Saorview Connect

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

A new tv won't make any difference as it will still just have the 1 terrestrial tuner. Most tvs seem to come with 1 terrestrial and 1 satellite tuner (often referred to as dual tuners).

Even the Tiviar that the lads mention on here requires an extra usb tuner in order to watch rte 1 and record rte 2 at the one time.

Oh dear ...... how inconvenient to have to spend maybe €10 and plug in a USB dongle to get the extra function you require!

Can you get extra functions on a Sky box as easily and cheaply as this?

It is not a huge issue for me as you can always use the rte player to catch up and if saorview get their act together we might be able to stream live tv through the player and connected devices.

Certainly not an issue for me at all, as I can record all RTE channels at the same time if I wish, without ever using the TV tuner.

You can see though why Sky works for many people. Watch any channel and record any other - no messing about.
The downside of Sky is that the catchup is terrible and I presume you can't change the dns on the box to access uk players. You are then reliant on a smart tv with that ability.

The downside of Sky is that they charge exorbitant amounts of money in subs for what are mostly Free to Air channels, with extra payments required for things like HD and multiroom/multi-device use which is the norm for some of us without subs to pay.

Of course everyone in my household can watch or record different channels also.

All these things can be done, and much more.

Do not expect the likes of Sky or others to do them for you ...... they cater to the lowest common denominator, to sell as many subscriptions as possible with the least effort on their part.

If you do not put in the effort to learn how and spend some time doing it then just accept what you are given and pay the man, and be satisfied with your lot.

We each have that choice.

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lsjmhar wrote: »

How do you have this system? Are you using a server with tvheadend connected through the home network or so you have several boxes?

Yes I use 'separates', just like I did with my sound system.
There I had separate amplifier, tuner, two cassette decks, record deck, DVD deck and separate speakers.
I never took to the 3-in-1 / all-in-1 combined units because the compromises on quality and functionality were too great.
In addition if one device failed I did not have to replace the whole lot, just the one part of the system.

I have now (eventually) taken the same approach to the TV system.
It is distributed over the LAN, not coax, which was easier to fit, and useful for internet access as well as TV etc.

I have
DVB-S tuner box
DVB-T tuner box
tiny (4"x4";$40) tvheadend server box managing all aspects of the tuners
tiny (4"x4";$40) client device at each TV
NAS/File Server for storage of recorded material and other media

I had previously used 'off the shelf' stbs, become annoyed with their limitations, built my own HTPC which IMO was also too limiting and bulky having everything centralised, so moved to this separates system.
I am very glad I did.
I can now simply replace any component of the system that might be required to do some extra grunt-work without starting out all over again.
Example:- I might wish one TV to be 8K (future?), so then I will need a client box for that TV which is well capable of displaying this, while other TV clients can be undisturbed and not replaced.
Also of course all media is available to all devices that can access the LAN, including (if I wish) remote devices accessing over the internet.

Such a system is definitely not for everyone.
It does require some initial commitment and learning to put together.

It is up to the individual to decide whether the effort is worth the result.



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Irreverent wrote: »

If you are considering going down this route you could do worse than looking at the Gigablue UHD UE quad. This is a very powerful box with 4 standard tuners (FCB modules so future proofed in that regard. The box has just been excellent so far running Openatv and its multiroom capability is excellent. I have a xiaomi mi android TV box with Dreamplayer installed and have all my living room channels available in a second room.

The Gigablue is pricier than the Tiviar (which is also a good box) but to my mind when ditching sky was worth the extra euros. About 320 was the price on sale.

That box, with the addition of a dual DVB-T/2/C tuner and internal HDD would seem to cover all the bases for a large household.

About £300 for the full spec would, to me, seem to be a good buy.

https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/gigablue-uhd-ue-4k

The high horse brigade wrote: »

That will only get you a selection of mostly free channels :-)

Exactly my point

Saorview connect will be no different with regards to re tuning as it does not auto update . You mention "constant" though, how often are you taking about as frequency changes don't happen that often ?

gerrykeegan wrote: »

A little bit of help here asked for. Was planning to get a saorview connect box for my Dad. He is 85 and his current saorview enabled TV needs constant retuning. It's 5 years old. I can set it up for him but will it need constant retuning? He has reasonable broadband 13mb. Will this be sufficient? Thanks in advance.

