Walker combi Saorview/Saorsat TV coming in August

The Cush

Article in today's Sunday Business Post - "Up to 200 channels will be free for Saorview users"

The article basically discusses combi STBs and mentions the approved Triax and Walker receivers and the non-approved Ferguson.

It also says that Walker will launch a range of combi TVs in the first week of August, prices starting from €320.

... The Saorview-approved free-to-air TV, by Walker, will be available from the first week of August.

The TV set will be capable of offering free-to-air satellite and Saorview or Saorsat (the satellite solutionfor the 2 per cent of households that cannot get Saorview). It will be available in a range of sizes, starting at about €320.

watty

A nonsense headline as Freesat/FTA Satellite is nothing to do with Saorview and not one of these Combi sets is a true Freesat HD receiver.

Free UK TV via Satellite has been available for years.

Johnboy1951

It is looking increasingly like some 'home building' will be required to get a combination Freesat & Saorview receiver/STB ...... but I hope I am wrong and someone comes up with a suitable product at reasonable price ...

Wote

I'm running with a "htpc" and that gives me everything on one EPG, complete with 7 day EPG and MHEG-5 text.

Needs a lot of set up but is very family friendly once up and running.

Macy0161

watty wrote: »

A nonsense headline as Freesat/FTA Satellite is nothing to do with Saorview and not one of these Combi sets is a true Freesat HD receiver

Haven't seen the full article, but does the article claim to that it's Freesat?

Personally, I think anything that gets the message out about FTA Satellite is to the consumers advantage.

Johnboy1951

Wote wrote: »

I'm running with a "htpc" and that gives me everything on one EPG, complete with 7 day EPG and MHEG-5 text.

Needs a lot of set up but is very family friendly once up and running.

Yep, it might be the only answer for some time ....

The Cush

WALKER 32" SAORVIEW & SATELLITE TV Model : WP3270LCD up on the Powercity website - http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-12-WP3270&pages=1&prod=WP3270&brands=WALKER&image=

Due Mid August.

Specification

• Walker 32 Lcd Saorview Tv
• Saorview & Fta Satellite Tuners
• 50hz 720p Hd Picture
• Live Pause And Record Ready
• 4x Hdmi Digital Av Connections
• Aertel Digital Teletext
• Rte Digital Radio Tuner
• 7 Day Rte Program Guide
• C Energy Rated
• 2x Usb Connections
• Usb With Movie Play & Record
• Scart Connection
• Pc In Via Hdmi And Vga
• Headphone Socket
• Vesta Wall Mountable
• Piano Black Finish
• No Subscription Or Monthly Bills
• Rte - Bbc & Itv Stations
• Hd Bbc And Itv Via Satellite

Kristopherus

Not too bad at 370 yoyos ,I suppose. No doubt there will be cheaper options in time.

recyclebin

If anyone is going to buy a Walker TV just make sure you get a demo in the shop as their seems to be huge differences in quality between different models. On some models the digital text for saorview is really slow.

uck51js9zml2yt

will this dispense with the need for a combobox?

Digital Satellite TV

Lyle Angry Blackberry wrote: »

will this dispense with the need for a combobox?

not really, just giving folks other options. Yet to be seen what the quality of pic will be like on them as mentioned above.

If you had a decent TV already, you'd hardly spend 300-400 yo-yos on a new TV when you can get combo boxes around 100 spuds.

Advantage would be just one remote for everything though.

NewBeefFarmer

just noticed that power city has now these in stock,

would love to hear from people that got one, as its a bit of a journey to Dublin to see one,

JonathonS

NewBeefFarmer wrote: »

would love to hear from people that got one, as its a bit of a journey to Dublin to see one,

AFAIK they are literally just in the door so you might have to wait a while for someone to come on here and review it. But Walker are sold by TV dealers around the country, so depending on where you live you should be able to see one locally.

