Amiko Alien 2 Triple Tuner Combobox

snaps · 16-10-2013 09:47AM

Need some advice. What is the cheapest combo linux option receiver out there? Don't really need triple tuners. Ive had a quick look at Amiko and Golden media.

I prefer linux, for the ease of streaming to a laptop and the adding of bouquets.

If the worse comes to the worse, i could get the original Ailen with a single tuner and a cheap DVBT stb.

I need it to replace an ageing DM 500 in the bedroom.

I came across this, Amiko HD-8840, but i dont think this is linux?
http://www.amikostb.com/?q=product&id=181

Agueroooo · 16-10-2013 10:43AM

Zardoz wrote: »

I see PKT are testing Hyperion 3 at the moment ,great news.

Anywhere I can see plannef improvements etc?

Fresh Pots · 16-10-2013 10:52AM

snaps wrote: »

Need some advice. What is the cheapest combo linux option receiver out there? Don't really need triple tuners. Ive had a quick look at Amiko and Golden media.

I prefer linux, for the ease of streaming to a laptop and the adding of bouquets.

If the worse comes to the worse, i could get the original Ailen with a single tuner and a cheap DVBT stb.

I need it to replace an ageing DM 500 in the bedroom.

I came across this, Amiko HD-8840, but i dont think this is linux?
http://www.amikostb.com/?q=product&id=181

Be on the lookout on adverts, I managed to get a nearly new golden media Triplex for just over €100 a few months back. Better to have 3 tuners and not need them than not have them and need them.

smee again · 16-10-2013 12:05PM

snaps wrote: »

Need some advice. What is the cheapest combo linux option receiver out there? Don't really need triple tuners. Ive had a quick look at Amiko and Golden media.

I prefer linux, for the ease of streaming to a laptop and the adding of bouquets.

If the worse comes to the worse, i could get the original Ailen with a single tuner and a cheap DVBT stb.

I need it to replace an ageing DM 500 in the bedroom.

I came across this, Amiko HD-8840, but i dont think this is linux?
http://www.amikostb.com/?q=product&id=181

The 8840 is not open, it's a proprietary software. It is a decent box though if you're willing to update channels

Big Wex fan · 16-10-2013 12:35PM

snaps wrote: »

Need some advice. What is the cheapest combo linux option receiver out there? Don't really need triple tuners. Ive had a quick look at Amiko and Golden media.

I prefer linux, for the ease of streaming to a laptop and the adding of bouquets.

If the worse comes to the worse, i could get the original Ailen with a single tuner and a cheap DVBT stb.

I need it to replace an ageing DM 500 in the bedroom.

I came across this, Amiko HD-8840, but i dont think this is linux?
http://www.amikostb.com/?q=product&id=181

i've a dm500 also & looking for possible replacement should it give up. Seen cloud ibox going for around €100, runs on E2, it's a VU+ solo clone.

STB · 16-10-2013 12:57PM

@snaps

Amiko/GM Triplex's are ported versions of E2. You cannot compare them with true Linux images based on Broadcom Chipsets.

To answer your question about a linux combo with DVB-T and DVB-S2. The Gigablue 800SE/UE and Plus range is what you could look at.

There are 2 different versions. The 800SE/UE and the 800SE/UE PLus.

The originals run @ 333MHZ. The Plus run at 750+MHZ. so faster processor. The UE is the Colour LCD on front. The SE the normal display.

The original combos are about €160/€170. The Plus versions are €229. There is about €15 in difference between the UE and SE in both ranges. There is a thread on them in the foreign satellite forum.

Vix etc is available for the original range but not yet available for Plus range which run ATV.

STB · 16-10-2013 12:58PM

Big Wex fan wrote: »

i've a dm500 also & looking for possible replacement should it give up. Seen cloud ibox going for around €100, runs on E2, it's a VU+ solo clone.

Have they started shipping these now with the fan. Originals did not have a fan and had overheating problems....... Cloud are cloned type hardware, so image compatibility is not guaranteed for the future.

Agueroooo · 16-10-2013 02:27PM

has anyone tried XBMC PVR front end/Live TV with their Amiko Alien 2 ?
I have read that the VU+ add-on works well.

If so how does it perform?

Would it be good enough say to use in a second room?

I was thinking of trying it on a Raspberry Pi running Openelec to see if it might save me having to but another stb for a bedroom.

I have a CAT6 cable installation in all rooms so I might be able to pull this off, or I am missing something?

Irreverent · 16-10-2013 02:53PM

FlexMcMurphy wrote: »

A lot of satellite channels on Astra 28.2E seem to be changing their frequencies lately. But also the configuration of the satellite transponders they are broadcast from.

Try downloading a new satellites.xml which has the latest transponder info updated daily.

You could also use the info from LyngSat to see which transponders your missing channels are meant to be on and then go in to Spark/Enigma2 to see if they are set up correctly then re-scan.

Flex

satelliteman20 wrote: »

Ireverent I have a very similar problem with my box with both spark and e2 but only on tuner 2 it cant recieve channels on the vertical transponders but horizontals are ok I think the tuner is faulty because ive reset it and its still the same

Thanks for the suggestions Flex. I'll try the Lyngsat option first and if that doesn't work will try the new satellites xml.

