Tiviar Alpha Plus Combo STB

sligojoek

greasepalm wrote: »

Do you have a usb stick and hdd fitted as i used to have my epg to usb and recordings to hdd.
You could see 2 storage devices ext 4 listed.
I never found a use for timeshift.

Yeah. I've both fitted and are showing.

sligojoek

Here's the timeshift settings.

swoofer

Looks ok only difference I have start after 20 secs but dont use timeshift a lot.

sligojoek

I don't use it myself either but the children do. Often pause for 5 mins and come back. Are these auto deleted afterwards? I had a look in the HDD with filezilla last night before bed and dthere were a load of 4.3 GB files. I deleted them and will check on a while whether more have been created.

Gerry Wicklow

sligojoek wrote: »

I don't use it myself either but the children do. Often pause for 5 mins and come back. Are these auto deleted afterwards? I had a look in the HDD with filezilla last night before bed and dthere were a load of 4.3 GB files. I deleted them and will check on a while whether more have been created.

AFAIK (I rarely used it myself) it asks if you want to save the show or not. Possibly the kids are clicking save?

peking97

sligojoek wrote: »

Here's the timeshift settings.

Timeshift buffer limit is 12 hrs! Is that not considered very high? Mine is 1 hr.

logonmar

I have a Tiviar Alpha Plus Combo STB that has given me both the FTA & Saorview channels for past few years.
However my Saorview channels whilst still working are giving me the following messages
On my EPG it states 'Viewer Advisory'
If I then go into info the message reads 'The transmitter frequency currently being used by your Television equipment will cease transmission on 3rd March 2020. To continue viewing Saorview please retune your television before that date'
I live in Cork & have been tuned to Collins Barracks and I gather I need to be connected to Spur Hill
HOWEVER, I have changed tuner to Spur Hill and did a rescan but yet I keep getting same messages.
Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong please?
Thanks

logonmar

logonmar wrote: »

I have a Tiviar Alpha Plus Combo STB that has given me both the FTA & Saorview channels for past few years.
However my Saorview channels whilst still working are giving me the following messages
On my EPG it states 'Viewer Advisory'
If I then go into info the message reads 'The transmitter frequency currently being used by your Television equipment will cease transmission on 3rd March 2020. To continue viewing Saorview please retune your television before that date'
I live in Cork & have been tuned to Collins Barracks and I gather I need to be connected to Spur Hill
HOWEVER, I have changed tuner to Spur Hill and did a rescan but yet I keep getting same messages.
Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong please?
Thanks

Did you rescan collins barracks..I imagine you will still get it from rhere,only different frequency??

sligojoek

Put your address in here. It'll give the old and new frequencies for your transmitter. Be sure to tick "Clear before scan" to get rid of older scans.

https://www.saorview.ie/en/get/coverage

Alfie Tupper

logonmar wrote: »

I have a Tiviar Alpha Plus Combo STB that has given me both the FTA & Saorview channels for past few years.
However my Saorview channels whilst still working are giving me the following messages
On my EPG it states 'Viewer Advisory'
If I then go into info the message reads 'The transmitter frequency currently being used by your Television equipment will cease transmission on 3rd March 2020. To continue viewing Saorview please retune your television before that date'
I live in Cork & have been tuned to Collins Barracks and I gather I need to be connected to Spur Hill
HOWEVER, I have changed tuner to Spur Hill and did a rescan but yet I keep getting same messages.
Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong please?
Thanks

I still have the same issue.
I have rescanned numerous times and after every scan the programme guide is all ok but then it's back to "viewer advisory" again every morning.
Is it an EPG issue as that is set for a 4am update everyday?
I'm also on Spur Hill, it's only a couple of miles away with clear line of sight

logonmar

Alfie Tupper wrote: »

I still have the same issue.
I have rescanned numerous times and after every scan the programme guide is all ok but then it's back to "viewer advisory" again every morning.
Is it an EPG issue as that is set for a 4am update everyday?
I'm also on Spur Hill, it's only a couple of miles away with clear line of sight

If you manage to figure it out you might post solution please

logonmar

Deleted User wrote: »

Did you rescan collins barracks..I imagine you will still get it from rhere,only different frequency??

Yes tried that also but get same Viewer Advisory Messages

logonmar

logonmar wrote: »

Yes tried that also but get same Viewer Advisory Messages

I just got the message myself last night..did a rescan..I got message on some channels,but not all..Saorview said the message would stay until March 4th,because the box is not Saorview approved..From what I understand its the 700MHZ frequency that is being cleared..The rescanned channels are in the 600MHZ..I see this when I press the information button..but just to say I am still using the fortis image that came with the box...Also some users may need to adjust or replace aerial....

