Best overall FTA receiver

Status
Please reply by conversation.

Mikey11

SatelliteGuys Pro
Nov 9, 2009
858
16
canada
I found openbox' for a decent price but the AZ box seems pretty expensive. If it is really that good and is going to be top notch for at least 5 years or so I may be interested in buying it. It seems like a lot of the FTA receivers have diminishing support so I don't want to make the wrong move.

i dont think anything in life is guaranteed for 5 years....lol
 

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro
Supporting Founder
Nov 17, 2003
2,054
8,298
Mankato, MN
exactly :)
Thinking about it the only receivers I've used for more than 5 years are my Coolsat 5000, Pansat 1500 (my 2nd receiver ever purchased and it had blind scan) and my old crappy Viacast 1500 (it only has a 10 TP entry so its very limited) :)
The other 30 or so receivers I've used were sold
 

Tron

SatelliteGuys Master
May 6, 2005
6,599
33
Metro New Orleans, LA
My 5 1/2 year old Pansat 2700 is still going strong, when it actually gets the chance to work... I primarily use it as an aiming receiver in the field now, so I don't have to disconnect my Visionsats or the Openbox.

As for warranties, other than the traditional 30 day return policies, I wouldn't trust any warranty on FTA equipment.
 

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro
Supporting Founder
Nov 17, 2003
2,054
8,298
Mankato, MN
If the receiver works fine from the get-go there is no need to worry about "firmware support"

My Pansat 1500 is running software from 2007, the 2500 from 2008
Coolsat 5000 is running version 1.00 from the day I bought it. The newer upgrades only did minor things (like change the meter) and I didnt need them
 

ogorek

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Jul 30, 2009
26
1
canada
You have a 39" dish so you are limited to Ku band. For local programing invest in good OTA tv antenna. For $50 you can have many HD channels. Like Iceberg said good receiver with original firmware will last you many years. I have an "old" Fortec Liftime Ultra and Liftime Classic. For my needs (97w, 101w) they work great. My HD channels come from $40 UHF antenna. 25 crystal clear channels.
 

brentb636

SatelliteGuys Pro
Jun 24, 2006
4,278
6
5 miles N of Saugatuck, Mi
If the receiver works fine from the get-go there is no need to worry about "firmware support"

My Pansat 1500 is running software from 2007, the 2500 from 2008
Coolsat 5000 is running version 1.00 from the day I bought it. The newer upgrades only did minor things (like change the meter) and I didnt need them
Completely agree ! My Solomend is good enough that I can live with it never having it's bugs fixed. It works for what I need . Once a receiver gets to that point, software support is not worth worrying about.
:)
 

rrob311

SatelliteGuys Pro
Nov 25, 2010
941
16
New England
You have a 39" dish so you are limited to Ku band. For local programing invest in good OTA tv antenna. For $50 you can have many HD channels. Like Iceberg said good receiver with original firmware will last you many years. I have an "old" Fortec Liftime Ultra and Liftime Classic. For my needs (97w, 101w) they work great. My HD channels come from $40 UHF antenna. 25 crystal clear channels.

Ya I already went the OTA route the last couple years before I knew about FTA and I was able to get 9 channels until I fried my amp. I am out in a Valley and all of the Boston Stations are unavailable unless I move to the top of the hill which ain't happening. Although the Sonicview works great with any OTA channels I get and I can record them but in my location it is of not much use.
 

rrob311

SatelliteGuys Pro
Nov 25, 2010
941
16
New England
Completely agree ! My Solomend is good enough that I can live with it never having it's bugs fixed. It works for what I need . Once a receiver gets to that point, software support is not worth worrying about.
:)

Cool so I have heard a lot of suggestions for the Openbox. I am looking to get a 6 foot c band dish to start out but I need another receiver for my living room either way. I can't really afford an AZbox right now so does anyone have another good box in mind for HD besides the Openbox? I am definitely going to get into C band. Are there a lot of DVB-S2 channels out there? I want a box that will tune in what my SV8000hd won't.
 

19psi

SatelliteGuys Family
May 8, 2010
62
6
Northern Indiana
Cool so I have heard a lot of suggestions for the Openbox. I am looking to get a 6 foot c band dish to start out but I need another receiver for my living room either way. I can't really afford an AZbox right now so does anyone have another good box in mind for HD besides the Openbox? I am definitely going to get into C band. Are there a lot of DVB-S2 channels out there? I want a box that will tune in what my SV8000hd won't.

How many channels are you getting with the SV? You mentioned some random news feeds earlier, are you strictly talking HD channels or are you also not receiving the almost endless amount of SD channels out there?
You have an sg2100 in your signature...don't you receive hundreds of channels when pointed at Galaxy 19?
 
Last edited:

Mr Tony

SatelliteGuys Pro
Supporting Founder
Nov 17, 2003
2,054
8,298
Mankato, MN
If you are KU only adding an S2 receiver right now will gain you 1/2 dozen channels. The PBS stations on 125W (Montana, Louisiana, Oklahoma) are all S2. The only other thing I found that was S2 was a couple news feeds on 74W

Now if you upgrade to C-Band, then the SSO would be a great option as there is alot of S2 on C-Band
 

rrob311

SatelliteGuys Pro
Nov 25, 2010
941
16
New England
How many channels are you getting with the SV? You mentioned some random news feeds earlier, are you strictly talking HD channels or are you also not receiving the almost endless amount of SD channels out there?
You have an sg2100 in your signature...don't you receive hundreds of channels when pointed at Galaxy 19?

Right now I am getting about 25 channels with almost half of them on 61.5. I get a few on 89w, 101w,61w and 63w. I had a few on 97w but I think I need to cut some trees down to get a better shot at it. The only hd channel I have received with the sv is the demo one on 82w which is a bellvu satellite I think. I am not sure if this receiver is missing HD channels or not so if anyone can direct me to a forum about what HD channels are where that would help or if anyone knows of some different type channels I can try to get from 61w to about 101w I can experiment more to further determine what type of channels will work with the module I have installed. I am leaning towards an Openbox for the living room I think.
 

SatelliteAV

SatelliteGuys Master
Lifetime Supporter
Sep 3, 2004
6,486
186
Roseville, CA
Most currently distributed FTA receivers have very good tuner sensitivity. Receivers such as the GEOSATpro DSR200c and DVR1100c have extremely low threshold levels due hardware component choices and firmware tweaks to optimize. Other examples of receivers with low thresholds are the CoolSat 4000, 5000, 7100, the Visionsat, and the Traxis 3500.

Cloudy days or average rain will
not make any noticeable difference between most receivers. Weak signals are best addressed with an appropriately sized and quality dish, stable LNBF and quality coax.
 

rrob311

SatelliteGuys Pro
Nov 25, 2010
941
16
New England
Well I just won an Openbox S9 on febay for 120 bux shipped. This was the best deal I could find so hopefully it treats me better than the sonicview. Now I just need to get a C band setup and a plan to knock down a couple of these trees when the snow melts. hahaha
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)