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Cost-Effective, High-Functionality, User-Friendly Replacement for Pay TV

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Comments

  • #482
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    Lu Tze wrote: »
    Thanks for the image, it really is user friendly and intuitive. You should be in software design!

    You’ve got me now.🙂

    In fairness, this image builds on the work of many people, including some regular posters on this forum. All I did was try and make it as intuitive and self-managing as possible.

    The real hard work is done by the people who actually build the software. I’m absolutely amazed that it is all available, open source.


  • #483
    Barr
    Registered Users Posts: 6,987 ✭✭✭Barr


    Anyone know the story with Film 4 , I always though it was available in HD on FTA , maybe I'm wrong in this assumption ?


  • #484
    JDxtra
    Registered Users Posts: 5,865 ✭✭✭JDxtra


    Barr wrote: »
    Anyone know the story with Film 4 , I always though it was available in HD on FTA , maybe I'm wrong in this assumption ?

    No, only SD version has ever been FTA.


  • #485
    Reesy
    Registered Users Posts: 716 ✭✭✭Reesy


    Hi y'all,

    I took the plunge and ordered a Tiviar box from https://www.pikabox.uk. Cost was GBP 111.99 including shipping to Parcel Motel, and another fiver to get it to me. Next job is to read through this thread again for HDD recommendations & buy one.

    Now then, a question please about getting the benefit of the 2 satellite tuners:

    I currently have a dish & a terrestrial antenna, with a single cable bringing it all back to my Ariva 150. I have this kind of gubbins at the dish end:
    qQOxgG.jpg

    (yoke has this label). My installer (thanks Tony) says, if I understand him right, that I don't have a Unicable LNB
    V94UXy.jpg

    And one of these blue yokes that seems to be combining the satellite & terrestrial feeds into the one cable.
    TgBPPC.jpg

    Can anyone tell me whether I can just buy a Unicable LNB and switch them? Failing that, any installers want to come & do the job for me?

    Cheers!


  • #486
    swoofer
    Registered Users Posts: 5,398 ✭✭✭swoofer


    That is a nice question as I have been thinking of unicable as well. With the unicable you need a splitter at the box end and then you configure the tuners to suit. There is a thread on here where someone did use unicable but in your case the lnb will be combined with the aerial which you need.

    At the box end you will already have a splitter one for tv side and one for satellite. I dont know if you can combine a unicable feed with terrestial and then split but I'm sure someone will know.

    The lnb and splitter can be had from WORLD OF SAT here is a link. If you can use existing set up then you can do it yourself. One point of caution, the lnb collar is 40mm and can be tricky to fit to sky dish.

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=109081641

    scroll down for the splitter.

    good luck

    ps here is the thread where unicable was used

    https://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/satellite-and-terrestrial/universal-and-unicable-lnb/gt-sat-unicable-lnb/gt-sat-gt-dlnb1dy-unicable-II-24scr-lnb

    pps watching harry kane


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  • #487
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 13,985 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    swoofer wrote: »
    That is a nice question as I have been thinking of unicable as well. With the unicable you need a splitter at the box end and then you configure the tuners to suit. There is a thread on here where someone did use unicable but in your case the lnb will be combined with the aerial which you need.

    This is not necessary where the receiver is unicable compliant.
    For instance I have a Sat receiver with four tuners and it takes just one feed from a Unicable LNB ...... doing any 'splitting' necessary inside the receiver.
    Other than this a splitter is usually necessary.


  • #488
    swoofer
    Registered Users Posts: 5,398 ✭✭✭swoofer


    I have the tiviar and a solo2, i'm just looking at the configuration menu now on solo2 and all is becoming clear. And its very neat, with the unicable lnb from world of sat its in the menu and I can see now by selecting channel how the tuners work.

    but how do I check to see if the tiviar and solo 2 are unicable compliant?


  • #489
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    Johnboy1951 wrote: »
    This is not necessary where the receiver is unicable compliant.
    For instance I have a Sat receiver with four tuners and it takes just one feed from a Unicable LNB ...... doing any 'splitting' necessary inside the receiver.
    Other than this a splitter is usually necessary.

    With the TiviarAlpha+ the satellite receivers are not connected internally, therefore a satellite signal splitter is needed, even in Unicable mode, but only at the receiver end. With Unicable 1 it is still possible to combine the terrestrial signal over the same coax.

    So, the existing setup at the dish should be fine, once a Unicable 1 LNB, or a Unicable 2 LNB programmed to avoid the terrestrial channels, is used.
    At the receiver end it is necessary to split out the terrestrial signal and then split the satellite signal to feed the two receivers.

