Dreambox users - what's your setup?

cormacl

JDxtra wrote: »

Very useful information in here so far. One question - can the DM8000 access and use the series link information, which I assume is part of the Freesat EPG?

Not at all sure what they transmit with the Freesat EPG to infer series-links.. but AFAIK there is no equivalent in the Enigma2 EPG. So presumably, its reading from one format and writing to another and losing the detail in the process.

However.. I bring up the EPG, select my desired program and can them set the timer to repeat daily or select a given day set or weekly.. thats fine in most cases.

Then for progammes that don't keep to a strict schedule.. we just remember to program them during the week.

One example we had was CSI NY on Five.. was on Sat nights but had the time continually varying.. so we just ended up doing timers manually from the continually updated EPG data. The easy part is that the Enigma2 EPG can be shown per service and sorted by time or alphabetically.. so finding your show is real easy.

There is also an auto-timer plugin that can be programmed for the given channel, days etc and string to search.. never tried it, but its probably a candidate for a poor-mans series link

Windbox

They are unbeatable boxes as far as I'm concerned. I often get people saying the sky boxes are better but you can't do the following on a sky box:

I wrote a simple python script to connect to my dreamboxes and check the recording directories. It will quickly cross reference a small mysql database to see if the recordings are already there. If not if will parse the directory and pull any new recordings into my media centre then update the SQL database. I then either mux the files but usually transcode them to any other device in the house, ps3 usually (savage HD on it). The script also generates a php web page front end so the wife can easily see what's recordered across all devices and run the video locally or remotely. Try that on a sky box!!!!

stephendevlin

Is there any way of streaming from dreambox to ps3 over local network?

Windbox

stephendevlin wrote: »

Is there any way of streaming from dreambox to ps3 over local network?

Yep, there are a few plugins to do it, I have tried a couple over the years and they are OK-ish. You can also open your PS3 browser and point it at the Dreambox web interface and port number etc.

And in a round about way you can stream if from a PC with a PC app that "restreams", called WebStreamer Plugin

EDIT> PSStreamer was the name of one plugin I heard of IIRC.

Barack Obama

OK here's one - is there any way of programming the unused buttons to perform tasks in certain menus? For example, in the movies menu where you see your list of recordings, can you program the red button to delete a recording instead of having to go into the menu?

garrycann78

Snaps,

I'm just outside ballina. Picking up 4,7,8 perfectly.about 87% most of the time.only ever dropped to 83%.

Zardoz

garrycann78 wrote: »

Snaps,

I'm just outside ballina. Picking up 4,7,8 perfectly.about 87% most of the time.only ever dropped to 83%.

You are picking up 4w and 7w in Ballina on a 90cm dish ,thats impossible Garry.
Those satellites are only receivable on a huge dish ,prob 3-4m .

garrycann78

no. i have amos on 4w and nilesat on 7w.

Zardoz

garrycann78 wrote: »

no. i have amos on 4w and nilesat on 7w.

On a 90cm dish ?

garrycann78

yes. i set my motor to 8w on set up, I drive the motor to 7 or 4 west. i added in transponder frequencies from kingofsat from a nilesat package. i dont get osn though

Barack Obama

I'm still not set on wheather I'm going to take the extra step of getting a motorized dish - it adds a level of complexity that I don't think I need. At the minute I'm happy with the standard Sky dish but I would like to be able to pick up a couple of particular satellites for footie matches though.

I've been recommended this option - it's a fixed dish that can pick up to 4 different satellites. Has anyone got any experience setting something like this up?
http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/antennen-wavefrontier/wave-toroidal-t90-p.html

Here it is with 4 lnb's thrown in -
http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/antennen-wavefrontier/wave-toroidal-t90-p.html

joe250

Barack Obama wrote: »

I'm still not set on weather I'm going to take the extra step of getting a motorized dish - it adds a level of complexity that I don't think I need. At the minute I'm happy with the standard Sky dish but I would like to be able to pick up a couple of particular satellites for footie matches though.

I've been recommended this option - it's a fixed dish that can pick up to 4 different satellites. Has anyone got any experience setting something like this up?
http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/antennen-wavefrontier/wave-toroidal-t90-p.html

Here it is with 4 lnb's thrown in -
http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/antennen-wavefrontier/wave-toroidal-t90-p.html

These are great buy extra holders so you can add more then 4lnb's.
Not to bad to setup either

Barack Obama

One thing that is bugging me about the DM800 - it must be currently tuned to a channel for the standby button to work. I've a Logitech Harmony remote and when I want to change activities and (for example) it's in the Video menu, the DM stays on.

A little picky, but still a pain...

cubix

Lads, just went to hook the DB-800HD up to a HD TV and realized there is no HDMI connection on the DB. Will now go hunting for a DVI to Hdmi cable but wondered are they like HDMI cable's in the sense that you don't need to spend whacky money to get a good one as long as you are buying the normal length (1.5meter). IF so where did everyone get theirs.

