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Would I be mad to get satellite and Saorview now?

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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,349 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    Okay folks, I need you to dig my head out of the stupid hole I'm in 😅

    I'm thinking Unicable II LNBs might be the best option. They aren't that much more expensive at the end of the day and offer a simpler installation (I think)

    However, using them with a Diseq switch seems to have a drawback since only one LNB can be used at a time, which seems a bit limiting all things considered

    I know you can combine 2 Unicable feeds with a combiner but does anyone know if they can be chained together to combine 4 LNBs or more? There doesn't seem to be a 4 way combiner anywhere

    Also, I think I need to program the LNBs to have a Diseq channel so the receiver can tell them apart? Anyone have any suggestions on this

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 472 ✭✭Orban6


    This thread is a joke!

    You've gone from asking about running saorview and Freesat to asking about wiring up 5 LNBs.

    This is a wind up.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 18,298 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    I'm glad you spoke up.

    I started reading this thread because a family member recently asked me about giving up Sky and going satellite + saorview.

    Some of the early posts were helping me.

    But the last page or so is full of technical jargon that I can't make head or tail of it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,349 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    Yeah it's a rabbit hole, but that's what I like about this kind of stuff, seeing what is possible and learning something new 😁

    If you want to cut the jargon, just grab one of the saorview and satellite kits, there seems to be a good few available

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 18,298 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    Thanks, no offence intended but it went way off track.

    I'm really all for posters chatting about whatever they want.

    I have the Freeview+Saorview setup myself for some time but was hoping to get more up to date info.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,349 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    I'm very much at the beginner stage but I'm getting a sense that it's very much a choose your own adventure type of project these days

    You can have very budget friendly systems that do the minimum you'd expect for the price

    Or you can go for top tier equipment with some pretty amazing capabilities and the price tag to match

    For me, there's a few things that are of particular interest at the moment

    One is the Enigma2 based Linux boxes. As well as being a big Linux fan, I really like the idea of having an open and extensible OS on my receiver. I also like the idea of being able to stream from the receiver to several devices

    The other thing I'm finding very interesting is the whole Unicable thing. Basically it combines everything into a single cable so you can use a conventional splitter like regular TV signals

    As I mentioned before, I've only got 1 wire heading into the living room and I'm not thrilled about the idea of running another cable indoors

    I've kind of moved away from the Saorview idea towards Saorsat instead, it seems simpler to install a dish with 2 LNBs and maybe I can add more in future

    I can probably achieve that with a pair of LNBs with a single output and a Diseq switch to change between them

    Another option is to get Unicable LNBs and combine them, no switch needed as far as I can tell. It would mean you can watch 2 satellites at the same time with a single receiver, which is nice. However it does cost more and the LNBs need additional programming, which could be difficult

    I know I'm probably off on a ramble here, I've been researching this stuff all day and my head is in a bit of a spin as you can imagine 😂

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,943 ✭✭✭swoofer


    yes you are doing a lot of swotting but unicable won’t work on SAORSAT you need a KA band lnb and no virgin and they block the football. But with a unicable on 28east and KA on 9east then you could watch 2 sats and with unicable on a ZGemma H7s record 4 channels at once and record from saorsat.

    But as I said earlier the Zgemma h7s is out of production and hard to find.

    Setting up unicable is easy peasy but you must buy the correct version.

    Nb there is not a lot of free to air and saorview available.

    Post edited by swoofer on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,349 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    Ah, that's definitely an important bit of knowledge, thanks for that 👍

    I don't watch sports so I don't mind missing the football

    Didn't realise the Virgin channels were missing, bit annoying that. Although I wonder if I'm missing out much anyway 🤔

    A lot of the boxes seem to be out of stock at the moment, Vu+ also seem to be unavailable. GigaBlue seem to be one of the few that are available at the moment

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,943 ✭✭✭swoofer


    where are you seeing the gigablue and how much, and model version. will help others looking in.

    gigablue does not get a lot of support.

    are you aware that none of these receivers will work out of the box? You have to add the os and configure them.