The Cush

3 Walker Saorview/sat TV models are/will be available from Powercity

26" - http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-11-WP2670&pages=1&prod=WP2670&brands=WALKER&image=
32" - http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-12-WP3270&pages=1&prod=WP3270&brands=WALKER&image=
42" - http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-13-WP4270&pages=1&prod=WP4270&brands=WALKER&image=

Johnboy1951

The Cush wrote: »

3 Walker Saorview/sat TV models are/will be available from Powercity

26" - http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-11-WP2670&pages=1&prod=WP2670&brands=WALKER&image=
32" - http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-12-WP3270&pages=1&prod=WP3270&brands=WALKER&image=
42" - http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-13-WP4270&pages=1&prod=WP4270&brands=WALKER&image=

50hz 720p Hd Picture

.......

homer911

Per the Walker site, the 42" is 1080. They have just copied/pasted the details

The 32" is "HD Ready"

Macy0161

I'd be interested if they went down to a smaller size. Combo TV is a neat solution for second/ third TV's such as bedrooms. And campervans/ motorhomes. Might be a technical reason why they're not though I guess.

Johnboy1951

homer911 wrote: »

Per the Walker site, the 42" is 1080. They have just copied/pasted the details

The 32" is "HD Ready"

I was sure when I posted that the 42" also read 720 ... but maybe I got mixed up

JonathonS

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I was sure when I posted that the 42" also read 720 ... but maybe I got mixed up

1080p alright, but LCD....and 50Hz. Think they should have gone for LED in a 42in, and 100Hz.

The Cush

Walker combi TV being demo'd at the Saorview tent at the Ploughing Championships next week.

Saorview
2 hours ago

We'll be pulling on our wellies next week and heading to New Ross for the Ploughing Championships. We have a SAORVIEW Information marquee for the three days so if you're planning a trip to the event, be sure to call in and see us. We'll be demonstrating the new Walker combi TV which gives you all your favourite Irish and UK channels for free - well worth checking it out!

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/saorview/posts/394073053996053

laugh

Any samsung do saorview and freesat?

This one?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-UE26EH4500-26-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B007JURB1U/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1348341779&sr=8-4

The Cush

laugh wrote: »

Any samsung do saorview and freesat?

This one?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-UE26EH4500-26-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B007JURB1U/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1348341779&sr=8-4

No, any Samsung TV with model no. ending in UXXU has a satellite and Saorview tuner e.g. http://www.powercity.ie/index.php?brands=SAMSUNG&pages=1&par=10-13&action=brandstory&cat=10-13, http://www.samsung.com/ie/consumer/tv-audio-video/television/viewall

inabina

My folks have an old tele and I need to sort them for Oct 24. Am thinking the Walker Combo would be ideal since they want a new TV and need the saorview and FTA satellite.

Has anyone got this walker WP3270LCD? How is it?

Given they have an aerial, we just need a dish and nothing else if we go with this walker? How much could we expect to pay for dish and install and set up? and any recommendations who could do it?

Many thanks!

excollier

Wote wrote: »

I'm running with a "htpc" and that gives me everything on one EPG, complete with 7 day EPG and MHEG-5 text.

Needs a lot of set up but is very family friendly once up and running.

Please feel free to share details of how it is set up and controlled, would be nice to set up the same using something like a Raspberry Pi.

watty

DVBViewer + MHEG5 works well (XP or Windows7). Windows 7 Media Centre is nearly as good.

Linux is possible but much much harder to setup and make sure you buy sat card and DTT DVB-T USB stick that are compatible.

excollier

I have an XP laptop, a dual boot Vista / Linux Mint laptop, but what i really want is a Raspberry Pi to set up as a media server, so linux is what I need to research

Johnboy1951

watty wrote: »

DVBViewer + MHEG5 works well (XP or Windows7). Windows 7 Media Centre is nearly as good.

Linux is possible but much much harder to setup and make sure you buy sat card and DTT DVB-T USB stick that are compatible.

Are you referring here to the necessity to select compatible hardware, or is there something else that one should be aware of?

inabina

would appreciate anything on this one ....thanks a lot

My folks have an old tele and I need to sort them for Oct 24. Am thinking the Walker Combo would be ideal since they want a new TV and need the saorview and FTA satellite.

Has anyone got this walker WP3270LCD? How is it?

