Ferguson Ariva HD Combo

KoemansCC

Bought a couple of these boxes in the last couple of weeks, pretty impressed so far...just wondering the reason for the Sat epg being restricted to now and next only, is it a rights issue that Ferguson can't use a 7 day epg.

The box would be a lot better with a 7 day epg so wondering the reason it doesn't have one, could it be a feature in the future with firmware upgrades?

STB

No. Freesat's EPG is proprietry using MHEG5 via Huffman tables.

Simplistically, its locked down to Freesat branded boxes that have the software.

victory10

rurs wrote: »

That should be possible, I know I've done it in the past...
It will throw a minor wobbler if you switch to channel not being recorded, or not on the same transponder. You have to go directly an available channel. Try it using the blue "find" button.

Thanks rurs for the tip regarding the find button (Blue button).
But I seem to get the the receiver to hang while trying to view the on going recorded SAT channel after switching on to DTT
After switching off the mains, the HDD recordings are not shown in the menu, but can be sorted out using the PC.
I think I will stick to viewing only the channels on the same transponders while recoding and not mix DTT and SAT.

tommy_ire

wex_martron wrote: »

I got the hard drive working after a bit of fiddling around and formatting etc. About a month has passed and we've been recording stuff and watching it without issue. Then I turn it on today to look at an item we recorded and there was nothing on the disc. The usb drive is found and working properly it seems but there is no sign of any of the info saved by the ariva. When i tried the drive in my pc the files are there. What's going on? A product like this and for this kind of money shouldn't have this kind of problem. I'm seriously pissed off with this thing at the moment... I think a format using the ariva unt would fix the problem but then I'm going to loose the programs we've recorded. It's f***ing Bullsh1t.

Hi,
I'm having a similar problem. I got a new 160GB hard drive for the Ariva. Now when I switch the box off at the mains (every night) the Ariva doesn't recognise the drive when I turn it back on.

I plug the drive into my PC, delete the TimeShift file and folder and it works perfectly, until I switch it off again. Must do a bit of experimentation and see which one is causing the problem.

Also, before I got the 160GB hard drive I was using a 16GB SanDisk memory stick and never had this problem, all features worked fine.

Has anyone had any luck solving this?

tommy_ire

rurs wrote: »

I've tried several memory sticks now, none of them timeshift. Setting timeshift on in the menu, then pressing pause is all you should have to do.

It works with hard disks, I think it's safe to assume it just doesn't work with memory sticks. I don't know why.

I had TimeShift working with a 16GB SanDisk Cruzer Blade, no problem at all. Also tried with a 1GB stick and it didn't work.

victory10

tommy_ire wrote: »

Hi,
I'm having a similar problem. I got a new 160GB hard drive for the Ariva. Now when I switch the box off at the mains (every night) the Ariva doesn't recognise the drive when I turn it back on.

I plug the drive into my PC, delete the TimeShift file and folder and it works perfectly, until I switch it off again. Must do a bit of experimentation and see which one is causing the problem.

Also, before I got the 160GB hard drive I was using a 16GB SanDisk memory stick and never had this problem, all features worked fine.

Has anyone had any luck solving this?

You should leave everything in stanby at all times. Obviously switching off the mains is causing the problem.
The power consumption is quite low for both the receiver and the external HDD.
Remember to do Uninstall USB if you must take it out from the system, for example connect it to the PC for backup purposes. The procedure is to detach the USB cable first and then take the HDD from the mains (if you need to move it to another place, otherwise just leave it plugged into the mains).

KELTICKNIGHTT

whiterteeth wrote: »

Again, many thanks to all for sharing your expertise with this silver haired learner. I read many of the threads on combo boxes and finally ordered a Clarke-Tech HD 6600 SST PVR with Samsung Hard Disk: 500 GB. It seems that it will meet my needs and I'm looking forward to it expectantly.

where did you buy it and how much ?

rurs

tommy_ire wrote: »

I had TimeShift working with a 16GB SanDisk Cruzer Blade, no problem at all. Also tried with a 1GB stick and it didn't work.

Good to hear that some flash drives work. Maybe it only works with large drives, as it needs to reserve a certain amount of space to work.

As Victory10 said, if you're going to switch it off at the mains, you should go into the PVR menu first, then click on "Uninstall USB". Next time you turn it on, it will take a minute or two to scan the disk, and then everything will be visible.

Interesting also that deleting the timeshift file sorts it also.

I don't see a problem turning it off every night, actually the power consumption in standby is relatively high (~15w) versus 17w or 18w when running. It's a very soft standby...

Aidan!

Hello, does anyone here know if that receiver can be used with an LNB cable?
Thanks in advance,
Aidan!

rurs

Aidan! wrote: »

Hello, does anyone here know if that receiver can be used with an LNB cable?
Thanks in advance,
Aidan!

Yes, it can be used with a single cable from an LNB connected to a dish, and also with a cable from an aerial for reception of DTT.

