SIGMATEK DVBR-520 HD Digital TV Receiver

Bozacke

Another option might be the Ferguson HD combo receiver that receives HD satellite & Terrestrial in one
http://www.freesat.ie/index.php?cat=HD_receivers1
for €169.99 it seems to be pretty good value.
Anyone have any experience with this and will it work with Irish DTT long term?

KetchupKid

After deliberating for a long time I decided to buy this Sigmatek box from Piximania, despite the many negative comments about Piximania, I should have listened. After registering and filling out all of the necessary details including my credit card details, at the end of the process I got the following message "Unfortunately, your order could not be placed, you can restart the process by clicking here." I thought maybe I entered something wrong so I tried again and then again and I had to enter everything all over, but I got the same results and tried it a third time also with the same results. I then emailed piximaniacs and they said my bank declined me. I thought this strange since I have good credit and always pay my bills, but I rang the bank anyway and they said there was never a request for payment from Piximania. I then emailed Piximania this and their reply was my bank declined me and they didn't acknowledge what I said. Today I was out shopping used the credit card several times with no problem and made another purchase online with no issues and thought I'd try Piximania again, but same results after trying it a few more times tonight. I give up with Piximania, besides 11.99 for 10 day shipping seems a bit too much anyway.

Anyone know another good source for the Sigmatek box?

KetchupKid

Well I was finally able to order from the Piximania website and I got an extra 4% off using Code PIXSAVEIE20. I know 4% isn't a great discount but better than nothing. Code only good until 12-Nov.

Strawberry HillBilly

I have been using this box for about a month. No problems - easy to use and picture quality really good.

The HD quality on RTNL HD test channel is excellent. Have it linked with FTA Sky box through a HDD box to allow for pause rewind and recording.

I checked the RTE rugby tonight on the DTT v SKY signal - no comparison in my opinion - quality of picture on Sigmatec DTT device better than that on SKY IMO.

Re: Pixmania - found them easy to deal with and no problems with delivery or money transactions.

dobrocop

Sorry for Hijacking this thread but cant find any other discussion on this unit,.Please can anybody tell me where to get and what Firmware to download for this DTT receiver?,.Cheer's,.:D

dobrocop

Hi HumpM,.i have this Box and i like it a lot exept that when playing back recordings if i fast forward it some times freeze's and " bit error " comes on screen and i have to start playback again,.Does your sigmatek do this?,.i have the same prob with a few different Portable Hard Drive's,.and all have been properly formatted in FAT32,.so it seems to be a receiver PVR problem,. im hoping a FIRMWARE update will help Hence my previous post,.cheer's, ..

Strawberry HillBilly

Dobrocop - I am not an expert in this area so not sure if this will help but tracked down this site :
http://diplo-driver.com/download-driver/SIGMATEK/DVBR-520HD

stanley1

be careful, it asks to run a program for outdated drivers.

Strawberry HillBilly

Thanks Stanley1 as I said not an expert so perhaps someone else better placed to advise.

Following Dobrocop's info re: freezing frame, I checked out mine and found same issue, so also would be interested if there is a fix for this too.

dobrocop

Thank's to all,.yes its a strange site and i cant seem to register and cant get the Forum!,.will advise if i get sorted,.cheers,.:D

STB

Not many with this facility.

DI-WAY T-100HD RF




This is available from plenty of online shops in Czech Republic (.cz websites) - €59 (excl postage)

savemejebus

Does the sigmatek box work ok with RTE 2's HD broadcasts? It looks like it's down to this or the walker from powercity at the moment.

watty

Or a "Freeview HD" box, but NOT a regular "Freeview" box.

The walker boix is the only currently certified box.

but there are other compatible boxes. From about £70

savemejebus

Thanks Watty

dobrocop

the sigmatek will receive RTE HD when its up n running,.they had a HD demo running ust before SAORVIEW started nov 3 past,.so it will get all hd eventually,.plus if you are in the right area you will get UK Freeview but only SD as it dosent have DVB-T2,.cheer's.:D

savemejebus

Another silly question from me, and i apologise in advance, but does this box get the saorview 7day epg or is it just 'approved' boxes like the walker that access that?

watty

Currently ALL boxes and receivers that work at all and even some that don't work will get the 7 day EPG as RTE (unlike Sky, Freesat and Freeview) are using DVB-EIT.

