Vu+ Ultimo

IrishBazza

I thought I would open a new thread for the new Vu+ Ultimo to give my experience.

Having read the Vu+ Duo thread over the years, I have decided to take the plunge and purchase the new Vu+ Ultimo. I am a newbie to the world of linux base satellite box.

I opened the box yesterday morning and looked forward to the challenge ahead or the full day! To my delight it went better than expected, which included manually installing the 3 tuners and plus the 2 TB hard drive. I though I would have problems with setting up the Motor with USAL, put in the longitudes and the dish started to tune in the various satellites straight away. I then set up the Terrestial channels next, was breaking up, got worried about the tuner. Put the cable direct and full pictures followed. The harddrive was set up and it is very quiet when recording. I liked the option of putting the hard drive into standy automatically when not in use with options of from 1 minute to 2 hours. The Wifi dongle was set up next. The Vu+ was able to access my security codes without entrying, which I very impressed with.

Day 2 - I am looking to to customise the software for my requirement, I would would require your help, advice and patiences from the Vu+ forum members to complete the set up which include best images, plug etc. I will give you my set up requirements first:

The system software is set at experimental and date 27th December 2011. Is Vix seems the way to go and where to locate the software to download?

My set up requirement are:

Tuner 1 - FTA channels at 28.2E (no sky sub)
Tuner 2 - Motor Dish
Tuner 3 - Soarview

I would the following for ease of use, that even the wife can use:

1. If I get post of FTA channel listings for 28.2E. 13E,16E,19E would be a bonus for the motor, save me having to scan all.

2. EPG that will populate which includes 7 days for selecting for recording (not sure if serial link is available) for 28.2E and Soarview

3. The only problem I have encountered to date is on 13E. I have a Canal plus Sub for Sports and Movies. I have Gol Sports HD but it is not showing the channel, the cam is working but i can view which shows Gol SD alright. Could be a PID issue, don't know how to manually change. Also I have selected the audio option for English on the HD Film Channel using the yellow bottom, no sound. Help please.

Your help would be appreciated.

Thanks

dodzy

How much did that little beauty cost you ?

swoofer

a good post, looking at getting ultimo as well so please keep posting with progress and where did you buy it?

IrishBazza

The experience of using the Ultimo has been fantastic one week on. Never used a Linux box before, am already awe of this machine. The Vix image is great and running very smoothly. Cross Epg loads full 7 days, good for recording. The picture image on HD is very clear and the SD is nice and soft. Playback of HD recording is close to real time. The 2TB seagate drive drive is very quiet.

All only left with is installing a good channel boutique for 28E FTA and Soarview. If someone had one for the Duo they are willing to share would be appreciate. It cost me €670 for the 2tb drive and three plug in and plus free posting shipping. It was a great deal compared to €800 quoted elsewhere. I don't have a Sly sub, and the money saved paid for this little beauty.

IrishBazza

http://www.ielektroniks.com/tv-digital/receptores-linux-alta-definicion.html

Great deal. Shipped and received from Spain within 6 days.

Wiggy

I don't normally use the Vu+ remote. I use a Logitech to control everything.

I swapped out my Vu+ Duo for an Ultimo at the weekend. Until I reprogrammed the Logitech Harmony, I needed to use the Ultimo remote.

I couldn't believe how bad it is. Very unresponsive, tiny buttons etc.
As soon as I got the Harmony programmed, everything was OK again.

Anyone else have this issue?

stevethesatguy

Hi,

Do you know if your machine is a clone or not, seems strange that you got the 2TB drive for more or less free and free shipping.

Drives are expensive at the moment thats why I ask ?

€650 is ball park retail price of the Vu Ultimo but the internal sata drives are close to €185 retail from any online shop ?

Not being critical just a little confused as I know the buy in price from the European Distributor and I also know there is more than one Chinese factory making clones of all VU+ receivers.

Clareman

I took delivery of 1 of these today, I've a feeling this is way too much for what I was expecting. I was hoping to have a FTA box that I could record stuff onto while also using it to play media files, seems way too complicated I've a feeling it'll be going back on Monday

byte

I would encourage you to try learn more about your Ultimo, and embrace the learning experience!

I think it might sound more difficult than it is, and once you've it configured to your expectations, you'll be glad you persevered!

Zimmerframe

Clareman wrote: »

I've a feeling it'll be going back on Monday

Don't do it.

Clareman

There's a loop through cable from tuner a to tuner b, I hope that means I can watch 1 channel and record another. I notice that it's fully "browzable" through network explorer, that's going to be very handy for watching movies and stuff.

