I would appreciate Guidance on selecting a reciever : budget 400 ish pounds

[davidcmadrid]

Hi All,

I have managed I think to grasp the basics of a satelite system ( though I have areas of confusion ) and intend to migrate from " Canal+ " here in Central Spain to I hope the new Astra 2F Satelitte when it comes online ( and I know from Signal reports what size dish I will need to get the UK beam ). My intention is to start my " collection " of equipment with the reciever ( Linux card sharing capable ) by replacing the STB which is fed from a dish pointing at at 19.2° east.

The requirements of the reciever as I think I need them are :

1. Linux operating system for its customization and card sharing benefit. If it can act as a " server " to family via Wan so much the better though this isnt critical. I had been drawn to technomate untill reading some of the pros here saying avoid like plague etc so I have realised that the reciever should have Good software momentum and user base with Open Source community happy in general with manufacturer. Im comfortable enough in linux command line but like everybody else appreciate user friendliness

2. Watch 1 Channell / Record Another / ( Twin Tuner ? ). I am thinking also that if i have to get a 1.4 - 1-8 M dish it may be impractical to rotate the dish so the ability to have 2 LNB inputs ( same as tuners right ? ) may be helpful to have 2 dishes for the main satelites of interest.


3. Control Motor and LNB polarization. Im a little confused here about the details but I have the impression that everything can be controlled with 1 cable , motor and polarization . Though if its only in the V / H sense and not say circular etc .. anyway confused there dont know how much control of this you can have and how much is needed. I think also its possible to switch lnb if I had more than 1 LNB in the dish though how many of these fancies features can be combined im clueless really.


4. Sensitive Tuner given requirment to recieve Astra 2F Uk beam from Central Spain. This is one of the things that I suppose is important and one of the reasons Im setting the budget higher than perhaps the cheaper end of the market. A lot of the know how and setups I have come accross have been from people solidly within the UK Beam so the quality of the tuner is perhaps less an issue but i suspect there is a wide gamut of quality on offer in this respect and worry that some of the cheaper solutions wont be useful to the ultimate objective , capture of 2F when BBC / Sky etc move there.


5. I dont really know if I need WIFI connectivity , it would be simpler but I know that WIFI increases ping and could lead to some freezing etc. This could be wide of the mark though.

6. PVR I do have disk drivers knocking about so doesnt have to be built in.

Im most likely going to buy within Europe in order to get local support , am I dreaming to think i can meet my requirements for this budget and is there a clear winner for you. I respect I may get different opinions but Im running around the internet a bit and a lot of the reviews are basic and to a certain extent this seems to me to be " niche ".

Finally if you made it this far , thank you for making it through what must for experienced folks be " another " .." what reciever " thread. Any thoughts you have are most welcome.

 

[wiz569]

Ok for your requirements stated above you will need,in my opinion,a dual tuner linux box capable of pvr functions,

But you budget is not helping
Best bet for what you want is a Original Vu+ Duo @£280ish,
You could get a clone for about £180 but they seem to be a bit hit and miss tbh,

Probably the best clone around is the DM800se at about £150 but its a single tuner,

As for a 1.4-1.8m dish then a normal motor wont move it afaik,I think it needs a vbox or positioner,probably another 40-50 quid maybe more as you will then need an actuator to move the dish,so fixed is probably better for that dish,you could then get say a 1.1m dish for the motorished end of things,

You can get quad or even octo lnbs as well as disqec switches for your other needs regarding multiple dishes/boxes

 

[davidcmadrid]

Ok for your requirements stated above you will need,in my opinion,a dual tuner linux box capable of pvr functions,

But you budget is not helping
Best bet for what you want is a Original Vu+ Duo @£280ish,

Thank you , this thread for me is already a score , while i had seen the Vu brand I had not realised it was linux. You said my "budget isnt helping" .. do you think I should be prepared to spend more on this item ? Given my location im very wary of clones because of the need to get a good tuner.

 

[wiz569]

Thank you , this thread for me is already a score , while i had seen the Vu brand I had not realised it was linux. You said my "budget isnt helping" .. do you think I should be prepared to spend more on this item ? Given my location im very wary of clones because of the need to get a good tuner.

Well considering your budget of £400 and then subtracting the cost of say the Vu+ Duo @£280 = £120

1.8m dish at least £100 plus you need a special mount for them as far as I know,

So that only leaves you £20 for lnb's and switches

 

[digidude]

is the £400 budget only for the receiver, or for the whole system?

either way, DO NOT buy a clone if reliability is a major factor in your system

linux twin tuner receivers are the Vu+ Duo, Technomate TM-TWIN and TM-2T keeping within your budget, just over budget is the Vu+ Ultimo, there is a new Duo2 due out at some point in the future

theres also linux based receivers, like the ET9000, but i have no experience with these

im pretty sure that all of them except the Duo2 (and possibly the ultimo) have the same tuners based on the broadcom 7335 chipset

the main support for Vu+ receivers, is the ViX image, and EVERYTHING is freely available via github, including the source code to built a ViX technomate twin and 2t image, even though theres no official release by ViX for technomate

 

[davidcmadrid]

Hi,

My budget for the reciever alone is 400 pounds ( appx ) , sorry if this wasnt clear. Digidude, thanks for the reply also.

 

[wiz569]

Cheers for the input digi

Personally I would stay away from the Technomates at the moment as the support is very thin on the ground and track record with linux boxes from them is not good