Review of Manhattan RS-1933

[SatelliteAV]

So why are public reviews being written using private and unreleased firmware that may or may not be released? A product review should be based on the public release version that is available. PERIOD......

Reviews based on private beta testing files that are not available to the public should be communicated in a private forum or by email.

Who cares what could be or can be. Product reviews are for products and features that are available for Joe Public.

 

[stone1150]

then they will have to also arrange the channels into the particular satellite within the list. IMO that is too much to ask, all you have to do is move the channels within the list accordingly. Besides what would be the purpose of H before V, less polarizer failure? saving energy? , most people use a Voltage controlled polarity solution probably. One thing is the lack of switch options with motor or full diseqC support the other to tailor the firmware to everyone particular needs out there.

Some people are "old school". Even I might toss a servo controlled feed up and play with it. When that is done a seperate receiver controlls the polarity. So scanning just one polarity is needed so when done, you have time to change the polarity with the controlling receiver. Also, some birds do favor one polarity over another. An example is the 72 degree bird. There will be a ton of vert tps there and every once in awhile you "might" see a horiz tp. So scanning just the predominant side saves time. That is important when looking for news feeds as an example. Have a great day!

 

[tdti1]

Well me and most of the guys I know have a feed with lnb's, my dealer also told me most of his customers have a feed with lnb's himself included, now that I think of it, it could be an option in antenna setup or channel list or whatever something like list channels by transponder, by scanning order or by polarity, something like that would be cool.

Also I love my nss-806 so I need to use my feed, no way I will go out in -40 and put the slab in the feed throat hahaha.

 

[brentb636]

Well me and most of the guys I know have a feed with lnb's, my dealer also told me most of his customers have a feed with lnb's himself included, now that I think of it, it could be an option in antenna setup or channel list or whatever something like list channels by transponder, by scanning order or by polarity, something like that would be cool.

Also I love my nss-806 so I need to use my feed, no way I will go out in -40 and put the slab in the feed throat hahaha.

There is already a SORT choice in the Channel editting area, so it seems likely that a "sort by transponder" or other choices might be available someday. Currently it's mostly alphabetical.

 

[skysurfer]

I came across something last night that I didn't notice before. When in the channel list section, you have a list of about 10-15 channels in a box and the frequency/SR/polarity stuff in a "status bar" of that box. When I arrowed down (or even paged up and down) that "status bar" did not update with the parameters of the highlighted channel in the channel list. The parameters stayed the same as the first channel highlighted when I brought up the channel list navigation screen. I'm using May firmware so I don't know if the current testing firmware has this same issue or if it's fixed.

 

[skysurfer]

I'm somewhat confused by your comment above, is the manhattan a clone of a different receiver or which receiver are you implying one would attempt to load your firmware?
BR

Manhattan is not an exact clone by my definition, but it's very similar to an openbox, presumably because they use the same processor chip. Menus and features are very similar (if you are familiar with the openbox menus, your learning curve with a manhattan is only about 5 minutes). The tuners seem similar (both tuners have great sensitivity but not one stands out over the other in my weak signal checks). The openbox has a RS232 port and an ethernet port that I don't believe my Manhattan has and the insides look different. It's too early to tell on the power supplies which one might have the better one so who knows if corners weren't cut on the Manhattan power supply to make it have a longer life.

I think someone on this forum bricked their manhattan using openbox firmware, so that may explain why some think the Manhattan might be a clone of an openbox because the manhattan accepted incompatible firmware rather than denying it from installing.

 

[brentb636]

I came across something last night that I didn't notice before. When in the channel list section, you have a list of about 10-15 channels in a box and the frequency/SR/polarity stuff in a "status bar" of that box. When I arrowed down (or even paged up and down) that "status bar" did not update with the parameters of the highlighted channel in the channel list. The parameters stayed the same as the first channel highlighted when I brought up the channel list navigation screen. I'm using May firmware so I don't know if the current testing firmware has this same issue or if it's fixed.

