finally leaving sky!!!

ccull123

Guys/girls,

Apologies if this has been asked hundred of times before but I am leaving sky and was wondering can someone advise me.

My tv is approximately 7/8. It's first have saorview. I'm wondering what do I need to get as many of the Irish and UK channels as possible???

Also I would love to be able to record directly onto the box and be able to plug a usb stick into it.

Regards.

The Cush

ccull123 wrote: »

My tv is approximately 7/8. It's first have saorview. I'm wondering what do I need to get as many of the Irish and UK channels as possible???

Also I would love to be able to record directly onto the box and be able to plug a usb stick into it.

Not sure what you mean by "It's first have saorview".

What is the make and model of your TV? A 7/8 yr.old TV is unlikely to be compatible with Saorview. The first Saorview compatible (MPEG-4 decoder) TVs appeared about early 2008.

List of Saorview approved receivers here - http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/saorview-approved-product-listings/

Do you have an aerial on the roof for Saorview reception, info on switching to Saorview here - http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/make-the-switch/

There is only one Saorview approved recorder available, the twin-tuner Walker WP6500TTR-HD, but it has many problems reported if you want to read through the posts here. Some of us here use UK FreeviewHD recorders but they come with some problems too.

Regarding the FTA UK satellite channels your existing Sky receiver can continue to be used to watch these but without the recording option.
The sub free option would be a Freesat twin-tuner recorder, with internal HDD, 7 day guide, series link etc. and can be used with your existing sat dish (the Irish channels are not available with option) - http://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/recommended/freesat-plus-with-freetime

ccull123

Thanks for the quick reply. No my tv is not saorview enabled. Could I get a single box that would look after all of my needs?

Also do I have to put an aerial on the chimney. Would a small one beside the tv work?

The Cush wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by "It's first have saorview".

What is the make and model of your TV? A 7/8 yr.old TV is unlikely to be compatible with Saorview. The first Saorview compatible (MPEG-4 decoder) TVs appeared about early 2008.

List of Saorview approved receivers here - http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/saorview-approved-product-listings/

Do you have an aerial on the roof for Saorview reception, info on switching to Saorview here - http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/make-the-switch/

There is only one Saorview approved recorder available, the twin-tuner Walker WP6500TTR-HD, but it has many problems reported if you want to read through the posts here. Some of us here use UK FreeviewHD recorders but they come with some problems too.

Regarding the FTA UK satellite channels your existing Sky receiver can continue to be used to watch these but without the recording option.
The sub free option would be a Freesat twin-tuner recorder, with internal HDD, 7 day guide, series link etc. and can be used with your existing sat dish (the Irish channels are not available with option) - http://www.freesat.co.uk/get-freesat/recommended/freesat-plus-with-freetime

The Cush

ccull123 wrote: »

No my tv is not saorview enabled. Could I get a single box that would look after all of my needs?

Also do I have to put an aerial on the chimney. Would a small one beside the tv work?

There are Saorview combi boxes available - http://www.saorview.ie/saorview-combi/, none are as user friendly as a Sky receiver.

What type of aerial you use and where you locate it will depend on what the Saorview signal is like where you place the aerial, an external aerial is recommended. Use the Saorview coverage checker to find your recommended transmitter - http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/make-the-switch/coverage-map/

ccull123

The Cush wrote: »

There are Saorview combi boxes available - http://www.saorview.ie/saorview-combi/, none are as user friendly as a Sky receiver.

What type of aerial you use and where you locate it will depend on what the Saorview signal is like where you place the aerial, an external aerial is recommended. Use the Saorview coverage checker to find your recommended transmitter - http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/make-the-switch/coverage-map/

thanks for your help. I was looking at the amiko hd mini box. would this get both english and irish uk channels in one box?

The Cush

ccull123 wrote: »

I was looking at the amiko hd mini box. would this get both english and irish uk channels in one box?

I wouldn't be familiar with that receiver but there are threads here on the Amiko receivers, do a search.