Given they have an aerial, we just need a dish and nothing else if we go with this walker?

watty

Compatible receiving hardware and Graphics card with suitable de-interlacing & H.264 via GPU support on Linux (doing it with main CPU needs more CPU than most people have and not all graphics card that "work" on Linux have "full" GPU support).

watty

excollier wrote: »

I have an XP laptop, a dual boot Vista / Linux Mint laptop, but what i really want is a Raspberry Pi to set up as a media server, so linux is what I need to research

The Raspberry Pi is really a phone chip on a breakout board for general purpose use. There are MUCH better solutions for Linux based Media Centre.

The ARM CPU can't do any useful HD de-interlacing or H.264 or AAC codecs at all. You are totally dependent on the SoC "phone to HDMI" hardware codec support.

As you know the requirements for broadcast H.264 HD and AAC are different to typical "MPEG4 HD" files that would be played on a phone.

Also you need ARM versions of the Linux drivers. There is nowhere to connect a decent Satellite card (USB Satellite adaptors are madness), so you'd only have DTT and only for a USB stick with a suitable ARM driver (which isn't many).

Really for BROADCAST media streamer/player you need PCI or PCIe slots for satellite cards, USB2.0 host (not USB 2 go), x86 dual core CPU, 1G RAM, and high end fanless GPU with linux support for de-interlacing, rescalling and H.264 HD codec etc.

zg3409

inabina wrote: »

Has anyone got this walker WP3270LCD? How is it?
Given they have an aerial, we just need a dish and nothing else if we go with this walker?

Yes. However if you have no dish I would not recommend having a go yourself. Best to get a professional and get them to provide the dish. Try to get a solid dish as the ones with the holes in them last far less. Installation and dish could be 100 to 150 Euro. Installers are mad busy at the moment.

Regarding the TV
32" is really too small for HD unless you are sitting really close.
Those TVs are cheap and cheeful. Not the best picture but a low price.
They won't give 7 day guide on Satellite channels just now and next.
I have noticed on some Walker's the new "digital aertel" is very very slow to load
If recording a channel (using an external hard drive) you may not be able to watch any other channel.
UK Channels will dissapear from time to time and TV will need to be re-tuned and channels re-sorted. This could take 1 hour 3 or 4 times a year.

So yes it is a one remote, UK and Irish channels solution. Probably fine for the casual TV user.

I would also ask the question do they only have the Irish channels now and never had the UK ones? If so this will be a big step up.

Mikeoem

Just installed the Walker Combo box...

Just installed the Walker combo box yesterday for my folks. If you have an electric drill with a long bit, a ladder and a little diy it's easy enough. Took me about 1 1/2 hours but that could have been less if I were a little slicker. Dish with dual LNB (alows you bring in 2 cables - only 1 is needed per combo box) was €50, 15M of coax cable + few f-connectors = €8 and the walker combo was €139 so thats €197 at Broadericks (euronics) electrical Castlebar. I got the walker box as my parents will need the subtitles on rté. If it was for me, I'd have got the Ferguson and saved about €40.

Lining up the satellite can be tricky. If you can borrow/buy one of those sat finders do. I have an old free to air box which has a really sensitive tuner - you see signal bars when you're withing a few inches of pointing directly at satellite so I used that. I know most sky or combo boxes show no signal strenght unless you're spot on . Also have an app on my smart phone Satellite AR which will give you a fairly good idea where to point the dish. My bro in law was required for 10min to 'watch for the signal' while I fine tuned the position of the dish. The arial in the attic is fine so just pluged that into the box next to the feed from the dish.

Thing I didn't realise and don't like about the Walker box is you have to press a button (Opt) on the remote to switch from the terristrial channels (rte's) to the Satellite channels (bbc's). Wouldn't be an issue for most but my parents are old and I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. Walker box can only record from the station you are viewing but I believe there's a firmware update just out which allows you watch terristerial and record a satellite so I need to put that on next although I don't know how often they'll use the record. Maybe they'll update the box again so all the stations can be together on one channell list?

sligotrain

Sounds like a pretty poor design if you can't have a seamless switch between satellite and terrestrial. The big advantage (if indeed the only advantage) of combo boxes is normally the ability to mix satellite and terrestrial channels together in one list.

Mikeoem

I agree Sligotrain. I'm hoping they release an update to allow the 2 channel lists to be combined. I can't believe Saorview aproved a combo box that you have to switch back and over from one tuner to the other.