Zimmerframe

Clareman wrote: »

There's a loop through cable from tuner a to tuner b, I hope that means I can watch 1 channel and record another.

Not really, unless the channel you are watching and the channel you are recording are on the one polarity.

You really need to have a twin/quad lnb on your dish and run a separate cable to both tuners, or in an ideal world a fixed dish on say 28.2 to one tuner and a motorized dish connected to the other.

Clareman

Oh well, too much to hope for I guess. I'm not liking the EPG on this either, first impressions and all that

tapfit2004

Clareman wrote: »

Oh well, too much to hope for I guess. I'm not liking the EPG on this either, first impressions and all that

you should be able to change the skins and the firmware on the box which will change the look of the epg.

nothing i've seen looks exactly like $ky but these linux boxes are light years ahead once you get the hang of them.

Clareman

It came with the blackhole image, I've just reflashed it again cause I installed a lot of cr@p on it. I also got a bouquet list downloaded which makes it's a lot easier to get around. I think it's way too much kit for me though, also I thought the front panel would be full colour

stanley1

I understand your frustration, install Vix and register here

http://www.world-of-satellite.com/

The beta team and developer hang out here, post your problems and you always get a knowledgeable response, don't give up too soon.

HTH

IrishBazza

stevethesatguy wrote: »

Hi,

Do you know if your machine is a clone or not, seems strange that you got the 2TB drive for more or less free and free shipping.

Drives are expensive at the moment thats why I ask ?

€650 is ball park retail price of the Vu Ultimo but the internal sata drives are close to €185 retail from any online shop ?

Not being critical just a little confused as I know the buy in price from the European Distributor and I also know there is more than one Chinese factory making clones of all VU+ receivers.

It's the original box, great value with the hard drive and free shipping. Very pleased with the box. Had to install the tuners and hard drive myself. The hard drive is very quiet when recording. Had to double check a couple of times to make sure it was recording cause the hard drive was that quiet.

Clareman

I have to say I'm a lot happier with it now, I've a 2TB drive put in there so I can record and stream from it, I also have a USB key in it to manage the picon's and EPG. I'm currently recording on 1 channel, streaming onto a laptop and watching a different channel, pretty much exactly what I wanted from it. I also managed to make a media player I had redundant as I can play directly from the VU+, now to get more addons for it

SalteeDog

Good stuff. Now it's just a matter of getting a full colour panel:). Got one of them recently myself - have spent more time on set-up than actually watching it but hey, that's all part of the fun.

Clareman

Have you a link to the full colour panel by any chance?

I installed the iphone app for it as well, great invention that, not only can I watch live TV on it but I can also watch movies that are on the box already

SalteeDog

Actually I've the duo not the ultimo - not that it make much difference here.

Nope I haven't gone looking for the colour panel - the default VIX one is fine I think.

Clareman

Don't tell me that the Ultimo and the Duo are almost the same, there was almost €200 of a difference in the price

banie01

Clareman wrote: »

Don't tell me that the Ultimo and the Duo are almost the same, there was almost €200 of a difference in the price

Well not almost the same, the Ultimo is hands down a better box.
But in fairness the capabilities that make it better would not be used by 99% of normal users.
The Ultimo is more of a hobbyist's box, the triple tuner and blindscan capability are handy if you are into multisat or feedhunting and so on.
And the VFD/Colour front display and keyboard/Universal remote control are nice highend touches.
It is a top quality high end bit of kit and if you are using it to its full its worth the money.

The Duo is a twin tuner box and extra tuners can be added via USB, Sat or DTT are both supported.
In my case I currently have 4 tuners, the 2 normal SAT tuners and I use a PlayTV DTT which gives 2 seperate DTT tuners
I may add a Sundtek Sat tuner at some stage too.
The duo doesn't have blindscan, or the built in triple tuner...
But other than that performance wise.....Its excellent.

I use mine in a Multi LNB set up and basically use it as my media hub now.
I can watch 1 channel, stream another to Laptop/phone/internet, view movies via network share/internet.
I use Project Valerie as my media player frontend and it gives a great almost XBMC/Netflix type GUI to view and use your media files.

The only thing I find lacking on Vu+ and all E2 boxes in general is a decent music player, playlists, album covers, and random play would all be welcome

EDIT for the VFD/Front display picons take a look here http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?14990-VFD-Picons-for-the-Vu-Ultimo-by-Sandman-Download

Clareman

Thanks for that, that looks like a great media player, the inbuilt media player seems very cumbersome so I'll install that and use it.

