Saorview Connect

Tigerandahalf

The saorview side should automatically update any frequency changes as it runs the same software as freesat.

They have also 'promised' to update the satellite side with any frequency changes. However I think that promise comes from the box supplier Shomar rather than saorview themselves.

Does your father want catch up tv and how able is he to navigate tv menus?

Tony

To my knowledge it will not auto update Saorview, how would it know what transmitter to update ?

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

The saorview side should automatically update any frequency changes as it runs the same software as freesat.

gerrykeegan

Tony wrote: »

Saorview connect will be no different with regards to re tuning as it does not auto update . You mention "constant" though, how often are you taking about as frequency changes don't happen that often ?

I don't know how often it needs updating as it depends on when he mentions it as not working. The TV is free Sat and saorview and I think it was a bad buy. Dies the SV connect have internet connectivity and what channels come with that. Tia

gerrykeegan

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

The saorview side should automatically update any frequency changes as it runs the same software as freesat.

They have also 'promised' to update the satellite side with any frequency changes. However I think that promise comes from the box supplier Shomar rather than saorview themselves.

Does your father want catch up tv and how able is he to navigate tv menus?

No need for catch up. It's more stability I would look for. Will it pick up freesat and saorview and is it dependable.

Tigerandahalf

Tony wrote: »

To my knowledge it will not auto update Saorview, how would it know what transmitter to update ?

Well I guess satellite is different. But would the box not read the transmitter info collected on first tuning and then just update on that. That is hardly a big task.

Pastor Brent

Apparently only 600 boxes have sold

Tigerandahalf

gerrykeegan wrote: »

No need for catch up. It's more stability I would look for. Will it pick up freesat and saorview and is it dependable.

Right now the box couldn't be recommended as it has bugs and doesn't have recording functions enabled. They are due to come.

The lads on here recommend a box called Tiviar Alpha plus. It is in the satellite forum. It is not ready out of the box but has all channels on it.
However, we don't know if saorview will somehow stop functions working on that box, e.g. series link. They have done it in the past.

Your other option is Sky but that is €500+ per year.

The high horse brigade

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Right now the box couldn't be recommended as it has bugs and doesn't have recording functions enabled. They are due to come.

The lads on here recommend a box called Tiviar Alpha plus. It is in the satellite forum. It is not ready out of the box but has all channels on it.
However, we don't know if saorview will somehow stop functions working on that box, e.g. series link. They have done it in the past.

Your other option is Sky but that is €500+ per year.

There's nothing to turn off. Series link on Enigma 2 is a plugin called autotimers that creates custom repeating searches of the 7 day EPG based on the parameters you set. Search on X day, on Y channel, between the hours of A and B etc

Tony

Ok when you say its not working are we talking about one or two channels on satellite ? If its more than that it sounds like an issue other than updating frequency. If its an actual Freesat branded TV with a freesat logo then it should auto update Uk channels

gerrykeegan wrote: »

I don't know how often it needs updating as it depends on when he mentions it as not working. The TV is free Sat and saorview and I think it was a bad buy. Dies the SV connect have internet connectivity and what channels come with that. Tia

Tony

No, as it is now it would require a new scan initiated by the user. Bear in mind that freesat has its own data feed on a separate default transponder already coded into the box and also available to FTA boxes that use " network scan". As saorview uses different frequencies/transponders in each area this would be impractical to implement.

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Well I guess satellite is different. But would the box not read the transmitter info collected on first tuning and then just update on that. That is hardly a big task.

gerrykeegan

Tony wrote: »

Ok when you say its not working are we talking about one or two channels on satellite ? If its more than that it sounds like an issue other than updating frequency. If its an actual Freesat branded TV with a freesat logo then it should auto update Uk channels

When I go to check it seems to be most channels. I'm not sure was it a branded TV.

Johnboy1951

Tony wrote: »

No, as it is now it would require a new scan initiated by the user. Bear in mind that freesat has its own data feed on a separate default transponder already coded into the box and also available to FTA boxes that use " network scan". As saorview uses different frequencies/transponders in each area this would be impractical to implement.

I don't get that Tony.
If I set up my STB to receive from Three Rock, then that info could very easily be stored in the STB, and if Three Rock alters parameters, it would be a simple matter to track that in the STB and autoupdate the relevant info.

I understand it does not do so, but I don't see any difficulty in its implementation.

Tony

If its most channels then its most likely there is a problem with the system itself. If a broadcaster makes a chnage its rare enough and only involves a few channels.

gerrykeegan wrote: »

When I go to check it seems to be most channels. I'm not sure was it a branded TV.

Tony

Its not difficult per se but it would require a separate dedicated data feed on each transmitter. You could do it over the internet but then you would have to implement some way of locating the box and even then the box might be on a different transmitter than the one recommended by the Saorview coverage database/map . Much easier and cheaper to ask customers to carry out an autoscan on a pre determined date/time especially since connect boxes account for only a fraction of the viewership at present.

