2 Receivers - 1 TV

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PopcornNMore

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Mar 20, 2005
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Gibsonia, PA
How many of you have two FTA receivers hooked up to one TV using the "LNB Output" on the primary receiver?

I've had my Openbox S9 receiver sitting next to my Optibox Anaconda receiver now for many months and sometimes swap receivers when performing experiments, dish alignments and product reviews. For some reason I "assumed" that the LNB Output would only be active if the receiver was powered on and even then the polarity would be determined by the primary receiver.

This afternoon after waiting 30 minutes for my Optibox Anaconda to perform a blind scan after performing a LNBF adjustment I decided to try connecting the LNB Output of the Anaconda to the LNB Input of the Openbox and have each receiver on their own TV Input. Having the Optibox Anaconda powered off I powered on the Openbox S9 and was surprised to see that the signal was being passed through. Motor control and polarity switching worked great on the second receiver. No longer do I need to swap out receivers disconnecting and reconnecting coax and video cables.

The only problem I've seen was an occasional white horizontal line across the screen while performing a scan and an occasional red horizontal line across the screen when switching channels when using the Openbox S9. Could this be caused by using the LNB Output of the Optibox Anaconda or does the Openbox S9 receiver have a problem when using the component outputs?

I'm now thinking of the benefits of using two receivers on one TV. Perhaps one receiver for C band and the other for KU band. Perhaps one receiver for testing and the other for primary viewing. I could also use the Openbox for fast blind scanning to find feeds and then input those into the Optibox.

I must admit the Openbox S9 still offers an awesome picture and has a fast blind scan. I also like how the SD channels automatically format to 16:9 to fit the TV screen.

Questions:
1) What is the best firmware version to use on the Openbox S9? I've never upgraded the firmware on the S9 since purchase several years ago and wonder if some of the problems (clock, timers, green output, etc) have been corrected and if new features / improvements have been made.

2) Could any harm be done to the primary receiver having the output connected to a secondary receiver during operation?

3) How many receivers could be daisy chained like this? For example could I possibly hookup 5 or more FTA receivers in my communications room for testing using only one receiver at a time? Up until now I was simply swapping the LNB Input, but if I could have them all connected at the same time that would be awesome.
 
Answers (as I experience from my S9)
(1) Yes the newest firmwares are a LOT better than the green tint FW. Clock and timers that work** (Although I notice the time must be reset every couple of days - I have 2 programs being recorded daily) I' ram DEEP_C2DS2_CMT_1112130641.abs with very few 'glitches'
Info screen reads C2HS2-11-12-13-048:CMT. It's the "DEEP" fw available in the downloads section.
Presently running C2HS2-12-06-18:05E3CMT (Think it's the latest from www.wydvb.comThis FW seems the same as the "DEEP" FW. except it's 'branded' Openbox @ bootscreen. I can see no differences in it's operation from the previous FW.
(2) Think the only thing that may happen is if H is selected by the slave, you'll get 'no signal' on the master if V polarity is selected.
(3) You'll have to see. I've never hooked up more than one slave.
Might be advantageous to incorporate dual output LNBF's and a multiswitch. Enhanced flexibility. Doesn't have the limitation outlined in (2) but motor control would only available from one receiver.(unless there's, an unknown to me, way)
** also, no more .dvr files that require conversion. Can record TS (mpeg2 and h264 streams) or PS (mpeg streams only. records as an mpeg file) both playable with VLC and other media players. Record 4.2.2 streams for playback on computer and VLC.
 
How many of you have two FTA receivers hooked up to one TV using the "LNB Output" on the primary receiver?

I have a dual output but I have 2 FTA receivers hooked to the same TV :)

2. no
3. feasibly as many as you want. You could also use a satellite grade splitter with one port power passing to make sure you dont try and power 2 receivers on opposite polarity at same time.
I'm sure there are examples where a company/church/prison only needs one mux so they daisy chain them together....but as fat air noted a multiswitch would work better
 
Answers (as I experience from my S9)
(1) Yes the newest firmwares are a LOT better than the green tint FW. Clock and timers that work** (Although I notice the time must be reset every couple of days - I have 2 programs being recorded daily) I' ram DEEP_C2DS2_CMT_1112130641.abs with very few 'glitches'
Info screen reads C2HS2-11-12-13-048:CMT. It's the "DEEP" fw available in the downloads section.
Presently running C2HS2-12-06-18:05E3CMT (Think it's the latest from www.wydvb.comThis FW seems the same as the "DEEP" FW. except it's 'branded' Openbox @ bootscreen. I can see no differences in it's operation from the previous FW.
(2) Think the only thing that may happen is if H is selected by the slave, you'll get 'no signal' on the master if V polarity is selected.
(3) You'll have to see. I've never hooked up more than one slave.
Might be advantageous to incorporate dual output LNBF's and a multiswitch. Enhanced flexibility. Doesn't have the limitation outlined in (2) but motor control would only available from one receiver.(unless there's, an unknown to me, way)
** also, no more .dvr files that require conversion. Can record TS (mpeg2 and h264 streams) or PS (mpeg streams only. records as an mpeg file) both playable with VLC and other media players. Record 4.2.2 streams for playback on computer and VLC.

HDS2_OPENBOX S9(20111202).rar OR OPENBOX_S9_111109.RAR?
 
Last night I was flipping through the channels using the Openbox S9 receiver and thought "WOW these channels look good". Not only does the Openbox S9 auto format to fill the screen, but even the SD channels looked amazing. I believe I read once that the Openbox S9 receiver upconverts all SD channels. Is this true? If so, do other receivers have this feature?

The picture quality produced by the Optibox Anaconda is very good, but now that I have both receivers hooked up on the same TV I believe the Openbox S9 picture quality is a little better. Plus the Optibox SD channels remain in the 4:3 format and you must resize using the TV function instead.

If I could take the auto formatting, picture quality and fast blind scan of the Openbox and place them into the Optibox Anaconda I would have one heck of a great receiver.
 
I think the microHD from SatAV upconverts everything.
It's very likely the S9 does, too.

But IMO, a receiver should never change a 4:3 show to "fill the screen"
That's the conclusion I've come to after watching HD & SD for a number of years.
 
I think the microHD from SatAV upconverts everything.
It's very likely the S9 does, too.

But IMO, a receiver should never change a 4:3 show to "fill the screen"
That's the conclusion I've come to after watching HD & SD for a number of years.

I'm a firm believer in the line of thought too.
 
I'm a firm believer in the line of thought too.

I agree and disagree. :) The Openbox picture fills the screen, but doesn't look stretched. We even have our Dish Network VIP722K receiver setup to "fill the screen" on SD channels. I guess it also depends on the programming and the user's preference.
 
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