Cost-Effective, High-Functionality, User-Friendly Replacement for Pay TV

trabpc

just an interanl Drive. I presume if i re-flash box ill lose everything

The high horse brigade

trabpc wrote: »

just an interanl Drive. I presume if i re-flash box ill lose everything

No need to reflash, just do as above

trabpc

Ive Disconnected HDD and no usb's are connected all I still get on front of box is "Run Alpha Plus+"

Muahahaha

Great thread OP, had been looking for something FTA and user friendly for when my Sky sub is up, its absolutely crazy paying €30 a month when its mainly Irish & UK channels I watch.
Question- my Sky set up is Sky Q, will this FTA system work plug and play or would I need an installer to adjust the satellite?
Also is there any indication on the life cycle of these boxes? Would you expect to get 5 years out of it?

The high horse brigade

trabpc wrote: »

Ive Disconnected HDD and no usb's are connected all I still get on front of box is "Run Alpha Plus+"

Sounds like you may need to reflash, have you taken a backup?

sligojoek

Have you any USB keys plugged in?

Edit: Sorry. I replied without reading the following posts

Johnboy1951

Muahahaha wrote: »

Great thread OP, had been looking for something FTA and user friendly for when my Sky sub is up, its absolutely crazy paying €30 a month when its mainly Irish & UK channels I watch.
Question- my Sky set up is Sky Q, will this FTA system work plug and play or would I need an installer to adjust the satellite?
Also is there any indication on the life cycle of these boxes? Would you expect to get 5 years out of it?

You will probably need to change the LNB fitted to the dish, as the default Sky Q LNBs do not have suitable outputs for most standard receivers.

murpho999

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

You will probably need to change the LNB fitted to the dish, as the default Sky Q LNBs do not have suitable outputs for most standard receivers.

My Sky Q is fitted via a shared communal dish. An adaptor was installed in my apartment where the cables come in.

I assume that needs to be disconnected in order to work with this box?

Muahahaha

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

You will probably need to change the LNB fitted to the dish, as the default Sky Q LNBs do not have suitable outputs for most standard receivers.

Cheers. LNBs seem to be only about €15. I presume they are pretty easy to change out while the dish is still in position?

Johnboy1951

Muahahaha wrote: »

Cheers. LNBs seem to be only about €15. I presume they are pretty easy to change out while the dish is still in position?

Yes they are easy to change without disturbing the dish.
Some things you might check beforehand .....

Just in case, check the number of connections on the existing LNB ... if it is more than two then it should not need to be replaced, as the other connections would be for legacy equipment.

The dish type ... and LNB neck diameter
Make sure you have the correct LNB clamp for the one you buy.

Johnboy1951

murpho999 wrote: »

My Sky Q is fitted via a shared communal dish. An adaptor was installed in my apartment where the cables come in.

I assume that needs to be disconnected in order to work with this box?

I have no idea, sorry. Maybe someone else can provide some information.

Muahahaha

Thanks Johnboy, great info

The Cush

murpho999 wrote: »

My Sky Q is fitted via a shared communal dish. An adaptor was installed in my apartment where the cables come in.

I assume that needs to be disconnected in order to work with this box?

Without knowing what the adaptor is it would be difficult to advise. Post a picture/make/model no. of the unit.

trabpc

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Sounds like you may need to reflash, have you taken a backup?

Had to re flash box. Had backup but wouldn't restore. Bugger. So after re flashjng I had to disable all set recordings etc.

Q for Clare man .. where is the CBBC channels for kids can't find them anywhere? Will your new image have all timers disabled and movie DB erased. Looking forward to it.

Any chance you could have a bouquet with all Freesat channels in one list as well as your existing bouquets and thanks for your help and images so far.

murpho999

The Cush wrote: »

Without knowing what the adaptor is it would be difficult to advise. Post a picture/make/model no. of the unit.

Here is what has been connected. Only installed for Sky Q.

Before this cables went directly to Sky HD box.

Johnboy1951

This seems to be what is shown above
https://www.satshop.tv/Global-Invacom-SKYQ-dSCR-GTU

I note it says

Compatible with SKY Q, EN50494, EN50607, SKY SCR, SKY Classic/Legacy

and at the bottom of blurb

Supports legacy, SCR and dSCR, Freesat+ & Sky+.

That would give me great hope that it will be compatible, but others might actually know.

Tony

That's whats known as a "virtual lnb" if I'm not mistaken. It converts a fibre optic input into standard coaxial outputs so you need to leave it in place.

murpho999 wrote: »

My Sky Q is fitted via a shared communal dish. An adaptor was installed in my apartment where the cables come in.

