How to learn????

[carraig]

This is a serious newby question! I want to post it here rather than the newby section because it relates specifically to programming a dream box!
I originally joined this forum as a cable/ Eurovox user, but I have recently started taking an interest in Satelite/ Dreambox stuff, mainly because the next Mrs Carraig is a Russian speaking lady, and I want to try to access some Russian TV (She,s actually Ukrainian, so Ukrainian TV would be better.)
I understand the motorised dish stuff!
But I will probably be bamboozled by the Linux stuff!
My question is!!! What sort of "Night Class" ? (Yes! as in educational course!) would best give me an understanding of the rudiments of Linux???
Where do you techy satelite guys get your grounding/ experience from???
Is it "general computer programming"?? or maybe some basic electrical engineering type course??? all answers gratefully appreciated??

[Analoguesat]

For most of us all our experience comes from spending many many hours tinkering with dramboxes. Spending hours fighting with them and slowly bending them to our will.

To be honest the best way to learn how to use one is to buy one

BUT - dont try to buy one and use it as your main box to begin with - buy a cheap set top box, and use that as your main receiver. Then use the linux box to tinker with when you have free time. This means when you get to the point where you want to flatten the DB with a sledgehammer (and we have all been there!) you can step away for a few evenings, and maybe actually watch some telly instead of losing your rag with it.

BTW - plenty of free Ukranian channels on Sirius 5E.

[chazkelly1985]

i got my dreambox this week and dont think of myself as tech minded (it took me about 5 hrs to relise you could change over the language of dreambox control centre

but if you stck with it it does become clear

i normally used cable boxes as well and changed to sat because of what is happenning

the way i done it was to take it 1 problem at a time

as long as you have your dish setup right then it is a hell of a lot simpler

i bought my dreambo 500s from ebay for under £70 (didnt want to spend more incase i couldnt do it) but even tho iv only used it for a few days i now want to get a hd one as they seem to be great boxes

im really pleased i took the plunge and bought one because i was really put off with people saying it would be months of frustration to set it up but all the info is out there - hey im felling adventureus might even try to workout how to use the new electronic microwave now that iv done this (no im not joking i really am not very tech minded)

[pontiend]

I am having fun with a dm500s at the moment.But as Analoguesat says it's best to start with a normal box.The tm's are very easy to use.

[kegnkiwi]

I think that some of use just like to make it sound hard. Go back 18 to 24 months and sure when the tm9100 first dropped in price and we all bought them it was like a baptism of fire. I know mine went back into the box for a week. But now its all different, loads of people have them and there lots of good tutorials and lots of good advise. The images are also a lot more stable and you can download just about everything you need from the remote. It take me about 3-4 minutes from the flash finish to having the box set up. Just don't rush it and don't panic if something goes wrong.

PS check out 53e if you can get it for some fta russian channels.

[Analoguesat]

I hated my DB7020 for a long time, and on at least 2 occasions it almost went flying out the front door (wouldnt have been the first thing - a wonky scanner went out into a snowdrift a couple of years back!)

Its still annoying at times when it decides not to work as expected, or crash in the middle of a channel scan, but Id have another one tomorrow.

[carraig]

Thanks guys for all the replys about this, I guess its trial and error? but I was hoping to hear someone tell me about a course at a Tecnical college that would be best suited for this activity??

[Analoguesat]

You dont need to know how Linux works to be able to run a linux box.

All you need is basic networking knowledge, know a bit about ftp'ing, and not be frightened to go delving "under the bonnet"

Ive never used Linux on a computer in my life, and I got to grips with how it works easily enough.

[ant16151189]

think i will get one of these boxes to play with, sounds good.

[Analoguesat]

If you do dont try to run before you can walk - get it working on free to air channels on one or more satellites - and just run it like this for a few weeks. This will give you a good basic understanding of how the box actually works.

Get used to flashing the box with a new image, installing new bits of software via the image menus and manually.

When you are familiar with this **then** you can start trying to open whatever is available at that time.

If you take it out of the box and try doing the advanced stuff on the first evening you will soon get discouraged with the box. Somewhere on the forum is a discussion with a lad who bought 2 boxes and was trying to set up a card share so his brats could watch tv in their bedroom off his Sky card.

He didnt like the idea that he was trying to do something exceedingly advanced on his first day, and two hours of trying wasnt going to be anywhere near enough.......

The fact he said his brats were screaming at him for their telly probably didnt help his attitude towards a DB