    World of sat does a box configured with FREESAT but with brexit it can make a cheap box dear.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,536 ✭✭✭andy1249


    post 60 in this thread , link is here ,

    https://www.amazon.de/-/en/GigaBlue-UHD-Quad-Pro-Bluetooth-black/dp/B0DKK22PKT/

    Note the configuration boxes in black. The config I chose has two FBC , dual DVBC/T tuners , and a 2TB hard drive.

    Dropping the hard drive knocks nearly 80 of the price , installing a hard drive is easy as it goes into a drawer in the rear , just like the VU+ boxes.

    I had one for a little while but the rocker switch on the back broke ( I think , it was only a couple of weeks old so it went back)

    For example , I changed the config here , now its just got dual FBC and Dual DVBC/T and its 358.

    https://www.amazon.de/-/en/GigaBlue-UHD-Quad-Pro-Bluetooth-black/dp/B0DKK3KW3T/?th=1

    This is a new box , there are openvix images on WOS to download. The box comes with its own OS that you might want to play with first !

    Post edited by andy1249 on


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,349 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    Another option

    https://store.gigablue.de/products/gigablue-uhd-quad-4k-pro-pvr-receiver-mit-hbb-tv-bluetooth-5-4-2x-fbc-dvb-s2-tuner-gigabit-lan

    10% off today using code GIGAWEEK10

    Delivery to Ireland seems to be €15

    No worries about programming the thing, seems straightforward enough

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,349 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    Well... I copped out 😅

    So we've signed up to Sky stream for a year on the most basic package

    The reasoning being that we (in reality me) aren't convinced that the whole live TV thing is going to be a winner or a passing fad in our house

    So if after a year we're still sold on it then I'm going for my project of getting a dish and set top box. It'll give me a bit more time to research everything and buy stuff when it suits

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 47,283 ✭✭✭✭muffler


    People spent a lot of time helping you out only to have it thrown back in their faces. I sincerely hope there are no replies to any thread you may start in the future.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 18,298 ✭✭✭✭elperello




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 13,349 ✭✭✭✭the_amazing_raisin


    Cheers, I'm ashamed to say that I was actually quite upset by muffler's comment, normally I disregard the negative comments from "the internet" as being just commentary from the troll pit

    I had resolved to not respond in kind however it's good to see that I'm not the only person who thought it was over the top

    Since it has apparently caused some problems with other board members, let me explain my thoughts further

    As I mentioned before, we currently have no live TV service, only Netflix. The original requirement was for "some" live TV channels, either Saorview, Freesat or both

    So off I went on the research path and I learned a lot along the way and a big thanks to everyone here who answered by admittedly inane questions

    After pricing up the equipment I wanted, it was a bit more than nothing and I wasn't sure I wanted to make the investment without being sure it would be worthwhile in the long term

    I realise I could go cheaper but I did want a bit of a one and done situation and where's the fun in not setting yourself a challenge

    So after some consideration we went with Sky for the year since its around the same price as Netflix alone and fulfills the original request of "some live TV channels"

    If this pans out for the year then the plan will be to either replace or augment with Freesat and Saorview as a bit of a project for myself. It'll also give me time to do more research as I like to be the person who has all the eventualities covered before buying

    Anyway, once again thanks to everyone (except muffler) for their help. I assure you it wasn't time wasted on your part, you've helped me and possibly other to learn

    "The internet never fails to misremember" - Sebastian Ruiz, aka Frost



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,943 ✭✭✭swoofer


    I think you wasted all our time. Have a read back of what you wrote and Orban spotted it, fair play to him.

    To go from multi lnb's to sky stream is a total and utter wind up and if you cant see it as such then….



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 1,217 ✭✭✭Manc-Red_


    Sky Stream?

    How does one go from multi-lnb chat and questions about sat receivers to subscribing to Sky lol.

    Ah well, I’m very sure it wasn’t someone on here to troll…..

