Complete Noob! Pls Help

[bloodscrap]

Hi all

Im in a bit of a confused minefield atm. I live in France and have an old Sly plus box which Ive had to take apart to solder on new capacitors recently. But Im fed up of the fact that I cant record with it because Sly want a subscription and then I cant get the files off of it even if I had which is really annoying.

I have a couple of things I want to be able to do and I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction as to get out of the minefield on which box I should look at.

I want to be able to receive French Free to view satellite channels and UK Freesat as well as being able to record the programs to watch later, I would prefer it if the box would connect to or use an external HDD or even ethernet (if possible).

I have a Diseq motorised dish and an original Sly dish both are set up as I also have a Technomate 1500 CI both of the boxes are really old now and need updating.

I also have a DNLA server running so any connection that will allow me to utilise that to view the recorded programs would be great.

I am on a severely limited budget so compromises maybe necessary or retaining old equipment.

I am a computer engineer too so if any suggestions include a USB or PCI-e card then thats also good.

So basically all I want is to be able to receive French TV so I can listen and learn, whilst being able to watch and or record to a box or computer UK freesat.

Can anyone help???
Thanks in advance
Blood

[garry1312]

Right mate how many receivers are you looking for?

What is your budget?

Also there is more out there than just free view. Also I would get the Sky receiver to **** rip it apart get the HDD out it.

You have given a good bit of information but more is required and as you say no sub to Sky then no record but there are other receivers on the market, if you simply just want to record when out then a single tuner will be fine, if you want to record 2 things at once or even more then theres other receivers out there.

If you have a motorised dish theres much more than French and UK sat you can receive.

Basically how many receivers do you need? What is your budget. Does one or more need to be twin tuner or more or are you okay for all to be single tuner?

[bloodscrap]

Thanks for the quick reply

Its complicated because Im not sure which avenue to go down and to explain it all may require quite a few lines of text. So you will need to prepare yourself, and I apologise in advance.

The crappy sky box has a 40pin parallel drive ATA133 160GB in it so its pretty much useless nowadays because its not SATA. Ive disconnected it because it was just using more power than necessary, I believe its an old Amstrad box.

I have 2 televisions one next to the 2 monitors for the computer and one on the wall opposite which is pointed towards the bed.

The one on the wall is a Sony KDL-32P3000 32" and is connected through a 60cm wall into a small room where the satellite dish connection is and an AV system as well as power sockets and shelves on the wall to put the systems on. The only thing on the wall with the TV is the TV of course and a little stand which I made to put a Patriot PBO media player on which is connected via HDMI and to the RJ45

Because of where the sky box is situated it would make it difficult to replace because I would need a box which can work with the Magic eye as its not in the same room as the TV's. Also there is no HDMI through the 60cm thick wall from the box to the bigger TV. Its not impossible to put one in but its gonna be very difficult to do so if I have to. But due to the Magic eye problem I havent even considered that because it uses coax.

The smaller TV which is next to the computer and 2 monitors is connected via a Thomson Video sender which has a Composite connection. Its not HD compatible but would still work as everything still has a scart connector.

I cant move the box the other side of the wall due to space on the wall and wires etc...

So its gets quite complicated. The small room in which the box is situated is in the middle of the building whereas the computer desk is on an outside wall.

So what I was thinking was maybe I would have to stick with the Sky box although I hate it and look for another box I can put on the computer desk and connects to RJ45 the computer and the smaller TV.

Ive got a quad LNB HD compatible which I can put on the Sky dish so I can get 2 feeds from it for the box Im thinking of putting on the computer desk and then I would take down the motorised dish from the other house and put it on the wall outside this place and then run a line to which ever box/PCi-e/USB device I get for on the computer table or computer.

I could also do it this way... and thats to get something that has TNT/freeview as an aerial input as well as satellite and receive the french TV that way as well as using either dish for the satellite input. If such a thing exists. Ive seen that the Hauppauge 4400 PCi-e has this ability but I am lost when trying to find another card to compare to as I cant find out if its any good or not after searching all over the net and Ive heard that Hauppauge arent that good. I had a Hauppauge TV card about 12yrs ago and that was crap so Im inclined to believe what Ive read.

Having french TV on both TV's isnt necessary however having UK TV on both TV's is. The french TV can remain on the smaller TV next to the computer.

As Im sure you are finding as youre reading this isnt a simple problem!

I cant go adding wires into the centre of the house because of all the plasterboard that would have to be damaged to fit it around all the walls and mounting it externally isnt an option... So I can only get new wires to the Computer and small TV area.

I have a budget of about £150

So effectively I want one box which has RJ45 or USB access/transfer to the computer to either transfer recordings or to record using. Or one PCi-e card/USB receiver which can do both french and english TV.

