Author Topic: Cable/sat tv boxes (Read 552868 times)

Smudgester · « **Reply #120 on:** July 31, 2011, 04:55:32 pm »

Quote from: FiSh77 on July 31, 2011, 03:59:52 pm

maxing out your connection can affect it, i mainly download from usenet and use sabnzb cos i can limit how much bandwidth it uses, i've not had any problems with general internet use, streaming and online gaming

how often does card sharing use the network ? on channel changes or constantly (ie every 5 minutes or so) ?

FiSh77 · « **Reply #121 on:** July 31, 2011, 05:42:23 pm »

every few seconds, if you disconnect it from the network it'll freeze after around 5 seconds

Harinder · « **Reply #122 on:** July 31, 2011, 10:43:12 pm »

Quote from: Smudgester on July 30, 2011, 06:42:17 pm

Great guide Harinder - all looks easy enough.

I am thinking of dumping Sky and going down this route but just to keep the other half happy before I do ...

1) Does the ET9000 have (or can it be 'modded' so that it has) an EPG like Sky has in terms of navigating through channels, recorded shows, etc ?

2) Is there Sky+ like 'series link' functionality ?

Hi

1) - EPG like Sky? Yes. Not the same though. Takes a little getting used to but it's not bad and there are a few variations of it
2 - Series link. It has something called Auto-timer which is available as a plugin. It lets you select the prog you want and I believe the way it works is to search for the prog you pick or name you give it and then automatically records it

griffic · « **Reply #123 on:** August 1, 2011, 01:00:03 pm »

For anyone asking about the blade 7000 box, I've been using it over the weekend and pretty impressed. The picture quality is good, simple set up, full 7day epg not as nice looking as the sky one but works.

haven't tried recording anything with an external drive will give that a go this week.

For £150 I think it's a pretty good buy, but may be more suited for use as a second box. I am looking to move house fairly soon and when I do I think I will step up to a full blown linux box with dual tuner and motorised dish. I will probably put the blade box to use in another room, although my dad now has his eye on it for his motorhome.

That said if your on a budget and not bothered about having the option to watch something else while you record, this is a good choice.

I can currently get all the uk based channels, including the irish ones there are a few foreign channels you can pick up with the normal sky dish but not really looked at them to be honest. I will probably have a play round with it and see if I can pick anything else up just haven't had a chance yet.

Smudgester · « **Reply #124 on:** August 4, 2011, 06:44:14 pm »

Another question from me ...

I realise "magic eye" functionality may be out of the question but ... do most of these boxes have an RF out so that the picture can be sent to over TVs in the house ?

Harinder · « **Reply #125 on:** August 4, 2011, 08:24:47 pm »

I think the recommended way is to use this

http://www.sat-shop.co.uk/Digital-Receivers-Duolabs/c46_103/p526/Universal-RF-Modulator-(Scart-to-RF-adapter)/product_info.html

Smudgester · « **Reply #126 on:** August 4, 2011, 11:47:20 pm »

Quote from: Harinder on August 4, 2011, 08:24:47 pm

I think the recommended way is to use this

http://www.sat-shop.co.uk/Digital-Receivers-Duolabs/c46_103/p526/Universal-RF-Modulator-(Scart-to-RF-adapter)/product_info.html

Man, that is one ugly looking thing.

Quote from: Yosser0_0 on August 4, 2011, 09:18:08 pm

Things have kind of moved on since those fussy days and RF outputs are pretty much obsolete with most set top boxes.

Personally I would trust an RF feed over one of those video sender things (certainly the thick walls in my house) every time.

Quote from: Yosser0_0 on August 4, 2011, 09:18:08 pm

In terms of the magic eye functionality, these boxes are all running open source Linux images which provide web interfaces. This means you can operate the box remotely from a laptop or smartphone in order to change channels or set record timers.

That's very interesting. So you could use a smartphone in one room to control the box in another room ? Any guides / URLs you can point me to ?

