recording saorview+sat.

huggs2

Just wondering about now and in the future.I have just cancelled
UPC tv services on cable with hdr box.What should i do now and in the future about recording all the channels i have.I am very much enjoying saorview on my new tv and i have an old sky sd box for uk channels.My set up is Quad LNB with 80cm dish feeding 2 cables to my new tv for possible humax hdr which i want to buy.I also have a seperate sky dish for my elgato tuner on my computer in the back room which i very much enjoy the hd channels on namely ITV1 HD and BBC1 HD etc.Should i buy the humax hd box for sat. recording and hope something might happen in the future to allow me to record saorview? or is there something i can do now to record all channels? Hope this makes since as i am a little confused myself

Apogee

There are various options available, all with with pluses and minuses and dependent on budget.

The Humax HDR will never record Saorview. It may be used to record Saorsat when it gets going on 9E, though it will require you to switch between Freesat and non-freesat modes.

For about €150-200 mark (e.g. Argus Mini), you can pick up a combo sat/terrestrial box which will allow you to watch Saorview and Freesat channels on the one STB - 1x sat tuner and 1x terrestrial tuner. You can record to external hard drive. No series link, only 'now and next' EPG for satellite and may be limited to recording either satellite or terrestrial.

For €250-€300, the newly released QBox Mini is similar to above, but has full 7-day EPG for both sat and terrestrial and allows recording from both sat and terrestrial simultaneously to external HDD.

For €430, Vu+ Duo has 2x sat and 1x terrestrial USB device. Full 7-EPGs, proto-series link (auto timer), recording to internal HDD, and greater flexibility in terms of recording any sat channel while watching another.

watty

Or a PC with USB dual Tuner stick and 2 x DVB-S2 cards. Fanless GT210 card is good for HDMI and CoreAVC cuda support on XP. Depends on if you have a PC and HDMI 1920x1080p50 HDTV or else expensive.

There is no "nice" one box solution, yet.

Some HDTVs can record on USB, or record Saorview on Laptop via USB stick, so if TV/Laptop can do that, then a cheap kludge for now is a Sat only dual Tuner Freesat HD PVR with Diseqc and hope that software is improved for non-Freesat channels.

Also I don't believe any of the "freesat HD" PVRs with Diseqc have been tested with MHEG EPG for PVR from "Other satellite".

It would be nice if Sagecom added Diseqc SW, as by all accounts it's easier to use with non Freesat Channels.

STB

The Ferguson Ariva HD Combo allows you record DTT and watch Satellite and vice versa. No 7 day epg on satellite though, just now next.

They are below €200

If you want more functionality the price goes up unfortunately.

huggs2

Thanks guys for the excellent info.I have been reading up on the info and there dosent appear to be a "nice" solution as you say watty.As you say Apogee its "pluses and minuses and dependent on budget".After reading more and thinking about it more here is where i am at.
1. Video and Audio quality are most important to me.
2. Need to be able to record 2 uk channels at the same time.
3. 7 day epg. on uk channels.
4. To record Saorview channels in the future.

So does that leave me with the humax hdr for now and get something more suitable in the future?

STB

It couldnt possibly leave you with the Humax HDR which neither receives nor records Saorview.

What you are talking about is the VU+ Duo. And that is 420 with USB DTT tuner and without hard drive. And its Linux, so not for non techs.

watty

And we don't really exactly know about Saorsat or how problematical it is on Freesat HD PVRs till there is a service end of May or sometime June 2011.

You could wait till end May/June.

Likely to be more options and maybe better pricing. Maybe, but who knows!

huggs2

Thanks guys for those answers, really appreciate it.I am now quite happy to wait as you sugested.thanks again.

watty

The VU+ Duo needs to be better than a Media Centre/HTPC etc solution at that pricing!

My pseudo MC PC froze on Eurosport de last night and the Wife didn't know to click on "rebuild graph"

(XP pro, DVB Viewer, Core AVC cuda for GT201 graphics, 2x DVB-S2 PCI connected to 16 way multiswitch on 28/19/13/9 dish multi-feed bar with also Mobi Dual USB DTT stick, HDMI 1080p50 to LG 42LD450 TV).

listermint

Ordered this

Ferguson HD Ariva Combo

from satellite.ie



Ordered at 1:00 over my lunch break and it arrived at my desk just now.

shocked to say the least :eek:

NIMAN

listermint wrote: »

Ordered this

Ferguson HD Ariva Combo

from satellite.ie



Ordered at 1:00 over my lunch break and it arrived at my desk just now.

shocked to say the least :eek:

Keep us informed as to how you get on with it and what you think of it.

listermint

NIMAN wrote: »

Keep us informed as to how you get on with it and what you think of it.

Will do, Have to move my dish etc, just moved into a new place. So everything has to be done.

listermint

Well Finally got around to installing this today.

After alot of faffing around with the new sky dish, i got my signal spot on and tuned in the channels.

What can i say very impressed with the unit. I like the menu, I like the remote it all has a quality feel to it. BBC HD and ITV HD are great. I believe C4 HD is available now, but havent tuned it just yet.

Saorview is a super feature. I now just have to format a spare HDD so i can have pvr setup.

All together I am extremely happy with the kit and its a bargain for what you are getting. Would recommend to anyone. The box feels more responsive than any UPC box i have had including the new HD box they released. Menu will never match standard of sky but thats really not a concern for me.

NIMAN

Thanks for the update.