Mikeoem

ZG3409 "Try to get a solid dish as the ones with the holes in them last far less. "

I can agree and disagree with you here. The dishes with the holes are the ones sky use. They are designed to let the wind pass through so as not to be blown off position. So maybe these would be a good option in a windy location. The brackets on the sky diskes do tend to rot after a few years if they are exposed to the elements so it might all depend on the location you live in...

STB

Mikeoem wrote: »

I agree Sligotrain. I'm hoping they release an update to allow the 2 channel lists to be combined. I can't believe Saorview aproved a combo box that you have to switch back and over from one tuner to the other.

It was no doubt done to allow for the running of the unoffical freesat firmware on one side and then a switch to dvb-t to run Saorview using the same onboard meheg engine. Cannot be used by 2 different bouquets through a freesat hacked menu.

Peter Rhea

Mikeoem wrote: »

The dishes with the holes are the ones sky use. They are designed to let the wind pass through so as not to be blown off position. .

I think the holes are just to reduce weight & material used, they don't have much if any effect on wind load.

swedex

Mikeoem wrote: »

ZG3409 "Try to get a solid dish as the ones with the holes in them last far less. "

I can agree and disagree with you here. The dishes with the holes are the ones sky use. They are designed to let the wind pass through so as not to be blown off position. So maybe these would be a good option in a windy location. The brackets on the sky diskes do tend to rot after a few years if they are exposed to the elements so it might all depend on the location you live in...

Physics > Sky myths

The holes on the dishes are too small for wind stronger than a couple miles an hour to pass through. The wind hits the dish and spreads out exactly the same as a solid dish. There's a name for it but I can't think off hand what it is.

Mikeoem

I read that about the sky dishes somewhere online but your argument of using less materials, cheaper production makes more sense :-)

Capt'n Midnight

Mikeoem wrote: »

I read that about the sky dishes somewhere online but your argument of using less materials, cheaper production makes more sense :-)

steel is cheap

one theory is that having holes makes the dish rust earlier so you have another reason to upgrade sooner

as for wind loading, if it was an issue then you'd see the dish setup on the short orientation of the L bracket far more often than you. A lot of SKY installs look like they are trying to get as much leverage on the bracket as they can

also ice and snow more easily slide off a solid dish than a perforated one and ice in the perforations is not a good thing

top_dog

They won't give 7 day guide on Satellite channels just now and next.

What is the reason for this? Is there any combi box available that provides this?

The Cush

top_dog wrote: »

What is the reason for this?

Freesat developed and owns the 7 day epg for their receivers. Not the same as the standard 7 day DVB-SI epg used by Saorview/Freeview.

Capt'n Midnight

The Cush wrote: »

Freesat developed and owns the 7 day epg for their receivers. Not the same as the standard 7 day DVB-SI epg used by Saorview/Freeview.

And both are different again from SKY's EPG

Mikeoem

I've heard there is a ways of connecting certain linux based boxes to the internet in order to provide the 7 day epg. You can search the threads for 7 day epg. It's probably not that straight forward or it would be mainstream...

lawhec

Mikeoem wrote: »

I agree Sligotrain. I'm hoping they release an update to allow the 2 channel lists to be combined. I can't believe Saorview aproved a combo box that you have to switch back and over from one tuner to the other.

There would be good reasons for that - Saorview certification relies on the receiver's performance on how it performs regarding DVB-T. This corresponds to video, audio & data formats, electronic programme guide handling and also LCN numbering, with how it handles certain scenarios of terrestrial reception e.g. multiple transmitters carrying the same programming at various strengths or reception of UK DTT services. It has no standard set for satellite reception, or cable for that matter. Generic terrestrial/satellite combos can integrate both platforms into one guide because they're not abiding by any certification other than that followed by DVB. In the sense of the Walker receiver mentioned, it makes sense for both platforms to be kept on separate standard channel lists to help meet Saorview certification standards and avoid confusion by viewers as to what broadcasts exactly make up each platform.