To be honest, my reason for getting it was cause I wanted something that would allow me stream to PCs so I can watch TV in other parts of the house that doesn't have TV cables, ideally I want a totally wireless setup cause I don't like seeing cables around the place. I also wanted to try to consolidate some of the units I have under the TV, I have all 3 major consoles, a satellite box and a media player, by getting the Ultimo I've been able to get rid of the media player.

banie01

Clareman wrote: »

Thanks for that, that looks like a great media player, the inbuilt media player seems very cumbersome so I'll install that and use it.

To be honest, my reason for getting it was cause I wanted something that would allow me stream to PCs so I can watch TV in other parts of the house that doesn't have TV cables, ideally I want a totally wireless setup cause I don't like seeing cables around the place. I also wanted to try to consolidate some of the units I have under the TV, I have all 3 major consoles, a satellite box and a media player, by getting the Ultimo I've been able to get rid of the media player.

Project valerie is a great plugin, it does take some time to set up.
You need to be sure to specify what file types you associate with it via its webIF(I have mine setup with a seperate port to the Vu+ so I can access both the Vu+ WebIf via the standard IP address and the Project Valerie WebIF via 192.168.0.6:14000), for example when I first installed it I couldn't figure out why my .MKV files wouldn't show up....
But a bit of looking and I found out that I had to add playback file associations via the webIF>options>syncsettings.
It is a great plugin, it does require a little bit of time in the initial setup and sync to be sure everything syncs up and pulls in the right tvdb/imdb info.
I found that with TV series especially if you just check the file names are in media player/HTPC compatible name formats(i.e Tvshowname 1x01 season x episode) That it will pick up and sync all the data correctly.
Also you can add a txt file named ''valerie.info'' to the tvseries folder with the imdb tt number and the TVDB id inserted that will force the plug in to match episode Data via that data 1st.
Similar to HTPC/XBMC .nfo files but much simpler, generally though if you follow a standard naming format for your episodic content it works brilliantly
They have a very helpful forum over at http://code.google.com/p/project-valerie/

banie01

Double post

Clareman

I've just noticed that the drive I put into the box was locked to the linux system it came out of, can't add, move or change anything, I'll have to get a new drive and initialize it. Be handy to have a list of useful plugins to install

Stuxnet

I currently have a Sly subscription setup whichI plan to ditch over the summer,

with this Vu+ Ultimo box can I have the following setup on a single box...


Receive the regular fta channels from my current sky satellite, (Astra)
Receive the fta Italian channels (hotbird satellite)
And Saorview ariel for rte hd's etc

or would the vu+ duo do me ?

banie01

Stuxnet wrote: »

I currently have a Sly subscription setup whichI plan to ditch over the summer,

with this Vu+ Ultimo box can I have the following setup on a single box...


Receive the regular fta channels from my current sky satellite, (Astra)
Receive the fta Italian channels (hotbird satellite)
And Saorview ariel for rte hd's etc

or would the vu+ duo do me ?

banie01 wrote: »

The Duo is a twin tuner box and extra tuners can be added via USB, Sat or DTT are both supported.
In my case I currently have 4 tuners, the 2 normal SAT tuners and I use a PlayTV DTT which gives 2 seperate DTT tuners
I may add a Sundtek Sat tuner at some stage too.
The duo doesn't have blindscan, or the built in triple tuner...
But other than that performance wise.....Its excellent.

Vu Duo would do all that easily and more Indeed mine does :)there's a pro/cons post about 5 posts up.
If you are into feedhunting then the Ultimo will allow you Blindscan.
Other than aesthitics and 3rd tuner built in theres not much more the Ultimo has to offer for 'normal' use.
The Ultimo is a great piece of Kit though.
But aside from the Blindscan/3 Internal Tuner and Front Colour Display it doesn't offer anything worth a €250 premium over the duo IMO.

SalteeDog

Actually any disecq enabled 'combo' box could do what you need (receive DTT plus Satellite)

However, you don't state it but if your requirements include full PVR capabilities (EPG, record to HDD while watching a different channel), then that's where the VU+ duo or ultimo can deliver.

Compton

Probably a stupid question but what can you do with 3x dvb-s2 tuners? watch one channel while recording 2 others?

swoofer

A lot more than that,

" Multiple Recording – up to 8 REC simultaneously
Now with triple tuners integrated, Ultimo users can record up eight channels in different TPs at the same time. "

dodzy

GBCULLEN wrote: »

A lot more than that,

" Multiple Recording – up to 8 REC simultaneously
Now with triple tuners integrated, Ultimo users can record up eight channels in diŸfferent TPs at the same time. "

Some people have way too much time on their hands

Clareman

I have an Ultimo, I think I've recorded 1 thing so far and that was just to test it to be honest, I'm primarily using it as a media centre unit, which it is fantastic at for this, just copy files to it over the network and watch whatever you want, I have a 2TB drive put in there.

rurs

Compton wrote: »

Probably a stupid question but what can you do with 3x dvb-s2 tuners? watch one channel while recording 2 others?