Quote from: Yosser0_0 on August 4, 2011, 09:18:08 pm

You can even stream video to your laptop or another set top box / media player

Not too bothered about streaming out from the box though if it's possible to stream XVids, Divx to it then that would be an added bonu.

Quote from: Yosser0_0 on August 4, 2011, 09:18:08 pm

Most people just buy a second box, I've mentioned a DM500 Clone comes in at around 50 nicker, which is probably not much more than a magic eye / remote extender. You'd have to pull a satellite cable into the second room, but you'd be doing that anyway for the RF feed. Also you might have to change the dish LNB if it doesn't have enough outputs, but these really cost pennies nowadays.

All the RF coax cable is in place in already (it goes, via a splitter/amp in the lounge, from Sky's RF2 output to 3 TVs upstairs) so it would be extra wiring/drilling to add extra satellite cable. I know the Sky dish got upgraded when the box got upgraded to HD - don't know why, the engineer just told the missus "the dish looks old, it doesn't cost you anything so you might as well update it" but I have never bothered to look to see if he update to an 4 point LNB.

Quote from: Yosser0_0 on August 4, 2011, 09:18:08 pm

Once you've the second box, you can set it up to share the entitlements from the first box, your very own multi room.

Isn't this frowned upon, by server owners, from a card sharing perspective ?

Graeme · « **Reply #127 on:** August 17, 2011, 09:29:49 pm »

Having looked around I think I've decided on the ET9000 due to the fact it has twin tuners. I want this mainly for Saturday 3pm football. I'm told to do this I'll need to be getting my signals from Hotbird and Astra. These are the questions that I'm currently left with.

1. Can my existing Sky dish installed 2 years ago connect to either of these satellites in its current position?
2. If not, can a motor be added to it or do I need a whole new dish?
3. If I do need whole new setup, how much would I expect to pay for a Dish/LNB/Motor and installation?

Harinder · « **Reply #128 on:** August 17, 2011, 09:47:26 pm »

Quote from: Graeme on August 17, 2011, 09:29:49 pm

Having looked around I think I've decided on the ET9000 due to the fact it has twin tuners. I want this mainly for Saturday 3pm football. I'm told to do this I'll need to be getting my signals from Hotbird and Astra. These are the questions that I'm currently left with.

1. Can my existing Sky dish installed 2 years ago connect to either of these satellites in its current position?
2. If not, can a motor be added to it or do I need a whole new dish?
3. If I do need whole new setup, how much would I expect to pay for a Dish/LNB/Motor and installation?

Hi

1 - it can't. You need motorised to pick up European satellite channels. Astra can get you UK+Ireland as its set 28.8E
2 - unsure. A good place to ask/look around is world of satellite website and satstation
3 - http://www.sat-shop.co.uk/Motorised-Package-Deals/c86/index.html as a reference point.

Ben S · « **Reply #129 on:** August 17, 2011, 10:40:58 pm »

Hmmm interesting thread, will probably jump into this at the weekend and buy some stuff.

DUGlish · « **Reply #130 on:** August 18, 2011, 04:09:25 pm »

If anyone's interested give us a pm.

SKY UK (NOW IN HD). £200.00 (Standard Def) --- £250.00 (High Definition. Openbox)
I fit a dish (or can install to your existing sky dish), box, and you get 6 months free of all SKY UK channels (£60 every 6months thereafter). Setanta Ireland and Setanta sports are are now viewable on the HD BOX. Recording is available on the HD box for an extra £30.00(I have to purchase a harddrive) however you can only record and watch the same program.

ULTIMATE SATTELITE PACKAGE (NOW IN HD) - £350.00 (Standard Def) --- £400.00 (High Def. Openbox)
(6 months free, £60 every 6months thereafter). Includes motorised dish, box, installation. Sky UK, Hotbird, Astra, Eurobird, Firesat satelites. This is mainly for the footy if you literally don't want to miss any game anywhere in the world. English commentary on most stations aswell with the option to change language on the forigen sattelites. Recording is available on the HD box for an extra £30.00(I have to purchase a harddrive) however you can only record and watch the same program.