Thanks

big_moe

my dreambox came with a dvi-hdmi cable. you can by cables in the usual... arnotts, peats, maplins etc. about 20 or 30 quid i've seen them for

cubix

Cheers BM, just noticed a dvi-hdmi in the box. Did a little bit of reading and it says dvi does not carry sound, so do I have to take a feed from the scart for sound?.

big_moe

99% of devices dont do sound over dvi but lucky the dreambox WILL do sound over dvi to hdmi!

MisterAnarchy

Barack Obama wrote: »

I've been recommended this option - it's a fixed dish that can pick up to 4 different satellites. Has anyone got any experience setting something like this up?
http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/antennen-wavefrontier/wave-toroidal-t90-p.html

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You can get alot more than 4 different satellites on it.
It has a 40 degree span so it can cover alot of satellites.
I am considering getting one myself to add to my motorised dish.
A motorised system just isnt suited to the Irish climate,high winds continuously bashing it.
I have to readjust my positions manually via the software every so often.
Its effective but I have lost a few weaker satellites and its time consuming.
The Toroidal dish allows you to switch satellites instantaneously and you dont have to worry about realignment.
The only drawback is the amount of cabling involved ,the weight of them (they weigh a tonne ) and the fact that they are rust buckets.
I would have to mount it on the back of my house and I dont know if they are suitable for that.

Barack Obama

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

You can get alot more than 4 different satellites on it.
It has a 40 degree span so it can cover alot of satellites.
I am considering getting one myself to add to my motorised dish.
A motorised system just isnt suited to the Irish climate,high winds continuously bashing it.
I have to readjust my positions manually via the software every so often.
Its effective but I have lost a few weaker satellites and its time consuming.
The Toroidal dish allows you to switch satellites instantaneously and you dont have to worry about realignment.
The only drawback is the amount of cabling involved ,the weight of them (they weigh a tonne ) and the fact that they are rust buckets.
I would have to mount it on the back of my house and I dont know if they are suitable for that.

I found some images of the dish with a 'few' extra lnb's. Mental!!
http://images.foren-city.de/images/uploads/26528/wavefrontier30-30_127.jpg
https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/214935/89740.jpg
http://www.satellite-heaven.de/testberichte/data/wavefrontier/t90-2.jpg

I've been told that you have instant switching with a diseqc switch and only 1 cable coming back to the receiver, but I'm not 100% certain what this means. More investigation needed

MisterAnarchy

Barack Obama wrote: »

I've been told that you have instant switching with a diseqc switch and only 1 cable coming back to the receiver, but I'm not 100% certain what this means. More investigation needed

If you place the Diseqc switch near the dish or outside then you only need one cable going back to the receiver.
Each lnb has a cable leading from it to the switch (Generally a 4 or 8 way switch ) and the output of that goes to the receiver.
The dreambox can then choose which lnb to use,so you get almost instantaneous switching.
I'm tempted to get one but the size of it is putting me off (Actually its putting the missus off and I wont be allowed put it up )

Barack Obama

I didn't know that the Dreambox actually controls the switching via the Diseqc. That would be very neat

Yeah, it's a good bit bigger. One thing though -our Sky dish is on the side of our house and it's on a white\cream pebble-dashed wall. My argument is that it won't be as conspicious then a black Sky dish

Barack Obama

Very often when I'm recording something and watching a recording\recorded program on the DM800, the bloody dice appears in the top left corner and I cannot control the box anymore. The only fix for this is to pull the power and let it startup again which means I miss some of the recording. This is a pain in the arse. :mad:

This happened again this morning during the NZ v Australia match. I use Dream Elite 1.3 and have an internal 500GB hdd installed.

Does anyone else have this problem?

cubix

As far as I am aware BO its your epg refreshing which you can change the time the box carry's this out. With regards to the box being unresponsive while this is going on i have found if you leave it for a small time it comes back to life.

cormacl

makes sense... that XMLTV plugin is really taxing on the CPU in the way it has to download the feed and then beat the ****e of the CPU to reformat them into enigma EPG format.

Once Freesat EPG support came to Gemini, I bid a joyful farewell to E2LoadEPG which was the flavour of the week at the time for this kind of radiotimes EPG plugin.

That said, I'm only using FTA and not relying on paid for Sky services that are not on the Freesat EPG. So the Freesat EPG covers literally all of my UK Sat service needs.

I know some of you are using FTV and Actual sub cards in these receivers and that Freesat is not necessarily the only option. But I wonder if you could use a combination of the two, using Freesat EPG for as many services as possible and reduce the XML feeds to just the services not covered by Freesat.

givecredit

Thanks to this very thread i bought a Dreambox 800hd box recently with 320gb harddrive for €210. Have flashed it with latest dream elite. I also have ftv card in box with ccxxxx. Works a treat. Way better then i expected it would. Had a toppy years ago. The dream, its way easier to setup. If you know how to install a program on a pc you can set up a dreambox.

