Travelsat

[john6767]

Maplins are selling them off for £39.99 at the moment.

 

That caught my eye too, but looking on Maplin's site that would seem to be for a B grade setup with a 46cm dish that is not 12v.

 

The more usual "suitcase" systems (39cm dish, 12/230v) are on promotion at £79.99

 

Did I miss something?

[carlt]

Anyone got a magic wand?

My 3 year old son has but he calls it his "Harrypotamus stick".

[terryvanman]

The more usual "suitcase" systems (39cm dish, 12/230v) are on promotion at £79.99

 

 

so would this be a good system to buy for someone who is mainly in and around the london area and only goes up as far as Watford on a long weekend

[Chris J W]

so would this be a good system to buy for someone who is mainly in and around the london area and only goes up as far as Watford on a long weekend

 

You'll be fine as long as there's nothing in the way. Personally, though, I'd say you're better off with a Freeview box, but I suppose it's really a six-of-one... situation.

[terryvanman]

thanks for reply, will have a look

[carlt]

You'll be fine as long as there's nothing in the way. Personally, though, I'd say you're better off with a Freeview box, but I suppose it's really a six-of-one... situation.

as you can pick up a Freeview box for about a tenner, it's definitely worth trying one of those out first.

[twocvbloke]

Blimey - that is really good, but what I would really like is a 12v mini HD receiver that will record to SD or USB... oh and be able to receive Sky too...

Anyone got a magic wand?

 

hehe, you need a sky box to receive sky (Or unofficially, a Dreambox with the right software installed to read the cards, not sure if the Dragon/T-Rex CAM option still works though), so no chance to be honest...

[paulcatchpole]

hehe, you need a sky box to receive sky (Or unofficially, a Dreambox with the right software installed to read the cards, not sure if the Dragon/T-Rex CAM option still works though), so no chance to be honest...

 

Aye, arguably a Dreambox would fulfill most of those requirements, or just a small linux box with a CI reader and the same CAM. They do still work I believe, but you've still got the pain of sticking it in a real sky box every six weeks or so, for the card to stay active*.

 

Strictly speaking, just for you, twocv, there're Tandberg licenced sky rack-mounted decoders - we used one at my old job for the input to a Teleste mux-and-launch rack for getting sky onto a cable TV network. Not exactly cheap though...

 

PC

 

* Yeah, yeah, unless you've had the card and original contract for more than the minimum 12 or 18 months, then they don't bother with the keepalive, or so I understand. Or the mysterious 'second hand contract' setup.

[Grace and Favour]

(Or unofficially, a Dreambox with the right software installed to read the cards, not sure if the Dragon/T-Rex CAM option still works though), so no chance to be honest...

 

 

Strictly speaking, just for you, twocv, there're Tandberg licenced sky rack-mounted decoders - we used one at my old job for the input to a Teleste mux-and-launch rack for getting sky onto a cable TV network. Not exactly cheap though...

 

PC

 

 

Ooo-err - - Two CWF members operating from The Dark Side - - and both speaking jobbledejuke!

[twocvbloke]

Aye, arguably a Dreambox would fulfill most of those requirements, or just a small linux box with a CI reader and the same CAM. They do still work I believe, but you've still got the pain of sticking it in a real sky box every six weeks or so, for the card to stay active*.

 

Strictly speaking, just for you, twocv, there're Tandberg licenced sky rack-mounted decoders - we used one at my old job for the input to a Teleste mux-and-launch rack for getting sky onto a cable TV network. Not exactly cheap though...

 

PC

 

* Yeah, yeah, unless you've had the card and original contract for more than the minimum 12 or 18 months, then they don't bother with the keepalive, or so I understand. Or the mysterious 'second hand contract' setup.

 

Actually, Dreamboxes with the correct SoftCAM installed will actually receive and process the "Keep alive" signal (which they do send out in or out of contract, any current style "dead" card that's left in a box for a day or two will pick up the signal and will activate again (but without a subscription, it'll just be the few FTV channels, which are free to watch but are encrypted by sky)), so a Dreambox would be a suitable replacement for a sky box, especially as most are PVR capable, so that's a cost saving on getting the likes of sky+ or something, it's the Dragon/T-Rex cams that require you to put the card in a sky box every month or so for the signal...

 

Only problem is, they're mains powered, so would need a 240v supply, I don't think they make a 12vDC version, the smaller ones *may* have an external power brick, but I really don't know as I have never owned one...

 

Funnily enough, the mention of the cable system decoders has been mentioned on satellites.co.uk too, someone wondering why people couldn't just go out and buy a proper box and an NDS CAMas used by such things (and other TV networks elsewhere) and asking how cable networks did it, but just getting "an" NDS CAM wouldn't work cos they use a different flavour for the varying sky & foxtel platforms worldwide, so, yeah, that wouldn't work...

 

Still, TV ain't all that good anyway, too many shopping channels being beamed to us by microwave frequencies, they clog up the EPG...

[Cinimod]

The Dreambox 800 HD has an external 12v supply - LINKY

 

It also has a £200 price tag... but is HD with a HDD...