Well you could have two tuners for 28.2, plus a motorized dish, or Saorsat, lots of possibilities.

war10ck

Top of my list....VU+ Ultimo...can't wait untill next week:-)

SalteeDog

rurs wrote: »

Well you could have two tuners for 28.2, plus a motorized dish, or Saorsat, lots of possibilities.

Or indeed use the third tuner to stream FTA TV to a PC in a separate room.

Stuxnet

SalteeDog wrote: »

Actually any disecq enabled 'combo' box could do what you need (receive DTT plus Satellite)

However, you don't state it but if your requirements include full PVR capabilities (EPG, record to HDD while watching a different channel), then that's where the VU+ duo or ultimo can deliver.

ya i should of said, as im replacing the sky hd box, I would want fta hd, epg and the ability to record 2 or more channels if possible,

so the duo has the capability to input 2 different satellites simultaneously (hotbird & astra2)? as well as saorview aerial input ?

eta: looks like the ultimo is the way to go, from the pic i see of the duo ? it can only accept the 2 wires the sky aerial feeds into it ? or am i missing something

SalteeDog

The duo requires an additional USB stick DVB-T tuner to receive Saorview. These cost €50 or less.

My own setup is a Duo connected to Eutelsat 5w and Astra 28.2E ...using a Disecq switch to automatically switch between sats. I also have the DVB-T USB stick for Saorview.

I sourced my equipment from www.satboxes.com. Tony there is very helpful.

banie01

@Stuxnet the Vu Duo uses USB tuner for Saorview.
I use a PlayTV which adds 2 DVB-T tuners, will be handy when the 2nd Mux kicks in.
Just to add I use my Duo with 2 Diseqc switches and have 4.8e,9e,10e,13e,16e,19.2e,23.5e and 28.2e all on 1 dish(MultiLNB) and saorview via USB.
Works a treat and all available to PVR, watch one tuner/record another and even stream media at the same time.

SalteeDog

@Stuxnet in case you are unfamiliar with them, Disecq switches allow the connection of multiple satellite LNBs to a single receiver connection. Even receivers with just one satellite connection can be connected to multiple dishes or LNBs via a Disecq as long as the receiver has Disecq capability (not all do).

The advantage of receivers with two connections (such as the duo) is that it allows the reception of two signals on different frequencies simultaneously so you can record one while watching another.

Personally I think the ultimo is overkill but then money isn't burning a hole in my pocket. If it was I'd buy one.

swoofer

I was under the impression that you can plug in a dtt tuner to the ultimo, hence 3 tuners and pick up irish saorview? Am I wrong? Or is the usb a better option?

a bit confused now but not bought a vu yet so no worries

gbc-

banie01

GBCULLEN wrote: »

I was under the impression that you can plug in a dtt tuner to the ultimo, hence 3 tuners and pick up irish saorview? Am I wrong? Or is the usb a better option?

a bit confused now but not bought a vu yet so no worries

gbc-

You can, the Ultimo can take modular internal tuners and the setup your describing would be 2xDVB-S2 and 1xDTT all internal.
The Ultimo can also run USB tuners too...

In theory the internal Tuner for DTT on the Ultimo should run issue free as there are Vu+ written drivers available.
Currently some USB tuners have issues as a lot of the drivers(Barring Sundtek and a few others) are ported to Linux/E2 rather than being directly written.
Blackhole currently seems to have the best USB tuner support and even has some propriertary drivers, but I'm using VIX currently with the winNova Drivers for PlayTV and have had no probs with it since build 153.

dodzy

banie01 wrote: »

@Stuxnet the Vu Duo uses USB tuner for Saorview.
I use a PlayTV which adds 2 DVB-T tuners, will be handy when the 2nd Mux kicks in.
Just to add I use my Duo with 2 Diseqc switches and have 4.8e,9e,10e,13e,16e,19.2e,23.5e and 28.2e all on 1 dish(MultiLNB) and saorview via USB.
Works a treat and all available to PVR, watch one tuner/record another and even stream media at the same time.

Interested in a few pics of that 8x lnb setup banie01, if you get a chance

banie01

dodzy wrote: »

Interested in a few pics of that 8x lnb setup banie01, if you get a chance

Its actually 7LNBs with the 9e/10e postions merged via editing the sats.xml(allows 2 sats within @1.5 degrees to be received via 1 LNB) or you can also assign sats to LNBs in advanced setup.
Anyways here are the pics, I use a Triax TD88 dish.

