Decent fta sat hd receiver? Please!

padyjoe

I'm at my wits end: I'd need a decent FTA sat receiver, it doesn't have to be hd though (my tv not able for it, too small but have a hdmi cable already, no need for one more scart cable). Could you recommend me one? Did, Electrocity nearby and they're selling only Tvstar, Labgear, Ross, Walker, etc. Budget would be up to €100. Loads of Sky boxes for sale but afaik they're no good for FTA. Thanks a million!

Tony

If its just UK satellite you need then an official Freesat HD box with 7 day guide is the way to go.

stanley1

Try this for starters.

http://www.satworld.ie/manhattan-hd-s2.html

padyjoe

Thank you Tony! UK channels would be handy too but I'm looking more further, Germany and beyond(Astra 19.2E, etc).

Tony

No problem. Lots of good HD receivers under €100 including combos

Compton

Theres a massive choice, Ariva 52E, 102E, etc...

swoofer

the one to get is a ferguson 150 combo, its 67 euro plus about 18 euro postage from here

http://www.satsklep.pl/pl/p/Tuner-Ferguson-Ariva-150-Combo-/896

and if you look closer you can get an even cheaper version without dtt.

Tony

For a little more you can buy from an Irish supplier and know that the vat stays in Ireland.

efb

Lidl HD receiver €70 this week

jpb14

efb wrote: »

Lidl HD receiver €70 this week

Dont see it listed anywhere on Lidls website.

efb

It was in Tullamore lidl

jpb14

efb wrote: »

It was in Tullamore lidl

Lets all rush down to Tullamore so.:D

jpb14

Tony wrote: »

No problem. Lots of good HD receivers under €100 including combos

Quick question for you,any ideas on a good twin tuner receiver that will work with diseqc switches?
Dont have loads of money so best bang for buck here.

efb

jpb14 wrote: »

Lets all rush down to Tullamore so.:D

I assumed it would be available everywhere

padyjoe

I have my eyes on 52E. Neatly made front panel, has all the needed connections and can be bought for €59 on Ebay. I don't need too many options yet. There's an offer on DID, Tvstar 4000 combo for €49.99 but I think it's too cheap to be true.

No Lidl receiver in my town either.

Compton wrote: »

Theres a massive choice, Ariva 52E, 102E, etc...

jpb14

efb wrote: »

I assumed it would be available everywhere

You are right,they were on sale in Lidl last week so still a few floating around.

Tony

Nothing springs to mind at the lower price bracket I'm afraid.

jpb14 wrote: »

Quick question for you,any ideas on a good twin tuner receiver that will work with diseqc switches?
Dont have loads of money so best bang for buck here.

Tony

Avoid the Tv Star 4000, had one on test here and was not impressed

padyjoe wrote: »

I have my eyes on 52E. Neatly made front panel, has all the needed connections and can be bought for €59 on Ebay. I don't need too many options yet. There's an offer on DID, Tvstar 4000 combo for €49.99 but I think it's too cheap to be true.

No Lidl receiver in my town either.

jpb14

Tony wrote: »

Nothing springs to mind at the lower price bracket I'm afraid.

what would you recommend then?

Satellite.ie: Tony

Ariva 150, 252 which are sat/terr combos or the Amiko Alien 2 for a bit more money with two tuners

jpb14

Satellite.ie: Tony wrote: »

Ariva 150, 252 which are sat/terr combos or the Amiko Alien 2 for a bit more money with two tuners

Thanks for that,what sort of euros are we talking about?See if I can stretch the money a bit further and get even 1 of the above listed.

Gerry Wicklow

A few useful sites
Satellite.ie
Satworld

byte

Tony wrote: »

Avoid the Tv Star 4000, had one on test here and was not impressed

Heh, I had one (well, it's still there) to try out.

Not a fan of it at all. Budget wise, I find it hard to pass the Ariva 150. Supply of them though has become awkward.

If it's just satellite the OP needs though, I would recommend just spending the bit extra on a Freesat HD box, from the likes of Manhattan or Humax, etc.

hju6

For sat only a "Freesat" receiver is the best way to go, Arivas etc are best avoided.

greasepalm

i thought my triax combo was only on 28.2 and dtt so add a motor and scan other sats,cheers.

Tony

He did mention though that he wanted to go beyond Uk channels

byte wrote: »

If it's just satellite the OP needs though, I would recommend just spending the bit extra on a Freesat HD box, from the likes of Manhattan or Humax, etc.

