FBC idiots guide, please!

garymt

I'm considering purchase of a Linux box - I need 3 sat tuners (2 record, 1 watch) and 1 Saorview. Such a box doesn't appear to exist (at least within a normal budget!), but would the new FBC tuners work?
With 2 "normal" sat feeds, how many "tuners" can be in use together? I know there is a theoretical max of 8, but whats the minimum, or normal?
Any sugestions/info welcome,
Garymt

Ten Pin

With a FBC tuner it's the number of demodulators that defines the max number of simultaneous recordings.

So a box with 1 or 2 sat inputs will still have the same number of demods (the module has 2 inputs anyway). The second input allows for standard quad* LNBs but a quad* LNB limits recording to 2 sat channels at once. Ideally a unicable LNB is required for optimum use of FBC.

*or twin

If you just have one sat position (28.2), then a unicable LNB with a box like this...
https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/gigablue-uhd-ue-4k
...will allow up to 8 simultaneous recordings from a single cable feed to the box.

If you need to record from both Saorview muxes at once, you need to select a twin DVB T2 tuner, otherwise a single will suffice.

There's a Tiviar box with 2 standard satellite tuners + 1 Saorview for half the price of the Gigablue but won't do more than one record/watch per sat tuner unless at least 2 of the channels happen to be on the same transponder (frequency).

garymt

Thanks for prompt reply, TenPin - I thought it might have been too good to be true!

Johnboy1951

With a bit of work you can use 'separates'.

1. a Unicable II LNB (single coax into Sat receiver)
2. a 4 tuner Sat receiver (Unicable compliant)
3. a 2 tuner Terrestrial receiver
4. a small (cheap) client/server machine to manage the tuners and display the watched channel on the TV
5. a HDD for recordings

If you have a LAN then the devices do not need to be in one location.
All the inter-connections can be over the LAN.
It can be easily arranged with such a set up to view all media anywhere the LAN is available, on devices such as laptops, PC even phones & tablets.

As I said ..... it does require a bit of work as there is no commercial device you can buy to do this from one box.

garymt

Thankd JohnBoy51 for your contribution.

What I really need to know is "Is an FBC based box any better than normal double sat tuner box, when used with normal cables?"

From answers given, it appears the answer is no...
:mad:

Johnboy1951

garymt wrote: »

Thankd JohnBoy51 for your contribution.

What I really need to know is "Is an FBC based box any better than normal double sat tuner box, when used with normal cables?"

From answers given, it appears the answer is no...
:mad:

Maybe this would be of some help

https://wiki.openpli.org/Full_Band_Capture

Full Band Capture (FBC)

With extra hardware comes extra costs and extra complexity. But thats now starting to change. Broadcom's Full-Band Capture (FBC) digital tuning uses digital technology that allows operators to offer set-top boxes and gateways that not only deliver tons of TV channels and high-speed broadband, but also do so easier, quicker and at a lower cost. Once in a single device, it does this by digitizing the spectrums for both cable (1GHz) or satellite (950-2150 MHz).


It then uses advanced digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to digitally tune multiple channels simultaneously. Each of these new channels feeds into a digital demodulator that outputs a video transport or IP stream. A diagram of Full Band Capture technologyWith FBC, there is no longer a need for frequency allocation to buffer the different services running through the broadband pipe.

Ten Pin

Just to clarify, with FBC stb, the limitation is the quad LNB, swapping that with a Unicable II LNB will allow full use of up to 8 channels (demodulators) at once.

Furthermore a unicable splitter to another box will allow additional (to the first 8 on the first box) channel watch/record up to the number of frequencies supported by the unicable LNB (24 or 32 depending on model of LNB).

AFAIK the physical cable isn't a limiting factor, as long as it's good quality cable.

Johnboy1951

Ten Pin wrote: »

Just to clarify, with FBC stb, the limitation is the quad LNB, swapping that with a Unicable II LNB will allow full use of up to 8 channels (demodulators) at once.

Furthermore a unicable splitter to another box will allow additional (to the first 8 on the first box) channel watch/record up to the number of frequencies supported by the unicable LNB (24 or 32 depending on model of LNB).

AFAIK the physical cable isn't a limiting factor, as long as it's good quality cable.

I seem to recall that some Unicable LNBs supported up to 8 frequencies, so care should probably taken when choosing one.

garymt

Many thanks, Johnboy and Tenpin, for the clarifications - it appears that any new FBC box would only require a new LNB - which is do-able at low cost.
Many thanks for your assistance - much appreciated.

NewClareman

• A legacy LNB, with two outputs.
• A unicable LNB

garymt wrote: »

I'm considering purchase of a Linux box - I need 3 sat tuners (2 record, 1 watch) and 1 Saorview.

A Tiviar box, with a terrestrial tv dongle plugged in at the back, will give you most of this. It will allow you:

• Record/watch multilple terrestrial channels.
• Simultaneously watch/record two satellite channels.
• Watch/Record a third satellite channel, if it is on the same transponder as either of the first two.

It will do this with:

• A legacy LNB, with two outputs.
• A Unicable LNB.
• A Unicable 2 LNB.

In each case a separate terrestrial feed is required.
(A number of techniques exist to combine the terrestrial and satellite feed, using any of the above LNB's)

NewClareman

Ten Pin wrote: »

Just to clarify, with FBC stb, the limitation is the quad LNB, swapping that with a Unicable II LNB will allow full use of up to 8 channels (demodulators) at once.

Rather than swapping out the LNB, you could also use a multi-switch, if that makes the installation easier.

garymt

Thanks, NewClareman - the Tiviar was top of my shortlist (having read THHB and your columns on idiot-proofing it!).
The FBC question arose from spec-checking some of the newer boxes......
I reckon just swap out the box.....
garymt
PS If anyone is interested the new box is due to total and utter frustration at inability of Samsung "smart" triple-tuner Freesat tv, to record even 1 channel, reliably (any user action, ie checking guide, will cause recording to fail.
The old Foxsat - although ultra reliable - is a non-starter due to the Favourites (lack of!) issue. Oddly, this is the one feature that DOES work well on the Samsung.
Thanks to all for your inputs.

NewClareman

garymt wrote: »

The old Foxsat - although ultra reliable - is a non-starter due to the Favourites (lack of!) issue.

Yeah, it is getting long in the tooth. Having said that, did you know that you can create a custom epg, with just the channels you want? It takes a bit of work, but if you have the time/interest...

Capt'n Midnight

If you aren't bothered with the Virgin channels you could use Saorsat to get the RTE's and TG4 via satellite with a Ka LNB. (Hint most of the content is available on Freesat , earlier , in HD and with working series link, the rest you could possibly record from a Saorview TV with a USB memory thingy.)

(yes you can saorsat to a Foxsat HDR , but you only get Now/Next and it interferes with Freesat timed recordings, just like recording from Channel 4HD does )

It's an option.


You can add a suitable USB tuner to most Linux satellite boxes.