[Viewsat] Looking for Latest Updates for Viewsat Ultra Lite

Might look here http://www.fridgefta.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=23

dsmith0429 said:

Apparently they are no longer in business, or have a different domain now.
Basically, I want to restore it to factory specs, and get rid of what appears to be old hacker junk that is on it.

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A history lesson for ya .......
Viewsat was shut down after they were sued by Dish for Theft of Service. http://satscams.com/?cat=234

dsmith0429 said:

Wonder how FortecStar survived but Viewsat didn't.

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cause Fortec didn't get into TOS & Viewsat did.

Try these.

I have one of them receivers here, got it when I bought my 12' dish last summer. The guy had the Viewsat, a Coolsat and one other odd name receiver that I can't recall the name of at the moment. The Viewsat works all right but it just sits on my shelf collecting dust because it isn't S2 capable. Actually, all three receivers I got from him are sitting and collecting dust cause they're DVB-S and not S2.

dsmith0429 said:

I'm looking for the last factory updates for the Viewsat Ultra Lite, as well as a PC program that will allow me to edit the satellites, transponders, and channel list for this receiver (if possible). Searched but haven't had any luck locating any of the original files. Apparently they are no longer in business, or have a different domain now.

I did a factory reset, but the satellite list is way out of date, about half doesn't exist anymore or have new names or positions, so that desperately needs updating. I edited two satellites, and have Galaxy 3C 95W and Galaxy 19 97W (was listed as Intelsat 5 in settings) scanned in just to test the receiver, seems to work great.

According to the Receiver Information Menu, the current configuration is:

Bootloader: 0.13
Main S/W: PFTAUSW-090501UL
Satellite U009
H/W Version: V0.1
Model Name: VS2000 ULTRA LITE

Basically, I want to restore it to factory specs, and get rid of what appears to be old hacker junk that is on it.

I picked this up for a mere $8 in a thrift shop, and looks brand new, came with the original box, remote, & manual. Thought it would make a great spare or receiver to do dish setups outside due to it's small size.

THANKS!

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Wow, I'm basically in the same situation. I had bought mine from Amazon, but it was SATPRO.TV's web store that has a 3rd party thing, and got a Ku Dish-Rcvr-Meter-Coax package for something like a total $170 including the shipping due to the dish weight and all that, but I noticed that there were 2 different versions of these at the time, because the older unit has the USB in the front, and the newer version has it in the back as your pic shows. So I started noticing that the storefront was using both pics in their advertising, and saw a potential for Murphy's Law to rare it's ugly head. I sent them a mail in the Contact Us thing to PLEASE SEND THE NEWER VERSION OF THIS RCVR AS 2 PICTURES ARE SHOWN AND I DO NOT WANT THE OLDER UNIT. Well.....Anyway, Here I am with the OLDER VERSION, .12 I think.(I'll look and send ya the info), but I'm in the same shape, but I have actually found some uprades, but seem too old, (Like 2010 or so), but I don't know if they are the "Latest" upgrades or not, and have been reluctant to try them until I get a little more info on them to make sure I don't wig the whole system out, but there is a "Loader" program that you can download on to your PC to connect to the serial ports to either read what your rcvr's Sat info is, or to edit the info, and I believe there are provisions for upgrading the other software through the program also, but it is assuming that you have your upgrade software to utilize at that time also. But I have the same problems with Sat info. I've got stuff in there with names not current, and crazy numbers for Locations. Unless I'm just not getting it yet, (I could be confused, it's happened before). I can't seem to be able to DELETE any of them, but only Edit the names, and don't know how to rename or change the Sat locations! I'll send ya the info I have on these files (Names, dates, version #'s etc). and if they are anything you would be interested in, I can send em' to ya, and you can check them out. I have been having trouble with my dish mover as of late, so I've had to "walk in sand" creeping backwards a bit in my process to getting everything dialed in. I just got my dish setup here in the last month, and seemed to make good progress getting the system going. I needed to replace the older LNB, and got a new Titanium C1PLL for it, and got it dialed in just a couple days, (To my surprise, and beginners luck I guess), and just when I was starting to see how close to the arc that I've got it, my VBox 7's West side control went South on me. Excuse the pun, so until I can get the dish moving (In both directions) again, I'm kinda dead in the water as far as watching anything just yet. The previous owner must have been trying to do some maintenance, or something at one time, (I hate to speculate) because the poor terminal block in the actuator had been subjected to a long period of time with it's cap screwed on upside down, cause when I brought it home to start giving it the lookover, I noticed where water had pooled in the unit since the holes were not draining, but helping to fill the controller with water, and for a looooong time. (Check my pics, you won't believe it.) But I have checked all the connections, and although very rusty and corroded, everything is still electrically sound, but I'm going to take this terminal block out, and refit her with a nice new one, and will have all new terminal connections replaced as well. It's just the right thing to do since everything is happening right there. But I guess with the system in standby, it will give me the time to go ahead and get the actuator all snazzed up. Give her some new lithium grease, (ON OLDER DISHES) One might take a very small nail, and gently clean the little hole in the grease zert nipple to make sure it doesn't have any gunk inside where the little ball allows the grease to go in, it might push that crap inside, or might not allow the grease to even get in. A friend reminded about that. But anyway, SATPRO was actually pretty helpful when I had been having trouble getting my first system dialed in, and since I was relatively new to trying to setup my first dish for the first time, I had the common problem of getting the LNB situated right, and was a rush to finally get it to work. SWEET! I was a DISH VIRGIN, and the first time is always great when everything is firing all together. And it took me awhile for some reason. And when I finally realized that the most important thing isn't signal Strength, but signal Quality. Heck, you can get 70% signal Strength pointed the darn thing at a tree. Once I got the LNB's focal distance dialed in, I still needed to figure out that although I thought I was getting a higher sound on the meter, it didn't mean that I was necessarily on the right transponder, so a little this and that, the lights started getting brighter in my head, and I started getting it. Then the opportunity arose to get a CKD 8.5' for a very reasonable price, I went ahead and grabbed it. It looked like hell, and had been left for dead it seems, and it was like a wet puppy with his ear turned up, and was holding one paw up kinda thing, so I've got her all dressed up with nowhere to go. lol But we will get through all this as this is a really nice place to learn the stuff you would have liked to have thought of, but didn't, and has a lot of great folks that will bend over backwards to get ya going. Sorry for the long post, but you can kinda see where I'm coming from, and having this same situation with these ViewSats, I love your idea about using for a portable thing, as I've got an old 5" AC/DC B/W TV/Radio thing from back in the day, and can take a small bungie and connect the 2 together. I'm leaning towards a GeoSatPro, and the Titanium ASC1 for a better system, but we'll see how things look by Christmas..... But I'll be glad to get you fixed up with some info, and we'll ask these folks what they think, and we'll get it all figured out and be sailing the sky as soon as we can. Take Care and nice to meet ya! T