I did have a play with the older Technomate but Ill be damned if it would ever pick anything up in English other than on Astra D which kind of made it pointless. The other house had an aerial but that didnt pick up digital very well. I have a new digital aerial which I can put up. I bought it about 5yrs ago but due to renovations is still in the box.

So all in all I have quite a few parts that would be necessary to get this going the way I want if I can find the right receiver to do what I want and its there I get stuck. Is there a dreambox which will do as I want? Or is there another make possibly? Or do you know of a good PCi-e card/USB dongle which will work on the computer screens?

The whole problem is mind boggling and I keep getting wrapped up in 1000s of forum posts not only here but on computer sites. Trying to find out the capabilities from less than informative manufacturer sites. As I was a member here back in 2006 when I was playing with the Technomate I remembered how helpful you guys were so I thought I would try and ask for some help, but I fear this might even have your guys stumped.

Thanks for your help
Blood

[garry1312]

Apology accepted mate I personally dont have a motorised set up but in my opinion you are not using it to its full potential and making things difficult for yourself. (also add more details such as what size of dish etc and others will be able to advice what other sats you should be able to pick up)

Personally if it was me I would bin the Sky receiver or stick it on Ebay or whatever its not much use.

There is so much more from the sat scene than I think you realise. I cant mention to much as I would end up breaking forum rules.

Personally if it was me I would ditch the Sky receiver replace it with another twin tuner receiver for another room i.e. bedroom a single tuner would suit me.

Will send you a PM mate as i feel you are stuck on the idea of free view be it UK or French is the only option.

Do your research though mate on the sat scene

[bloodscrap]

Thanks for that garry, the size of the dish is a 1m dish having measured it today with a diseq 1.2 motor. Ive been looking around at the boxes and some things still confuse me like what is the Sim 1.2? M tunner? Gemi 5.1? BL84?

All associated with a clone DM800 HD plus there seem to be a thousand types of this box all with different Prefixes which Ive no idea what they are.

Where would be the cheapest and most trustworthy place to buy one of these from. As Ive been looking on youtube and reading on here and this model seems to do what I want but Im still unsure if it would allow recordings to be taken off via ethernet to store on computer and also what format the videos are recorded to by the box.

I hope you can help

PS and why does there seem to be a £150 difference between a single tuner and a dual tuner! Thats ridiculous! its more than the Single box alone. I got the prices from this place which was recommended by a guy on here in another thread, but there were reports of problems with the guy who sells them if the item is defective which is something I want to avoid. http://www.mixeshop.com/Supply-for-d...hd-8000hd_c231

[ramjet]

any digital satellite box can do most of what you require , subject to your dish being able to pick up the channels , so if the tm1500ci can pick up these channels then so can anything else

ideally you want a twin tuner with built in facility for a hdd like the sly plus, so a vu+ duo should work fine , and should be able to use a nas or stream to a pc or laptop. a dreambox would also work although on your budget its a single tuner not a dual tuner (with dual tuner you can watch one and record another , or record 2 channels , sometimes maybe more)

for external hdd models the blade or tm5402 may suffice although you wont be able to stream from the box to a pc or nas or laptop. but it will record to usb hdd externally

I would check if the wanted channels can be received on your tm1500 boxes first, then change the sky dish lnb to a quad and then setup a twin coax feed (shotgun)

you can even use the tm1500 to position the motorised dish , although any replacment box will do so

I have never tried the hauppage sat cards but am sure they may help provide a solution

as for ethernet, you have the options of cat5 wired, wireless like the vonets adapter, or homeplugs for ethernet over the mains wiring same as we do in the uk

so if possible get twin coax feeds to the locations you need the boxes or cards in, ethernet facilities to the same locations from your router, and look to getting linux boxes if you can (vu or dreambox), and possibly a single tuner blade or tm5402

magic eyes require a delta blueblaster or global plus sytem or similar to allow remote changing of boxes , and an rf modulator if the box is to send coax signals like the rf2 on a sly plus box (or one with a modulator built in like the tm5402 HD or spiderbox HD)

the old sly plus SD box is useless as its a pata hdd and its worth nothing either

[ramjet]

Thanks for that garry, the size of the dish is a 1m dish having measured it today with a diseq 1.2 motor. Ive been looking around at the boxes and some things still confuse me like what is the Sim 1.2? M tunner? Gemi 5.1? BL84?

All associated with a clone DM800 HD plus there seem to be a thousand types of this box all with different Prefixes which Ive no idea what they are.

Where would be the cheapest and most trustworthy place to buy one of these from. As Ive been looking on youtube and reading on here and this model seems to do what I want but Im still unsure if it would allow recordings to be taken off via ethernet to store on computer and also what format the videos are recorded to by the box.