    Maybe someone who has implemented such a setup can help further. (At least one poster on this thread has used Unicable, without issue.)


  • #490
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    swoofer wrote: »

    ...but how do I check to see if the tiviar and solo 2 are unicable compliant?

    Read this thread - the TiviarAlpha+ is! -:)


  • #491
    Roen
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,620 ✭✭✭Roen


    Hi all,

    Bit late to the party here. I moved into a house approx two years back and there was a zgemma h2s installed when I got here. It's got two cables running from a dish into the back of it.

    I get the FTA and FTA HD channels, minus RTE and the other Irish channels. So it's a bit limited in what I can get.

    I can record and pause TV since I stuck a USB stick into it.
    It's 1080p and that's fine since that's what my TV is too.

    Would something like the Tivar mentioned in this thread give me anything more than I am currently getting?
    I'm not a big consumer of TV but the missus does enjoy her Aussie soaps.

    Am technically minded and work in the *nix space for a living so would have no bother flashing/configuring up stuff.

    Cheers.


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  • #492
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    Roen wrote: »
    Hi all,

    Bit late to the party here. I moved into a house approx two years back and there ...

    Short answer is yes. Long answer is look at the first few posts of this thread.


  • #493
    1874
    Registered Users Posts: 2,382 ✭✭✭1874


    Reesy wrote: »
    Hi y'all,

    I took the plunge and ordered a Tiviar box from https://www.pikabox.uk. Cost was GBP 111.99 including shipping to Parcel Motel, and another fiver to get it to me. Next job is to read through this thread again for HDD recommendations & buy one.

    Now then, a question please about getting the benefit of the 2 satellite tuners:

    I currently have a dish & a terrestrial antenna, with a single cable bringing it all back to my Ariva 150. I have this kind of gubbins at the dish end:
    qQOxgG.jpg

    (yoke has this label). My installer (thanks Tony) says, if I understand him right, that I don't have a Unicable LNB
    V94UXy.jpg

    And one of these blue yokes that seems to be combining the satellite & terrestrial feeds into the one cable.
    TgBPPC.jpg

    Can anyone tell me whether I can just buy a Unicable LNB and switch them? Failing that, any installers want to come & do the job for me?

    Cheers!




    Found this thread and am following with a bit of interest, I had a Triax box connected to my old sky dish, theres two cables, I think the dish went out of alignment/got moved because the signals stopped working, this was ages ago and have been using an android box ever since, is this Tiviar a FTA box? I might be able to get the Triax box to still work if I sort out the dish but just never had the time, at the least I might be able to use it for Saorview maybe? or pass it on to a relative, but I never really liked the EPG.
    Any opinions on what my options are? is this Tiviar box the bees knees? I see it seems to support soarview?
    What hardware would I need to get this sorted? Ive my existing satellite dish which doesnt appear to have moved, the LNB that was on the dish since it was with sky years ago, there are two coaxial wires that were part of the sky setup for pause, record etc.
    Dont want to subscribe to another ongoing contract but would like to get some tv options back over whats on the android box. Id considered IPTV too, options?


  • #494
    swoofer
    Registered Users Posts: 5,398 ✭✭✭swoofer


    read the first post of this thread and it will all be revealed.


  • #495
    1874
    Registered Users Posts: 2,382 ✭✭✭1874


    swoofer wrote: »
    read the first post of this thread and it will all be revealed.


    Read a few pages, still have some questions, the link to the comprehensive flashing guide wouldnt open, dont know if there is essential information there?

    In the guide it refers to placing the tiviaraplus folder on a USB stick and further down that the software is provided without warranty,just wondering what software if the link doesnt work? Dont want to buy the hardware if the software isnt available?/accessible?

    Not particularly familiar with this sort of stuff, World of satellite had a few options for the box itself, firmware/image options OpenViX or OpenATV, is either relevant if flashing? and an installed HDD, or better off to get one seperately? pikabox.co.uk referred to by another poster doesnt offer any of this.
    Wouldnt mind having a go at setting the box up, but might try connect my old sky box up and see if there is a signal, just not sure if I need a different LNB, had a FTA box connected directly to the two cables from the sky/dish/LNB and it worked for a good while, then it stopped, I thought the dish may have moved but I think it was more to do with some other change as Id read about changes after that, possibly to do with FTA channels and specific satellites but I dont know for sure as I never got it working again, so would consider paying someone to sort out the Dish LNB coax end of things.


  • #496
    Lu Tze
    Registered Users Posts: 3,495 ✭✭✭Lu Tze


    1874 wrote: »
    Read a few pages, still have some questions, the link to the comprehensive flashing guide wouldnt open, dont know if there is essential information there?