Is this the one you're looking at - http://www.tvtrade.ie/amiko-mini-combo.html

Dulchie

Can you check to see if your TV has a hdmi input. It is doubtful given its age. If not you will need a combo box with a scart output. I do not think that The Amiko has a scart output do some others such as the Triax TSC114 do.

ccull123

yes it has a hdmi output.

uck51js9zml2yt

Try the ferguson ariva 252 combo box.
Will have fta plus saorview in one list. Add a hard drive to record.

ccull123

Briggs Agreeable Midget wrote: »

Try the ferguson ariva 252 combo box.
Will have fta plus saorview in one list. Add a hard drive to record.

To install this could I JUST unplug my sky box and plug it into the Ferguson? I heard a simple aerial from Argos would do the trick in the room?

The Cush

ccull123 wrote: »

To install this could I JUST unplug my sky box and plug it into the Ferguson? I heard a simple aerial from Argos would do the trick in the room?

Yes, just disconnect the cable from the Sky box connect it to the other reciever, ensure both receivers are powered off at the socket when disconnecting/reconnecting the cable from the dish.

An indoor aerial will depend on the Saorview signal strength where you locate the indoor aerial.

same ol sh1te

Briggs Agreeable Midget wrote: »

Try the ferguson ariva 252 combo box.
Will have fta plus saorview in one list. Add a hard drive to record.

Does exactly the same as the Amiko then.

ccull123

same ol sh1te wrote: »

Does exactly the same as the Amiko then.

So which one should I go for? There is a fair bit of a difference in the price however if the more expensive one was significantly better I would choose that one.

same ol sh1te

ccull123 wrote: »

So which one should I go for? There is a fair bit of a difference in the price however if the more expensive one was significantly better I would choose that one.

There is little difference, both suffer for the same drawbacks of all FTA boxes that needs to be mentioned, they only have now and next EPG and in time they will lose satellite channels as the frequencies change and will need a rescan and re-add to favourites list to get back.

If you want a decent box and are happy to spend some time learning about it an Amiko Alien 2 is a better option. When configured with Enigma2 it gets 7 day EPG and has a plugin that will rescan for channel frequency changes. It is not an off the shelf solution though but there are some pre-configured images prepared by some boards members that have most of the setting up done for you. See the thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056707402

ccull123

same ol sh1te wrote: »

There is little difference, both suffer for the same drawbacks of all FTA boxes that needs to be mentioned, they only have now and next EPG and in time they will lose satellite channels as the frequencies change and will need a rescan and re-add to favourites list to get back.

If you want a decent box and are happy to spend some time learning about it an Amiko Alien 2 is a better option. When configured with Enigma2 it gets 7 day EPG and has a plugin that will rescan for channel frequency changes. It is not an off the shelf solution though but there are some pre-configured images prepared by some boards members that have most of the setting up done for you. See the thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056707402

thanks for your help mate. So i was to purchase this do I just disconnect my sky box and plug the cable into the back of my new box? excuse the stupid question

same ol sh1te

ccull123 wrote: »

thanks for your help mate. So i was to purchase this do I just disconnect my sky box and plug the cable into the back of my new box? excuse the stupid question

Yes, but like I said, it's not a plug and play box, you'd need to flash an image on it and configure it to get it working (which will mean putting a day aside to read up and look for advise in the thread I linked), but when you do it's the best experience you will get. You will need to be PC savvy or get someone who is

The next best experience is separate Freesat and Saorview boxes

ccull123

same ol sh1te wrote: »

Yes, but like I said, it's not a plug and play box, you'd need to flash an image on it and configure it to get it working (which will mean putting a day aside to read up and look for advise in the thread I linked), but when you do it's the best experience you will get. You will need to be PC savvy or get someone who is

I like a challenge:) Do you know what the best price for one of these would be. Also I live in dublin 3 and was hoping to have a small aerial in the sitting room as opposed to on the outside of the house? Is that realistic?

same ol sh1te

ccull123 wrote: »

I like a challenge:) Do you know what the best price for one of these would be. Also I live in dublin 3 and was hoping to have a small aerial in the sitting room as opposed to on the outside of the house? Is that realistic?

There is no way of telling, it depends on the signal which depends on many factors even which way your house faces.

Selhurst

Hi All

I Left $ky a few days ago too.
but have not made up my mind
what box to buy the A2+/sab triple tuner or
Ferguson 252 .
which box has the best picture .
I seem to get a great picture with $ky .
l have the last of the scart TVs .