Johnboy1951

lawhec wrote: »

There would be good reasons for that - Saorview certification relies on the receiver's performance on how it performs regarding DVB-T. This corresponds to video, audio & data formats, electronic programme guide handling and also LCN numbering, with how it handles certain scenarios of terrestrial reception e.g. multiple transmitters carrying the same programming at various strengths or reception of UK DTT services. It has no standard set for satellite reception, or cable for that matter. Generic terrestrial/satellite combos can integrate both platforms into one guide because they're not abiding by any certification other than that followed by DVB. In the sense of the Walker receiver mentioned, it makes sense for both platforms to be kept on separate standard channel lists to help meet Saorview certification standards and avoid confusion by viewers as to what broadcasts exactly make up each platform.

I fail to appreciate your logic on this.

I see no correlation between the technical performance of the DTT part of the device and in what kind of a list the user information is displayed.

I fail to see how keeping the two channel lists separate helps with the certification of the device.

.... maybe I am missing something very obvious ...

lawhec

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I fail to appreciate your logic on this.

I see no correlation between the technical performance of the DTT part of the device and in what kind of a list the user information is displayed.

I fail to see how keeping the two channel lists separate helps with the certification of the device.

.... maybe I am missing something very obvious ...

Basically Saorview standards are for DVB-T (and soon to be DVB-T2) only. Not only is it of no concern to DVB-S(2) broadcasts, it also needs to have a "buffer" so non DVB-T(2) broadcasts do not interfere with Saorview specifications, especially w.r.t. LCN numbering, and that certain technical standards are constant.

For example, when an additional Saorview multiplex is launched (whenever that may be) cross-multiplex EPG data can be handled so that you do not have to tune into a channel on a different multiplex to get 7 day programme guide info. This has already been the case on Freeview for many years, whereby all six main multiplexes carry one standard EPG data feed covering not only services on their own multiplex, but also the other five. For example if you receive both Freeview and Saorview services, if I switch on the TV and tune to BBC One NI, the EPG will begin to populate with information for all Freeview services - but it will not populate EPG info for Saorview broadcasts until I tune in to a Saorview multiplex. This works vice versa.

Satellite - at least at 28 east - doesn't do this for FTA broadcasts, now & next only is given for most channels. Even if some channels provided the standard 7 day guide, it would only be useful for that transponder's EPG data feed. Proprietary EPG's exist for Sky & Freesat via data on a single transponder, while Now & Next info for all channels available on the Sky EPG is broadcast on relevant transponders carrying these channels to be compatible with single-tuner Sky receivers and also Sky+ HD receivers working in Single Feed mode.

Keeping 'terrestrial' and 'FTA satellite' lists separate avoids complications especially where subsequent updates to the Saorview spec that can be addressed by firmware occur (e.g. a possibility in future that taken from the UK D-Book spec of allocation additional received broadcasts in a specific number range, normally 800's, is used in areas of multiple transmitter overlaps or areas which can also receive Freeview transmissions). In countries where LCNs are not used on terrestrial platforms e.g. Germany, this matter is much less important since it is implied that the viewer is responsible for the arrangement of their own channels. As the Saorview spec sets values for how receivers should display services, it's Terracom's job to ensure that this can be handled as set down.

Johnboy1951

Thank you for taking the time to post all that info .... but honestly I do not see how that has anything at all to do with a combined list that is made available to the user.

All a combined list does is combines all the lists it receives from DTT or SAT transponders or whatever else it might be receiving from.

The individual lists from each service type is still there ...... but a combined listing is made available for the user.

So in that case the Saorview spec would ensure that the Saorview list would be compliant and what is done with the info received afterwards is 'extra' - made available by the manufacturer.

I doubt the specification prevents 'extras' being made available ...... in which case extras would not affect Saorview approval of the device.

nice_guy80

I got this Walker tv

picture is fine.
saorview channels tuned in ok, along with some freesat channels

I'm struggling to find channel 4, more 4, E4 etc

Where or how would I find them???
Cheers

hibble

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I got this Walker tv

I'm struggling to find channel 4, more 4, E4 etc

Where or how would I find them???
Cheers

This is the setting in transponders you are looking for to scan:-
10729
Vertical
22000
5/6

all channels above on this transponder

11126
Vertical
22000
for Channel 4 hd and 4 seven

The Cush

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Where or how would I find them???

List of frequencies here - http://www.lyngsat.com/Eutelsat-28A-and-Astra-1N-2A-2B.html