Combi box with 7 day EPG, timeshift & recording.

martyc5674

Can anyone recommend a combi box that does all of the above. HD can be internal or external.
Cheers,
Marty.

GY A1

martyc5674 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a combi box that does all of the above. HD can be internal or external.
Cheers,
Marty.

I have Edison os mini and it's great little box.
Cheap and does the job.
There's also a formuler satellite and combo box out that's fairly reasonable and will cover your needs.
F1 triple tuner
F4 combo
Supported by open vix and few more
Fairly reasonable on U.K. Sites

Gerry Wicklow

+1 on that. I've been using a Formuler F1 triple tuner for a while now and find it an excellent box

martyc5674

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

+1 on that. I've been using a Formuler F1 triple tuner for a while now and find it an excellent box

And vix image will look after EPG?

Gerry Wicklow

I found vix a bit limited and much prefer openATV but any enigma 2 image will give full 7day epg on both terrestrial and satellite. In some cases you may need to install a plugin but that is straight forward to do. You can build your own channel list in any order you fancy. Things like series linking and live pause are also available.

martyc5674

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

I found vix a bit limited and much prefer openATV but any enigma 2 image will give full 7day epg on both terrestrial and satellite. In some cases you may need to install a plugin but that is straight forward to do. You can build your own channel list in any order you fancy. Things like series linking and live pause are also available.

Cheers that's the info I was after... I've used a few enigma images on satellite boxes a few years back but never vix or openatv. Think I used one called open PLI and another from dreambox forum.
Just wasn't sure if these images would work on a combi box.
So which box would you go for?... budget is an issue and I don't mind second hand. Marty.

The Mulk

I presume for the 3rd tuner I select terrestrial, DVB-C/T/T2 for irish channels via aerial?
First time using an enigma box so go for openVix or openATV?
I'll order the Formuler F1 I think, based on advice here
Cheers

GY A1

The Mulk wrote: »

I presume for the 3rd tuner I select terrestrial, DVB-C/T/T2 for irish channels via aerial?
First time using an enigma box so go for openVix or openATV?
I'll order the Formuler F1 I think, based on advice here
Cheers

Yes select third tuner dvb- c/t/t2 for saorview by aerial.
The box has 2 satellite tuners also.
The images are down to personal choice really.
Very easy to change image and setup so try one and easy to try another again.

Gerry Wicklow

The Mulk wrote: »

I presume for the 3rd tuner I select terrestrial, DVB-C/T/T2 for irish channels via aerial?
First time using an enigma box so go for openVix or openATV?
I'll order the Formuler F1 I think, based on advice here
Cheers

If memory serves, the Formular comes with openVix installed. I changed mine to openATV partly for personal preference and also to match the user experience on other boxes I have.

The Mulk

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

If memory serves, the Formular comes with openVix installed. I changed mine to openATV partly for personal preference and also to match the user experience on other boxes I have.

Cheers, I'll order one this evening. Think I'll go with openVix to start.Ill put up price etc. when I order

martyc5674

Ordered a formuler f1 today should have it next few days. Was able to order it locally so went with that.
The guy in the shop was trying to sway me towards an amiko combi 4 k box.
My thinking was that the 4K being android probably hasn't as good an epg/interface as anything previously developed on Linux (enigma).
Am I right in this??

Also the amiko being android can run apps such as terrarium/you tube, I have this already covered with another box but it has me thinks my now should I have combined?
Marty.

The Mulk

martyc5674 wrote: »

Ordered a formuler f1 today should have it next few days. Was able to order it locally so went with that.
The guy in the shop was trying to sway me towards an amiko combi 4 k box.
My thinking was that the 4K being android probably hasn't as good an epg/interface as anything previously developed on Linux (enigma).
Am I right in this??

Also the amiko being android can run apps such as terrarium/you tube, I have this already covered with another box but it has me thinks my now should I have combined?
Marty.