I got this for my luddite brother to replace his Ferguson Ariva. I used HHB's image. He didn't like the box because he was used to putting in the numbers for the different channels (something like that). But we did notice that the picture quality of the channels was far superior when using the Tiviar. He's going back to the Ferguson box so would there be some setting on that to get that better picture quality? Or is it down to the box itself?

sligojoek

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I got this for my luddite brother to replace his Ferguson Ariva. I used HHB's image. He didn't like the box because he was used to putting in the numbers for the different channels (something like that). But we did notice that the picture quality of the channels was far superior when using the Tiviar. He's going back to the Ferguson box so would there be some setting on that to get that better picture quality? Or is it down to the box itself?

You can re arrange the channels in any order and still use the numbers

swoofer

Whats going to happen to the Tiviar now? Was he watching the ferguson through scart or hdmi?? And you can change video settings to various formates, ie 720p, 1080i, 1080p, 576p 576i. Yes the box can have a bearing on pic quality ie more processing power can equal better pic quality.

greasepalm

I have also argued about the picture quality of some hdmi cables giving a blurry picture and other ones a crisp clean picture.

NewClareman

greasepalm wrote: »

I have also argued about the picture quality of some hdmi cables giving a blurry picture and other ones a crisp clean picture.

From a picture quality perspective, the construction of the cable, and connectors, is immaterial. With HDMI signals, either the picture can be reconstructed, or not.

That’s not to say cable quality doesn’t matter from a reliability perspective.

greasepalm

If you have a very good tv and box all xtras need to be of good quality and not from the pound shop.

dulpit

greasepalm wrote: »

If you have a very good tv and box all xtras need to be of good quality and not from the pound shop.

Digital = digital.

greasepalm

greasepalm wrote: »

If you have a very good tv and box all xtras need to be of good quality and not from the pound shop.

Its like getting a phone charger from the euro shop,or the phone shop...You really do get what you pay for...

J_V_C

Have had this box for a couple of months now, and am going nowhere fast.
I wonder if Satworld would consider giving me a refund if I returned it.
Does anyone have any experience in that area?

The high horse brigade

J_V_C wrote: »

Have had this box for a couple of months now, and am going nowhere fast.
I wonder if Satworld would consider giving me a refund if I returned it.
Does anyone have any experience in that area?

No company will give you a refund on something you've had for months without there being a fault with it

greasepalm

Most likely user error in getting into the unknown which can be fixed.

J_V_C

This was a costly lesson (230 euros).
I'm stayin' the **** away from satellite.
If my mum wants to unhook from Murdoch, let her do it herself.

greasepalm

Thats only a small amount i have spent on sat boxes and dishes over 20 years.

sligojoek

sligojoek wrote: »

I've a slight problem with the box.

When I hit the up/down arrow for the channel list it takes a few seconds to come up. Then if I scroll up or down it's very laggy. Say if i press down 3 times nothing happens for a few secs, then it jumps down 3 spaces.

Also sometimes when watching something the wee circle in the top left comes on for a few seconds.

I assume it's working overtime in tha background.

Any ideas welcome. Thanks.

Thanks for the above answers.

Just got to have a look last night. The USB ( with EPG and Picons wasn't showing. I switched off the box at the back. took out the USB and reformatted it to FAT32 on the laptop. Put it back in the box and changed it to EXT4.

I also uninstalled a plugin called Xtream that I've never used.

It seems to be working ok again. Remote reaction is snappy and The spinning circle hasn't been seen all evening.

STB.

Deleted User wrote: »

I got this for my luddite brother to replace his Ferguson Ariva. I used HHB's image. He didn't like the box because he was used to putting in the numbers for the different channels (something like that). But we did notice that the picture quality of the channels was far superior when using the Tiviar. He's going back to the Ferguson box so would there be some setting on that to get that better picture quality? Or is it down to the box itself?

The picture q is probably just down to a better chipset combined with the software used in the box to display the picture. The on screen displays etc are obviously sharper than the Fergusons as well

You can have the channels as 1, 2 etc, you will just have to remove the autobouquets plugin that HHB has installed (plugins, remove).

Create favourites group which you can name. Then add the channels to that group. All of this can be done with the remote or on a PC with free software like DreamEdit.

NewClareman

greasepalm wrote: »

If you have a very good tv and box all xtras need to be of good quality and not from the pound shop.