KELTICKNIGHTT

is the difference between this box the Ferguson combo and the edison combo vip2,which is better or are they both the same
pros and cons between the two

dararyder

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has more info on the Cyfra+ multipakiet + Canal+ HD card mentioned earlier available from Satsklep. 178 for 12 months seems expensive so just wondering if people who have bought it think its worth it. Is there much premier league football on the channels you receive? Anybody got a list of the extra channels you get? Are there decent movie channels with english audio?

On another ariva hd combo based question, how do you find the latest software/firmware and how do you install it? Been on the website but can't seem to find it, a link would be much appreciated. Sorry, i'm not too hot on the ol' technology so apologies if this is obvious to most.

Dara

rurs

Latest Firmware

Download, unzip/extract to a flash drive. Insert drive into Ariva, press USB/PVR button on remote, flick to "Update", find firmware on list,press "OK", press red button to upgrade.

Make sure you save a channel list first, as it reverts to factory settings after upgrade. Same menu, press green button instead to save data. Use the same drive for the sake of convenience, after upgrade you can reload channel list immediately.

Nothing major has been added in the last couple of updates, but it's probably as well to update if you've just got it, latest firmware is stable/very usable, although there's a few minor niggles remaining.

Re Cyfra card, I think you only get the six channels listed on the page. Film channels have English audio, sports don't, as far as I know.

Hopefully someone who actually has one can clarify.

rurs

KELTICKNIGHTT wrote: »

is the difference between this box the Ferguson combo and the edison combo vip2,which is better or are they both the same
pros and cons between the two

Similar question answered here

KELTICKNIGHTT

rurs wrote: »

Similar question answered here

cheers
im now going for the qbox hd mini with dvb-t added and wifi too
bought it today
was a toss between qbox and triax combo ,so qbox won

victory10

dararyder wrote: »

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has more info on the Cyfra+ multipakiet + Canal+ HD card mentioned earlier available from Satsklep. 178 for 12 months seems expensive so just wondering if people who have bought it think its worth it. Is there much premier league football on the channels you receive? Anybody got a list of the extra channels you get? Are there decent movie channels with english audio?
Dara

IMHO this card option is good value for money. The standard card (without HD) is for 13 months, so perhaps the HD is also for 13 months as well. Try to order it at the beginning of the month as it is probably 12 months + the remainder of the month of ordering the card.
The programming page link here is quite impressive with a lot of information and easy to navigate.
http://www.canalplus.pl/
http://www.canalplus.pl/programtv

The movies channels also has some TV series and on occassions some sport events as well.
I am not aware of any other extra channels, except perhaps the encrypted radio channels would open.

dararyder

Thanks for all your help, much appreciated.

Anyone ever tried watching sport on one of these cards while listening to radio commentary? Any use or is there big time delays etc?

Can you plug you the 'terrestrial out' on the box into your radio and tune the freeview radio stations in so you can watch canal and listen to say five live?

Sorry for bombarding ye with questions but i'm excited, when i decided to go freeview, i thought my chances of having quality live sport were gone. Just been on google and seen that Top Up TV offer a card for uk freeview users to recieve sky sports, anyone know if there is such a card available here?

Tony

dararyder wrote: »

Can you plug you the 'terrestrial out' on the box into your radio and tune the freeview radio stations in so you can watch canal and listen to say five live?

No the radio would not have a Freeview/saorview tuner and in any case the ferguson (or any other box) will only output one channel at a time.

pigeon1916

victory10 wrote: »

IMHO this card option is good value for money. The standard card (without HD) is for 13 months, so perhaps the HD is also for 13 months as well. Try to order it at the beginning of the month as it is probably 12 months + the remainder of the month of ordering the card.
The programming page link here is quite impressive with a lot of information and easy to navigate.
http://www.canalplus.pl/
http://www.canalplus.pl/programtv

The movies channels also has some TV series and on occassions some sport events as well.
I am not aware of any other extra channels, except perhaps the encrypted radio channels would open.

I bought the Cyfra HD card before Christmas and like Victory I am very happy with it. They show more than enough of Premier League games for me.
This weekend Live Premier League Games
Sat 3.00 Chelsea v Blackburn
Sat 5.30 West Ham v Arsenal
Sun 2.00 Liverpool v Everton
Sun 4.00 Spurs v Man Utd
The also have Live Spanish, French and Italian footy. Before I bought the card, I was thinking about the commentary not being in English. But I do not miss it at all as Gerrard to Torres in English is the same in Polish. At Half time during the live game they show highlights from another Premiership game.

I bought the card for footy but I watch or record a lot of movies from Canal + and Canal + Film as they are in English.

My box came with the latest firmware, So the card worked from the moment I put it into the box.

Best Of Luck

victory10

dararyder wrote: »

Thanks for all your help, much appreciated.