Graeme · « **Reply #131 on:** August 20, 2011, 08:47:13 pm »

Quote from: Harinder on August 17, 2011, 09:47:26 pm

Hi

1 - it can't. You need motorised to pick up European satellite channels. Astra can get you UK+Ireland as its set 28.8E
2 - unsure. A good place to ask/look around is world of satellite website and satstation
3 - http://www.sat-shop.co.uk/Motorised-Package-Deals/c86/index.html as a reference point.

Cheers for the reply.

The motorised dishes on that site vary from 80cm - 110cm. As I've said I want to mostly watch football, will an 80cm dish be big enough or does it have to be bigger?

FiSh77 · « **Reply #132 on:** August 20, 2011, 08:54:58 pm »

80cm should be fine

i get all the football that's on 13e & 19.2e, only game of ours i didn't see last season was northampton (thank fuck) and that's only cos it wasn't on anywhere

Harinder · « **Reply #133 on:** August 20, 2011, 08:58:02 pm »

Quote from: Graeme on August 20, 2011, 08:47:13 pm

Cheers for the reply.

The motorised dishes on that site vary from 80cm - 110cm. As I've said I want to mostly watch football, will an 80cm dish be big enough or does it have to be bigger?

this guy has it better than anything I know mate.

Quote from: Yosser0_0 on July 30, 2011, 11:32:01 pm

Pretty overwhelming for most people to be honest, I've been in the business for about twenty years (man and boy!) so I'm a bit of an old hand. You really need to have a steerable dish for the European beams, the kit is cheap nowadays, DM500 £50, Techomate motor £40, 85cm Dish £30, LNB £3. A tring card is probably about 200 nicker, then you have installation costs, but if your a diy-er, this is a great site with execellent sticky's and the experienced members provide great support to newbie's.

http://www.satellites.co.uk/forums/dish-setup-single-sat-multi-sat-motorised-systems/

Graeme · « **Reply #134 on:** September 14, 2011, 04:26:32 pm »

Quote from: FiSh77 on August 20, 2011, 08:54:58 pm

80cm should be fine

i get all the football that's on 13e & 19.2e, only game of ours i didn't see last season was northampton (thank fuck) and that's only cos it wasn't on anywhere

Had a satellite installer round today to site survey and quote.

I told him that it was only those two satellites I was interested in, he said based on that it would be better and cheaper to get a fixed dish with a Monoblock Twin LNB rather than a motorised dish.

He's quoted me £275 all in for...

80cm dish
Dish mount
1 monoblock twin lnb
8m coax
F plugs
Rawl bolts
Installation

Priced a little higher than I expected to be honest, but he's very highly recommended by a number of people in Southport so will use him when I get round to it.

iSmiff · « **Reply #135 on:** September 14, 2011, 08:34:02 pm »

Is that a dish that picks up two different signals from two different angles?

Graeme · « **Reply #136 on:** September 14, 2011, 08:50:11 pm »

Quote from: iSmiff on September 14, 2011, 08:34:02 pm

Is that a dish that picks up two different signals from two different angles?

That's my understanding yeah.

DanFromMars · « **Reply #137 on:** October 7, 2011, 07:49:43 pm »

What's the best way to go about getting one of these?

Am I right in thinking you pay £200 for a box that connects to your TV and you get sky and stuff? Do you need to pay a monthly fee or install a dish?

Lenin. · « **Reply #138 on:** October 8, 2011, 01:12:23 pm »

Quote from: DanFromMars on October 7, 2011, 07:49:43 pm

What's the best way to go about getting one of these?

Am I right in thinking you pay £200 for a box that connects to your TV and you get sky and stuff? Do you need to pay a monthly fee or install a dish?

Quote from: DUGlish on August 18, 2011, 04:09:25 pm

If anyone's interested give us a pm.

SKY UK (NOW IN HD). £200.00 (Standard Def) --- £250.00 (High Definition. Openbox)
I fit a dish (or can install to your existing sky dish), box, and you get 6 months free of all SKY UK channels (£60 every 6months thereafter). Setanta Ireland and Setanta sports are are now viewable on the HD BOX. Recording is available on the HD box for an extra £30.00(I have to purchase a harddrive) however you can only record and watch the same program.

