Thread: Prof 7300/7301 and motor control

I'm trying to select a DVB S2 PCI card and the Prof 7300 or 7301 are high on the list, for my set up I would really like to have motor control working using either Mytheatre or ProgDVB can any one confirm this works? and if so with what drivers.

The Prof websites mentions DISEqC 1.2 and BDA drivers for these programs but motor control is not always fully supported with BDA drivers and various programs, it would be nice to be reasonably confident it will work before purchasing.

I gave MyTheatre 4.0 Beta 11 a try but no go, it sees the Prof 7301 and I select it as my card but it won't tune. I've had similar luck with the latest Prog Pro version, can't get it to tune. I'm using the latest 1.12 drivers for the 7301. I use Dvbviewer and Transedit almost exclusivly now so I haven't given those other applications much of a look. I can say the card runs flawlessly with Dvbviewer, motor control and switching are no problem.
Maybe someone else has had more luck with those other applications and the Prof cards.

I have the Prof 7301/7500 and both DVB Dream and DVB Viewer send DiSEqC commands and tune without any issues. I've had no luck with MyTheatre, but was able to get ProgDVB to send commands and tune. However I never use it.

Thanks for your replies, it looks like ProgDVB may work and if not DVBviewer, I'm just not sure if I will be able to use xmltv data to produce an EPG in DVBviewer, it looks possible from what I have read but unfortunately the is no trail version to try out.
Anyway took the plunge and ordered a 7301, it will be something to play with, I will let you know how it turns out.

There is an auto import xmltv plugin for Dvbviewer. I have no idea how well it works, I've never tried it but did a short search just now on the Dvbviewer forum and there seems to be some people who are using it successfully.
As for the 15 Euro price tag, I can say I didn't regret spending it at all, after seeing what a nice piece of software Dvbviewer is, its a steal at that price.

The Prof 7301 arrived after 3 weeks (including New Year holiday) from Hongkong and fortunately went right through Canadian customs without any charges.
I've had a week to play with it and so far I have tried the following programs

Mytheatre:.... picture and sound but no motor control
DVBdream:..... fully supported, motor and all functions tried working.
ProgDVB:..... picture and sound and motor control working via positioner, couldn't set up motor to automatically move with channel change, yet. I didn't spend a lot of time on it as the free version doesn't support DVB-S2
DVBviewer:..... fully supported, motor and all functions tried working. Imports xmltv data for the EPG data easily, well worth the 15 euros its one of the most stable sat programs I have tried, my only problem at the moment is I have been unable to view signal strength and quality data while nudging the motor position, the may be a way but I haven't found it yet.

Motor control didn't work with the drivers supplied on the disc I had to download the 1.12 drivers

I don't have any way to measure performance but compared to my old Twinhan card I have the impression that sensitivity is improved, the card certainly holds a weak signal a lot better and channel changing is less than one second comparable to my Coolsat 5000.
I haven't been able to find many DVB-S2 signals to lock onto just LPB and OETA on AMC21 although that signals are only occasionally strong enough, it looks like a bigger dish is in my future.

Originally Posted by Sadie

my only problem at the moment is I have been unable to view signal strength and quality data while nudging the motor position, the may be a way but I haven't found it yet.

I've found none of the programs give much of an indication of signal/quality. Dvbviewer has a signal bar(maybe its quality-I can't remember) but it really isn't that sensitive that I could nudge my dish around and be close to dead on.
I notice you have a Coolsat 5000 in your signature, that is what I use for nudging the dish to the correct position in my setup.

I've been using DVBdream to nudge the dish, it seems to work fairly well and saves me having to mess with cables or switches.
The signal strength reads around 38 for the threshold with SD, quality is often around 100% although I do get lesser readings often around 60% and occasionally around 10% at which point the picture is breaking up.
I haven't really figured out what is going on with S2 yet, LPB will give me a picture with S38,Q57 while OETA will give me a reading of S60 and no quality (or picture) with SD that kind of signal strength would usually give me a Q of 100 and a great picture, something is not set right I guess.


I should have mentioned in my last post that Mytheatre only works with SD

With dvbviewer I use transedit to bump the dish. Analyze a frequency and it shows the quality. On my tt3200 at least.