AZBOX /Elite / HD / Premium

slegs · 25-04-2009 1:46pm

pbirney wrote: »

Thanks for the excellent review gtg60.

I'm also interested in the MPEG 4:2:2 capabilities. Very tempted to buy based on what I've read so far.

OK, got a 4:2:2 feed. Its the Irish AIB Rugby final on Thor 0.8W

Fréquence: 11464 - Pol: V - SR: 6111 - FEC: -
Catégorie: Sport - Rugby
Transmis en: MPEG-2 4:2:2
Infos: Irish AIB League

Lots of Joanne Cantwell standing around. She is not as chirpy off screen

Had to set the HD flag on the channel to get it to clear but comes in fine video and audio.

dxhound2005 · 25-04-2009 2:46pm

Slegs

Yes 1 West is the place for Irish feeds, lots of GAA during the summer and they are all in 4:2:2. Thank you for your help that is great news and it looks like I will be getting the AZ box. have you any thoughts on the sensitivity of the receiver?

kaisersose77 · 25-04-2009 2:47pm

is that channel working ok for you now? just seeing a frozen picture of an ireland match with some sound in the background.

edit: working ok now, must be like that during breaks

gtg60 · 25-04-2009 3:09pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Slegs

Yes 1 West is the place for Irish feeds, lots of GAA during the summer and they are all in 4:2:2.

What size dish would you need for these feeds and what are these feeds for? I mean what channels are they for and could you see the full match on a feed and only ever see the highlights on TV?

Also, what is the best way to test the sensitivity of this receiver? Surely just because my Mvision says X signal strength and Y signal quality then it is no good comparing it to what the AZBox says?

Also, remember I have a fixed dish on 13E, 19E and 28E so can't tune into a borderline satellite, unless there is a borderline transponder on one of these??

slegs · 25-04-2009 3:11pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Slegs

Yes 1 West is the place for Irish feeds, lots of GAA during the summer and they are all in 4:2:2. Thank you for your help that is great news and it looks like I will be getting the AZ box. have you any thoughts on the sensitivity of the receiver?

No problem dx. I am a newbie to a motorised setup so I am probably not the best person to comment.

dxhound2005 · 25-04-2009 3:51pm

Any live sports being broadcast on RTE, TG4, TV3 and sometimes Setanta will generally have a feed somewhere usually 1 West sometimes 27.5 West. GAA, League of Ireland, Rugby, Racing, Greyhounds etc. Sometimes other events like party conferences. During the GAA Leagues the live game on TG4 would be on on frequency the delayed game on another and the live game with English commentary for RTE highlight on another. Also the Saturday night games which you could only see if you had Setanta were on a feed. The Satelliweb site will have the details shortly after a feed fires up. Lots of other good stuff on feeds like Spanish football in HD on 4 East but you have to have a motor. You can see all the background stuff like interviews being set up after a game can be amusing sometimes.

We are probably straying off topic here but I just wanted to be sure that someone with the AZ box could prove it got the 4:2:2 feeds so thanks again Slegs. I have a 1.1 metre dish in Dundalk and the 1 West signals are strong. I'm not too technical either so I don't know how to measure sensitivity of the receiver but I imagine they are mostly the same anyway.

kaisersose77 · 25-04-2009 5:14pm

twin tuner support in new fw out today

0.9.1868
Fixed

- If do a scan at for example some TP on Hotbird and have more than one satellite scanned,
when go back to TC always go to position 001 at channel list, what is big inconvenience if you have motorized dish,
because will jump for satellite that have channel at position 001.
Cursor should go for channels position of scanned TP.

Fixed
- Some Polish channels like TVP1, Universal, Sci-Fi, MGM can`t get EPG data info

Fixed
- Some channels (like Filmbox HD) at Hotbird need go catch EPG info at other TP, actually AzBox cannot support that

Fixed
- Quality of pictures using photo player is very bad, this should be improved

Fixed
- ISO files do not work anymore (none at all). Box hangs if you try to play them.