This has been fixed, but the video is still the original channel until the OK button is pushed to select the highlighted channel( in latest Beta, hope it doesn't change) .

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I think someone on this forum bricked their manhattan using openbox firmware, so that may explain why some think the Manhattan might be a clone of an openbox because the manhattan accepted incompatible firmware rather than denying it from installing.

Indeed. And in fact if you accidently tried loading Manhattan Fimware on an Openbox you would end up bricking your Openbox. This is why Jeff and his team are trying to make it so you can not accidently load Manhattan Firmware on anything by a Manhattan.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Indeed. And in fact if you accidently tried loading Manhattan Fimware on an Openbox you would end up bricking your Openbox. This is why Jeff and his team are trying to make it so you can not accidently load Manhattan Firmware on anything by a Manhattan.

This is not being done to prevent "accidental" loading of Manhattan firmware to disable another brand of receiver. Jeff made it very clear in his previous post that they are concerned about the loading of the Manhattan firmware onto other STBs. It is being done to protect their intellectual development and prevent the Manhattan firmware from being loaded on another brand of STB that also uses the ALI chipset and providing the "Manhattan Experience" on someone else's STB. It is very easy to port the bootloader and firmware from one receiver brand to another if they both use the same chipsets and memory configuration. This has been done for years on many STBs (an early example was the crossbrand firmware usage in Pansat 2500 and Fortec Star Lifetime Ultras, Pantecs and most every other STI 5518 based clone receiver.

To avoid the bricking of the Manhattan product, I am sure that they are attempting to activate a firmware check on the Manhattan to prevent the loading of Firmware of other origins through the USB port. Since the Manhattan receiver does not have a serial port and to my knowledge ALI design does not provide an option to perform "Recovery" option via the USB, they will have significant customer support issues if the receiver firmware loading procedure is not secured. There likely would be no other way to recover from a firmware incident other than to send the unit back to Manhattan to revive.

 

[bobvick]

Not to sound like a broken record, but is there any news about when we might expect to see the new firmware released?

 

[tdti1]

Probably after ice ok's it

 

[Mr Tony]

nope. I really have no say in it. All I can do is try it out and see if there are issues.

 

[Mr Tony]

and while you can record two shows on the same transponder at same time you cannot set up 2 timers to do it. The 1st one will record but the 2nd one gives an error message

 

[brentb636]

My ignorant guess on actual release date of file to all users is maybe mid-October. I know that the latest version is much improved on features, but lack a little bit of functionality. I also know that Jeff Schumann is not likely to release the software until the "clone killer" code has been put in it. I'm guessing that takes some more time. Still , Using early software my manhattan works on motorized C-band, standalone dish, or motorized Ku . I'm getting by using it to drive the Gbox, until more functionality comes along.

 

[brentb636]

Just blindscanning 105W Ku, and picked up 12124 H 999 . Lowest tp I've every found. It's a very compressed looking Echostar slate.

 

[skysurfer]

Anyone have problems with gargling audio (occasionally)? I locked a strong signal the other night, MPEG 2 video and MPEG2 audio (so not AAC audio). Video was flawless through the 3 hour sports event, audio went to gargle twice during the event. first time I've come across that.

I don't know the encoder used for the uplinker (or have notes I've built about encoders I've been able to identify and how well the Manhattan handles that type of feed) so it might just be some encoder/Manhattan rare occasional incompatibility as encoders from time to time are known not to be 100% to DVB-S and/or DVB-S2 spec and uplinkers may not keep up with encoder firmware patches to assure as much compatibility as possible with their clients' receivers.

 

[brentb636]

No, so far no issues with either audio or video. Looking forward to the next set of improvements though, and hoping nothing gets broken in the process.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Just got the new firmware update from Jeff to post, which I will do when I get back from the doctors.

 

[bobvick]

Has this new firmware been posted? I looked in the firmware area, and the latest for the Manhattan is dated July 15.

 

[brentb636]

I uploaded it to the moderator queue, but Scott posted it here, http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/267396-manhattan-3-2-firmware-update.html . It's also available at the Manhattan site.