Zgemma H7s Guide

My thoughts are you will have issues not in setting up the box but for having the ability of viewing in all rooms will need 3 feeds of cable 2 for sat and 1 saorview.

You will need a newer lnb with more feeds as the one with sky q is different.

I prefare a box with its own HDD and when full move stuff to a NAS drive from router.

I have never setup a NAS for recording from multiple boxes or if possible at the same time.

andy with that twin dtt you can record all of saorview at same time. And that link for vu box is blutooth remote.

Thank you for that also. I’ll leave the NAS stand alone then.

Thats the box I bought from Germany , The DVB C/T tuner has one physical connection , split on the inside to two tuners , so 10 tuners in all.

I have two of these boxes , One from WOS and one from Amazon

There are two physical FBC tuners , but you only need to fix a cable to one of them , and each of those has 3 leaf tuners , so 8 satellite tuners in all.

There are various options on this VU+ box , there are many for sale on amazon with various configurations , for Ireland you want twin FBC and DVB-C/T tuners , they pop up for sale every now and again at varying prices.

The tuners are separate cards that go into slots , a bit like expansion cards in a PC , the tuner cards can be bought separately but are very expensive that way.

The one I linked too is the BT edition , meaning the remote is both IR and Blutooth , handy if you want the box in a cabinet out of line of sight. The Remote is silver and heavier than the ordinary VU+ Duo 4K SE remote.

The box is expensive compared to a Zgemma , but built like a tank and super fast compared to Zgemma or Octagon boxes.

Vu+ vs Zgemma would be like say SkyQ vs Sky HD

( I have a lot of enigma 2 boxes at the moment , a hobby that's getting a bit out of hand , The Octagon S8008 is a real tinkerers dream , 4 image slots and an SD card slot that will extend image slots infinitely depending on size ….. and Define OS as its base system , any image can be downloaded and installed , no USB sticks required, and booting between images is easy and fast )

Deleted due to missing quote…

No , Coax is Coax , no need to change it.

FBC tuners will work with " Legacy " LNB's , but they work exactly the same as legacy LNB's in that case.

So two coax feeds will behave exactly the same as an old Sky HD legacy LNB , record one , watch another etc.

Its the addition of the Unicable II LNB that makes the full use of the FBC tuners possible.

If you are going unicable , make sure its a Unicable II with enough User bands. The one I linked has 32 User bands , and each of the tuners used with the LNB must be set to a unique user band.

So for example , with the VU+ box that I have , the FBC tuners have one cable attached to tuner A and is set up in Openvix as follows ….. you might want to copy this next bit and print it out , very useful if you buy unicable …..

Unicable 2 LNB attached to Tuner A

Tuner AConfiguration mode: Advanced
Satellite: 28.2E
LNB: LNB 1
Priority: Auto
Type of LNB/Device: SCR(Unicable/Jess)
SCR (Unicable/JESS) type: LNB
Manufacturer: Inverto
Model: IDLU-32UL42-UNB00-0PP
Position: 1
Channel: User band 1 (1210)
Connected: No
DiSEqC mode: None
Force legacy signal stats: No

Tuner BConfiguration mode: Advanced
Satellite: 28.2E
LNB: LNB 1
Priority: Auto
Type of LNB/Device: SCR(Unicable/Jess)
SCR (Unicable/JESS) type: LNB
Manufacturer: Inverto
Model: IDLU-32UL42-UNB00-0PP
Position: 1
Channel: User band 2 (1420)
Connected: Yes
Connected to: Tuner A (one with wire attached)
DiSEqC mode: None
Force legacy signal stats: No

Tuner CConfiguration mode: Advanced
Satellite: 28.2E
LNB: LNB 1
Priority: Auto
Type of LNB/Device: SCR(Unicable/Jess)
Manufacturer: Inverto
Model: IDLU-32UL42-UNB00-0PP
Position: 1
Channel: User band 3 (1680)
Connected: Yes
Connected to: Tuner A (one with wire attached)
DiSEqC mode: None
Force legacy signal stats: No