ULTIMATE SATTELITE PACKAGE (NOW IN HD) - £350.00 (Standard Def) --- £400.00 (High Def. Openbox)
(6 months free, £60 every 6months thereafter). Includes motorised dish, box, installation. Sky UK, Hotbird, Astra, Eurobird, Firesat satelites. This is mainly for the footy if you literally don't want to miss any game anywhere in the world. English commentary on most stations aswell with the option to change language on the forigen sattelites. Recording is available on the HD box for an extra £30.00(I have to purchase a harddrive) however you can only record and watch the same program.

Harinder · « **Reply #139 on:** January 26, 2012, 09:53:12 pm »

ET9000 blew up overnight

Yes... blew. Power area inside all black and brown

DanFromMars · « **Reply #140 on:** January 27, 2012, 01:26:30 am »

Guess we know why they're called dodgy now

griffic · « **Reply #141 on:** April 21, 2012, 03:06:01 pm »

Just gonna purchase a VU+ duo any recomendations of which image I shoudl go for VIX or Blackhole appear to be the popular choices.

Harinder · « **Reply #142 on:** April 21, 2012, 04:52:27 pm »

Hi. Vix is a good image. I use it on the Ultimo.

griffic · « **Reply #143 on:** April 21, 2012, 05:08:57 pm »

How straight forward is it to use the EPG and recording etc.

got to be wife & child proof

Harinder · « **Reply #144 on:** April 21, 2012, 05:11:38 pm »

Very. Pick the programme and then green button to add timer (marked as Add Timer)

Its been a year or so now for me. Wife still ok with it all

griffic · « **Reply #145 on:** April 21, 2012, 06:28:08 pm »

Cheers will have a look at that then

Socrates7 · « **Reply #146 on:** April 21, 2012, 09:37:19 pm »

Is it still worth doing this? I seem to remember reading that the English commentary was being removed from all foreign satellite feeds?

Smudgester · « **Reply #147 on:** April 22, 2012, 03:02:14 pm »

Quote from: Socrates7 on April 21, 2012, 09:37:19 pm

Is it still worth doing this? I seem to remember reading that the English commentary was being removed from all foreign satellite feeds?

AFAIK that is one of the Premier League's options (having lost the pompey landlady case) but it is by no means certain to happen.

iSmiff · « **Reply #148 on:** April 22, 2012, 04:01:50 pm »

It's mostly the 'lesser' games that won't be in english.

sharkeyb · « **Reply #149 on:** May 24, 2012, 08:16:03 pm »

considering boxing one of these, have any of the prem games near the end of the season been affected?

FiSh77 · « **Reply #150 on:** May 24, 2012, 08:55:48 pm »

all our games have been on but most haven't had english commentary since march

we're (still) a big enough draw around europe so i don't think it'll affect next season, especially as quite a few games will be on sundays if we qualify for the uefa cup group stage, the number of channels we'll be on will be a lot less than in previous seasons though so this will be the best option as opposed to buying a legit card then finding the premier league will still only allow them to show one game at a time

it might get better in the future as i can see the foreign broadcasters standing their ground when the deal comes up for renewal next year and the premier league backing down as there's too much money at stake for them, they can't do anything about the sale/use of cards so the measure's we've seen since march are about the best they can legally come up with

sharkeyb · « **Reply #151 on:** May 24, 2012, 09:12:17 pm »

hmm - yeah me arl fella alot of the time cant be arsed going the boozer to watch the games, he's 64 now, we used to have a blag cable box (rip) which he loved forthe togger, we wouldn't get full use of sky, we're just into the footy.

so just as a ball park figure, how much would it cost to
a. set up?
b. maintain per year?

Harinder · « **Reply #152 on:** May 25, 2012, 01:17:02 am »

Quote from: sharkeyb on May 24, 2012, 09:12:17 pm

hmm - yeah me arl fella alot of the time cant be arsed going the boozer to watch the games, he's 64 now, we used to have a blag cable box (rip) which he loved forthe togger, we wouldn't get full use of sky, we're just into the footy.

so just as a ball park figure, how much would it cost to
a. set up?
b. maintain per year?