    In the guide it refers to placing the tiviaraplus folder on a USB stick and further down that the software is provided without warranty,just wondering what software if the link doesnt work? Dont want to buy the hardware if the software isnt available?/accessible?

    Not particularly familiar with this sort of stuff, World of satellite had a few options for the box itself, firmware/image options OpenViX or OpenATV, is either relevant if flashing? and an installed HDD, or better off to get one seperately? pikabox.co.uk referred to by another poster doesnt offer any of this.
    Wouldnt mind having a go at setting the box up, but might try connect my old sky box up and see if there is a signal, just not sure if I need a different LNB, had a FTA box connected directly to the two cables from the sky/dish/LNB and it worked for a good while, then it stopped, I thought the dish may have moved but I think it was more to do with some other change as Id read about changes after that, possibly to do with FTA channels and specific satellites but I dont know for sure as I never got it working again, so would consider paying someone to sort out the Dish LNB coax end of things.

    I only just flashed one last week, there is a link to Google drive with the image etc in the first post. I had to flash the OS to something else first, so somebody might be able to advise what the best option is as regards selecting an image from the supplier.


  • #497
    Gerry Wicklow
    Registered Users Posts: 4,529 ✭✭✭Gerry Wicklow


    1874 wrote: »
    Read a few pages, still have some questions, the link to the comprehensive flashing guide wouldnt open, dont know if there is essential information there?

    In the guide it refers to placing the tiviaraplus folder on a USB stick and further down that the software is provided without warranty,just wondering what software if the link doesnt work? Dont want to buy the hardware if the software isnt available?/accessible?

    Not particularly familiar with this sort of stuff, World of satellite had a few options for the box itself, firmware/image options OpenViX or OpenATV, is either relevant if flashing? and an installed HDD, or better off to get one seperately? pikabox.co.uk referred to by another poster doesnt offer any of this.
    Wouldnt mind having a go at setting the box up, but might try connect my old sky box up and see if there is a signal, just not sure if I need a different LNB, had a FTA box connected directly to the two cables from the sky/dish/LNB and it worked for a good while, then it stopped, I thought the dish may have moved but I think it was more to do with some other change as Id read about changes after that, possibly to do with FTA channels and specific satellites but I dont know for sure as I never got it working again, so would consider paying someone to sort out the Dish LNB coax end of things.
    There are numerous images available for these boxes. openATV is probably the best. AFAIK the image on this thread is based on openATV. You can also flash a raw image and configure it yourself. It is not that hard to do.
    Sounds like an issue with your dish or cables as the FTA channels are the same as used by Sky. The newer Sky Q system uses a different LNB on the dish but the same signals.


  • #498
    gar
    Registered Users Posts: 1,092 ✭✭✭gar


    Any Picon for RTE 2 +1??


  • #499
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 13,985 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    gar wrote: »
    Any Picon for RTE 2 +1??

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057946768&page=3


  • #500
    robbKer
    Registered Users Posts: 53 ✭✭robbKer


    gar wrote: »
    Any Picon for RTE 2 +1??

    Heres one I made earlier! rte2plus1.png


  • #501
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    1874 wrote: »
    Read a few pages, still have some questions, the link to the comprehensive flashing guide wouldnt open, dont know if there is essential information there?

    In the guide it refers to placing the tiviaraplus folder on a USB stick and further down that the software is provided without warranty,just wondering what software if the link doesnt work? Dont want to buy the hardware if the software isnt available?/accessible?

    Unfortunately I can no longer edit the early posts, so can’t fix the broken link. Anyway, all the information you require is on this thread. My image, based on OpenATV6.3 is still available at the link above.

    As Gerry said there are many other images available, though not, in my (biased) opinion, as user friendly for Irish users, in particular.

    The reference to warranty is simply to state that, as with all open source software, you use at your own risk. As of now, I haven’t been told of any problems.


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  • #502
    Anaki r2d2
    Registered Users Posts: 774 ✭✭✭Anaki r2d2


    NewClareman wrote: »
    Unfortunately I can no longer edit the early posts, so can’t fix the broken link. Anyway, all the information you require is on this thread. My image, based on OpenATV6.3 is still available at the link above.

    As Gerry said there are many other images available, though not, in my (biased) opinion, as user friendly for Irish users, in particular.

    The reference to warranty is simply to state that, as with all open source software, you use at your own risk. As of now, I haven’t been told of any problems.

    Worked 100% For me. Information is all on this page. Just need to read it all until it makes sense


  • #503
    McBain11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,266 ✭✭✭McBain11


    swoofer wrote: »
    @McBain11 you need a piece of software that will allow you to access the file structure in the box.