Satellite man maybe you should try the same. It sounds like a similar problem you're having and we couldn't both have faulty tuners.

Zardoz · 16-10-2013 03:01PM

STB wrote: »

Have they started shipping these now with the fan. Originals did not have a fan and had overheating problems....... Cloud are cloned type hardware, so image compatibility is not guaranteed for the future.

I wouldnt touch one of those Cloud boxes,the housing is too small and the units overheat and become unreliable.
Not worth the savings as you will only be tearing your hair out .

smee again · 16-10-2013 03:03PM

Agueroooo wrote: »

has anyone tried XBMC PVR front end/Live TV with their Amiko Alien 2 ?
I have read that the VU+ add-on works well.

If so how does it perform?

Would it be good enough say to use in a second room?

I was thinking of trying it on a Raspberry Pi running Openelec to see if it might save me having to but another stb for a bedroom.

I have a CAT6 cable installation in all rooms so I might be able to pull this off, or I am missing something?

I have it working but it's very slow and clunky on my Atom powered HTPC

satelliteman20 · 16-10-2013 03:18PM

Ireverent I have double checked the frequencys affected and everything works perfectly with tuner 1 both horizontals and verticals and also none of the bbcs itvs or channel 4 channels have changed frequencys it seems to point to a problem with tuner 2

Zardoz · 16-10-2013 03:23PM

satelliteman20 wrote: »

Ireverent I have double checked the frequencys affected and everything works perfectly with tuner 1 both horizontals and verticals and also none of the bbcs itvs or channel 4 channels have changed frequencys it seems to point to a problem with tuner 2

Could be an lnb voltage issue too,I have seen verticals not work on other linux receivers before so i changed the lnb output at the dish to a different one and it worked fine .Worth a try .

snaps · 16-10-2013 03:25PM

STB wrote: »

@snaps

Amiko/GM Triplex's are ported versions of E2. You cannot compare them with true Linux images based on Broadcom Chipsets.

To answer your question about a linux combo with DVB-T and DVB-S2. The Gigablue 800SE/UE and Plus range is what you could look at.

There are 2 different versions. The 800SE/UE and the 800SE/UE PLus.

The originals run @ 333MHZ. The Plus run at 750+MHZ. so faster processor. The UE is the Colour LCD on front. The SE the normal display.

The original combos are about €160/€170. The Plus versions are €229. There is about €15 in difference between the UE and SE in both ranges. There is a thread on them in the foreign satellite forum.

Vix etc is available for the original range but not yet available for Plus range which run ATV.

great reply, thanks. I'm used to dreamboxes (clones) on the Linux front. How would the ailen triple tuner compare to a dm800? That's what im using downstairs, I could move that to the bedroom and use an ailen downstairs. Can you stream from an ailen?

snaps · 16-10-2013 03:27PM

Irreverent wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions Flex. I'll try the Lyngsat option first and if that doesn't work will try the new satellites xml.

Satellite man maybe you should try the same. It sounds like a similar problem you're having and we couldn't both have faulty tuners.

new satellite.xml files worked for me.

Zardoz · 16-10-2013 03:38PM

snaps wrote: »

How would the ailen triple tuner compare to a dm800? That's what im using downstairs,

I had a Dm800 before I had a Triplex .
First of all the Triplex is a much faster box due to the faster cpu .
It boots much quicker ,~70 secs whereas the Dm800 takes over 3 minutes.
Cross Epg takes much less time to download on the Triplex and plugins run much quicker in general.

The Dm800 is a fine receiver ,I was using it with a USB DVB-T tuner and it served me well for years.I was running an older Dream Elite Phoenix Image but it was very stable.
My main reason for switching to the Triplex was I needed a twin sat tuner .

It still has a few flaws ,the audio levels on channels can vary a bit which is annoying but overall I and more importantly the wife ,who has seamlessly made the transition,are very happy with the Triplex and Hyperion 2 is very stable on it ,the only time I've had a lock up was when I was using TSMedia which is unreliable on any receiver at the best of times.

smee again · 16-10-2013 03:38PM

satelliteman20 wrote: »

Ireverent I have double checked the frequencys affected and everything works perfectly with tuner 1 both horizontals and verticals and also none of the bbcs itvs or channel 4 channels have changed frequencys it seems to point to a problem with tuner 2

Swap cables see what happens.

Agueroooo · 16-10-2013 03:45PM

smee again wrote: »

I have it working but it's very slow and clunky on my Atom powered HTPC

Have you tried different pvr add ons or six of one,

championc · 16-10-2013 04:00PM

Agueroooo wrote: »

has anyone tried XBMC PVR front end/Live TV with their Amiko Alien 2 ?
I have read that the VU+ add-on works well.

If so how does it perform?

Would it be good enough say to use in a second room?

I was thinking of trying it on a Raspberry Pi running Openelec to see if it might save me having to but another stb for a bedroom.

I have a CAT6 cable installation in all rooms so I might be able to pull this off, or I am missing something?