I got my Formuler F1 on Friday, set it up and it's great. Previously had a Revez Nano Combo and the difference is night and day. It's running OpenVix and I haven't been able to set up CrossEPG, but that's minor at the moment. The only issue I have is that Audio Description seems to be default on all channels. Everytime i change a channel i have to turn it Off
I have another box too for Android and i find that suits me, keeping the 2 separate.
It worked out at €109 delivered via Parcel Motel from world of satellite

Gerry Wicklow

The Mulk wrote: »

I got my Formuler F1 on Friday, set it up and it's great. Previously had a Revez Nano Combo and the difference is night and day. It's running OpenVix and I haven't been able to set up CrossEPG, but that's minor at the moment. The only issue I have is that Audio Description seems to be default on all channels. Everytime i change a channel i have to turn it Off
I have another box too for Android and i find that suits me, keeping the 2 separate.
It worked out at €109 delivered via Parcel Motel from world of satellite

Have a look through the settings for audio language and set it to english. I changed mine to openATV which is far better and more versatile than Vix with more plugins too.

The Mulk

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Have a look through the settings for audio language and set it to english. I change mine to openATV which is far better and more versatile than Vix with more plugins too.

I'll have a look at changing to openATV, setting it up was very straightforward. The channel change, EPG, Timeshift and recording is very smooth for a €100 box.
I kept the Nano for the last 6 months to see if i could get used to FreeSat/Saorview and this box now makes it even better.

Gerry Wicklow

I can't remember if it's easy to do in Vix but try to back up your settings to HDD first. Then when installing openATV it will ask if you want to use your backed up settings.

martyc5674

The Mulk wrote: »

I'll have a look at changing to openATV, setting it up was very straightforward. The channel change, EPG, Timeshift and recording is very smooth for a €100 box.
I kept the Nano for the last 6 months to see if i could get used to FreeSat/Saorview and this box now makes it even better.

What are you using for time shift, external hd or can it be done with memory stick or SD card?
I asked for mine to come with open ATV as standard.

The Mulk

martyc5674 wrote: »

What are you using for time shift, external hd or can it be done with memory stick or SD card?
I asked for mine to come with open ATV as standard.

Ive external drive mounted for recording, but also put a 32gb in the front port to see if i could mount both:D
I've removed the small one now, but you could set either for recording. I couldn't get it to recognize a SD card, but it was only 2 gb so not concerned.
I set my autoboquets to FreeSat and Saorview Kippure, and left out shopping etc. It skips all the channels that are not decoded and the crap on the high numbers.
It was a quick setup, i haven't had much chance to play around with it, just needed it setup for wife and kids for the weekend.

Gerry Wicklow

martyc5674 wrote: »

What are you using for time shift, external hd or can it be done with memory stick or SD card?
I asked for mine to come with open ATV as standard.

Functions like time shift mean the box is continuously recording to the drive. Memory sticks (USB keys) or not designed for continuous use and will soon wear out. A small portable laptop HDD is a better option.

The Mulk

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Functions like time shift mean the box is continuously recording to the drive. Memory sticks (USB keys) or not designed for continuous use and will soon wear out. A small portable laptop HDD is a better option.

I've mine connected via USB, would SATA be better or does it make a difference

Gerry Wicklow

The Mulk wrote: »

I've removed the small one now, but you could set either for recording. I couldn't get it to recognize a SD card, but it was only 2 gb so not concerned............

As a rule of thumb you should allow at least 4Gb per hour of HD recording. A long movie can easily exceed 10Gigs

UsedToWait

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Functions like time shift mean the box is continuously recording to the drive. Memory sticks (USB keys) or not designed for continuous use and will soon wear out. A small portable laptop HDD is a better option.

I wasn't aware it was a thing till I read a post on another forum here, but would a HDD specifically designed for CCTV recording (eg Seagate SkyHawk, WD Purple) not be best in that case?