I hope you can help

PS and why does there seem to be a £150 difference between a single tuner and a dual tuner! Thats ridiculous! its more than the Single box alone. I got the prices from this place which was recommended by a guy on here in another thread, but there were reports of problems with the guy who sells them if the item is defective which is something I want to avoid. For DM500S/C/HD 800HD 8000HD : www.mixeshop.com

as with any electronic device , with the newer models they upgrade components as you well know with computers and mobiles etc

these linux boxes use a sim card for authentication(sim card as in like a phone sim card), the tuners have been upgraded and so get a new letter , and the bootloaders are to protect the originals against the clones, so mainly anti-clone measures and upgraded components too

so its all a part of the original dmm design , but there are clones as well as originals. and also model numbers and specifications change in both originals and in clones

just look at a bmw or a ford to see what I mean, various options or upgrades etc , and thats not including copies like the clones either

twin tuners also require more electronics so they can do more tasks , so its like 2 boxes inside one shell, although I am not convinced that a dual tuner is twice the price of a single tuner myself (compare like for like , not originals versus clones)

I believe the files are recorded in mpeg, and yes you can ftp them from a linux box to a pc or nas using an ftp program like flash fxp or filezilla, or you can mount a nas and record directly to it instead of any internal hdd you may fit

most boxes use sata laptop 2.5 inch internal hdd drives , although some will use 3.5 inch sata ones instead (like the sly plus HD boxes do)

gemini is the original dmm firmware placed onto a dreambox, there are hacked images and 3rd party images for the linux boxes too

[bloodscrap]

Thats excellent information Ramjet! Thanks for taking the time to put it down for me.

So basically there is a war of protection vs anti protection a bit like the Jailbreakers vs Apple with the i-devices. That makes sense.

By Mpeg do you mean Mpeg1 (mpg), Mpeg2 (mpeg) or Mpeg4 (mp4)? I would have thought that for HD recordings it would be mp4?

Would the sim card require replacement at intervals or is it essentially a hacked version that will allow it to work for the life of the device? (As it will be a clone Ill buy, originals are far too expensive!)

The site I gave with the last post are for clones and there really was a huge difference between the single and dual tuner versions which made me baulk a little! Like the DM800 HD with all the features I asked about earlier at £72 and the DM800 HD Dual at £255!

Thats great news that I can copy the files off of the box is there any samba support? I can use ftp but I prefer it simple these days (getting older )

Which clones can make use of a 3.5" HDD? The one on the site I mentioned earlier only uses 2.5" which isnt too much of a problem but I have spare WD 500GB RE (Raid Edition) drives sat around so would prefer to use one of those.

Updating and hacking the boxes shouldnt be a problem once Ive learned the procedure as Ive done it with iphones, PSP's, PBO and many other devices. As long as its not going to be a once a week job that would do my head in.

I did like the look of the Vu+ it has a good design, I know it uses 3.5" HDDs as Ive seen it on youtube in a few videos. My only concern is how good is the back support and longevity of the box. I would want a box I can keep upto date for the next 5yrs or so. And the dual tuner is prohibitive on my budget and if I can I would like to stretch to one that has the dual tuner feature.

I have a full Cat6 network setup with Netgear Prosafe switches nailed down to inch every ounce of speed out of the network coupled with a Prosafe Router/firewall and setup with NAS/DLNA servers (have to use 2 due to differing hardware) so networking isnt a problem. Theres connections to every needed position and where the Box would sit there are 2 connections should duplex be necessary in the future or 2 network devices.

DLNA server is on Windows though but will be Linux when I next rebuild it. When I built it the configuration I wanted the servers in question werent running too good (4yrs ago)

Ive got to take down the motorised dish from the other house to put it up so that would be a fresh install, it wasnt receiving properly with the TMS-1500 so Ive got to take my time with it this time and get it right.

Can you recommend a RF modulator that has a pass through? I say this because I use a video sender for one TV through scart and from what Ive seen the boxes only have a single scart.

Thanks guys

[potrobber]

hello blodscrap

the vu duo clone will take a 3.5 sata drive i would recommend going for this over any of the dm boxs

for one the vu+ clone range run the genuine firmware
unlike the dm range that use patched firmware and results in people putting on the wrong
bootloader or sim version for there box

second is the fact the vu duo has a much larger casing near the size of sly box which means it runs alot cooler dms are very compact and some people have over heating issues with them

i know your doning your homework now with all this, my best advice is read the dm section and enigma2 section to see how many people have had trouble with clone dms and flashed with wrong image

and also the vu section there is not so many people having trouble with flashing images as there is none to mix up as i said genuine images work on clone vu range

clone duo is around 175 and clone solo is around 110 inc postage

[bloodscrap]

Thats clarified it then Thanks very much. Im actually doing my homework on the RF modulator and TVLink Plus at this very minute.