I assume that needs to be disconnected in order to work with this box?

murpho999

Tony wrote: »

That's whats known as a "virtual lnb" if I'm not mistaken. It converts a fibre optic input into standard coaxial outputs so you need to leave it in place.

Ok,many thanks for that.

Don't fully understand what I had before then.

So, any Sattelite receiver will be able to pick up the UK Freesat channels as it is?

NewClareman

murpho999 wrote: »

Ok,many thanks for that.

Don't fully understand what I had before then.

So, any Sattelite receiver will be able to pick up the UK Freesat channels as it is?

Yes, if that is the unit you have it can be connected directly to the Tiviar Alpha+.

Some units are not compatible with Sky/Sky Q, that's probably why they changed it.

murpho999

NewClareman wrote: »

Yes, if that is the unit you have it can be connected directly to the Tiviar Alpha+.

Some units are not compatible with Sky/Sky Q, that's probably why they changed it.

Thank you.

I'm still considering my options and somewhat confused.

Is the Tiviar box the best option?

I'm a bit concerned about the age of this box and future proofing and thinking of 4k etc.

Would you recommend any other box and would your build work on it?

The high horse brigade

murpho999 wrote: »

Thank you.

I'm still considering my options and somewhat confused.

Is the Tiviar box the best option?

I'm a bit concerned about the age of this box and future proofing and thinking of 4k etc.

Would you recommend any other box and would your build work on it?

What 4k? There's virtually none on satellite and that's not likely to change as it uses too much bandwidth

No, a Tiviar backup will not work on any other box.

Tigerandahalf

@Tony

Where would a fibre optic source be coming from?

NewClareman

murpho999 wrote: »

Thank you.

I'm still considering my options and somewhat confused.

Is the Tiviar box the best option?

I'm a bit concerned about the age of this box and future proofing and thinking of 4k etc.

Would you recommend any other box and would your build work on it?

That answer depends on your needs. For the money it's unbeatable, and should meet my needs for the next 2-3 years. The box performs well, and is more than adequate for general use.

As for 4k, I expect this to be limited on broadcast channels, for at least the same period. By then, I'm sure thete will be other cost effective options. For now, other boxes with similar capabilities are much more expensive.

Tony

Usually from an optical LNB or optical distribution unit, the optical equivalent of a multiswitch.

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

@Tony

Where would a fibre optic source be coming from?

Tigerandahalf

Tony wrote: »

Usually from an optical LNB or optical distribution unit, the optical equivalent of a multiswitch.

So is the signal from the dish distributed over optic fibre rather than coaxial?
What are the advantages? Can it feed multiple boxes?

Tony

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

So is the signal from the dish distributed over optic fibre rather than coaxial?

Yes that's correct

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

What are the advantages? Can it feed multiple boxes?

It can feed any amount of boxes as the data contains all four bands/polarities.
Main advantage to my knowledge is cost of installation in apartment buildings.

Sorry for the off topic posts, might be best to start a new thread if you or anyone else needs more info, I'm sure other guys would then chime in who have more knowledge/experience of this than me.

murpho999

NewClareman wrote: »

That answer depends on your needs. For the money it's unbeatable, and should meet my needs for the next 2-3 years. The box performs well, and is more than adequate for general use.

As for 4k, I expect this to be limited on broadcast channels, for at least the same period. By then, I'm sure thete will be other cost effective options. For now, other boxes with similar capabilities are much more expensive.

Great , many thanks.

I think I'm going to go for this.

So order the box, with Hard disc.

Plug in network, sat cables and saorview ariel
Download your set up onto usb stick and install then I'm pretty much good to go apart from tweaking as shown in this thread?

murpho999

Ordered and paid for Tiviar Box but got an email back saying they're out of stock. :mad:

Sold last 2 this morning.

They're offering me Zgemma H7S 4K UHD now. Link

I assume this will not work with Tiviar set up.

Found this on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/232764486072

I assume that's the same box?

NewClareman

murpho999 wrote: »

Great , many thanks.

I think I'm going to go for this.

So order the box, with Hard disc.

Plug in network, sat cables and saorview ariel
Download your set up onto usb stick and install then I'm pretty much good to go apart from tweaking as shown in this thread?

That’s pretty much it. 🙂

NewClareman

murpho999 wrote: »

Ordered and paid for Tiviar Box but got an email back saying they're out of stock. :mad:

Sold last 2 this morning.

They're offering me Zgemma H7S 4K UHD now. Link

I assume this will not work with Tiviar set up.

Found this on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/232764486072

I assume that's the same box?

You’re correct with both assumptions.