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

ccull123

My sky subscription as ended and i removed the card and have a few channels BBC etc.
I dont have any of the irish channels rte1,rte2 and tv3.

My tv is an old one (about 10 years) do i need to get a saorview box or will a tv aerial from argos suffice?

Pastor Toastman

If the TV is 10 years old or near it, you'll need a box. You will need an aerial too & as was mentioned already, a set-top aerial may not be good enough.

uck51js9zml2yt

Pastor Toastman wrote: »

If the TV is 10 years old or near it, you'll need a box. You will need an aerial too & as was mentioned already, a set-top aerial may not be good enough.

You need a box and aerial

ccull123

Im living in the Dublin 3 area. Would an indoor aerial suffice? Any website I can use to see my saorview strength/

Pastor Toastman

There is no website that shows areas where an indoor aerial is likely to prove satisfactory.

Not even house to house, indoor coverage can vary from room to room or even within a room.

same ol sh1te

ccull123 wrote: »

Im living in the Dublin 3 area. Would an indoor aerial suffice? Any website I can use to see my saorview strength/

It's a suck it and see situation, it depends on many factors including which way your house faces, structure etc. Even if it works for your neighbour, it may not work for you

greasepalm

my cousins had to get new tv as the older was the massive deep back type,they bought a walker tv sat and saorview and indoor aerial excellent picture.

sab twin tuner not a great picture quality and only now and next epg.
triax combo was mentioned a few posts back excellent quality and use external hdd.
scart stuff is old wait till you get hd -wow.
amiko is closed source with not great support.
also helps to have a lan connected box.

same ol sh1te

greasepalm wrote: »

my cousins had to get new tv as the older was the massive deep back type,they bought a walker tv sat and saorview and indoor aerial excellent picture.

sab twin tuner not a great picture quality and only now and next epg.
triax combo was mentioned a few posts back excellent quality and use external hdd.
scart stuff is old wait till you get hd -wow.
amiko is closed source with not great support.
also helps to have a lan connected box.

The Sab Unix twin is the same box as the Amiko Alien 2, both can have Enigma2 installed as a second OS, is open source and has great support. The CrossEPG plugin gives it 7 Day EPG.

greasepalm

think mine is the titan2

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=2eEVVOjLBCAhXM&tbnid=4uUXCmVt7aJ8IM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.satellietelectronics-belgie.be%2Fsab.htm&ei=GydVU6SqO8GN7QbDkICoDg&bvm=bv.65058239,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNHWklKeEmCHlWwmGqD74Vn22gjjOw&ust=1398175872089866

ahh now i see the light spark?

same ol sh1te

greasepalm wrote: »

think mine is the titan2

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=2eEVVOjLBCAhXM&tbnid=4uUXCmVt7aJ8IM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.satellietelectronics-belgie.be%2Fsab.htm&ei=GydVU6SqO8GN7QbDkICoDg&bvm=bv.65058239,d.ZGU&psig=AFQjCNHWklKeEmCHlWwmGqD74Vn22gjjOw&ust=1398175872089866

ahh now i see the light spark?

I'm not familiar with the titan, does it have spark os? It could be similar to the Amiko mini and micro, I'm not sure though. If it it then it is locked down, not a dual boot

greasepalm

no spark or dual system as it was an early box i moved from.:(

[HTML]http://www.sabsatellite.nl/sab-titan-1-2/456/sab-titan-ii-hd-combo-s900[/HTML]

STB

same ol sh1te wrote: »

The Sab Unix twin is the same box as the Amiko Alien 2, both can have Enigma2 installed as a second OS, is open source and has great support. The CrossEPG plugin gives it 7 Day EPG.

The Sab Unix Triple is the same as the Amiko Alien 2 and the GM Triplex, all made by GIM.

I see constant references to Enigma2. The version of Enigma 2 on these SH4 boxes is a ported version, not the original E2 image, which are designed for MIPS architecture.