Gerry Wicklow

UsedToWait wrote: »

I wasn't aware it was a thing till I read a post on another forum here, but would a HDD specifically designed for CCTV recording (eg Seagate SkyHawk, WD Purple) not be best in that case?

It's up to your budget I suppose. I've been using standard laptop external HDDs for years without issue.

gkp1

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

It's up to your budget I suppose. I've been using standard laptop external HDDs for years without issue.

Does recording work well on these boxes? I have a Ferguson Ariva 120 combo and it gets the recorded program title wrong quite often. Also can't watch a recorded program while something else is recording. Hoping a box like this would resolve these issues? Thanks.

Gerry Wicklow

The Formuler F1 will quite happily record 3 different HD shows even while you watch a recording. It will record 2 different satellite channels and a terrestrial at the same time.
Note:- streaming to a laptop or phone will occupy one of the tuners.

gkp1

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

The Formuler F1 will quite happily record 3 different HD shows even while you watch a recording. It will record 2 different satellite channels and a terrestrial at the same time.
Note:- streaming to a laptop or phone will occupy one of the tuners.

That's good to hear. How about the recorded program titles, are they correct?

Gerry Wicklow

Yes.
If you wish to copy or backup a recording, the filename normally includes date time channel and show title. AFAIK this is configurable but why bother when it works as is.

martyc5674

Got box today,All setup.
Created my own bouquet with favourites from both 28.2 and digital aerial.
Box is nice and quick... crossepg seems to be working for most channels... I'll get back to that later.

1 question... is there anyway to order my bouquet??(openATV)
Can't seem to figure that out. Ive about 50 channels and I'd like to re order them... every time I add one it goes straight to end of list.
There's a edit bouquet function but that just seems to allow you delete.
Marty.

STB.

@ Marty. When in the channel list. Press menu. You then have a variety of options to choose from including move. Thats if you want to re-order using the remote.

You can also use laptop software to edit the channel list wirelessly called dreambox edit.

martyc5674

STB. wrote: »

@ Marty. When in the channel list. Press menu. You then have a variety of options to choose from including move. Thats if you want to re-order using the remote.

You can also use laptop software to edit the channel list wirelessly called dreambox edit.

Got it... I just didn't see it on list, it was written"enable move mode"!!!

Gerry Wicklow

@Marty when you get a chance try using the webif function. Simply enter the boxes network address (192.168.xxx.xxx) into any web browser on your network. The webif app lets you do almost all the same functions such as editing bouquets, setting timers, searching the EPG etc etc just as if you were in front of the box. It also lets you stream any live tv or recordings

martyc5674

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

@Marty when you get a chance try using the webif function. Simply enter the boxes network address (192.168.xxx.xxx) into any web browser on your network. The webif app lets you do almost all the same functions such as editing bouquets, setting timers, searching the EPG etc etc just as if you were in front of the box. It also lets you stream any live tv or recordings

Nice one cheers... that's handier had same on dreambox but this is improvement.

The Mulk

martyc5674 wrote: »

Got box today,All setup.
Created my own bouquet with favourites from both 28.2 and digital aerial.
Box is nice and quick... crossepg seems to be working for most channels... I'll get back to that later.

1 question... is there anyway to order my bouquet??(openATV)
Can't seem to figure that out. Ive about 50 channels and I'd like to re order them... every time I add one it goes straight to end of list.
There's a edit bouquet function but that just seems to allow you delete.
Marty.

Can you(or any other poster) give me a guide to setting up a favourites list in OpenATV on the Formuler box please , haven't got around to it yet and any guides i found online are out of date of for and older version.
Thanks in advance.

Gerry Wicklow

The Mulk wrote: »

Can you(or any other poster) give me a guide to setting up a favourites list in OpenATV on the Formuler box please , haven't got around to it yet and any guides i found online are out of date of for and older version.
Thanks in advance.

Look at post #30 of this thread

martyc5674

The Mulk wrote: »

Can you(or any other poster) give me a guide to setting up a favourites list in OpenATV on the Formuler box please , haven't got around to it yet and any guides i found online are out of date of for and older version.
Thanks in advance.