That's how it was done on the last saorview frequency change.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I don't get that Tony.
If I set up my STB to receive from Three Rock, then that info could very easily be stored in the STB, and if Three Rock alters parameters, it would be a simple matter to track that in the STB and autoupdate the relevant info.

I understand it does not do so, but I don't see any difficulty in its implementation.

Johnboy1951

Tony wrote: »

Its not difficult per se but it would require a separate dedicated data feed on each transmitter. You could do it over the internet but then you would have to implement some way of locating the box and even then the box might be on a different transmitter than the one recommended by the Saorview coverage database/map . Much easier and cheaper to ask customers to carry out an autoscan on a pre determined date/time especially since connect boxes account for only a fraction of the viewership at present.

That's how it was done on the last saorview frequency change.

No doubt at all it is easier on RTE ..... just not as convenient for the customer.
Also I think you are making it sound much more difficult than it necessarily is.
For instance the tuning details for each individual mast are freely available so others can use them.
That the Saorview box does not do so automatically is a bit odd. It would do if whoever is responsible for development bothered their barney!

All it would take is that the Connect box would check with home at each boot (or determined by some other parameter) to ensure it has the correct tuning details.

Tony

Well if you know an easy way to do this then I'm sure saorview and lots of others would be interested. Freeview does it by triggering an auto scan as far as I know but that's the same as the customer doing the same thing.

Its not just about "bothering their barney" there are cost implications too for transmitter infrastructure. As for the box "checking with home" what method do you suggest for location reporting ? As I've said previously the box could be in an area where reception of two transmitters is possible.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

No doubt at all it is easier on RTE ..... just not as convenient for the customer.
Also I think you are making it sound much more difficult than it necessarily is.
For instance the tuning details for each individual mast are freely available so others can use them.
That the Saorview box does not do so automatically is a bit odd. It would do if whoever is responsible for development bothered their barney!

All it would take is that the Connect box would check with home at each boot (or determined by some other parameter) to ensure it has the correct tuning details.

Johnboy1951

Tony wrote: »

Well if you know an easy way to do this then I'm sure saorview and lots of others would be interested. Freeview does it by triggering an auto scan as far as I know but that's the same as the customer doing the same thing.

Its not just about "bothering their barney" there are cost implications too for transmitter infrastructure. As for the box "checking with home" what method do you suggest for location reporting ? As I've said previously the box could be in an area where reception of two transmitters is possible.

Quite simply, as was suggested in a previous post, use the mast selected on initial set up.
I am equally sure Saorview have no interest in making things easier for the user ..... and the history of this box supports that view.
This box is connected to the internet for its various functions.
A few bytes of data is all that is involved in the box requesting the info and it being delivered.
There would be no huge cost involved.
OK, a small % would not have internet connection and would need to be manually retuned.

Tony

Firstly I never said there would be a huge cost involved but I'm not sure how you know that it would be small? You still have not answered my question as to how the box would know its location or what transmitter it should tune to?

I'd really appreciate it if you did not put words in my mouth .

Its really easy to speculate on how things might work, implementing them is a another thing altogether . BTW I'm not defending the box any any means just pointing out the reasons why it does not have auto update so far. It should be borne in mind that saorview frequency changes happen very very rarely so this really is a non issue.

I'll leave it at that.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Quite simply, as was suggested in a previous post, use the mast selected on initial set up.
I am equally sure Saorview have no interest in making things easier for the user ..... and the history of this box supports that view.
This box is connected to the internet for its various functions.
A few bytes of data is all that is involved in the box requesting the info and it being delivered.
There would be no huge cost involved.
OK, a small % would not have internet connection and would need to be manually retuned.

I have no idea from where you thing the huge cost would come or the difficulty either, TBH.

Johnboy1951

Tony wrote: »

Firstly I never said there would be a huge cost involved but I'm not sure how you know that it would be small? You still have not answered my question as to how the box would know its location or what transmitter it should tune to?

Read the first sentence of my last reply.

Also I previously posted

If I set up my STB to receive from Three Rock, then that info could very easily be stored in the STB, and if Three Rock alters parameters, it would be a simple matter to track that in the STB and autoupdate the relevant info.

I'd really appreciate it if you did not put words in my mouth .

I did not think I did when I posted ....

There would be no huge cost involved.

I also mentioned a few bytes of data being exchanged as all that would be necessary to keep the info updated.
That has minimal cost to both server and user.

Its really easy to speculate on how things might work, implementing them is a another thing altogether . BTW I'm not defending the box any any means just pointing out the reasons why it does not have auto update so far. It should be borne in mind that saorview frequency changes happen very very rarely so this really is a non issue.

