what system to go for

[tonybe]

hi
i am a complete novice to satellite tv and need some advice about what system would suit me, i have previously used a cheap kodi box and paid for a build to put on it
this was okay for films but live sports was abit of a nightmare,
i am now looking to get a complete new system e satellite dish and a box already set up with all channels (plug and Play), i have also seen these Now tv boxes for sale that have all the channels installed from ?80 on ebay
i do not have sly or vermin installed at my house just a freeview box and kodi box
what system would you recommend and where would you advise i buy from, i do not record a lot, are these now tv boxes reliable
i know i am asking a lot but any advice would be appreciated

[ramjet]

I doubt that you will get anything "plug and play" , they all take some work and knowledge by the owner and without knowing your skills its impossible to say

if there is no vermin to your house you can forget that idea

using satellite boxes requires a suitable dish and pointing in the right direction with no obstacles , be it for freesat or other sat channels

[tonybe]

thanks ramjet
i do have some knowledge of computers and i am able to fix the dish on the gable of my bungalow and run the cable myself ,just need some advice on what box to buy for the easiest set up
budget around ?100/?150 for the box ?100 for dish and cable

[ramjet]

these questions have been asked and answered dozens of times on here and on other forums

personally I would buy a VU box , but the "clone" versions of zgemma are also well recommended

bear in mind that whichever sat box you buy , it wont be "plug and play" and will require setting up and ongoing maintenance etc

plus you should consider that whichever box you buy will only give you free to air channels , like bbc1 and itv etc , nothing else

the methods to give you the "extras" cannot be discussed on most forums , especially not here , and wont be "free" either

but as for your question , ask 20 people and you will get 20 different answers , everybody has an opinion , even me

but for me , I mainly use vu boxes like the solo2 with internal HDD and wouldnt be without them

as for dish , get an 80cm or 90cm dish unless you are going to use a fixed sly dish on 28 east only
and dont forget you need an lnb as well, so a dual or quad output lnb would be ideal

if using a sly dish , get a sly quad lnb to go with it, and twin "shotgun" cable and the correct f connectors for the cable you buy

[martin035]

but as for your question , ask 20 people and you will get 20 different answers , everybody has an opinion , even me

but for me , I mainly use vu boxes like the solo2 with internal HDD and wouldnt be without them

Lol, 'clone' Zgemma H2s for me, all the way. Also the 'extras' on 28e ($kyUK) that ramjet states are only in SD, HD stopped a long time ago, might be worth considering that before rushing out and spending ?200+ on sat equipment.

[tonybe]

thanks martin any reliable suppliers out there?

[martin035]

For a VU box like Ramjet describes then try;

http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/

For a Zgemma then its ebay with the usual caveat of checking the sellers feedback etc etc

[ramjet]

or try g*ldwafers or W.O.S.

bear in mind that the reason I said "clone" is that some images will "brick" a zgemma and normally you dont update the image unless its "clone-safe"

I believe openATV images are ok and up to date for the zgemma as I believe they "write" their own images for it

[cactikid]

if looking at zgemma do plenty of research on issues posted,stuck on boot,second tuner issue,usb issues,reflashing issues and others.

i prefare working boxes like vu xtrends technmate,edison and many more.
have enough sat feeds in a room is a bonus.

[digicon]

Nothing wrong with the Zgemma's and they have tons of support in fact the only image you cant really use is OpenVix everything else is OK

Here are some of the officially supported images to choose from

OpenATV, OpenSpa, OpenPLI, OpenDroid, Italysat, HDFreaks, Egami etc...

[tonybe]

hi everyone
i have gone for a openbox v8s ,gift and have bought a satellite dish kit ,i will be installing it at the weekend so i will report back then to let you know how it goes,weather permitting

[Hadron]

hi everyone
i have gone for a openbox v8s...

Nooooooo! LOL.

I must admit that I used various Openboxes for a couple of years, before finally "seeing the light" & converting to Zgemma boxes. I got fed up with the constant need to update the channel list every time a channel changed transponder, the flakey EPG update which didn't always work (as the date kept reverting back to 1903), the auto-update EPG never working (supposed to update overnight, but never worked for me), the closed source image which cannot be tweaked to your liking, the dreaded "dim 8" on the display which usually meant that even doing a serial port recovery didn't work, the "1 hour out" on the clock which messed up the EPG etc.

Although Enigma 2 boxes like the Zgemma range need a lot of configuration to get them set up as you want them from scratch, martin035 has uploaded images in the stickys above which are "ready to go". You only need to insert your magic numbers. It will reliably refresh the EPG & bouquets overnight, so no more having to rely on channel lists any more. He has included comprehensive instructions. The H.2S is a twin tuner model, so you can watch 1 channel while recording another, & only costs around ?80.

[tonybe]

hi everyone
fitted satellite dish on chimney stack, just pointed dish in the same direction as neighbours,ran cable and connected box , bingo got perfect picture first time and box working perfectly all channels from sly, so all up and running in 4hrs
Total cost ?155 ./ ?119 for box and 12 month gift and ?36 for satellite dish installation kit,hope the full sly package continues for the 12 months,( who knows) really happy for my first attempt at anything like this
thanks