Tony

Why are arivas best avoided ? They are the biggest selling and the most reliable combo in the Irish market . Again the OP said he wanted to go beyond Uk channels in which case a freesat receiver will not be much use.

hju6 wrote: »

, Arivas etc are best avoided.

byte

Tony wrote: »

He did mention though that he wanted to go beyond Uk channels

Oops, missed that post!

Doesn't the Humax Foxsat HDR support DiSEqC? Maybe it needs to be modded to work properly, so maybe that's out too.

pistolpetes11

byte wrote: »

Heh, I had one (well, it's still there) to try out.

Not a fan of it at all. Budget wise, I find it hard to pass the Ariva 150. Supply of them though has become awkward.

If it's just satellite the OP needs though, I would recommend just spending the bit extra on a Freesat HD box, from the likes of Manhattan or Humax, etc.

The New software for the TV Star TS4000 make's it a very good budget box :cool:

padyjoe

Big thanks to everyone for their inputs! I finally ordered an Ariva 52E (I'd like to receive mainly german channels and use my existing hdmi cable), I'll see how it goes. All I need a few meters of coax cable hooked to the bit battered sky dish and pointed to Astra 19.2E. Hope the dish and LNB still up to scratch.

macwal

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

The New software for the TV Star TS4000 make's it a very good budget box :cool:

Where did you get the new software for this box? What improvements?

I got one for my folks who live near the border and get freeview and saorview, and also have 28E/19E/13E from a dish.

I found the box decent enough, nice media player that played anything I threw at it, terrestrial and sat channels all in one list, easy to arrange channels (but a pain to delete loads of channels, though I see there is a channel editor from their website, I must try that out). Channels change quick enough too, even from a terrestrial to sat channel and vice-versa. I only tried one manual record, but it worked fine, and the recording was in mts format, so vlc plays it without issue. Box even scanned from a 9E Ka LNB and found the RTE/TG4 channels without any drama.

If I'm to fault it, the tuner doesn't seem to be as sensitive as a WP95HD-SAT or SL-65 that I can compare against, on 28E off-prime focus, on weaker Eurobird transponders, but the channels worth getting from there are of sufficient signal quality (and where the box is, already on Freeview anyway). 19E and 13E transponders fine like other receivers.

Would be interested to know what the posters who found issues with the box didn't like about it.

hju6

Tony wrote: »

Why are arivas best avoided ? They are the biggest selling and the most reliable combo in the Irish market .

Do you have any evidence or facts and figures to back this claim up ?

Tony

Yes as I am an importer and know how many are in the country . Why don't you answer my question as to why you think they are best avoided ? What are you basing this assertion on?

hju6 wrote: »

Do you have any evidence or facts and figures to back this claim up ?

hju6

Tony wrote: »

Yes as I am an importer and know how many are in the country . Why don't you answer my question as to why you think they are best avoided ? What are you basing this assertion on?

Sorry I didn't realise you were the sole importer for Ferguson products in Ireland,

Tony

I see you are not prepared to answer the question so I'll assume its purely idle speculation on your part and therefore total fiction.

hju6 wrote: »

Sorry I didn't realise you were the sole importer for Ferguson products in Ireland,

hju6

Tony wrote: »

I see you are not prepared to answer the question so I'll assume its purely idle speculation on your part and therefore total fiction.

In answer to your question,

many of my friends, family and work colleagues bought Arivas as a solution for Freesat and Saorview, as advertised at the time of the DSO.

None of the above people (approx 75 ) are no longer using the Ariva boxes.

A quick poll at work in the tea room showed that

Boxes were faulty
Retuning is a prob
Recording is not as advertised
No text

All have returned to Sky or UPC
,Or just got Saorview approved TV s

As you are the importer of Arivas should my freinds and family claim recourse from you ?

Or should they go directly to Ferguson ?

greasepalm

i dont own one but my cousin does and when there i had a first time look at it and some channels did not work,looked up booklet and rescanned both saorview and freesat and those channels came back.very surprised saying 75.

Tony

hju6 wrote: »

A quick poll at work in the tea room showed that

Sorry but its difficult to take you seriously when you post up such fantasy as this quick poll in the tea room with all 75 there ? give me a break

hju6 wrote: »

As you are the importer of Arivas should my freinds and family claim recourse from you ?

They should contact their retailer and get the boxes repaired or replaced in the normal way but I seriously doubt there are 75 people out there who had faulty boxes and did nothing about it .