Im living in cork and i was just wondering what would be the best satellite and receiver for me. unfortunately i dont have a clue about them so i need help picking them out. i would like a motorised dish preferable between 1 and 1.4 meters or a size that ye think is best for picking up foreign and free to air channels? any help is needed.

Barr

I to would be interested in this , especially HD receiver options no make use of my new Samsung

snaps

Well a Technomate 6900 super is a great start for motorised and HD. a 1.1m dish would be the best as any bigger here in Ireland and you could start having major problems with wind damaging the dish/motor. Ive a 1.1m dish low down and thats paired with a TM6900/ with some offical subscriptions to foreign broadcasters.

You'll need to find a supplier here in Ireland for the dish as its hard to get large dishes shipped over here now from abroad.

logger

All depends on what you want to use it for,
What features do you want HD, SD, PVR, Freesat, MPEG 4, epg, MPEG 4.2.2
How much messing about you want to do with it
What your budget is.

There is a publication that may help you to start to get up to speed.
http://www.tele-satellite.com/eng/

AZbox on this forum has number of fans, however unless you want to play around with device and update firmware, maybe not your cup of tea.

Dreambox are supposed to be a great box with loads of features, if you have deep pockets.

Technomate seem to produce some pretty good boxes too, at reasonable cost, not up to speed as to whether they have potential to support new Irish DDT signal.

Anyhow start by looking at a few online shops, see this post, see what is popular and then see what you can find out about their features by reading reviews or postings in forums.

I recently purchased AZBox premium, very happy with it, Think it is great value for money, fantastic features, but still not setup the way I want it (limited time to spend playing with it), however I am happy that it has the potential to do everything I want for the moment. However if you want a box to just plugin and start using this may not be the best option for you, unless you purchased it preconfigured from say a supplier like saortv(should be listed in link above, actually not, however you should find links to them in other postings). When I was researching my purchase recently another box that they have available that impressed me was the MVision HD200, maybe this is something along the lines of what you are looking for.

Unless you are more specific about the feature you are looking for I don't think you will get a recommendation on what box is best.

I am not sure that either of the models or manufacturers I have mentioned above would suit you, however you have to start somewhere. I think if you start by looking at the feature set of a device like the Azbox premium, then you can see if you need all of this, and then start comparing the features of other devices.

ps: the software for the Azbox is still in development, you will see more on this forum. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055537752

redout

It makes sense to go ahead with a HD receiver as thats the way things are going in the future. Dream Media are releasing a 500s HD model shortly which be available for around €300. That is a good entry level box. Technomates are also very popular but its like what was said above as it really depends on what you want to use the box for.

snaps

Yes the TM 6900 is compatible with the Irish DTT. Also It has PVR capabilities (But only 1 tuner) The AZBox really is for the enthusiest.

Also the Mvision200HD is a good cheap option. USB PVR, HD, compatible with Irish DTT as well.

For a starter i think the Technomates are always a good bet. Good build quality, easy to use, good support, good name.

Barr

What ye reckon of this ?

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=135919&cat=50

Would I be able to pick up all the channels in this ? Are there any missing features on this item. Is there better options for the price.

Pal

its OK.
Decent price for a HD box.

Humax have a good name but not really in the Technomate league for popularity.

Has two common interfaces which probably means nothing to you
but important if you want to watch pay tv.

No card reader that I can see.

What exactly do you want from your sat system ?

There's more to it than the box.

Barr

What exactly do you want from your sat system ?

Im mainly after the premiership and some decent movie channels would be great.

Pal

answer depends on how much you want to spend.

Top of the range is probably Sky Italia

Cheapest option is probably an ART card and some free to air movies.

But theres lots in between

MiketheMechanic

I asked a similar question last year, as I was not too well up on modern Sat receivers.

If you are happy enough with SD broadcasts, I've had a good experience with the Technomate 5400+ CI

Regards,
MtM

snaps

Personally if you have an HD TV id go for an HD receiver.

Pal

snaps wrote: »

Personally if you have an HD TV id go for an HD receiver.

So would I

with combi DTT, PVR, linux, CI and a card slot too

snaps

Early in the summer i brought a Ferguson 6900 cr for about 35€, been using it in the bedroom. Have it linked to a motorised dish (For pay tv) and a fixed dish for Uk FTA. Its also dead handy for recording via a usb drive. Now, for 35€ you cant go wrong (I updated it to latest 6.14 un offical SW), so card reader is multicrypt. Ive noticed now the ferguson FK 8500 HD is available from www.satsklep.pl (Where some of us shop!) for 96€. Its HD, has card slot and also cam slot, Unoffical SW available on the net (So it can do all sort of things:D) plus PVR via USB.