I'll leave it at that.

I also have posted about the rarity of changes in Saorview, and for the likes of FTA STBs I see no hassle in users making the changes manually when/if they arise.
I have different expectations from a box produced primarily for the Saorview service, and how easy (or not) they have made it for the user.

In truth I did not get any reason for it not being present from your posts, except your "it would be be impractical to implement".
It is not technically difficult, nor is it costly.
That does not seems to leave a lot of reasons.

Yes, let's leave it at that.

Sam Russell

I was under the impression the Saorview did OTA upgrades for software.

So, when the box is tuned, the firmware notes the transmitter tuned in. Prior to a frequency change, the Saorview signal broadcasts an update message that gives the transmitter ID, new frequency, date and time of change. The firmware then updates the new frequency at that time.

This could work for individual transmitters, or all transmitters are updated in one go, with some unchanged while others change. As has been pointed out, such changes are rare.

Freesat does this by using a postcode, and updates at 3 am everyday, assuming the receiver is in standby.

lsjmhar

Hi

The Saorview side of the box will update automatically so there will be no problem with the Irish channels - RTE1, RTE2. TG$, Virgin Media1/2/3, and radio channels. I imagine 13 mb should be sufficient to stream from the RTE Player and TG4 Players.

However, the UK Satellite side needs to be tuned by you. If the channels change, you can do a small tune and it will add the new channel to the box. You can order the channels also, but be careful with this. I usually drop the channel numbers down (ie., if UK channels start with the number 1000, when reordering them I will pull the channels down to start from number 980. That gives me plenty of room to move channels about and stop clashing of channel numbers. If you have two channels on the same number (e.g. 1001) then the channels won't open so you need to renumber them).

The UK side only gives now and next listings and only if you click on the channel.

Recording functionality is only available to those users who accepted it as a beta testing. I have it but it is not great. I recorded MOTD several times over the Christmas but I could never watch them as the picture kept glitching so this obviously needs some work).

Apart from all that, the box is fine. Lol!!!

Tony

I stand corrected as I seem to have misread your meaning

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I did not think I did when I posted ....


.

Johnboy1951

Tony wrote: »

I stand corrected as I seem to have misread your meaning

Indeed I did seem, in a previous post, to understand you meant substantial costs.

I have no idea from where you thing the huge cost would come or the difficulty either, TBH.

Apologies for that, but my understanding was unless the costs were substantial they would not prevent implementation of the auto update feature.

It does appear from later posts that it does auto update?

Tony

That's not my understanding as the box is at present. The previously mentioned firmware update is a possibility though as the box could be instructed to auto scan if that was available in the code. There were OTA updates in the past but I'm not certain whether this is done OTA or via internet on the connect box. No saorview transponder change has taken place so far to my knowledge since the connect box became available but I'm open to correction on that point.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

It does appear from later posts that it does auto update?

Tigerandahalf

The connect box has options to update software over the internet, over the air or through the usb. At least those options are present. All software updates so far have come over the internet.

lsjmhar

If only 600 of these boxes have been sold then this must be at a significant loss. I doubt this money would pay for a programmer's salary to work on the software needed for it to function. Thanks God RTÃ႒‰ are supporting the project otherwise this would be dead already. Maybe we will see it on Dragon's Den this year looking for investors!!!

jake1970

gerrykeegan wrote: »

A little bit of help here asked for. Was planning to get a saorview connect box for my Dad. He is 85 and his current saorview enabled TV needs constant retuning. It's 5 years old. I can set it up for him but will it need constant retuning? He has reasonable broadband 13mb. Will this be sufficient? Thanks in advance.

This box in Power city https://powercity.ie/product/WPS818C will give you saorview and UK channels. It is easy to set up and easy to use. There is a thread on it here https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057898524

thatwilldopig

Has anyone a iota of when this box will get the recording feature. What exactly is the major issue, they trying to implement the new RTE player while they are it.?

Capt'n Midnight

thatwilldopig wrote: »

Has anyone a iota of when this box will get the recording feature. What exactly is the major issue, they trying to implement the new RTE player while they are it.?

Oh no doubt it's highly technical.


Ye olde Foxsat Hdr only got dual series-link HD recording while watching a a previous recording or third HD channel on one of the two active transponders back in 2008.

And the same people have rolled out Tivù on demand / Tivùsat ( which uses the added complication of a decoder card ) in the meantime.


Don't get me started about TG4 in SD while RAI are transmitting in 4K :mad:

STB.

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

The connect box has options to update software over the internet, over the air or through the usb. At least those options are present. All software updates so far have come over the internet.

The problems I have read on this thread is not the delivery methods, its the ability to release software in the first instance.

How long is this product on the market and yet recording is not right ?

This product should have been recalled a long time ago.