Just a few notes from my testing. We have seen these same issues on other STBs, but I want to provide hobbyists with an honest assessment of the receiver as it is tested with firmware version _897. These issues are known and I understand that they are being addressed for future firmware. There are some cool things that I have found...
Realistically, not all satellites scanned blazingly fast... 95w KU with all of the Satellite Internet transponders just took 5:15. Others like 123W KU took only 1:25! most were in the 2 minute range. The blind scan process could be modified to time out quicker on non TV/Radio services.
Scans currently begin the moment that "Start" is selected. This is not problem if the dish is fixed on the target satellite. If the dish is motorized and not already parked on the target satellite, the scan needs to be delayed until on the target satellite. During initial set-up this was frustrating as the horizontal polarity scan would be skipped if a dish move occurred. Once a satellite has been scanned and channels are logged, the motor first drives to the target satellite before starting a scan.
I really like that the "Moving Dish" message disappears when the channel or active transponder is reached!
I also like how if an active transponder is saved in position one in the TP list, a connected DiSEqC 1.2 mode controller/motor will stop when the transponder signal is received. When the continuous move button is selected, the transponder signal is found, peaked for the target satellite and the motor parks at that spot.
After a channel scan, the receiver exits the install menu and returns to the channel play mode. If no channel is logged during a scan, it returns to the last played satellite channel. Instead I would suggest that upon completion of an unsuccessful scan, it returns to the installation menu screen. This is not a problem for fixed dishes, but not fun to have a motor take off across the arc. A work around is to play a channel on the satellite that is about to be scanned, then enter installation scanning mode.
BTW... It scans in the h.265 UHD test channels on 103W C and plays audio with a black screen. We know this chipset is h.265 capable, but is the rest of the build adequate for UHD to be processed for 1080p output. Time will tell.
I find it very interesting that the receiver does not depend on the flags to determine if the channel is HD or SD. When I first scanned, I thought the unit was flagging services incorrectly. After flipping through the channels, I noted that the receiver SD/HD indicators were updated, just like the multi-language and other service indicators. Very cool!
Hopefully some other testers or early buyers will post... I am feeling like a one man cheerleader team!
