Amiko Alien2 / SAB / GM / ST7162 ** SPARK** Discussion Thread

Liverpool1981

Hi guys,

New amiko Alien 2 user. Have it a few days now guy loaded Enigma2 onto it and said there's much more support online for it. Had a read through this thread. Haven't really had a look at Sparks yet, learning bit about Enigma (complicated). Which one would you guys recommend?

Nowso

set up spark 1st get it working and then you can get used to whatever enigma images you wish to try

its good to have spark as a back up incase your enigma crashs etc

i have both set up but use spark nearly all the time for its stability and better picture quality - if i want to use a plugin on enigma and have time to waste working it ill go into enigma2 , currenly have the vix4enigma2 2.7 version installed

Liverpool1981

Ok cool thanks, guy in store set Enigma up for me... don't think Sparks is set up. Is there a noticeably better picture on Sparks & is the 7 day epg any good?

Nowso

7 day is there . its not as user friendly but is there

you can set up spark from my dropbox . posts on here and click on spark videos on the freetv website here for the basic workings

http://www.freetv.ie/amiko-alien-2.html

when the picture is set up 1080I 50 etc . the picture is clearer on spark, and if its just watching tv n recording you want - spark is better

Liverpool1981

Sounds like Spark is probably a better option for what I want. Is it difficult to set up, it wouldn't be my forte.. guy from satworld set enigma up for me.

lensman

Nowso wrote: »

7 day is there . its not as user friendly but is there

you can set up spark from my dropbox . posts on here and click on spark videos on the freetv website here for the basic workings

http://www.freetv.ie/amiko-alien-2.html

when the picture is set up 1080I 50 etc . the picture is clearer on spark, and if its just watching tv n recording you want - spark is better

@Nowso, I'm running enigma2 image on the SAB triplex box, never had much to do with spark, If I upgrade to the latest Spark firmware will if feck up my E2 image? will I have to go through the whole 'install plugin install E2 image' from scratch?

Nowso

both images run seperatly and dont effect each other appart from the upgrade and back up of enigma 2 through the e2 upgrade plugin on spark

plugins in spark dont delete unless you delete them .

there is an updated spark plugin set up but the old one with a few added from my dropbox works well

Liverpool1981

So do I go onto the official website and download latest release?

Nowso

if your connected to the net . just go to menu , spark and do it there it should work

Liverpool1981

Ok brilliant, thanks mate. I may be fairly likely to be back to ask for more help

reni10

Is there a spark plugin that allows similar functions like the OpenWebIf on Enigma so you can stream channels to another device etc.?

Nowso

reni10 wrote: »

Is there a spark plugin that allows similar functions like the OpenWebIf on Enigma so you can stream channels to another device etc.?

that there isnt - theres a spark webserver where you can stream usually the same channel

you can connect to the box via network either and play recordings on laptop etc

theres reasons to have both e2 and spark loaded

BobbyT28

Boot into sparks. Installed channel version.xml

did scan and all channels picked up. Problem is when I try view channels it says "Scarmbed or not running"?

Regards,
BobbyT28

reni10

Cant figure out how to add the PBS America channel in Spark?

I have added the transponder frequency etc. that it is on but can't seem to just scan that single transponder?

I have my Favs setup how I like them now so don't want to do a complete Scan again in case this messes the favs up?

Nowso

its in 11307 h 275000 2/3 dvbs you might have old frequency

did you do favourites added to my channel list ?

send me on a copy and i can see can i add to it for mine

reni10

Yes I used your channels list so can you please add PBS to it and also the new UKTV freesat channels that will go FTA this month?

Nowso

i have pbs added to new one and will add the new fta ones when they come online . new rte channels one when there added 2 . just waiting for them to be added to do a new one

search for pbs as it might be there already hit the find button

Kurn

Nowso wrote: »

Updated Spark 28.2 channel List

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vdcgbqqnhywxao8/AAAUP3hhyz1smLPNuSr_an2Ma?dl=0

channel changes and another file update

Excuse my stupidity, which one is the file with the channels, is it an xml file?

Thanks

Nowso

the db2015etc or whatever is the database file

download it , unzip it and flash it

fuse

Looking to get into the world of combo boxes. I have lots of unix experience and have been using kodi + plugins for years, so I'd like something powerful with lots of scope for customising.

Trying to figure out what combo box to get. Looking at the SAB Unix Triple and Amiko Alien 2. Then there's Enigma 2 and SPARK to decide on.
Anyone any advice which direction to go in these days?

I guess I just need to get one of the above and figure it out from there! Just checking if one has overtaken another at this stage. Lots of reading online, but difficult to find the nuggets of info over the regular discussions.

