Looking for PVR-ready sat receiver with some weird features

[Unknown user #1]

I am looking for PVR ready (BYOD - buy your own disk) kind of satbox, which can do the following:

1. Have network connection (just plain Ethernet would be fine)
2. OR USB connector (slave, USB-B kind of thing), which is possible to connect to Linksys NSLU2, Topfield style ('puppy').
3. OR USB-host connector, which could be using an external HDD, so that I could transfer video just by plugging it to my NAS.
4. Dual tuner (so that my missus won't complain about shows she missed).
5. FTA is good enough as RTVi and NTV (Russian channels) are using Viaccess 2.6. so no patches. or that's what I heard).
6. Below 200 quid.

At the moment, I found cheap Fortec Star Ultimate, but it is not clear whether USB port on this one can be used for video transfer and not just firmware upgrade. Can anyone enlighten me on this one?

Ta

[SAT-WORLD]

Have a read through the manual:_http://www.fortecstar.com/Estore/store/Assets/userguide/71-userguide.pdf
A brand new twin tuner pvr ready,with an ethernet port,at less than £200,is going to be very difficult,to find.
You may find a used one on Ebay,again if your lucky.
I think,you need to keep on saving those pennies,a lot while longer,if you don't want to allthe features you've listed.

[Unknown user #1]

Thanks. I went through this UG some time ago but it is pretty much useless. The USB is mentioned once (in spec) and there is no explanation on how it can be used. Even the firmware upgrading process is via RS-232.

As to features, I know I won't get it all, that;s why I put those 'ORs' I can live with either Ethernet or USB if I can't get both. Or is the dual tuner main showstopper?

[BGonaSTICK]

Having had a bit of a think about this, I reckon your best bet is a second-hand Dreambox 7000 off eBay (without a disk, around £180) and use the Ethernet networking to write to some of your remote storage using NFS/CIFS or whatever.

This means forgoing the second tuner, but that's going to blow your budget before you start, pretty much. If you really want to do this, add a Skystar 2 and just store everything centrally on your NAS, however you want to arrange it. Once there, I guess you have more than one way to stream this back to your TV. You can also stream directly from either the DB or the SS2, and even share subscription cards between them.

Time permitting I'm going to build a MCE2005 server (I think) over the next few weeks to run in my loft. Going to use a Freecom 250 GB USB2.0 drive, which I may choose to run via a slug at some point in the future. This project may not happen, but it's on my list.

STICK

[Unknown user #1]

Well.. I decided to bite the bullet and ordered Fortec Star Ultimate off Maplins. Its spec says it is a dual tuner device and PVR-ready + USB port. It seems that USB is a slave rather than host, so I need to figure out how could I connect to it. If Windows would be able to establish communication then I'll try to write some piece of software for my Slug. If not, then I could bring it back to Maplins I guess
The price is 150 quid less 7 quid vouchers.

[BGonaSTICK]

OK, give us a blow-by-blow account of your fiddling as you get stuck in

I'm not hopeful about the possibility of using the USB port for networking though, even with a bridge of some sort.

[Unknown user #1]

I am not too hopeful too but I'd like to try it anyway. There is a similar software exists for Topfield (called 'puppy'), which is designed to be ran on Linksys NSLU2 (kind of USB-Ethernet bridge). Not sure if it is possible to port it to support Fortec though...

Anyway, the price seems to be very good, isn't it? As this 'box is discontinued by Maplins (possibly to make way for Zeta), some bargains to be had

BTW, talking about Maplins - they've got some very decent deals today, like 400GB Seagate External drive for 89.99 (less 3 quid in vouchers if you subscribe to their newsletter).

[BGonaSTICK]

Not sure how much of a bargain the Fortec is.

Don't know much about it (the value depends very much on its ability to be patched IMO), but the external Seagate drive sounds very good. I might have a look at that myself

[Unknown user #1]

patches are of no interest for me as NTV and RTVi aren't patchable AFAIK Or maybe someone could enlighten me on this?

[BGonaSTICK]

Maybe not, but it'll have an effect on the resale value if you want to get rid in the future. Patchable boxes are just more desireable.