It does make sense to get good quality accessories, to avoid premature failure, or lack of durability. This is particularly the case where items will be hardwired, or otherwise hard to replace.

However, the physical construction of cables does not effect the ‘quality’ of digital signals. The picture on a TV set will be EXACTLY the same whether the receiver is connected via a €1 cable from a pound shop or a €50 gold plated super cable, from a specialist retailer.

Johnboy1951

NewClareman wrote: »

From a picture quality perspective, the construction of the cable, and connectors, is immaterial. With HDMI signals, either the picture can be reconstructed, or not.

That’s not to say cable quality doesn’t matter from a reliability perspective.

I am not sure you are correct in that.
Some HDMI cables don't appear to work well when higher bandwidth video is being used and can give very odd results.

This seems to be most often reported, particularly where folk move from basic video (720/1080) to UHD and HDR etc etc. often after upgrading their TV.

NewClareman

NewClareman wrote: »

From a picture quality perspective, the construction of the cable, and connectors, is immaterial. With HDMI signals, either the picture can be reconstructed, or not.

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I am not sure you are correct in that.
Some HDMI cables don't appear to work well when higher bandwidth video is being used and can give very odd results.

This seems to be most often reported, particularly where folk move from basic video (720/1080) to UHD and HDR etc etc. often after upgrading their TV.

That’s the problem with giving a brief answer to a complex issue.�� The point I was making is that the picture displayed on the screen is not influenced by the construction of the cable, the picture displayed will be exactly the same. Outside of specialist installations, there is no need to spend lots of money on better quality connectors, leads, etc. If a salesperson is promoting these, ask them to explain why they are needed.

Of course you are correct, some older cables will not work with higher bandwidth video, typically above 1080p, particularly at longer distances. In that case there will be either no picture at all, or snow (sparkles) on the screen. Some cheaper cables may also be missing conductors for functionality such as audio return channel (ARC). My approach would be to use what I already have, or what is supplied with the TV, STB, whatever. Only if it didn’t work would I be looking for a low cost replacement.

NewClareman

Deleted User wrote: »

I got this for my luddite brother to replace his Ferguson Ariva. I used HHB's image. He didn't like the box because he was used to putting in the numbers for the different channels (something like that). But we did notice that the picture quality of the channels was far superior when using the Tiviar. He's going back to the Ferguson box so would there be some setting on that to get that better picture quality? Or is it down to the box itself?

I had a similar issue, Wifey found the box too difficult to manage. That’s why I created a custom image, with a focus on ease of use. It is almost completely self-managing and auto-updates channel changes. Channels can be selected directly from the remote:

1 RTE1
2 RTE2
3 BBC1 NI
4 BBC 2 NI
5 UTV
6 CH4 HD
7 CH5 HD
8 VM1
9 VM2
10 VM3
11BBC4 HD

17 TG4

Before you give up on the Tiviar, you could try flashing the image. Further details, on this thread and the latest version is covered here.

STB.

NewClareman wrote: »

The point I was making is that the picture displayed on the screen is not influenced by the construction of the cable, the picture displayed will be exactly the same. Outside of specialist installations, there is no need to spend lots of money on better quality connectors, leads, etc. If a salesperson is promoting these, ask them to explain why they are needed.

The picture displayed is influenced by the right drivers being released by Broadcom/Manufacturer for to match the chipset for e2. This is an improvement over generic drivers.

This is the case with the Tiviar's. Clearly Fortis where all over this in clearing old stock that initially had a proprietary non E2 image. They did the same with the Formuler's.


I agree about expensive cable nonsense. Do people who buy gold cables not realise that they are connecting them to metal housed sockets.

NewClareman

NewClareman wrote: »

I had a similar issue, Wifey found the box too difficult to manage. That’s why I created a custom image, with a focus on ease of use. It is almost completely self-managing and auto-updates channel changes. Channels can be selected directly from the remote:

1 RTE1
2 RTE2
3 BBC1 NI
4 BBC 2 NI
5 UTV
6 CH4 HD
7 CH5 HD
8 VM1
9 VM2
10 VM3
11BBC4 HD

17 TG4

Before you give up on the Tiviar, you could try flashing the image. Further details, on this thread and the latest version is covered here.

Ah I thought THHB's image was equally as dumbed down. I'll give yours a chance so when I can get around to it.