Tuner DConfiguration mode: Advanced
Satellite: 28.2E
LNB: LNB 1
Priority: Auto
Type of LNB/Device: SCR(Unicable/Jess)
Manufacturer: Inverto
Model: IDLU-32UL42-UNB00-0PP
Position: 1
Channel: User band 4 (2040)
Connected: Yes
Connected to: Tuner A (one with wire attached)
DiSEqC mode: None
Force legacy signal stats: No

Tuner EConfiguration mode: Advanced
Satellite: 28.2E
LNB: LNB 1
Priority: Auto
Type of LNB/Device: SCR(Unicable/Jess)
Manufacturer: Inverto
Model: IDLU-32UL42-UNB00-0PP
Position: 1
Channel: User band 5(984)
Connected: Yes
Connected to: Tuner A (one with wire attached)
DiSEqC mode: None
Force legacy signal stats: No

Tuner FConfiguration mode: Advanced
Satellite: 28.2E
LNB: LNB 1
Priority: Auto
Type of LNB/Device: SCR(Unicable/Jess)
Manufacturer: Inverto
Model: IDLU-32UL42-UNB00-0PP
Position: 1
Channel: User band 6(1020)
Connected: Yes
Connected to: Tuner A (one with wire attached)
DiSEqC mode: None
Force legacy signal stats: No

Tuner GConfiguration mode: Advanced
Satellite: 28.2E
LNB: LNB 1
Priority: Auto
Type of LNB/Device: SCR(Unicable/Jess)
Manufacturer: Inverto
Model: IDLU-32UL42-UNB00-0PP
Position: 1
Channel: User band 7(1056)
Connected: Yes
Connected to: Tuner A (one with wire attached)
DiSEqC mode: None
Force legacy signal stats: No

Tuner HConfiguration mode: Advanced
Satellite: 28.2E
LNB: LNB 1
Priority: Auto
Type of LNB/Device: SCR(Unicable/Jess)
Manufacturer: Inverto
Model: IDLU-32UL42-UNB00-0PP
Position: 1
Channel: User band 8 (1092)
Connected: Yes
Connected to: Tuner A (one with wire attached)
DiSEqC mode: None
Force legacy signal stats: No

DVB C/T tuners are set up separately as you would with any Terrestrial tuners.

Note that depending on the order the tuner cards were installed , DVB tuners may be A and B or I and J , regardless , follow the general idea above. Each tuner must have a different user band , and each " connected too " the one with the actual cable attached.

Also , you can split unicable , splitters are available for peanuts off amazon , however you cannot have two different boxes using the same user bands. So for example , in my case , I have multiple boxes working off the single cable coming from the LNB , and have crossed off the User bands in use on each box. 1 to 8 on the first VU box , 9 to 18 on the second VU box , 19 on the Zgemma single tuner H82h box , 20 on the single tuner octagon box , and so on ……. still have 12 user bands free …… The user bands are usually either listed on the box or in a downloadable PDF , Im attaching the pdf for unicable II LNB I linked too …… note the list of user bands , very important !!!

The Terrestrials are separate , no issues recording any Saorview channels at the same time.

You can use the other boxes as clients no problem , but each one takes up a tuner from the main box when in use.

Any client , regardless of how its connected , must have a tuner , and it will always take the next free one on connection , which gets highlighted yellow in openvix when its in use.

So say for example , Im watching something , someone else logs in on the ipad and watches something whilst someone else on one of the other boxes decides to record something and watch something , then thats 4 tuners in use on the main box.

With 10 tuners in all on 1 VU + box , there should be plenty of clients for most , but I can envisage it not being enough , especially this weekend , when the BBC will be showing Glastonbury across all 4 HD channels , I dont want other users taking tuners and leaving me with less than 4 …….

