OK, so ive taken it out of the box and in usual digidude fasion, attacked it with a screwdriver, and ripped its lid off roud: and the VERY first thing i see, i like.
now normally, where the mains lead enters a receiver, the live side of the lead loops straight from the lead to a single pole switch, which acts as the power switch on the rear of the receiver, which if you have a FIXED plug top on the end of the cable, is fine, but if you have either a 2pin EU power plug, or a fig8 lead, then you dont know if that switch is actually disconnecting the live supply BEFORE it enters the receiver, or if its actually leaving an 'open neutral' by not allowing the live entering the receiver to complete its circuit, meaning that even when turned off, the whole receiver is still live, untill the switch, as the current is flowing through the PSU in the opposite direction than expected
This receiver has the incoming supply connected directly to the PSU board, then its regulated so that NO MATTER what way around you plug it in, the whole receiver is isloated from the mains current when turned off
this, i like
next, the power supply itself, quality 105 degree electrolytic capacitors, but, i personally feel that the main smoothing capacitor is a little too small to last any great length of time, and do think that this will be the weak link in the receiver, it just seems too compact, its also 'cuxcom' which ive seen with my own eyes actually explode in the past (but im sure this will be fine, if its going to explode, itll do it when its first powered up, im getting to this bit)
looking further than the power supply, the connections from the PSU to the main board are all clearly marked, so if you wanted to fit a fan, it would be simple to find different voltages for different fan speeds, nice
looking towards the tuners, theres space on the board to fit the third tuner, yes, you would need to dremel out the rear of the case, and get the soldering iron out, but, everything (except for the tuner itself) is in place to allow this to be added. as a side note, i thought the receiver id bought WAS a triple tuner model, i dont know what the price difference bewteen the twin and triple tuner models are, or if fitting the 3rd tuner yourself would justify the extra charge, but, it can be done if you are confident enough with stuff like this
this brings me back to what i said about first powering it up, which i havent done yet
i bought this receiver from a trade outlet which hasnt seen one of these receivers before, and one thing i noticed, was that the bag containing the receiver inside the box looked wrong, next thing i notice, is a big thumb print on the top of the receiver, and then i notice that the power switch on the back is in the ON position, so obviously the place i got it from fancied having a quick look first as well lol, so im assuming its not going to explode when i first power it on
the user manual is VERY detailed (from a quick look) but, about 4/5 of it is marked as the NETWORKING section
the remote reminds me of a coolstream HD receiver i once had about 18 months ago, but without the see through buttons, but, with dedicated FIND, EPG and timeshift buttons, and a big blue one with a house on it in the midle saying PORTAL, my next post should be an interesting one
now normally, where the mains lead enters a receiver, the live side of the lead loops straight from the lead to a single pole switch, which acts as the power switch on the rear of the receiver, which if you have a FIXED plug top on the end of the cable, is fine, but if you have either a 2pin EU power plug, or a fig8 lead, then you dont know if that switch is actually disconnecting the live supply BEFORE it enters the receiver, or if its actually leaving an 'open neutral' by not allowing the live entering the receiver to complete its circuit, meaning that even when turned off, the whole receiver is still live, untill the switch, as the current is flowing through the PSU in the opposite direction than expected
This receiver has the incoming supply connected directly to the PSU board, then its regulated so that NO MATTER what way around you plug it in, the whole receiver is isloated from the mains current when turned off
this, i like
next, the power supply itself, quality 105 degree electrolytic capacitors, but, i personally feel that the main smoothing capacitor is a little too small to last any great length of time, and do think that this will be the weak link in the receiver, it just seems too compact, its also 'cuxcom' which ive seen with my own eyes actually explode in the past (but im sure this will be fine, if its going to explode, itll do it when its first powered up, im getting to this bit)
looking further than the power supply, the connections from the PSU to the main board are all clearly marked, so if you wanted to fit a fan, it would be simple to find different voltages for different fan speeds, nice
looking towards the tuners, theres space on the board to fit the third tuner, yes, you would need to dremel out the rear of the case, and get the soldering iron out, but, everything (except for the tuner itself) is in place to allow this to be added. as a side note, i thought the receiver id bought WAS a triple tuner model, i dont know what the price difference bewteen the twin and triple tuner models are, or if fitting the 3rd tuner yourself would justify the extra charge, but, it can be done if you are confident enough with stuff like this
this brings me back to what i said about first powering it up, which i havent done yet
i bought this receiver from a trade outlet which hasnt seen one of these receivers before, and one thing i noticed, was that the bag containing the receiver inside the box looked wrong, next thing i notice, is a big thumb print on the top of the receiver, and then i notice that the power switch on the back is in the ON position, so obviously the place i got it from fancied having a quick look first as well lol, so im assuming its not going to explode when i first power it on
the user manual is VERY detailed (from a quick look) but, about 4/5 of it is marked as the NETWORKING section
the remote reminds me of a coolstream HD receiver i once had about 18 months ago, but without the see through buttons, but, with dedicated FIND, EPG and timeshift buttons, and a big blue one with a house on it in the midle saying PORTAL, my next post should be an interesting one