Add
- Auto-Detect Tuners plugged and add support for Combo models and DVB-T and DVB-C twin tuner support

Add
- At Satellite list show not only the satellite name but also satellite position

Add
- When we played ISO (backup DVD) we don?¯t have possibility choose outside subtitles from files

Add
- Auto Scale Pictures to 1920x1080, with option to keep or not the original aspect ratio

Add
- Storage Create option: HDD standby, receiver should put HDD in standby if during some minutes not usage, to save energy and HDD life

Add
- TV Channel After finish Scan and decide if Store or not store scanned channels, go directly to menu of Scan channel

Add
- Data Reset Option to erase all Plug-ins

Add
- Support uncommitted Diseqc and committed Diseqc at same time

Add
- Change Font by User
1. Copy your_font.ttf to USB storage and plug it on AZBOX
2. Go to 'System Information' of Setting
3. Press OK on Font Setup

gtg60 · 25-04-2009 5:51pm

God damn it, where's the super excited smilie!!

:eek::cool: Close enough!

remlap · 25-04-2009 7:40pm

jackbauer wrote: »

could someone with a motorised dish check if it will properly receive and display msnbc on telstar12 at 15w via hdmi?

Why would any one want to watch MSNBC

cormacl · 25-04-2009 11:20pm

gtg60 wrote: »

Nothing confirmed just yet but what I've read on other forums indicates that this is the goal and shouldn't be a problem, there is even a rumour (from a reliable source ) that Picture in Picture will not only be possible but is planned

This is something to watch then. These receivers, well all of them use some vendors cpu with a reference motherboard or some variant. We have dream using a broadcom design, sti170x being used by most of the cheap sat/ter USB combo boxes and now this sigma design being used by azbox. I've read that the Sti cannot support two tuners active at once or at least record from one watch the other. But it does support watch other tp services of the one being recorded.

I know the dm8000 can record from any combination of it's 2 s2 tuner and/or 2 optional extra tuners while watching others or watching a recording. But even there I found that recording a hd service on one s2 tuner prevents recording another hd service at the same time. I'm not yet sure if this is a firmware limit or imposed restriction.

The point is that it is possible you may not have the ability to use both tuners simultaneously..... So it's worth exploring this the first chance you get.

gtg60 · 25-04-2009 11:29pm

cormacl wrote: »

But even there I found that recording a hd service on one s2 tuner prevents recording another hd service at the same time. I'm not yet sure if this is a firmware limit or imposed restriction.

There was a mention of a similar limitation for PiP, must be a hardware thing.

cormacl · 26-04-2009 11:37am

gtg60 wrote: »

There was a mention of a similar limitation for PiP, must be a hardware thing.

If it turns out that the azbox cannot record simultaneously from both tuners, it will make it a disappointment for many. With the FTA model for Ireland being a mix of sat and dtt, we need that unified notion that its one list of services. But locking you to viewing only the national 4 when recording the 4, is just too restrictive, likewise for sat recording. If it turns that the new dual-tuner support is not "yet working" with this, I'd advise you to start a posing a lot of questions to the manufacturers.. because when you add dual-tuner support, it would be madness for this to not be present unless there was a hardware limit in play.

I was sort of forced to go the dm8000 route because I needed 3 tuners.. 2 sat tuners and 1 terrestrial. For PVR or just general viewing, we get too many clashes at home for German TV for the wife and stuff I want to watch on UK sat tv. While it has cost me a grand, I know where I stand with it in terms of community support and flexibility.

I think the lyngbox plus an extra sat tuner or the qbox might have been alternatives.. certainly cheaper alternatives.. but it became a concern that I would pay half the price and might end up with something that is never as good as the dreambox or had some annoying limit etc. So I stuck with what I am used to... so far so good.

But reading this review and others on the azbox, what impresses me a lot about this receiver is the youtube support. The dreambox can do this but only via proxy assistance from a vlc app running somewhere on a computer. Its quite an achievement for the azbox if they have native Adobe flash or at least some aspect of FLV working on the box.

gtg60 · 26-04-2009 12:04pm

Just to clarify, there was mention that if PiP is implemented that you wouldn't be able to watch a HD channel and have a HD channel as the picture in picture.