    Now that you have the box connected to your router and a cable to the laptop you can access the box but you must first get the IP address of the box, so go menu, system, network,decvce setup, adapter settings, now see ip address of box, write it down. exit back out. Open your browser type in ip address of box like xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:80 and hit return and voila you are using WEB IF meaning web interface, iits blue and says OPEN etc have a look round but dont mess with anything.

    post back if you succeed.

    after a lot of pain, not really knowing what I was at, I managed to open the webif page tonight :D I'm really proud of myself!!!

    I'm guessing here I could play around with recordings etc. , watch tv through this possibly? Very handy to have if so.

    What steps do I take to drop the picons on here? Am I just dragging and dropping a file somewhere.

    Won't lie, I was terrified to just stick a USB stick into the back of the box. Would hate if something went wrong as it's a great box and setup :)


  • #504
    McBain11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,266 ✭✭✭McBain11


    swoofer wrote: »
    well done, what browser are you using and do you have VLC player? Is your laptop/pc windows or apple?

    To do picons requires a bit more learning?? Its all good fun.

    I have a Windows laptop. Use Google chrome mostly. Don't have a VLC player, but can download it later :-)


  • #505
    McBain11
    Registered Users Posts: 1,266 ✭✭✭McBain11


    Cheers Swoofer. Thanks for all the help. I will give that a rattle later tonight.


  • #506
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    McBain11 wrote: »
    after a lot of pain, not really knowing what I was at, I managed to open the webif page tonight :D I'm really proud of myself!!!

    I'm guessing here I could play around with recordings etc. , watch tv through this possibly? Very handy to have if so.

    What steps do I take to drop the picons on here? Am I just dragging and dropping a file somewhere.

    Won't lie, I was terrified to just stick a USB stick into the back of the box. Would hate if something went wrong as it's a great box and setup :)

    You should be proud of yourself, well done. Adding picons is just dragging and dropping - full instructions here.

    You do not need to set up a static ip, or use ftp, or anything else.
    I cannot understand why some posters keep trying to make a very simple operation complicated!!!


  • #507
    The high horse brigade
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,456 ✭✭✭The high horse brigade


    NewClareman wrote: »

    You do not need to set up a static ip, or use ftp, or anything else.
    I cannot understand why some posters keep trying to make a very simple operation complicated!!!

    I'm not a Windows user, that's why my instructions were like this. I have a Linux only house and spend most of my time in terminal, FileZilla and text editor. When I use Windows I use Bitvise Tunelier and Notepad++ (^^)


  • #508
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,433 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    The high horse brigade wrote: »
    I'm not a Windows user, that's why my instructions were like this. I have a Linux only house and spend most of my time in terminal, FileZilla and text editor. When I use Windows I use Bitvise Tunelier and Notepad++ (^^)

    This thread relates to my custom build, which is designed for the general public. I’ve already given (very simple) instructions on how to load picons, multiple times. Apart from that operation the only other setting required, once the image is flashed, is to input details of the local terrestrial transmitter. No technical expertise is required to do either task.

    (I fully understand that many people on this forum have deep technical skills, which they like to demonstrate. (Been there, worn the tee shirt.) However, this thread is not the place to show technical prowess. It only serves to frighten away the people this build is intended for.)


  • #509
    peking97
    Registered Users Posts: 851 ✭✭✭peking97


    robbKer wrote: »
    Heres one I made earlier! rte2plus1.png

    I copied that png file into the picon folder on the Tiviar but the system doesn't seem to have picked it up? Is there something else I need to do?


  • #510
    Gerry Wicklow
    Registered Users Posts: 4,529 ✭✭✭Gerry Wicklow


    peking97 wrote: »
    I copied that png file into the picon folder on the Tiviar but the system doesn't seem to have picked it up? Is there something else I need to do?

    Depending on how the software is configured, picon files use either a code number or a very specific name. The picons I posted on the other thread have two different code numbers to suit either Saorview or Saorsat. I don't know the exact name format used by Saorview. If the other existing picons on your box use code numbers, then you will need a picon with the correct code number. If the others are named, you will need to check the exact name format.


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  • #511
    robbKer
    Registered Users Posts: 53 ✭✭robbKer


    peking97 wrote: »
    I copied that png file into the picon folder on the Tiviar but the system doesn't seem to have picked it up? Is there something else I need to do?

    Not sure as to why it might not work to be honest. make sure the filename is as follows: rte2plus1.png

    the picons must follow the structure required precisely and be located in the assigned picon directory. My system picked up on that filename immediately.


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