If its as good as some of their cheaper SD models this receiver is a fantastic bet. Im actually thinking of upgrading my receiver in the bedroom now and having HD there! For 96€ you cant go wrong.

Pal

excellent prices there. thanks

Barr

What do ye reckon of this one - has it got all the needed features for the price?

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110448951708&_trksid=p2759.l1259

snaps

you'll need to know what your doing with a linux receiver. I personaly wouldnt bother with linux for what you want.

Bozacke

Hi,
I currently have a Lidl's 80cm dish connected to a Humax Foxsat and a Lidl's box. As I previously read here, the Lidl's bracket isn't great and this proved true when it sheared off in last weeks wind. I had a spare bracket, from a friends dish I previously installed and used their old existing sky bracket, but my dish is now a bit dented and I can't seem to get as many channels as previous.

I did get a good 3 years out of the Lidl's dish and now I want to upgrade and before the dish comes off again (I was lucky last time, when the dish flew off, it just missed the neighbors car).

I'm on a very restricted budget and I was thinking of a 1.2m dish, but would a dish this big need to be mounted to a patio mast only, or could I mount it to the house?

Second question, the Humax Foxsat box has a slot for a CI module, am I correct in assuming I could use a CA with this and are there any relatively inexpensive CAMs that might have access to any usefull channels?

snaps

A sky bracket will be no good either for a 80cm dish. You need a good tripod style bracket. Keep the dish as low as possible as well to keep the elements off.

Pal

Bozacke wrote: »

Second question, the Humax Foxsat box has a slot for a CI module, am I correct in assuming I could use a CA with this and are there any relatively inexpensive CAMs that might have access to any usefull channels?

yes you can use a cam with the Humax Foxsat (if it has a CI slot like you say).

a popular multicrypt cam is the Diablo but no discussion of its use here

wingnut32

Folks Im also interested in a satellite reciever, it must be capable of the following,

1) HD
2) able to record ala sky+
3) ability to receive freesat and most "other" channels.

Currently I have a Sky Hd box and the sky dish.

What can you recommend for under 500 euro.

Bozacke

Hi,

For what you want, I'd highly recommend the Humax Foxsat HD PVR box., with a 320Gb hard drive. Richer Sounds and a few other places have it for about £245, Richer Sounds will ship it to the Republic for about 8 euros. Argos in the North have it for £250, plus you get a £10 voucher with purchase.

I've only had the box for a week, but I love it, the HD picture is amazing and the quality of the non HD channels are so much better. I can't believe I've been under utilising my HD TV for the past year since I bought it. Plus the PVR functionality is great, recording 2 shows at once and watching a 3rd is great, not to mention pausing live TV! I have nothing else to compare it to, but I'm very happy so far, there are a few very minor bugs and limitations, but I suspect you'd get that with any box.

Barr

wingnut32 wrote: »

Folks Im also interested in a satellite reciever, it must be capable of the following,

1) HD
2) able to record ala sky+
3) ability to receive freesat and most "other" channels.

Currently I have a Sky Hd box and the sky dish.

What can you recommend for under 500 euro.

The new DM500 HD should be out soon , worth waiting for methinks

moc63

hi twig
my set up here in cork is a technomate 6900 super hd.this can also pick up the irish dtt.also have an offical sub.
i have a 1mtr dish which is driven by a moteck motor. this set up covers me for most of the main satellites between 42 east and 45 west.
this set up dose the trick for me.

Oat23

Barr wrote: »

The new DM500 HD should be out soon , worth waiting for methinks

Can't record.

Oat23

wingnut32 wrote: »

Folks Im also interested in a satellite reciever, it must be capable of the following,

1) HD
2) able to record ala sky+
3) ability to receive freesat and most "other" channels.

Currently I have a Sky Hd box and the sky dish.

What can you recommend for under 500 euro.

What do you plan on receiving?. Are you using the sky dish you already have for your new receiver?.

It depends what you want to receive.

wingnut32

Oatesy23 wrote: »

What do you plan on receiving?. Are you using the sky dish you already have for your new receiver?.

It depends what you want to receive.

I had planned on using the sky dish, but if needs be I can change it.

Im planning on receiving channels that Im currently recieving with my sky hd box plus a whatever else I can. I had also planned to stop my sky subscription.:)

snaps

well sometimes 2 different HD cheap receivers that have usb pvr are cheaper than a receiver with 2 tuners. Ive a ferguson stb (HD) €90e with a cheap usb Hard disk paired with a cheap micro electronic receiver (SD) €30 with a cheap usb hard drive. Remotes dont clash and all for less than 200e!