Hi. Boxes vary from £80 to £800. Few posts on this thread should poi to you the right way on getting a look at what is out there and what will suit your budget and needs. Dishes vary too. You only need motorized to get things such as European/foreign sats else sky dish will do for UK and Ireland. Card sharing subs vary too from £25 for 3 months to £70 odd for the whole year!

ScouserAlec · « **Reply #153 on:** May 25, 2012, 01:40:46 pm »

I'm really intrested in one of these boxes.

If anyone is able to them can you please PM me. Thanks

dave 5516 · « **Reply #154 on:** May 25, 2012, 10:10:22 pm »

Quote from: DUGlish on August 18, 2011, 04:09:25 pm

If anyone's interested give us a pm.

SKY UK (NOW IN HD). £200.00 (Standard Def) --- £250.00 (High Definition. Openbox)
I fit a dish (or can install to your existing sky dish), box, and you get 6 months free of all SKY UK channels (£60 every 6months thereafter). Setanta Ireland and Setanta sports are are now viewable on the HD BOX. Recording is available on the HD box for an extra £30.00(I have to purchase a harddrive) however you can only record and watch the same program.

ULTIMATE SATTELITE PACKAGE (NOW IN HD) - £350.00 (Standard Def) --- £400.00 (High Def. Openbox)
(6 months free, £60 every 6months thereafter). Includes motorised dish, box, installation. Sky UK, Hotbird, Astra, Eurobird, Firesat satelites. This is mainly for the footy if you literally don't want to miss any game anywhere in the world. English commentary on most stations aswell with the option to change language on the forigen sattelites. Recording is available on the HD box for an extra £30.00(I have to purchase a harddrive) however you can only record and watch the same program.

Quote from: ScouserAlec on May 25, 2012, 01:40:46 pm

I'm really intrested in one of these boxes.

If anyone is able to them can you please PM me. Thanks

Try this.

Teapot · « **Reply #155 on:** June 25, 2012, 08:23:03 pm »

Where can i buy cloned dream boxes? preferably with the images already installed?

Harinder · « **Reply #156 on:** June 25, 2012, 08:27:58 pm »

Quote from: Teapot on June 25, 2012, 08:23:03 pm

Where can i buy cloned dream boxes? preferably with the images already installed?

Can recommend these 2 places. Both tried and tested

Lavatronics - http://www.sat-shop.co.uk/
World of Satellite - http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/index.php?route=common/home

Usually when adding box of choice you get an option for which image you want installed

Teapot · « **Reply #157 on:** June 25, 2012, 08:30:29 pm »

Thanks.

im looking to get 2 boxes installed in the house, ideally i'd like both to be able to record etc is this possible? also, how does the card sharing work if i have 2 boxes in the house? i dont mind paying 2 subscriptions, but do the card sharers allow it?

thanks again.

Harinder · « **Reply #158 on:** June 25, 2012, 08:43:19 pm »

Quote from: Teapot on June 25, 2012, 08:30:29 pm

Thanks.

im looking to get 2 boxes installed in the house, ideally i'd like both to be able to record etc is this possible? also, how does the card sharing work if i have 2 boxes in the house? i dont mind paying 2 subscriptions, but do the card sharers allow it?

thanks again.

Yup - both recording shouldn't be an issue. Dependency is on number of feeds coming in from your current sat i.e. say Sky dish you have has octo lnb (8 wires basically) coming out you can send 2 to one box and 2 to the other. This way recording and viewing independently is sorted on either box

Card sharers do allow 2 seperate subs. Some of them offer a reduction on the second one

Teapot · « **Reply #159 on:** June 25, 2012, 08:58:16 pm »

thanks again.

ive been checking those websites out for the cloned boxes, they dont look like the cloned versions as they are around the normal asking price as an original. is there anywhere else i can get cloned versions?

thanks