EDITust adding a link to my last post in the ''whats your setup'' thread.
Bit more info on how I sorted my setup, also here is where I started learning about MultiLNB and messing with my setup.
Theres some very knowledgeable folks on here always willing to help
Thanks Boards!

testicle

I think I may be thick but does anyone have a step by step guide to getting the picons displaying on the LCD display - the VFD ones. I've the latest Vix running on my Ultimo. The on screen picons weren't a problem, but I'd like to get these working too.

Cheers.

testicle

testicle wrote: »

I think I may be thick but does anyone have a step by step guide to getting the picons displaying on the LCD display - the VFD ones. I've the latest Vix running on my Ultimo. The on screen picons weren't a problem, but I'd like to get these working too.

Cheers.

Figured it out, PEBKAC moment!

Stuxnet

hey lads, so im another step closer to purchasing an ultimo, but just another quick question,

after reading a few other threads here, would i be better off using saorsat instead of saorview via usb or aerial, keep everything coming through a single satellite

Im looking at a Triax TD88 Dish (90cm)

will this do, all UK FTA, Saorsat, and Hotbird ...one dish, one box (vu+ ultimo)

how many lnb's needed ? just 3 is it ?, do they have double outputs ? Ill want to be able record and watch other channels,

sorry for being a n00b

SalteeDog

Generally LNBs can be single, dual, quad or octo..eg. 1,2 ,4 or 8 outputs. (There are also quatro LNBs for more complex set-ups). I use a quad on my 28.2e feed - gives me one feed each to two tuners on my Vu+ Duo (hence allowing me to watch on one tuner and record on another). It also gives me two spare feeds which I use for two bedrooms (single feed each). I would suggest you don't consider anything less than a quad LNB.

You will need a separate LNB for each satellite. The Saorsat LNB will be a Ka band - a different type that the normal Ku band one.

Regarding whether you are better to use Saorview or Saorsat, I'll let others comment on that as there are a few factors at play - e.g. location?

banie01

Stuxnet wrote: »

hey lads, so im another step closer to purchasing an ultimo, but just another quick question,

after reading a few other threads here, would i be better off using saorsat instead of saorview via usb or aerial, keep everything coming through a single satellite

Saorview is better really Saorsat is really only a fallback service to ensure 100% digital coverage in areas not served by transmitter towers after the ASO

Stuxnet wrote: »

Im looking at a Triax TD88 Dish (90cm)

Excellent piece of kit! I have one and currently have 7LNBs on the bad boy

Stuxnet wrote: »

will this do, all UK FTA, Saorsat, and Hotbird ...one dish, one box (vu+ ultimo)?

Yes

Stuxnet wrote: »

how many lnb's needed ? just 3 is it ?, do they have double outputs ? Ill want to be able record and watch other channels,

If you want full PVR capability across those 3 sats, you will need 3x Dual LNBs at a minimum(Altho using quads will allow you to expand the setup by adding receivers/multiroom) and 2 4x1 Diseqc switchesa, You can get 16x1 switches nowadays which is what I would buy if I was setting up again and that will give you a nice setup from the off.
As a rule you will need 1 LNB for each Sat you want to receive, you can receive 2 sats via 1 LNB if they are within @1.5 degrees of each other.
But thats a whole step up again

Stuxnet wrote: »

sorry for being a n00b

Don't be we all started somewher
If I remember correctly you are based in Limerick?
If you are, Theres a user on here Steveon, I'd recommend him highly if you are after a dish installer.

givecredit

Stuxnet wrote: »

after reading a few other threads here, would i be better off using saorsat instead of saorview via usb or aerial, keep everything coming through a single satellite

Im looking at a Triax TD88 Dish (90cm)

will this do, all UK FTA, Saorsat, and Hotbird ...one dish, one box (vu+ ultimo)

how many lnb's needed ? just 3 is it ?, do they have double outputs ? Ill want to be able record and watch other channels,

sorry for being a n00b

1. I would personally get the internal DTT tuner for Ultimo and get your Irish channels from saorview. (This will give you more channels then saorsat, TV3 and 3E not on saorsat and probably unlikely to appear there)
2.Triax TD88 dish is good dish. Also get the lnb bar holder that fits onto dish. This holds 4 lnbs. (Circa 15 euro) and two 4x1 Diseqc switches
3.I'd suggest 3 twin ku lnbs for FTA 13deg, 19deg and 9deg and one quad lnb for 28deg. You may want to connect separate sat boxes to 28deg in other rooms. quad lets you connect 2 more boxes.
Good luck with your purchase. Its a nice setup...