If they ever change to MHEG5 ONLY EPG (and an enhanced MHEG5 might be able to use EIT as data, which would be good), Then only TVs and boxes with MHEG5 would have 7 day.
MHEG5 is supported by

• Freeview (most won't work with actual TV Channels though)
• "Freeview HD" (everything should work)
• Saorview (Will receive Freeview if you get UK aerial signal, may not receive "Freeview HD" unless it has DVB-T2 tuner)
• Possibly anything with a CI+ system, as I think that is CI (CAM slot) and MHEG5 to manage cards? Or something. Anyone confirm?
• Probably all "Approved" boxes or TVs for South African, New Zealand or Australian DTT

STB

watty wrote: »

Then only TVs and boxes with MHEG5 would have 7 day.

MHEG5 is supported by

• Possibly anything with a CI+ system, as I think that is CI (CAM slot) and MHEG5 to manage cards? Or something. Anyone confirm?
• Probably all "Approved" boxes or TVs for South African, New Zealand or Australian DTT

CI+ yes can be used to implement MHEG5 via that slot. Our friends Neotion developed it in conjunction with the manufacturers given they didnt stick to CI! More secure etc. Its main goal is to facilitate pay tv without proprietary boxes going forward.

The Australia boxes....careful they are using 7 MHZ channels and also VHF.

dobrocop

savemejebus wrote: »

Another silly question from me, and i apologise in advance, but does this box get the saorview 7day epg or is it just 'approved' boxes like the walker that access that?

Yes it can, 7 day epg is there,.if you add a USB stick or external Portable HDD [ usb powered ] [fat 32 formatted] you can set Record from EPG ,.but theres a fast forward+rewind freeze problem, sometime's it stops and shows " BIT ERROR" and you have to ust let it run from the start, .quite annoying but im hoping to get a Firmware Update somewhere soon and it might fix that prob,.cheers.:D

watty

OK so maybe best avoid things with ONLY CI+ or Australian Only

"Freeview HD" looks like next best bet to actual Saorview and will become the "default" in UK chains once they have used up "Freeview" stock.

savemejebus

cheers for the answers. Wonder will a firmware update give live pause too (looking at this for a family member and the simpler the better). It's a shame the saorview approved boxes are both expensive and scarce.

watty

Well, the Full Public Launch is not till May 2011
The Public Info campaign doesn't start till 2011 either.

McSim

Just want to share that SIGMATEK DVBR-520 HD Digital TV Receiver can be crossflashed to Xoro HRT 7500 - I did this trying to solve reception problem.
The receivers share same chipset - MSD7828 - and PCB on both has label "DH2636-ZC01-01".
The firmware file name is MTC_MSD7828_DH2836, easy enough to google and get a zip from official Xoro download page - can not post links, sorry.
There is no comeback, as SIGMATEK DVBR-520 HD has no official manufacturer/download page whatsoever.

The instructions I found were:
===quote===
Hello!

If I understand well, some people have complaints about the performance of the receiver.
This Mstar MSD7828 chip based receiver was made by MTC and was sold under many brand names in Greece, like Croner, AMTC (MTC's own brand name), iQ plus, Strong, Xoro and others.

The best and latest firmware updates are considered to be the one of Xoro 7500 and the one of Strong 8110.

It's easy to update to Xoro's firmware. Put the MTC_MSD7828_DH2836.AP file in a FAT32 usb flash drive, connect it to the receiver and do as on this video:
...Skipped...
I am sorry for the Greek menu, but I made it for a Greek forum. Still, I think it should be helpful.

Strong's firmware can be flashed the same way, but it must be renamed to MTC_MSD7828_DH2836.AP.
As usual, Strong's firmwares don't allow updating to an other company's firmwares. This means you can't try any other firmware.
There is a solution to this. Flash the file SRT8110_ES.AP after renaming it to SRT8110_WS.AP and then you can flash any other firmware you want.

I hope all goes well to anyone trying it.
===end of quote===

It seems that Xoro and Strong's firmware mentioned have same build number, so probably does not matter which one you flash, and Xoro's firmware is a bit easier.

I had to power down the box after is says "100% flash complete, rebooting now" contrary to the video - it did not reboot itself. Also, there are some reports that USB drive must be FAT32 formatted and firmware update file must be the only file on the USB stick.

Timeshift working just fine. The mentioned firmware appears to be the last publicly accessible firmware for the chipset, quite a few small bug fixed. So it is probably as good as it can be firmware wise for the SIGMATEK DVBR-520 HD.

I would like to know if PCB picture and firmware for Fortec Star FS-3300 HD Digital TV Receiver is publicly accessible, it seems to handle LCN for Saorview better and might be useful.