Newbie seeks opinions

[Jimdefruit]

Hi Jimbo, I dont have MCE but the SS2 works very well in an XP. It does not work properly in a Vista driven box. There are Vista drivers for the SS2 but I cant get any software to recognise the card even though Vista says it is there.

Regarding the Dreambox functionality, you would have to run the operating system as linux. However, the SS2 can be connected to a dreambox via LAN to obtain the decoding provided by the Dreambox.

[imported_Jimbo]

Ok, points taken and thanks again all.

I have been thinking about this a lot since my first idea.

I think I would be better off with this setup...

65cm steerable dish, 1 x single output Lnb, technomate 1500 CI+ OR Sat Card (SkyStar2 or DigitalEveryWhere FloppyDTV baymount)

Throw the digibox out (Or sell it on ebay).

I can then use the technomate to fix on all of the satellites on my original 'wanted' list (obviously not all at once). This would mean I could get the FTA sky stuff when the dish is at 28.2'E (minus channel 4/5 - unless I buy a card from sky, which will not stay alive in the technomate and I'm not even sure the technomate will read it).

This way I get the choice of channels, she gets one small(ish) dish (which looking at the footprints for the three sats I most want, is just about an ok size).

And the plus side is that I can maybe drag in some extras (with it being steerable) on a good fine day.

I'm sold, now I'm off through that list of suppliers for a look. Please shout at me if I've got my wires crossed.

And once again thanks

Jimbo

[fergiz]

On the subject of Vista drivers for the SS2, I'm running the SS2 on Vista(business) using DVB Dream v1.3c and the beta driver from _http://www.technisat.de/download/en/soft/TS441BETA20061113.zip Runs smoothly with no problems whatsoever (that I've found anyway)

[Gav]

Nice setup you'll be getting.

Just a thought, if your going for the PC based option you could put a Freeview (DVB-T) tuner in aswell - giving you watch one whilst recording another functionality AND Channel 4 + 5?

Or you could just get a basic terrestrial tuner - they only cost about £20 - But beware, they are just 'frame grabbers' at this price and don't have any built in encoding.

[BGonaSTICK]

A couple of points from me too.

Firstly, the motorised idea is great if you don't keep the digibox/sky card. If you do, then you need to remember to park your dish back at 28.2E every night to allow the card to update.

The Skystar2 being like the Dreambox is spot on at a functional level. OK, you don't get the Linux side, but it's incredibly similar in terms of architecture and decoding possibilities. It fantastically powerful, and if you like fiddling, it's more flexible than the Technomate. It makes a great introduction to Dreambox-type receivers and will teach you infinitely more about how satellite works.

The Technomate is a great box too, and is far more family-oriented and 'useable'.

It's good to hear that fergiz has the SS2 working under Vista

[imported_Jimbo]

Hello again,

Fergiz: Well done on getting it up under Vista!

Gav: Thanks, I'm right in thinking this will work?

Stick: I will still get the basic basic sky channels available wont I (if I ditch the digibox and dont buy the £20 sky card). I like the idea of using the skystar2 to "tinker and learn" about decoding, I like the fiddling side but agree that the family need to use it...

hmmm shame I can't have both a receiver and card (with dual output lnb) - I take it they would fight over the motor control unless I disabled the motor controls in software (is that possible with the card?, but if I could disable the motor controls then would the skystar viewing software know which direction the dish was at, and which frequencies etc to expect?).

If they could work in harmony I could play (with the skystar) and they could use the box receiver when I'm not there.

Does that make sense to anyone?

Cheers again!

Jimbo

[BGonaSTICK]

With no sky card at all, you will still get all the channels listed here:

http://www.ftasat.co.uk

If you have a twin LNB, you can have the best of both worlds (both card and STB), but you'll have to choose which one controls the motor (i.e. has the motor 'inline' whilst the other goes directly to LNB output2). That's the setup I have.

See the pics in the sticky in the photo gallery section.

[harrowwoman]

Hi Jimbo-welcome

Just a thought-try Freecycle in your area-you might get lucky with a free dish. I had one, but gave it away...shame.
Good luck

[barr6868]

A wee word on the dvb-t tuner.
I built my latest pc a few years ago, and wanted freeview tv on it at the time.
Biostar motherboard, and tevion pci card.
I'm running windows xp pro, and when I installed the card, xp crashed and wouldn't boot up at all (not even in safe mode).
Seems the card wasn't compatible with the board.
Still in the box, for a new build I think

[BGonaSTICK]

I guess that could be the PCI version 3V/5V thing again :?