But all speculation til the extra tuners are available and we can see for ourselves...

kaisersose77 · 26-04-2009 2:18pm

cormacl wrote: »

If it turns out that the azbox cannot record simultaneously from both tuners, it will make it a disappointment for many. With the FTA model for Ireland being a mix of sat and dtt, we need that unified notion that its one list of services. But locking you to viewing only the national 4 when recording the 4, is just too restrictive, likewise for sat recording. If it turns that the new dual-tuner support is not "yet working" with this, I'd advise you to start a posing a lot of questions to the manufacturers.. because when you add dual-tuner support, it would be madness for this to not be present unless there was a hardware limit in play.

I was sort of forced to go the dm8000 route because I needed 3 tuners.. 2 sat tuners and 1 terrestrial. For PVR or just general viewing, we get too many clashes at home for German TV for the wife and stuff I want to watch on UK sat tv. While it has cost me a grand, I know where I stand with it in terms of community support and flexibility.

I think the lyngbox plus an extra sat tuner or the qbox might have been alternatives.. certainly cheaper alternatives.. but it became a concern that I would pay half the price and might end up with something that is never as good as the dreambox or had some annoying limit etc. So I stuck with what I am used to... so far so good.

But reading this review and others on the azbox, what impresses me a lot about this receiver is the youtube support. The dreambox can do this but only via proxy assistance from a vlc app running somewhere on a computer. Its quite an achievement for the azbox if they have native Adobe flash or at least some aspect of FLV working on the box.

youtube has non flash streams aswell. It works on the iphone which doesnt have flash, so i'd assume the azbox is using that stream aswell. The sigma chip doesnt support flv.

watty · 26-04-2009 4:10pm

cormacl wrote: »

If it turns out that the azbox cannot record simultaneously from both tuners, it will make it a disappointment for many. With the FTA model for Ireland being a mix of sat and dtt, we need that unified notion that its one list of services. But locking you to viewing only the national 4 when recording the 4, is just too restrictive, likewise for sat recording. If it turns that the new dual-tuner support is not "yet working" with this, I'd advise you to start a posing a lot of questions to the manufacturers.. because when you add dual-tuner support, it would be madness for this to not be present unless there was a hardware limit in play.

I was sort of forced to go the dm8000 route because I needed 3 tuners.. 2 sat tuners and 1 terrestrial.

It seems likely we indeed only need ONE dtt tuner to view/record ALL our channels. Two is needed for Satellite, or else it's a toy PVR.

mullingar · 27-04-2009 1:48pm

Sorry to hi-jack a little, does anybody know if the QBox HD with its tri-tuner (2xsat, 1xdtt) is going to be a runner for the Irish market? ie those who want a full PVR for both Sat AND DTT

http://qboxhd.com/index.html

byte · 27-04-2009 9:48pm

How much is the QBox though? It lacks RF mod (easily got seperately).

mullingar · 27-04-2009 10:39pm

http://www.cellularcenter.it/2002/ing/index.jsp

€450, including 2 tuners. 3rd tuner, wifi-(802.11N) & HDD extra.

At a guess €600-700 when loaded. (getting close to DM8000 territory!)

cramp · 28-04-2009 2:43pm

@slegs

are u still looking good for your Premium delivery this week!

cramp/philip

slegs · 28-04-2009 3:33pm

Yes, should be here Thu/Fri.

byte · 28-04-2009 8:29pm

Take commercial discussion to PM please.

cormacl · 29-04-2009 10:48pm

mullingar wrote: »

http://www.cellularcenter.it/2002/ing/index.jsp

€450, including 2 tuners. 3rd tuner, wifi-(802.11N) & HDD extra.

At a guess €600-700 when loaded. (getting close to DM8000 territory!)

Well the DM8000 ships with 2 tuners and wifi for €999.. no HDD or third tuner.. add another €100 for a 1Tb drive and say €50 for a DTT tuner.. €1150. So your way off the DM8000 point with €600 for the qbox!

It looks like a good deal.. and will benefit from enigma2 support but again as per my earlier posts.. the must have is that recording works simultaneously across tuners. Otherwise, dare I use Wattys terminology.. it starts to become a toy PVR.

gtg60 · 03-05-2009 4:17pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Also how sensitive is the receiver, did you notice any difference in marginal signals compared to your previous receivers? I'm in Dundalk and I get over 30sats on a 1.1 m dish on the TM.