I did hear of a box at one point that would decrypt any channel - but they are as rare as hen's teeth now I think.

[twocvbloke]

The Dreambox 800 HD has an external 12v supply - LINKY

 

It also has a £200 price tag... but is HD with a HDD...

I did hear of a box at one point that would decrypt any channel - but they are as rare as hen's teeth now I think.

 

At one point, most channels could be opened with things like Dreamboxes and similarly Linux powered boxes, but these days encryption has gotten so tight that what is left is not worth watching (that said, it's not legal and I don't condone watching TV channels you haven't paid for, even if a genuine subscription is not within someone's "budget")...

 

Still, a £200 HD PVR which can read and use a sky card is not to be sniffed at...

[RobinR]

If you have a spare £700 then the Vu Qube is the answer - less than half the price of a fully fitted system! Even less direct from the USA but duty payable and possible warranty problems.

[twocvbloke]

If you have a spare £700 then the Vu Qube is the answer - less than half the price of a fully fitted system! Even less direct from the USA but duty payable and possible warranty problems.

 

Do be careful with buying satellite equipment from the US, ignoring the NTSC/PAL thing, they use different transmission frequencies and therefore the LNBs are not compatible with what we get in the UK, and they may not use the standard 40mm LNB clamp within the unit that houses the dish (if it uses a C120 fitting then by all means buy it and get an Inverto WhiteTech C120 LNB to replace it)...

[paulcatchpole]

Do be careful with buying satellite equipment from the US, ignoring the NTSC/PAL thing, they use different transmission frequencies and therefore the LNBs are not compatible with what we get in the UK, and they may not use the standard 40mm LNB clamp within the unit that houses the dish (if it uses a C120 fitting then by all means buy it and get an Inverto WhiteTech C120 LNB to replace it)...

 

Interesting, I don't know much about US satellite, apart from knowing it's quite different. Are the IF frequencies different enough then?

 

PC

[twocvbloke]

Interesting, I don't know much about US satellite, apart from knowing it's quite different. Are the IF frequencies different enough then?

 

PC

 

Yep, different frequencies, and different polarisation on some satellites (Circular rather than Linear), I haven't the specs on the differences, but it's enough to make it difficult to use in the UK...

 

The frequencies from the LNB to the STB are the same (I think), but that's pretty much it, easier just to stick with the UK stuff or as I mentioned, if the dish has a C120 LNB just swap that over and it'll work properly...

[Cinimod]

At one point, most channels could be opened with things like Dreamboxes and similarly Linux powered boxes, but these days encryption has gotten so tight that what is left is not worth watching (that said, it's not legal and I don't condone watching TV channels you haven't paid for, even if a genuine subscription is not within someone's "budget")...

 

Still, a £200 HD PVR which can read and use a sky card is not to be sniffed at...

 

I do agree with you about paying for content - the issue is if you have a sky box in one place, and then want to get it onboard, you have to keep swapping the card in the boxes... would be easier to be able to 'clone' the card into a dreambox or something, so you could leave it in the original machine, on land, plugged into the mains recording on Sky+

[twocvbloke]

I do agree with you about paying for content - the issue is if you have a sky box in one place, and then want to get it onboard, you have to keep swapping the card in the boxes... would be easier to be able to 'clone' the card into a dreambox or something, so you could leave it in the original machine, on land, plugged into the mains recording on Sky+

 

Problem is, you can't clone sky cards, mainly because of the encryption, people have tried (and failed) to do so, it's nigh on impossible in reality, but, if you have a Dreambox, you throw the sky box away (well, ebay it!!), the Dreambox can do much much more than a sky box can, given it's expandability due to using Linux as it's core software, you can do pretty much anything with it (within reason)...

 

As for recording with a sky+ box when you have a Dreambox, that's just silly, you have a PVR built into the Dreambox, and all you have to pay is just a regular sky subscription, no +£10 for recording functions (if you don't have an expensive premium channels subscription), just stick the card in, let it initialise, and off you go....

 

And forget trying the "my card has been lost/stolen/chewed by the dog, can you send me a new one" excuse with sky, cos they cut off the old card, making it an instant ice scraper...

[Cinimod]

Problem is, you can't clone sky cards, mainly because of the encryption, people have tried (and failed) to do so, it's nigh on impossible in reality, but, if you have a Dreambox, you throw the sky box away (well, ebay it!!), the Dreambox can do much much more than a sky box can, given it's expandability due to using Linux as it's core software, you can do pretty much anything with it (within reason)...

 

As for recording with a sky+ box when you have a Dreambox, that's just silly, you have a PVR built into the Dreambox, and all you have to pay is just a regular sky subscription, no +£10 for recording functions (if you don't have an expensive premium channels subscription), just stick the card in, let it initialise, and off you go....

 

And forget trying the "my card has been lost/stolen/chewed by the dog, can you send me a new one" excuse with sky, cos they cut off the old card, making it an instant ice scraper...

 

Ice scrapers are very useful...