Basically you go to the channel list(up arrow will get you there)
Navigate your channels (to select different tuners use the shortcuts at the bottom of the screen)
There is already a favorites bouquet by default and you need to add channels to this.

To add a channel simply press menu when you have a channel selected from «channel list » .. and there’s an add to favorites option. (I’m not in front of mine now so might have some of that slightly wrong but it’s pretty intuitive)

1 tip for you though would be to have an idea of the order you’d like your channels in, and add them to favorites in that order... will save you some time having to move them all into a sensible order once your done, there will be a bit if that inevitably but I think you get my drift.
Marty.

BTW box is going great...

Ten Pin

Does the Formuler F1 (and other enigma 2 boxes) support subtitles on Saorview and FTA satellite channels?

Gerry Wicklow

Ten Pin wrote: »

Does the Formuler F1 (and other enigma 2 boxes) support subtitles on Saorview and FTA satellite channels?

Yes. Both the older teletext 888 and newer DVB (MHEG5?) systems are supported on both satellite and terrestrial, Saorview channels. Some stations even offer both, E.G. BBC News

The Mulk

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Look at post #30 of this thread

Set up webif last night and created a favourites bouquet using the interface on my mobile phone. I'll set up it properly with a laptop over the weekend hopefully.

Gerry Wicklow

Yes the webif is a very useful and powerful utility, well worth exploring in detail. Many find it easier to navigate instead of the various menus on the box itself.

banie01

Hey All,

I'm a long time E2 user and am quite up to date with it, and in the situation placed before me an E2 box would generally be my 1st recommendation however if I go down the E2 road on this one I'm going to end up on call for Tech support 24/7 .
Already has me on the hook for his IPTV and I really want to make the Sky replacement as solid and as stable as possible.

My uncle wants to ditch sky and has asked me to recommend him a combi-box.
Ideally what I'm after is a one-box solution that will have internal PVR(Have a few spare 2.5" and 3.5"hd's that I can use depending on form factor)
My main requirement is something that has rock solid stability and hopefully the ability to series link on both Saorview and Freesat.
Last time I looked for something along those lines was years ago and it was Humax all the way.

Budget is upto @€;150.
The other primary concern for the box is magic eye compatibility, (This is a must)

Any suggestions will be much appreciated!

physioman

Bought the formuler f1 off sat king.ie. wanted it before xmas so paid more than wos. However he sent the terrestrial tuner inside the package and told me I have to install it. As you can see from pics the tuner has a 10 pin connector and the slot is 20 pin. It just doesn't slot in. Any ideas how to slot it in?

The Mulk

physioman wrote: »

Bought the formuler f1 off sat king.ie. wanted it before xmas so paid more than wos. However he sent the terrestrial tuner inside the package and told me I have to install it. As you can see from pics the tuner has a 10 pin connector and the slot is 20 pin. It just doesn't slot in. Any ideas how to slot it in?

From looking at the WOS website, it looks like they sent you a different plug and play tuner, the official one seems to have 20 pins.
https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/formuler/formuler-f1-satellite-dvb-c-t-t2-plug-and-play-tuner-module

They've sent you one for a Mutant Box by the looks of it

https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/mutant-hd51-cable-terrestrial-dvb-c-dvb-t-t2-tuner-module?filter_name=Tuner%20Module&page=2

STB.

Indeed.

They have sent you the wrong one. That would go into a Mutant/Protek STB.