Thanks

reni10

I recently got a combo box and similar to yourself have been using XBMC etc. for years and also pretty computer literate so I will share my experience:

I initially got a SAB Triple Tuner but I found that it was sluggish when running Enigma2 even the Hyperion4.5 image that is posted here.
I rolled it back to Spark and although Spark is not nearly as feature rich it is still adequate and then handed the box onto a family member and they are very happy with it as they don't really need the additional things that Enigma2 brings and the box has now been extremely stable.

I then decided to look for a receiver with a bit more power but did not want to spend serious money so I decided on the XPEED LX2 and bought it from Amazon.de for about €120 delivered.

I have now installed the latest OpenVix Enigma2 image on it and also use a USB TV Tuner for Saorview and it has been performing pretty well.
Still a little bit sluggish when changing between the Saorview and Satellite channels especially the HD ones but other then that am happy with it and the family are starting to get used to it pretty quickly.

The biggest thing for me has been the Streaming of Live Channels to other Kodi devices and the flexibility that this brings and once you have this setup properly in the OpenWebIf Enigma2 plugin and the Enigma Kodi addon it works really well.

If I was going to buy again now I would probably go for something like the Xtrend 8000 receiver which has more power again.

Hope that helps...

FlexMcMurphy

If you are looking for power then neither of the above are ideal. The problem is lack of processor power and memory. If you google around for something like "best enigma2 comboboxes" you can do the research. The AA2/Sab Unix are identical. They do the job for watching TV/recording and running a few plug-ins but things slow down a bit. If you want alot of flexibility then enigma2 is the way to go as Spark is a closed system though in some ways that makes it more stable and it gives a better picture too.

Two good ones that are alot faster than the AA2/Sab Unix:

Xtrend ET10000
Technomate Nano 3T

And for comparison!
Amiko Alien 2

Personally I think hardware transcoding is a useful feature worth considering since it makes possible streaming live TV direct from your box to the net, though you still need decent broadband at either end to make it work well.

Flex

fuse

Thanks folks, looks like I'm budgeting a bit low to get what I want. Thanks for the other suggestions. I'm debating whether to start off with the initial ideas and get to know what I want from them. I'll probably keep my kodi box running with it, so I could start basic enough and upgrade in the future.
Good to know about the higher spec boxes and what to aim for.

deezell

fuse wrote: »

Thanks folks, looks like I'm budgeting a bit low to get what I want. Thanks for the other suggestions. I'm debating whether to start off with the initial ideas and get to know what I want from them. I'll probably keep my kodi box running with it, so I could start basic enough and upgrade in the future.
Good to know about the higher spec boxes and what to aim for.

The Edision Optimuss OS2+ is the exact same fast spec as the others
Broadcom 1300 MHz Mips Processor (BCM 7356), 256 MB NAND Flash / 8MB NOR Flash / 1 GB DDR3 RAM
, 2 sat tuners or 2 sat and a terrestrial (the OS3, extra tuner is a usb dongle)
http://www.freetv.ie/edision-optimuss-os-2-plus.html
Currently just 201€, an extra 20€ for the Terrestrial dongle. 10% off using the code "FREETV" up to the 13th of December. That's a lot of receiver for 180€.

fuse

deezell wrote: »

The Edision Optimuss OS2+ is the exact same fast spec as the others
Broadcom 1300 MHz Mips Processor (BCM 7356), 256 MB NAND Flash / 8MB NOR Flash / 1 GB DDR3 RAM
, 2 sat tuners or 2 sat and a terrestrial (the OS3, extra tuner is a usb dongle)
http://www.freetv.ie/edision-optimuss-os-2-plus.html
Currently just 201€, an extra 20€ for the Terrestrial dongle. 10% off using the code "FREETV" up to the 13th of December. That's a lot of receiver for 180€.

That sounds good. What's the terrestrial dongle?

deezell

fuse wrote: »

That sounds good. What's the terrestrial dongle?

The dongle is an extra tuner for receiving Saorview. The box has two built in satellite tuners. The other triple boxes have all three built in. The Edision optimuss OS3+ has all three built in, but its been out of stock for quite some time, so the OS2+ with the usb tuner does the same thing. Many people don't bother with a saorview tuner, as that's built in to most TVs anyway, but having Saorview and Sat together on one box is really useful, just one remote required, common EPG program list, and of course you can record, timeshift, stream from the box which you can't generally do on a Saorview TV.

lensman

I always found DVB-T dongles a bit hit & miss on the dreambox 800 running enigma2 images,finding correct drivers was a bitch, I switched to the SAB triplex for an easier life

deezell

lensman wrote: »

I always found DVB-T dongles a bit hit & miss on the dreambox 800 running enigma2 images,finding correct drivers was a bitch, I switched to the SAB triplex for an easier life

Freetv selling this as a package in place of the unavailable. optimuss Os3. I guess they have taken care of installation.

Liverpool1981

Del

FlexMcMurphy

Not clear what you're trying to do exactly?

Flex