Anyone ever tried watching sport on one of these cards while listening to radio commentary? Any use or is there big time delays etc?

You can also try to listen to a radio channel from the internet broadcasting the English commentary. Perhaps using BBC Player or something similar.
There is bound to be some noticable delay, and it would be funny when the radio commentator shouts "goal" before you actually see it on TV.

hifinut

Just got one of these arivas, now I have a couple of questions which i hope someone can help with please
How do you select terrestrial channells, mine is supposed to be already set up.
when i turn on i keep getting no or bad signal then after a while of changing chanells up and down it suddenly starts to play sat chanells, i must be doing something wrong
is it poss to see the strength of satellite signal coming in ?

Tony

hifinut wrote: »

J
How do you select terrestrial channells, mine is supposed to be already set up.

You need to do a terrestrial scan, its impossible to pre set terrestrial channels as different frequencies are used depending on what transmitter you are closest to, unless of course th seller knows where you live and already has pre set list from someone in your area that can be pre loaded.

hifinut

will do,

any ideas why chanells dont come live immediately ?

Tony

hifinut wrote: »

will do,

any ideas why chanells dont come live immediately ?

Afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean, can you elaborate please?

victory10

hifinut wrote: »

will do,

any ideas why chanells dont come live immediately ?

The terrestrial channels in my location take a little bit longer to show compared to the sat channels.
Is this what you mean?

hifinut

sorry about that, what i mean is that when i power up ariva and select the pre loaded chanells I get the chanell name at the bottom of my tv but no picture, and a msg that says No signal or bad connection ( or similar words) then i move up and down thru maybe twenty chanells and suddenly all chanells work.
if i power down and back up, same thing again.

I also do not know how to check signal quality on the ariva.

All help appreciated as wife hoping to see tv tonite

victory10

hifinut wrote: »

sorry about that, what i mean is that when i power up ariva and select the pre loaded chanells I get the chanell name at the bottom of my tv but no picture, and a msg that says No signal or bad connection ( or similar words) then i move up and down thru maybe twenty chanells and suddenly all chanells work.
if i power down and back up, same thing again.

I also do not know how to check signal quality on the ariva.

All help appreciated as wife hoping to see tv tonite

When I received the receiver, I had problems with the pre loaded channels list.
Then I made a clean install for sat and DTT and never had any problems since.
May I suggest to do a factory reset, then new installation setup and scan for all satellites and then DTT.
To see the signal quality, just click on the information "i" button and cycle by pushing it again and again.
Good luck.

victory10

Just a little tip about how to make sure the receiver shuts down after it finishes a scheduled PVR late night event.
Put the receiver in standby before going to bed, using the red button and before the recording starts.
Otherwise it will record the event and stays on all night, and keeps the external HDD spinning and shaking.

rurs

dararyder wrote: »

Thanks for all your help, much appreciated.

Anyone ever tried watching sport on one of these cards while listening to radio commentary? Any use or is there big time delays etc?

Can you plug you the 'terrestrial out' on the box into your radio and tune the freeview radio stations in so you can watch canal and listen to say five live?

Sorry for bombarding ye with questions but i'm excited, when i decided to go freeview, i thought my chances of having quality live sport were gone. Just been on google and seen that Top Up TV offer a card for uk freeview users to recieve sky sports, anyone know if there is such a card available here?

You can use the Terrestrial Loop Out to connect another DTT receiver. If you are in range of Freeview, then yes, you could have 5 Live commentary.

You'd need to connect this receiver to a seperate amp/speaker, (I use a set of Creative powered PC speakers) and mute the audio on TV.

The radio commentary would be around 5 or 6 seconds ahead of the picture. If the Freeview receiver has timeshift, you could pause the radio to line it up.

Otherwise, run the audio through a PC/laptop and use a program like Radiodelay to get them synchronised.

I did something similar during the World Cup, RTE2/ITV1 HD pictures on the Ariva, 5 Live off satellite on the satellite loop out connector feeding an old Lidl receiver I had lying idle. Vuvuzelas were filtered out a lot better, plus I think the 5 Live commentators are some of the best.

To do the same with Cyfra channels, you'd need two dishes or a large dish with a multi-lnb setup, so pictures from Hotbird on the Ariva, audio from Asrta2 on a second satellite receiver.

Very little chance of a Top-up TV type service here, read up on Boxer/Easy TV/OneVision and the reasons for the delayed roll-out of DTT in Ireland.

victory10

I can't figure out an easy way to add a channel to the FAV (Favorite list).
If channel number 800 in the All list and I want to add it to the Movies FAV, I need to scroll to number 800 using Favorite Edit, which is time consuming and rather tiring for the fingers, as it starts always from number 1 and not from the current channel number.
Is there a quicker way to add a channel that you find interesting enough to add to FAV without going through this procedure?
I suppose it is possible to use the PC to make a list, but I would rather use the receiver menus.