This is the one they should have sent you

http://linux-tv.com/wp-content/uploads/formuler_f1_dvbct_tuner.jpg

NyOmnishambles

Based on recommendations in this thread a Formuler F1 arrived into my household yesterday
So thanks for that

I loaded OpenATV onto it last night and spent a while setting it up, it is more complicated than I am used too but it is all doable, the suggestion of using Webif to organise channels is definitely the way to go

However I do have a bit of an issue that some of the FTA/Saorview channels don't seem to display though they all seem to have been picked up

RTE 2 HD plays fine but RTE 1 HD does not, same for some of the UK channels so it doesn't seem to be tuner specific

Do I need to fiddle with the scan settings to pick these up correctly?

martyc5674

NyOmnishambles wrote: »

Based on recommendations in this thread a Formuler F1 arrived into my household yesterday
So thanks for that

I loaded OpenATV onto it last night and spent a while setting it up, it is more complicated than I am used too but it is all doable, the suggestion of using Webif to organise channels is definitely the way to go

However I do have a bit of an issue that some of the FTA/Saorview channels don't seem to display though they all seem to have been picked up

RTE 2 HD plays fine but RTE 1 HD does not, same for some of the UK channels so it doesn't seem to be tuner specific

Do I need to fiddle with the scan settings to pick these up correctly?

Possibly you are selecting channels that aren’t tuning.
For example there are loads of ITVs and BBC variants... they won’t all tune for you... you need to ensure the one you are adding to your fav bouquet is actually tuning.
As for your RTÉ problem.. either your aerial isn’t quite picking up a strong enough signal(wrong gain aerial/positioned poorly.. or you are selecting that RTÉ channel from satellite provider rather than terrestrial.
Hopefully some of that helps maybe it doesn’t!!

I find the webif handy sometimes... but for editing the bouquets it’s a little clumsy on a phone/tablet anyway.
Marty.

NyOmnishambles

martyc5674 wrote: »

Possibly you are selecting channels that aren’t tuning.
For example there are loads of ITVs and BBC variants... they won’t all tune for you... you need to ensure the one you are adding to your fav bouquet is actually tuning.
As for your RTÉ problem.. either your aerial isn’t quite picking up a strong enough signal(wrong gain aerial/positioned poorly.. or you are selecting that RTÉ channel from satellite provider rather than terrestrial.
Hopefully some of that helps maybe it doesn’t!!

I find the webif handy sometimes... but for editing the bouquets it’s a little clumsy on a phone/tablet anyway.
Marty.

Sorry, yes I figured that for the UK channels alright

The RTE one is weird, there is only one RTE One HD channel listed to select and I can see it is coming from the Aerial and not a Satellite Provider
I can currently watch RTE fine on the existing box in the room so I don't think it is the aerial not picking it up

I might just do the setup from scratch now that I am a little more familiar with the procedure and pay a bit more attention to the settings for the Autoscan and see if that does the trick

I was using Webif on a laptop and it worked fairly well, certainly easier that trying to do it with the remote

Gerry Wicklow

NyOmnishambles wrote: »

Sorry, yes I figured that for the UK channels alright

The RTE one is weird, there is only one RTE One HD channel listed to select and I can see it is coming from the Aerial and not a Satellite Provider
I can currently watch RTE fine on the existing box in the room so I don't think it is the aerial not picking it up

I might just do the setup from scratch now that I am a little more familiar with the procedure and pay a bit more attention to the settings for the Autoscan and see if that does the trick

I was using Webif on a laptop and it worked fairly well, certainly easier that trying to do it with the remote

Use the blue button to make a backup of your settings first. It will save a lot of time later if you go astray. It's possible the terrestrial signal is borderline and the tuner isn't as sensitive as the TV.

physioman

STB. wrote: »

Indeed.

They have sent you the wrong one. That would go into a Mutant/Protek STB.

This is the one they should have sent you

http://linux-tv.com/wp-content/uploads/formuler_f1_dvbct_tuner.jpg

Yeah he sent me the wrong one

NyOmnishambles

martyc5674 wrote: »

Possibly you are selecting channels that aren’t tuning.
For example there are loads of ITVs and BBC variants... they won’t all tune for you... you need to ensure the one you are adding to your fav bouquet is actually tuning.
As for your RTÉ problem.. either your aerial isn’t quite picking up a strong enough signal(wrong gain aerial/positioned poorly.. or you are selecting that RTÉ channel from satellite provider rather than terrestrial.
Hopefully some of that helps maybe it doesn’t!!