I have an Equiso (google it !!) in the kitchen TV, streaming using wi-fi from the AA2 located under the main TV in the Living Room.

You could attach an ethernet to usb adapter to it via a usb hub

Agueroooo · 16-10-2013 04:47PM

championc wrote: »

I have an Equiso (google it !!) in the kitchen TV, streaming using wi-fi from the AA2 located under the main TV in the Living Room.

You could attach an ethernet to usb adapter to it via a usb hub

Are you just using the browser on the Equiso and connecting via Webif ?

The reason I asked about XBMC specifically is because the Livetv menu option looks sleek (picons etc brought over from stb), and it would be nice to get a solid clear picture and responsive channel change, but reading Smee's post I am not inspired especially as I was looking to use a Pi.

Irreverent · 16-10-2013 04:55PM

Zardoz wrote: »

Could be an lnb voltage issue too,I have seen verticals not work on other linux receivers before so i changed the lnb output at the dish to a different one and it worked fine .Worth a try .

That actually makes sense in my situation Zardoz as I had a crappy old fta box tuned in on this satellite and the channels tuned in without a problem.

Zardoz · 16-10-2013 05:27PM

When I try to remove plugins on Hyperion 2 by pressing the red button it says no new plugins found ,is this a bug or do other people encounter the same issue ?

championc · 16-10-2013 05:45PM

Agueroooo wrote: »

Are you just using the browser on the Equiso and connecting via Webif ?

The reason I asked about XBMC specifically is because the Livetv menu option looks sleek (picons etc brought over from stb), and it would be nice to get a solid clear picture and responsive channel change, but reading Smee's post I am not inspired especially as I was looking to use a Pi.

No. It's an Android stick so uses DreamDroid and then VLC

championc · 16-10-2013 06:22PM

Agueroooo wrote: »

Are you just using the browser on the Equiso and connecting via Webif ?

The reason I asked about XBMC specifically is because the Livetv menu option looks sleek (picons etc brought over from stb), and it would be nice to get a solid clear picture and responsive channel change, but reading Smee's post I am not inspired especially as I was looking to use a Pi.

No. It's an Android stick so uses DreamDroid and then VLC

givecredit · 16-10-2013 06:59PM

Agueroooo wrote: »

Are you just using the browser on the Equiso and connecting via Webif ?

The reason I asked about XBMC specifically is because the Livetv menu option looks sleek (picons etc brought over from stb), and it would be nice to get a solid clear picture and responsive channel change, but reading Smee's post I am not inspired especially as I was looking to use a Pi.

Try this app on an android device. It works perfectly with VU+ and Gigablue. Maybe it works with Amiko too.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vuplus.vuplusplayer

Big Wex fan · 16-10-2013 07:48PM

Zardoz wrote: »

I wouldnt touch one of those Cloud boxes,the housing is too small and the units overheat and become unreliable.
Not worth the savings as you will only be tearing your hair out .

I've heard about the issues with the ibox without the fan, I thought the fix was to get unit with heatsink & fan installed on CPU.
Your probably right, don't seem that popular.
Probably look more into it if one of my other boxes went tits up ( openbox & DM500). I like E2 & would try get a cheap E2 box when this happens.

Zardoz · 16-10-2013 08:54PM

Big Wex fan wrote: »

I've heard about the issues with the ibox without the fan, I thought the fix was to get unit with heatsink & fan installed on CPU.

There is a new version 3 of the cloud box which has a built in fan and runs cooler so that may be an option allright.

championc · 16-10-2013 09:00PM

I'm a bit confused by all this talk of volume issues on the AA2, for those running my Hyperion image. Has nobody messed about with the AutoVolumeAdjustment plugin that I included ? Works a treat

In case you missed it, it's in Menu > Setup > System.

On a normal channel, set the volume on the box half way down. In the plugin, set the Default Volume Adjustment Level to 50. When you change to a HD channel, the volume will be increased to compensate for it's lower volume level thereby giving you much the same level for all channels

Nforce · 16-10-2013 09:22PM

Agueroooo wrote: »

has anyone tried XBMC PVR front end/Live TV with their Amiko Alien 2 ?
I have read that the VU+ add-on works well.

If so how does it perform?

Would it be good enough say to use in a second room?

I was thinking of trying it on a Raspberry Pi running Openelec to see if it might save me having to but another stb for a bedroom.

I have a CAT6 cable installation in all rooms so I might be able to pull this off, or I am missing something?

I have the Enigma Live TV Xbmc app on my main HTPC. Streams perfectly from the Alien 2, so much so that I've now removed my sat card from the HTPC completely.
I'm running mine over wire using powerline adapters,so hardwired CAT6 should be even better.

Nforce · 16-10-2013 09:26PM

Speaking of volume issues, I'm still running Championc's old PKT image and sometimes when I switch to a channel (usually a $ HD) it won't play any sound. If I press the red button, select another audio stream (eg MPEG NAR) sound will come back. I then repeat the process to choose the AC3 stream and it plays back fine.
Anyone else have this quirk?

Amiko Alien 2 Triple Tuner Combobox

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