Also if people are looking for an easy box to set up and know nothing about FTPing etc they should stay well away from these boxes as they are not straightforward. Closed and pre-installed boxes such as the Ferguson Ariva 252 boxes are easier to setup, although their epg is restricted to now and next data.

same ol sh1te

STB wrote: »

The Sab Unix Triple is the same as the Amiko Alien 2 and the GM Triplex, all made by GIM.

I see constant references to Enigma2. The version of Enigma 2 on these SH4 boxes is a ported version, not the original E2 image, which are designed for MIPS architecture.

Also if people are looking for an easy box to set up and know nothing about FTPing etc they should stay well away from these boxes as they are not straightforward. Closed and pre-installed boxes such as the Ferguson Ariva 252 boxes are easier to setup, although their epg is restricted to now and next data.

Why would being sh4 make a difference? The Amiko Alien 2 works well, has plenty of support, there are a few teams making images for it and there are decent enigma2 images preconfigured by Boards members that have nearly all the hard work done, no FTPing, just install a plugin in Spark and then install the image from Usb. If you are willing to do this it's a great option

STB

same ol sh1te wrote: »

Why would being sh4 make a difference? The Amiko Alien 2 works well, has plenty of support, there are a few teams making images for it and there are decent enigma2 images preconfigured by Boards members that have nearly all the hard work done, no FTPing, just install a plugin in Spark and then install the image from Usb. If you are willing to do this it's a great option

SH4 boxes are not running native enigma2 images. They are running hacked E2 images written for MIPS architecture. The SH4 boxes themselves are based on STi chipsets, specifically the 7162. The official software and drivers are written for Spark.

A MIPS based box does not depend on porting and hacking the E2 code as E2 are designed for the Broadcom chipsets.

Pricewise the GIM boxes are fine, especially their fair price point, but they are not E2 boxes. They are Sh4 boxes trying to run hacked versions of E2 written for a completely different chip type.

same ol sh1te

STB wrote: »

SH4 boxes are not running native enigma2 images. They are running hacked E2 images written for MIPS architecture. The SH4 boxes themselves are based on STi chipsets, specifically the 7162. The official software and drivers are written for Spark.

A MIPS based box does not depend on porting and hacking the E2 code as E2 are designed for the Broadcom chipsets.

Pricewise the GIM boxes are fine, especially their fair price point, but they are not E2 boxes. They are Sh4 boxes trying to run hacked versions of E2 written for a completely different chip type.

Yes, but they are not trying to run enigma, they are working well and performing perfectly fine. All images are now very stable. Amiko and Fulan have their own devs involved with the community. The hardware of the triple tuner has had three different revisions and each time the community have been given the drivers needed.

STB

same ol sh1te wrote: »

Yes, but they are not trying to run enigma, they are working well and performing perfectly fine. All images are now very stable. Amiko and Fulan have their own devs involved with the community. The hardware of the triple tuner has had three different revisions and each time the community have been given the drivers needed.

They dont update drivers for Enigma2 as they dont have broadcom chipsets. They do it for running on the Spark platform. Anything that is labelled as being E2 on these SH4 boxes is a hack using unofficial patching and support.

same ol sh1te

STB wrote: »

They dont update drivers for Enigma2 as they dont have broadcom chipsets. They do it for running on the Spark platform. Anything that is labelled as being E2 on these SH4 boxes is a hack using unofficial patching and support.

They release linux drivers to the community for the tuners and devices these boxes contain. It's not a hack, it's modifying the drivers in an open source OS to suit a certain set of hardware, compiling it from source code with the correct driver. It's much like the phone modding community, many of us hack our phones with community made software for various reasons. If it's working perfectly well what difference does it make?

STB

same ol sh1te wrote: »

They release linux drivers to the community for the tuners and devices these boxes contain. It's not a hack, it's modifying the drivers in an open source OS to suit a certain set of hardware, compiling it from source code with the correct driver. It's much like the phone modding community, many of us hack our phones with community made software for various reasons. If it's working perfectly well what difference does it make?

WHO is they ?

E2 is open source yes. And its source is written for Broadcom not STi chips.

And the problem (by the way) is the very loose with the facts "Enigma2" description being thrown around with these boxes.

same ol sh1te

STB wrote: »

WHO is they ?

Both Amiko and Fulan have active members in the Duckbox community that are also present on various forums like linuxsatsupport.com