 

Hmm... the +£10 thing for Sky plus... they did away with that about 6 years ago... now they charge extra for the HD, but guess that will probably be dropped in about 2 years

 

The thing I was thinking is to use the recording on the Dreambox you need two things - power, and a Satellite Signal. Power is plentiful when moving, but alas a signal is not, and when moored up (without a hookup) a signal is (usually) available, but the power is limited. Not sure what the consumption on it is...

 

Where can you go to see the extra functionality of the dreambox over the sky+ one? Ta

[WotEver]

Where can you go to see the extra functionality of the dreambox over the sky+ one? Ta

And do you need to be a Linux nerd to operate one?

 

T <--XP nerd

[twocvbloke]

Ice scrapers are very useful...

 

Hmm... the +£10 thing for Sky plus... they did away with that about 6 years ago... now they charge extra for the HD, but guess that will probably be dropped in about 2 years

 

The thing I was thinking is to use the recording on the Dreambox you need two things - power, and a Satellite Signal. Power is plentiful when moving, but alas a signal is not, and when moored up (without a hookup) a signal is (usually) available, but the power is limited. Not sure what the consumption on it is...

 

Where can you go to see the extra functionality of the dreambox over the sky+ one? Ta

 

The £10 recording tax is definitely still in existence, it is applied if you take a subscription that hasn't got premium channels (Sports or Movies) or is below a certain threshold in price, so sky+ is an expensive commodity when you total it up over a year...

 

If you think about it, having sky+ on the boat can be pointless too, no signal means failed recordings and a box that could end up burgering up cos of missing updates and whatnot, not to mention that they like to suffer bugs that crop up when nobody's expecting them, thanks in part to poorly coded software that is only tested on more recent boxes, but that's sky for you...

 

As for the power consumption, well, I don't know about that...

 

One great feature of the dreambox is you don't need a satellite signal to watch your recorded programmes, record at home or when moored up, play back when you like, AND they're not limited to a set period before deletion, you delete them when you want to, not when sky says so...

 

And do you need to be a Linux nerd to operate one?

 

T <--XP nerd

 

Not really, so long as you have a computer and a network connection to the box, all it involves is transferring files for setting it up, and pretty much nowt else afterwards, aside from updates now and then, it's like operating a small website, just upload the files and let it do the work...

 

I used to have a similar box known as a "D-Box", used for cable, and that was easy enough to work with, but I barely used it cos the tuner was knackered, but again, it was just a case of uploading files and it did the rest...

[paulcatchpole]

And do you need to be a Linux nerd to operate one?

 

T <--XP nerd

 

http://www.kernel.org/

 

What more do you need?

 

PC

 

Edited to add: I use (although the box is dead, yet again, at the moment) http://www.mythtv.org/, indeed, I did some development work ages back to contribute... It supports CI CAMs and there's a few people running UK sky cards, although I'm not one of them...

Edited June 29, 2010 by paulcatchpole

[twocvbloke]

http://www.kernel.org/

 

What more do you need?

 

PC

 

Edited to add: I use (although the box is dead, yet again, at the moment) http://www.mythtv.org/, indeed, I did some development work ages back to contribute... It supports CI CAMs and there's a few people running UK sky cards, although I'm not one of them...

 

I've wanted to build myself a MythTV PVR, but, I got to a point where I find I can't, cos I ain't the cash to buy the parts needed for decent multifunctionality, someday though, someday...

 

Assuming I don't end up with a Dreambox instead...

[Cinimod]

At one point, most channels could be opened with things like Dreamboxes and similarly Linux powered boxes, but these days encryption has gotten so tight that what is left is not worth watching (that said, it's not legal and I don't condone watching TV channels you haven't paid for, even if a genuine subscription is not within someone's "budget")...

 

Still, a £200 HD PVR which can read and use a sky card is not to be sniffed at...

I am having a bit of trouble tuning it the Sat Dish... I have used Dishfinder and got a good indication of direction, I have used an analogue meter which buzzed nicely and suggested that I am pointed at a satelitte, but the receiver still says no signal for the channel... I am confused.

 

Any thoughts as to what this could be?

Would a bigger dish than the small one in the Maplins kit be better?

You can get a sky style one, with quad LNB and cable for around £25 delivered from eBay.

[twocvbloke]

I am having a bit of trouble tuning it the Sat Dish... I have used Dishfinder and got a good indication of direction, I have used an analogue meter which buzzed nicely and suggested that I am pointed at a satelitte, but the receiver still says no signal for the channel... I am confused.

 

Any thoughts as to what this could be?

Would a bigger dish than the small one in the Maplins kit be better?

You can get a sky style one, with quad LNB and cable for around £25 delivered from eBay.

 

Could be that you're on the wrong satellite or the channel frequency is out of date, or you haven't got the dish positioned right...

 

It takes a bit of practice to get a portable kit set up, sometimes it's often a case of tilting the dish slightly forwards, sounds odd, but it does work, my portable dish looks like it's pointing slightly downwards when I have it set up...