Start up advice please !

[robst3]

I am intending on buying system soon. I would like to be able to recieve Hotbird 13/Astra19.2

I would like to feed the cables into a dual tuner satellite PVR digibox so I can record one channel while watching another.

I live in the Glasgow area.

Questions are:

1) What size of dish will I need to ensure I recieve all channels from these satellites with no difficulty?

2) Is this a suitable "dual monoblock lnb" to buy

http://www.sateuro.com/product_overv...d=12&subcat=50

It concerns me that it is designed for two users.

3) Would I be able to record from Hotbird and watch astra 19.2 at the same time?

[nanochickin]

You should get all the channels off Hotbird and Astra 1 with no problems at all with an 80cm dish.

If size is a problem you could probably manage with a 60cm but you would probably suffer from rain fade, so best go with an 80cm dish

The type of lnb you have found is what you would need. If it only had one output it wouldn't work as the DISEqC switch inside the monoblock can only select one feed ata time which is why you would need an lnb with twin outputs.

In theory you should be able to record off hotbird while watching Astra if your receiver supports this function Which receiver are you thinking of getting?



Nano

[robst3]

Great was worried I would have to get a 90cm dish.

I am thinking of the Humax Icord:

SatEuropa.co.uk: HUMAX iCord HD

or topfield

SatEuropa.co.uk: TOPFIELD TF7700HDPVR 320GB

Neither of them have a smartcard slot though-not sure of the significance of that.

[southernsatellite]

If you are spending this sort of money, maybe look at the Vantage 8000S, this has two card slots, two cam slots also you can add your own size HDD, or plug in a e-Sata or USB HDD, patch it as well.

[robst3]

Thanks southern satellite, I notice the vantage 8000S has two inputs as well. It has a loop through for each input. Does this mean I could use just one cable from LNB and loop it to 2nd unput to effectively get twin tuners from one cable?

[SAT-WORLD]

Originally Posted by robst3

Thanks southern satellite, I notice the vantage 8000S has two inputs as well. It has a loop through for each input. Does this mean I could use just one cable from LNB and loop it to 2nd unput to effectively get twin tuners from one cable?

Yes,you can do that with both the Vantage and the Topfield.

[robst3]

I think I am going to get the Topfield 4000PVR Plus

http://www.topfield.co.uk/TF4000PVRplus.html

I have a few questions:

1) There is no mention of MPEG-2 compliance in the specification - is that a problem?

2) There are 3 versions of this topfield machine, no Hard Drive, 160GB Hard drive and 250GB Hard drive. Is the hard drive internal?

3) I am trying to decide which is the best monoblock lnb to get, I think I have two options.

a) http://www.tvaerials.com/product.aspx?productid=850

which requires a DisEqc switch to go between Hotbird and astra 19.2, which I presume means that only satellite can be fed through cable at one time.

or

b) http://www.sateuro.com/product_overview.asp?id=1505&catid=12&subcat=50

Which claims to have a dual feed, which I presume means Hotbird and Astra 19.2 are fed through one cable at the same time.

As the Topfiled 4000PVR has a LNB “loopthrough” facility, I intend to use just one cable from dish and input to Lnb 1 of reciever (whether that is option (a) or (b)) and loop through to 2nd Lnb input.

In looking at the manual at

http://www.topfield.co.uk/topfield-manual/manual_TF4000PVRPlus-Eng-e7706.pdf

in particular pages to page 32 to 35, I am a bit confused.

Ideally I would like to assign all the channels from hotbird and astra 19.2 to each tuner, so I can record from hotbird and astra 19.2 at the same time. I think page 35 of the manual says I can do this.

However page 58 of manual says “You can record two different services while watching another if two of the services are provided through the same transponder”

And goes on to say:

“You can even record two different services while watching two other different services—only if two or more services are provided in a same transponder and the
other services are provided in another same transponder”

Can someone please confirm what I can and cannot do in plain English and what monoblock option I should take.

[Robbo]

Hi, you need to get a TWIN monoblock, as per your third link.


It has two f-connectors on it, just wire each one to a tuner on the receiver.

Either tuner would be able to select either satellite. The diseqc switching commands would need to be set up to switch bewteen the two satellites, and would be identical for each tuner.



As for what you can watch and record at the same time, I interpret it as follows:-

For each tuner, the following applies:-

You can watch one channel whilst recording another as long as they are on the same transponder.


The two tuners being totally independent of eachother.

Robbo