To my knowledge it will not auto update Saorview, how would it know what transmitter to update ?

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

The saorview side should automatically update any frequency changes as it runs the same software as freesat.

No, as it is now it would require a new scan initiated by the user. Bear in mind that freesat has its own data feed on a separate default transponder already coded into the box and also available to FTA boxes that use " network scan". As saorview uses different frequencies/transponders in each area this would be impractical to implement.

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Well I guess satellite is different. But would the box not read the transmitter info collected on first tuning and then just update on that. That is hardly a big task.

Tony wrote: »

No, as it is now it would require a new scan initiated by the user. Bear in mind that freesat has its own data feed on a separate default transponder already coded into the box and also available to FTA boxes that use " network scan". As saorview uses different frequencies/transponders in each area this would be impractical to implement.

I don't get that Tony.
If I set up my STB to receive from Three Rock, then that info could very easily be stored in the STB, and if Three Rock alters parameters, it would be a simple matter to track that in the STB and autoupdate the relevant info.

I understand it does not do so, but I don't see any difficulty in its implementation.

Its not difficult per se but it would require a separate dedicated data feed on each transmitter. You could do it over the internet but then you would have to implement some way of locating the box and even then the box might be on a different transmitter than the one recommended by the Saorview coverage database/map . Much easier and cheaper to ask customers to carry out an autoscan on a pre determined date/time especially since connect boxes account for only a fraction of the viewership at present.

That's how it was done on the last saorview frequency change.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I don't get that Tony.
If I set up my STB to receive from Three Rock, then that info could very easily be stored in the STB, and if Three Rock alters parameters, it would be a simple matter to track that in the STB and autoupdate the relevant info.

I understand it does not do so, but I don't see any difficulty in its implementation.

Well if you know an easy way to do this then I'm sure saorview and lots of others would be interested. Freeview does it by triggering an auto scan as far as I know but that's the same as the customer doing the same thing.

Its not just about "bothering their barney" there are cost implications too for transmitter infrastructure. As for the box "checking with home" what method do you suggest for location reporting ? As I've said previously the box could be in an area where reception of two transmitters is possible.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

No doubt at all it is easier on RTE ..... just not as convenient for the customer.
Also I think you are making it sound much more difficult than it necessarily is.
For instance the tuning details for each individual mast are freely available so others can use them.
That the Saorview box does not do so automatically is a bit odd. It would do if whoever is responsible for development bothered their barney!

All it would take is that the Connect box would check with home at each boot (or determined by some other parameter) to ensure it has the correct tuning details.

Firstly I never said there would be a huge cost involved but I'm not sure how you know that it would be small? You still have not answered my question as to how the box would know its location or what transmitter it should tune to?

I'd really appreciate it if you did not put words in my mouth .

Its really easy to speculate on how things might work, implementing them is a another thing altogether . BTW I'm not defending the box any any means just pointing out the reasons why it does not have auto update so far. It should be borne in mind that saorview frequency changes happen very very rarely so this really is a non issue.

I'll leave it at that.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Quite simply, as was suggested in a previous post, use the mast selected on initial set up.
I am equally sure Saorview have no interest in making things easier for the user ..... and the history of this box supports that view.
This box is connected to the internet for its various functions.
A few bytes of data is all that is involved in the box requesting the info and it being delivered.
There would be no huge cost involved.
OK, a small % would not have internet connection and would need to be manually retuned.

I have no idea from where you thing the huge cost would come or the difficulty either, TBH.

I stand corrected as I seem to have misread your meaning

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I did not think I did when I posted ....


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That's not my understanding as the box is at present. The previously mentioned firmware update is a possibility though as the box could be instructed to auto scan if that was available in the code. There were OTA updates in the past but I'm not certain whether this is done OTA or via internet on the connect box. No saorview transponder change has taken place so far to my knowledge since the connect box became available but I'm open to correction on that point.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

It does appear from later posts that it does auto update?

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

The connect box has options to update software over the internet, over the air or through the usb. At least those options are present. All software updates so far have come over the internet.

The problems I have read on this thread is not the delivery methods, its the ability to release software in the first instance.

How long is this product on the market and yet recording is not right ?

This product should have been recalled a long time ago.