    Anyway, each to their own and all that jazz.

    Better Born Lucky Than Rich.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 864 ✭✭✭human 19


    I can understand German after living there a couple of years, and l liked the free access to so many of their TV stations



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 864 ✭✭✭human 19


    OpenViX 6.6.007 (2024-09-11-Release) although that's probably due an update at this stage

    BTW, if you are interested in German TV, I find myself watching a lot less of it than I used to via the VU+ and TV seeing as most , if not all, of the public channels offer a streaming / on-demand service. There is an excellent app I downloaded to my (linux) PC . check out https://mediathekview.de . I can stream or download shows & films . For some stuff it does require a VPN. Alternatively you can go to the individual TV stations sites and look through their own Mediathek, but this app combines them all, is searchable and has filters.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 864 ✭✭✭human 19


    my first memory of Rockpalast was of Rory Gallagher , so I put that into medithekview, and got this result from 1973, a short intro clip

    image.png image.png

    and heres a screenshot of a search for Rockpalast in the app sorted by duration (1054 search results)

    image.png


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,024 ✭✭✭Lorddrakul


    Thanks for that.

    Just looking at the page, it says that the page, it says that the image is for a Vu+ Zero. That device is a lot less featured than the Duo. Does the image fully support the Duo?

    I'm actually getting on quite well with the Open ATV image, despite its age now.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,090 ✭✭✭shoegirl


    Fair comments here - I've had an ZGemma enigma 2 box for a couple of years, its really good but honestly beyond the basic stuff of setting up channels, recording and bouquets I don't do much else with it - it does have option of running some streaming services via what I guess is chromium front end but that doesn't seem to handle multi channel sound and I'm connected to a 5.1 AVR setup. So I use my AppleTV for these, watch saorview natively over my tv tuner, and use the tv box for satellite and video upload sites where multi channel sound isn't commonly used. Honestly, most peoples viewing would be satisfied by saorview+Freesat alone, unless you want specific streaming services or select NowTV/SKY options thats the bulk sorted. I think my parents are paying about 50-60 a month as are my siblings for just the live TV from Virgin media although some of them do the usual thing of threatening to cancel or switch.

    Enigma2 options are good but as you correctly say, not really ideal for more than 1 tuner, and yes, not perfect there either.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 864 ✭✭✭human 19


    I have taken the opportunity to upgrade to the 6.7.020 image. I don't know what page you were looking at but for your 1st download you could go via here: openvix images , and click on the name of the box. After the 1st time you can upgrade to new images within the box.

    My box has 4 tuners , 2 for each satellite so I can record from 1 satellite & watch something else from the same one.

    I especially like that I can record to an external HDD via USB. I have a bunch of Transcend external HDDs full of recordings built up at this stage.

    Here's a screenshot of the WebUi in my browser

    image.png


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,548 ✭✭✭galtee boy


    For what it's worth, the Freesat 4K 500GB recordable box, is now down to €212 from €285 on Amazon, I presume due to early Black Friday deals etc.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,536 ✭✭✭andy1249


    For the Record , Ive got Two VU+ Duo 4K SE boxes , so 16 sat tuners and four Saorview tuners , running in the house. They get used too.

    Bit like an ipad when it came out , everyone asked who would use that thing , now everyones got one.

    Anyway , if anyone has any questions on the upper tier of E2 boxes and UNICABLE , please feel free to ask. Just tag me in.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,024 ✭✭✭Lorddrakul


    From your screenshot, your box is a Vu+ Duo2?

    Mine is a plain old Duo, 2015 vintage, I believe. I don't think there is currently available VIX image for it.

    https://www.openvix.co.uk/index.php/downloads/vu-plus-images/

    All the Duo models here are later ones.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 864 ✭✭✭human 19


    If only some image providers are providing images for you old box now, then I think your priority should be to use images that are still being updated. At this stage , security would be my utmost concern, if it was connected to my network. I assume the official images may be the best option at this stage



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