Ok, was playing around with my dish (Triax TD 88cm) today and swung it 'round to get Thor 0.8W, with my Mvision HD200 (as fat-tony said before a sensitive receiver, he might chime in to say what he found it better than), anyway it scanned and got 173 TV channels and 47 Radio, with the AZBox it got 315 TV and 64 Radio. I tuned into TV Lifestyle on the Mvision and while it did pull in the channel it froze a lot and was unwatchable, with the AZBox it was watchable although there was evidence of the odd bit of macro-blocking but definately much better than the Mvision.

Probably not the most scientific test ever but definately looks like a very sensitive receiver.

N.B. Just a quick correction, it appears that my Mvision seperates Thor and Intelsat where the AZBox has the two of them in the one slot, this would explain why there is such a large difference (315 vs 173 channels listed) but based on the weak channel watchability it is still clear that the AZBox is more sensitive than the Mvision.

dxhound2005 · 03-05-2009 5:41pm

Many thanks for that, much appreciated.

MayoForSam · 06-05-2009 4:59pm

So any more updates on this box? I'm very interested but I'm holding fire until the DTT tuner is out and confirmed as working plus hopefully a working EPG and some other bits and pieces.

Some of the better known satellite support forums have been getting hammered by DDOS attacks, very suspicious.

I just want the Azbox for UK FTA and some HD, Irish DTT, multi-media playback, web browsing on my TV, surely that is legitimate use that should be supported? Only reason I'm holding on to my $ky sub at the moment is the crap analogue reception for RTE/TV3. The firmware updates are taking longer than expected as they have to be checked by the Sigma chip people apparently.

slegs · 06-05-2009 6:03pm

MayoForSam wrote: »

So any more updates on this box? I'm very interested but I'm holding fire until the DTT tuner is out and confirmed as working plus hopefully a working EPG and some other bits and pieces.

Some of the better known satellite support forums have been getting hammered by DDOS attacks, very suspicious.

I just want the Azbox for UK FTA and some HD, Irish DTT, multi-media playback, web browsing on my TV, surely that is legitimate use that should be supported? Only reason I'm holding on to my $ky sub at the moment is the crap analogue reception for RTE/TV3. The firmware updates are taking longer than expected as they have to be checked by the Sigma chip people apparently.

Freesat EPG is very close. I managed to hook up my contact with the AZBox firmware developers. So instead of the Freesat EPG being a plugin it will actually be part of the core firmware which is good news.

The last AZBox firmware update was buggy so there is a lot of focus on correcting that and getting a new version out. Dual tuner support didn't work very well so they are gone back to resolve. The extra cards including DVB-T should be available after new firmware is released.

gtg60 · 06-05-2009 6:12pm

You seem fairly clued up, so I guess you know the story, from what I've seen/ heard, dual tuner and DVB-T tuner support came with the latest release of firmware but can't be verified until the tuners are out which will be any day now, reports are that you will be able to watch from one tuner and record from another.

Freesat EPG is extremely close, apparently the programming has been compiled and just needs to be integrated with firmware, there was talk of making it a seperate plug in but it was suggested that it would be better this way. Also the Sky EPG (with Series link) looks like it will happen at some stage too, this is important for me personally as I plan to use my genuine Sky card in it.

You are correct in the Sigma delay too and all we can do is deal with it BUT it is this Sigma chip that is going to make this box something very special

And yeah, what's going on with all these DDOS attacks :eek:

gtg60 · 06-05-2009 6:14pm

Ah, I hate when that happens, it's like I've been caught copying slegs answers!

Honestly, it's all my own work, Sir! :rolleyes:

cramp · 07-05-2009 3:06pm

Just received mine today!!! much thnks slegs...
Very nice....looking forward to playing with it..
No manual....definitely an enthusiasts box eh!!!

Interesting hearing that the currant firmware is now buggy, what firmware would you guys recommend????

cramp

gtg60 · 07-05-2009 3:13pm

cramp wrote: »

No manual....definitely an enthusiasts box eh!!!

Interesting hearing that the currant firmware is now buggy, what firmware would you guys recommend????

Manual here:
http://www.saortv.com/downloads/azbox/Azbox_Manual_v1_2.pdf
Not fantastic but gets you up and running.

Latest firmware has had some of the bugs removed, use it (1868) or the previous one (1759)

AZBOX /Elite / HD / Premium

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