I use the sky uk epg that's inbuilt in dream elite. I've it set to download epg at 5.10am every day and it works a treat.

Have channels in the order i want. Including CH4hd Five Hd, ITVhd and BBChd.

Have ordered a usb dtt for RTE etc. So looking forward to have Irish and UK channels on one box with one 7 day epg and recording facilities.

Give sky my one months notice yesterday!! The box will have paid for itself within a year...

Anyone thinking about getting one. Think no more. Just go and buy it.

Barack Obama

givecredit wrote: »

Thanks to this very thread i bought a Dreambox 800hd box recently with 320gb harddrive for €210. Have flashed it with latest dream elite. I also have ftv card in box with ccxxxx. Works a treat. Way better then i expected it would. Had a toppy years ago. The dream, its way easier to setup. If you know how to install a program on a pc you can set up a dreambox.

I use the sky uk epg that's inbuilt in dream elite. I've it set to download epg at 5.10am every day and it works a treat.

Have channels in the order i want. Including CH4hd Five Hd, ITVhd and BBChd.

Have ordered a usb dtt for RTE etc. So looking forward to have Irish and UK channels on one box with one 7 day epg and recording facilities.

Give sky my one months notice yesterday!! The box will have paid for itself within a year...

Anyone thinking about getting one. Think no more. Just go and buy it.

GC - do you have a link for the usb dtt that you bought?

Cheers

Barack Obama

cubix wrote: »

As far as I am aware BO its your epg refreshing which you can change the time the box carry's this out. With regards to the box being unresponsive while this is going on i have found if you leave it for a small time it comes back to life.

That's the problem Cubix - it doesn't stop. I left it going fo 10 mins this morning and the dice was going through it's thing. The playback continues but I've no control to stop, fast-forward or anything. The only fix is to pull the power

Cormac - it's not the EPG either - I have that set to update early am.

Does anyone actually fast-forward through playbacks much while recording? I watch baseball so do this a lot. I can notice the difference while recording and not - it takes a tiny bit longer to respond when recording (and then sometimes I loose control altogether)...

The Bull

DM 7000s Orange Panel E1 w/250Gb HDD with 1.2 m motorized dish. Running Gemini 4.7 image.
Sky raven 60m Dish on 28E with quad LNB, two connected to Sky HD box, one to Sky Standard box with Freeview card and one to Bush HD Freesat receiver.

givecredit

Barack Obama wrote: »

GC - do you have a link for the usb dtt that you bought?

Cheers

Well the usb dtt arrived today. I connected usb stick to 800hd and enabled dtt in dream elite and installed software thats available with green button in dream elite. After installation it tells you to restart enigma. ( TIP! you need to restart receiver before dtt will work. restarting enigma is not enough. Took me 45 mins to figure that out) I enabled dtt tuner in tuner config and done auto scan. Bingo 16 services found.
I ftp these to dreamboxedit and added to my channel bouquet. Now have RTE 1 2 AND TG4 at 1, 2 and 3 on my epg. Put RTE news now in the news section beside SKY news. Also but all the RTE dab stations in my radio section. All working perfectly. including 7 day epg. The tuner cost €31 including delivery. I got it here on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/AVERMEDIA-AVerTV-Volar-Black-HD-A850-USB-TV-Tuner-NEW-/300443868837?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SR&hash=item45f3d99ea5

Forgot to mention, i can now record one dtt channel, watch another dtt channel or satellite channel.you can record 3 dtt at one time and watch a satellite channel. you probable can record more dtt channels, i just tried 3 to test.

So to sum up on the recording. Its possible to record at least 3 dtt channels and one satellite channel at one time and then watch another satellite or dtt channels. (as long as satellite channel is on same transponder as one you are recording)

Barack Obama

givecredit wrote: »

Well the usb dtt arrived today. I connected usb stick to 800hd and enabled dtt in dream elite and installed software thats available with green button in dream elite. After installation it tells you to restart enigma. ( TIP! you need to restart receiver before dtt will work. restarting enigma is not enough. Took me 45 mins to figure that out) I enabled dtt tuner in tuner config and done auto scan. Bingo 16 services found.
I ftp these to dreamboxedit and added to my channel bouquet. Now have RTE 1 2 AND TG4 at 1, 2 and 3 on my epg. Put RTE news now in the news section beside SKY news. Also but all the RTE dab stations in my radio section. All working perfectly. including 7 day epg. The tuner cost €31 including delivery. I got it here on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/AVERMEDIA-AVerTV-Volar-Black-HD-A850-USB-TV-Tuner-NEW-/300443868837?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Computing_Software_Software_SR&hash=item45f3d99ea5

Looks good. What about an antenna for it?