Also , as said , Im enjoying playing with these boxes at the moment , just to see what can or cant be done with some of them.

The single tuner boxes are cheap , Im just toying with them , so far the VU+ boxes are the workhorses , the rest are for tinkering , the octagon S8008 is being used to try other images and see what they can do , so far , nothing beats openvix for me.

The Zgemma H82h was only 50 quid , and it wasnt worth it , its really slow , and high bitrate channels freeze on it , the epg comes up as soon as you press the button , but is blank for a couple of seconds while it loads it , and the same again every time you go to a new page….. I wouldnt recommend it.

To replicate Sky Q with slave boxes , I'd go VU + and Octagons , or Firesticks etc.

I've toyed with going the Unicable route a few times over the years, but with 4 legacy tuners available, I've never really been able to justify needing more.

I'm curious about one thing though. Mu understanding is that a single cable (connected to one FBC tuner) will give you access to all channels from 8 different frequencies at the same time. However, the frequencies have to be on the same polarization and band (horizontal/vertical polarization, high/low band)? So you don't get the full range of channels across the entire spectrum available when one service is tuned? Or am I wrong in that?

Can't say I agree with your experience of Zgemmas though. I've had a H7S in service continuously for over 4 years (probably nearly 5). Serves content to other devices, never an issue. I have 2 single tuner Zgemmas configured as client, no issues any of them. I have no hesitation recommending them based on my own experience.

Easiest way is to use OpenVix and select client mode under the tuner setup screen. Overview here.

You can set everything up manually, but that's the easiest method. Ideally both boxes should be on a wired network for best reliability. The 'server' box should also have a static IP address assigned (so that the client box always knows where to look for it on the network). It's been years since I set mine up, so I can't remember if Client mode also sets up access to recordings on the server (I think not), but this can also be set up.

Dont use Kodi on e2 boxes as better off using an android box instead.

Does anyone know if WOL (Wake On LAN) works on the Zgemma H7S? I can't find anything in the setup menus and trying to send WOL packets to it didn't do anything. There's a WOL plugin but that's for sending WOL packets to other devices on startup.

The box has a twin FBC tuner card , both of the FBC tuners are connected internally , so you only require a cable to one of them and it can act like both are connected to a cable.

You get 1 physical and 3 virtual tuners to each FBC tuner , no more , so 8 in total no matter whether you connect one sat cable or two.

The above is with a Unicable II LNB

With a Legacy LNB , old rules apply , only one connection , you can watch only one channel , two cables connected , watch one record another etc.

Terrestrials are twin , and really didnt think they needed explaining , the work exactly as you think they should.

In recordings , press menu then settings , then turn network trash on and this limits recording to nas , in addition you can set the network trash space.

By default , timeshift either deletes what is being timeshifted or saves it as a recording when you switch channels , if you dont have network trash enabled , then it will use up all network space.

If recording to local storage , there are no such issues as default rules should limit timeshifted recordings to the current epg event only , it will turn off and delete when that event is over unless you tell it to save timesshift as a recording.

I think the last part is the bit that I was missing….
If it rolls the timeshift over to a new one at the end of the EPG event (and deals with the old one as configered) I can see why there isn't a separate configurable for size or time allowed.

Thanks!

Nope , youve got to watch that , if it just says DVB C then its just a cable tuner , its got to say DVB-T or DVB-C/T

These boxes , because the tuners are add in cards , come in lots of configurations , youve got to watch what you are buying.

On your link , you could ask the seller if its switchable from DVB C to DVB T2 , probably not though , as it would usually say so if it was.

On the VU+ website it seems to only have the hybrid tuners for the previous generation.
i.e. Duo2, but not Duo 4k

It's a shame as I also like the passthrough of that DVB/C (and the previous gen hybrid)


edit:
Hang on! I just seen your pics there. Surely you have a duo 4k, right?
And you have a hybrid tuner installed…

I'm guessing BCM3466 is the model of the tuner?