I find the webif handy sometimes... but for editing the bouquets it’s a little clumsy on a phone/tablet anyway.
Marty.

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Use the blue button to make a backup of your settings first. It will save a lot of time later if you go astray. It's possible the terrestrial signal is borderline and the tuner isn't as sensitive as the TV.

Thanks for the help lads

All channels set up now and reordered

Just One final query
I recorded something to make sure it works and set up a couple of scheduled recordings, all seems to work

But I can't see any easy way of getting to my recordings
I have opened the media player plugin but and navigated to the HDD but it just displays a list of everything, timeshift recording remnants and everything else so there is no easy way to see what has been specifically recordered

I am sure I am missing something simple?

martyc5674

NyOmnishambles wrote: »

Thanks for the help lads

All channels set up now and reordered

Just One final query
I recorded something to make sure it works and set up a couple of scheduled recordings, all seems to work

But I can't see any easy way of getting to my recordings
I have opened the media player plugin but and navigated to the HDD but it just displays a list of everything, timeshift recording remnants and everything else so there is no easy way to see what has been specifically recordered

I am sure I am missing something simple?

Yeah...
From watching TV do the following.

Menu-> setup->recordings&timeshift->recording settings

In here you can set where different recordings are saved.

Menu-> setup->recordings&timeshift->Timeshuft settings

... similar... where your time shifts are saved

Then from TV again...
Playlist->menu-> playlist options

You can set default location here for your media player to open on(but you can still navigate back and forth)

It’s a bit fiddly at first and you really need to decide if you want to automatically timeshift etc etc.

I have mine set to automatically time shift 10 seconds after channel zap, and not to save them automatically. (You’ll be promoted anyway when you stop a time shift to save it or not)

There are a lot of settings to be sure!!
Marty.

Gerry Wicklow

NyOmnishambles wrote: »

Thanks for the help lads

All channels set up now and reordered

Just One final query
I recorded something to make sure it works and set up a couple of scheduled recordings, all seems to work

But I can't see any easy way of getting to my recordings
I have opened the media player plugin but and navigated to the HDD but it just displays a list of everything, timeshift recording remnants and everything else so there is no easy way to see what has been specifically recordered

I am sure I am missing something simple?

For the Formuler F1 press CONTEXT button between volume and channel. That takes you directly to your recordings

NyOmnishambles

martyc5674 wrote: »

Yeah...
From watching TV do the following.

Menu-> setup->recordings&timeshift->recording settings

In here you can set where different recordings are saved.

Menu-> setup->recordings&timeshift->Timeshuft settings

... similar... where your time shifts are saved

Then from TV again...
Playlist->menu-> playlist options

You can set default location here for your media player to open on(but you can still navigate back and forth)

It’s a bit fiddly at first and you really need to decide if you want to automatically timeshift etc etc.

I have mine set to automatically time shift 10 seconds after channel zap, and not to save them automatically. (You’ll be promoted anyway when you stop a time shift to save it or not)

There are a lot of settings to be sure!!
Marty.

That is a big help, thanks
I think I will shut off the auto timeshift as it was recording a lot and I didn't seem to have an option for them to autodelete and even though it looks to direct them to a different folder they were all in the one folder with recordings

Anywho, I cleared that folder out and the playlist option beings me there now so that should work fine

I don't mind lots of set up, once it is done then it will be grand and this box should work an awful lot better for me than my previous one which used to drop scheduled recordings all the time
Some form of instruction manual for it would have been nice though

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

For the Formuler F1 press CONTEXT button between volume and channel. That takes you directly to your recordings

Hmm, it doesn't for me, it pops up a menu called "Please choose extension" and gives a few options

Must be another way to set that up but thanks, the post above should give me a working option