Found the GLOBAL INVACOM TV LINK PLUS ADAPTER + PSU + MAGIC EYE on fleabay for £27.95 + 5.00

The box is up quite high so having better thermal dissipation is a much better idea. And to be honest I preferred the front panel design and screen on the VU+

The 3.5" HDD slot is easier as I wouldnt need a new Hard Disk to get it up and running. Ive found a second remote which I would need on fleabay for it however there arent as many people selling them in comparison to the DM box remotes. But cheap enough at £11.99 + 3.99 delivered. The boxes on fleabay must be originals as they are really expensive.

Can you point me in the right direction as to where I can get a clone box from that is reliable and reputable?

Im also looking at a Marmitek Megaview60 to do away with the video sender but its all added cost which I havent got atm. So some things I will have to wait a while to get.

Do you also know of a connector that I can use to extend a coax cable to use as a second LNB connection that wont degrade the signal too much? I cant replace the cable as its behind several walls and around corners.

[ramjet]

Thats clarified it then Thanks very much. Im actually doing my homework on the RF modulator and TVLink Plus at this very minute.

Found the GLOBAL INVACOM TV LINK PLUS ADAPTER + PSU + MAGIC EYE on fleabay for £27.95 + 5.00

The box is up quite high so having better thermal dissipation is a much better idea. And to be honest I preferred the front panel design and screen on the VU+

The 3.5" HDD slot is easier as I wouldnt need a new Hard Disk to get it up and running. Ive found a second remote which I would need on fleabay for it however there arent as many people selling them in comparison to the DM box remotes. But cheap enough at £11.99 + 3.99 delivered. The boxes on fleabay must be originals as they are really expensive.

Can you point me in the right direction as to where I can get a clone box from that is reliable and reputable?

Im also looking at a Marmitek Megaview60 to do away with the video sender but its all added cost which I havent got atm. So some things I will have to wait a while to get.

Do you also know of a connector that I can use to extend a coax cable to use as a second LNB connection that wont degrade the signal too much? I cant replace the cable as its behind several walls and around corners.

dont be fooled by the prices , many clones are sold as originals and can be extremely hard to spot. once bought there is a plugin to check authenticity, so I would acquaint yourself with the dmm website in germany to try to be aware of the differences, assuming you dont want a clone

as stated by potrobber, the vu is possibly better for you anyway

you do not split a sat cable, but you can use an a or b switch that uses f connector to have 2 boxes on one coax cable, where the coax cable is the COMMON and A or B are the 2 boxes

alternatively you can connect the f-conn loop out of the first box to your second box loop in, and use one or the other (same as you could with your tm1500 too)

if using a single coax cable you severely restrict the abilities of the boxes, but they can be used in single tuner mode, or buy a solo instead

[bloodscrap]

Well looking at the prices of the originals I would have to get a clone VU+! I just need to know of a decent place to buy one from. I would like to buy the single tuner that potrobber mentioned in his post for £110 delivered as that seems a good price. Or depending on if the thing I have written below is possible the dual tuner.

The reason for asking to join the cable was to be able to use the other coax that is already in the wall and is cut halfway because it was for sending TV up to the games room but hasnt been used yet so I was wondering if I could add to it via a joiner to make it reach the dish for the second input for recording as it goes to the sat box as it is. Not for another box. Im afraid Ive got so many things running through my mind that I havent been as descriptive as I should be and I apologise for that.

[ramjet]

Well looking at the prices of the originals I would have to get a clone VU+! I just need to know of a decent place to buy one from. I would like to buy the single tuner that potrobber mentioned in his post for £110 delivered as that seems a good price. Or depending on if the thing I have written below is possible the dual tuner.

The reason for asking to join the cable was to be able to use the other coax that is already in the wall and is cut halfway because it was for sending TV up to the games room but hasnt been used yet so I was wondering if I could add to it via a joiner to make it reach the dish for the second input for recording as it goes to the sat box as it is. Not for another box. Im afraid Ive got so many things running through my mind that I havent been as descriptive as I should be and I apologise for that.

just put an F connector onto it, add a back to back barrel connector, and add your extension coax using 2 more F connectors, its as simple as that to extend a coax cable and cheap too

[bloodscrap]

Lol Ah ok! Thats cool. Ive always been under the impression that using connectors would introduce too much noise on what is a low signal strength connection. Obviously it isnt all that bad, which is cool because Ive already got those parts Thanks again

[ramjet]

Lol Ah ok! Thats cool. Ive always been under the impression that using connectors would introduce too much noise on what is a low signal strength connection. Obviously it isnt all that bad, which is cool because Ive already got those parts Thanks again

the barrel can be swapped for a line amp if necessary , but I dont think you will need one