With regard to the HDMI thing: I used the same cable for the Ferguson Ariva box and the Tiviar box. Tiviar was clearly better picture wise. Wasn't even expecting the Tiviar box to improve such a thing when I purchased it. Mainly purchased the Tiviar because my brother isn't comfortable re-tuning the channels when they disappear.

Things are difficult because I have a Virgin box myself. I've no personal experience with the Saorview/FreeSat setup he has. But if I was using it daily I would definitely be into it.

My brother has all the channels and their respective channel numbers for the Ferguson box written out on a notepad. The Ferguson came with the install so he's gotten used to that unfortunately.

STB.

Deleted User wrote: »

My brother has all the channels and their respective channel numbers for the Ferguson box written out on a notepad. The Ferguson came with the install so he's gotten used to that unfortunately.

Does he not have them in a 1-30 order ?

Yeah that reminds me I fixed that before for him. Had to change the LCN (logical numbering or something) setting. The thing is it somehow keeps changing itself back after a time. He does switch the box off when going to bed though!! Total cluster**** ain't it?....embarrassing stuff.

sligojoek

Deleted User wrote: »

I got this for my luddite brother to replace his Ferguson Ariva. I used HHB's image. He didn't like the box because he was used to putting in the numbers for the different channels (something like that). But we did notice that the picture quality of the channels was far superior when using the Tiviar. He's going back to the Ferguson box so would there be some setting on that to get that better picture quality? Or is it down to the box itself?

Are you still on THHB's image?

All you have to do is press arrow up or down> Menu> Enable move mode. Click on a channel > OK It will turn blue. then scroll it to where you want . Press OK . Then go and do another channel. You'll get faster as you get used to it. There's a setting to show numbers in the Channel selection menu.

Disable "Move mode" when you're done by selecting Menu and then 6.

Hopre that helps. If there's a better picture from the Tiviar he might as well enjoy it.

timmyjimmy

I have used autobouquet maker to created saorview and freesat bouquets. Is the best way to combine saorview and freesat channels to put them into favourites? If so, is using my computer the easiest way to do this?

NewClareman

timmyjimmy wrote: »

I have used autobouquet maker to created saorview and freesat bouquets. Is the best way to combine saorview and freesat channels to put them into favourites? If so, is using my computer the easiest way to do this?

I couldn’t find any other option, that’s why I use AUtoBouquetMaker, with my build. With ABM you can use a custom build to integrate the Freesat and Saorview channels. With ABM I use the Sky Bouquets, rather than Freesat, as it has more channels.

The advantage of the above approach is that the channel lists still update automatically.

greasepalm

Pc and channels was old skool 20 years ago as there was no abm which i find is handy also.

lawred2

Small freesat box bit the dust - might use the opportunity to shift the AA2 out of the sitting room into the kitchen and replace the AA2 with a Tiviar.

Where's best to pick one up?

greasepalm

Satworld have stock nearly 200 euro.

Gerry Wicklow

greasepalm wrote: »

Satworld have stock nearly 200 euro.

WOW the Zgemma H7S is currently £112GBP +HDD and a superior box IMO.

greasepalm

I have a zgemma h7s and must get it setup.Thinking people see the Tiviar as a new box but is years old and modern boxes are getting cheaper and faster.

Johnboy1951

greasepalm wrote: »

I have a zgemma h7s and must get it setup.Thinking people see the Tiviar as a new box but is years old and modern boxes are getting cheaper and faster.

Yes, this thread start just over two years ago and the box was released in 2013.

7 years is a very long time for this kind of hardware.
It is still good, but nowhere near top of the pile now.

lawred2

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Yes, this thread start just over two years ago and the box was released in 2013.

7 years is a very long time for this kind of hardware.
It is still good, but nowhere near top of the pile now.

What is top of the pile?

greasepalm

It might depend on your decision in buying boxes,
Single tuner
Twin tuner
Combo tuner Sat and Cable
Triple tuners
Quad tuners with selectable plug and play tuners
Budget
Hdd internal or external.

What was top of the pile a few years ago and expensive might not be made anymore.

john_doe.

Does anyone have the Viewer Advisory message for saorview.?
It's blocking out the EPG and program information for all my saorview channels

Atlantic Dawn

john_doe. wrote: »

Does anyone have the Viewer Advisory message for saorview.?
It's blocking out the EPG and program information for all my saorview channels

Rescan needed or you will lose the channels on 4th March...
https://www.saorview.ie/changes

Gooey Looey

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Rescan needed or you will lose the channels on 4th March...
https://www.saorview.ie/changes

How do you update ABM to fix this as a rescan does not fix it, ABM breaks it again the next time it runs