KE4EST said:

Tom14, did you just recently buy a Viewsat ultra lite off of Amazon?
That receiver came out around 2007 and is too old to receive much of what is up there these days.
It will work for some channels and most of 97W ku, but other than that it will not work.
Most things have went to DVB-S2.

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I'm hearing ya. I don't see anything past 2010, but you just basically answered my next question regarding the newer formats in programming ie.DVB-S2. So the ability to change from S to S2 is not a firmware situation, but different components on the PCB alltogether... OK! I was wondering about that. So I will certainly appreciate your opinion as to what rcvr. I should probably get. (Something that will be more likely to roll with the changes as long as possible.) I feel so silly, cause I tried to make a descent choice, but I didn't take as much time shopping for a rcvr. as I did trying to learn everything else. I got a little antsy, and leaped before looking longer. (And I thought I did a fair amount of studying all the variables, but there are alot of variables to know.). Sometimes it's a little overwhelming and abit frustrating when your trying to know everything you should, but like I said, I wish I would have known about you folks before I did all my searching. (I was doing a blind search myself huh?)LOL. But I am glad that you confirmed basically what I had a feeling about, but didn't know the history of all these units, and I was kinda forced to be as frugal as possible while trying not to get something cheezy. But that boat has sailed, and I've picked myself up, and dusted myself off, and have a better source of information to make better informed decisions. 20-20 hindsight as it were. But Thank You for all your help, and maybe just do like he had talked about making the unit a portable setup station. Then get a nice quality rcvr. that has the bells and whistles that matter, and will have better longevity. BTW, SatPro is still selling the package deals still, but they are different rcvr's alltogether now. It's a nFusion Phoenix. But my wife would like to be able to record, and all that, so I had tried to explain that recording is done in a different way other than the DVR we used to have from the dish people. That recording requires the external USB storage, or through the PC with W Media Center, but the storage units start about $50, and then there is the adapters for the PC to connect the PC to an antenna cable, and then of course, a standard DVR, and they get pricey quickly. So I'm stumped as to the best way to go. Now FYI, we do have our internet through the local phone co. and have a DSL2/Ethernet WAN Gateway. (Vision Net M505N), and was reading about some of the factors needed, and this routers capabilities, and it seems that it could aid in the USB connection to it, and the bridge and whatnot. Thats yet another maze to walk through, and I'm not sure which way is UP. LOL T Thanks again for everything, you have been great! Just don't give up on me. I'll get it all figured out eventually.

And ya know, that sux getting old crap like that when they make you think your good to go! But I know they aren't gonna say, Hey, we have a bunch of these old rcvr's we need to unload, cause these things are old as it is, and we don't want to get stuck with them. lol I know, but it sux more when you just don't know as much as you wish. That's why I'm here! T

dsmith0429 said:

I'm looking for the last factory updates for the Viewsat Ultra Lite, as well as a PC program that will allow me to edit the satellites, transponders, and channel list for this receiver (if possible). Searched but haven't had any luck locating any of the original files. Apparently they are no longer in business, or have a different domain now.

I did a factory reset, but the satellite list is way out of date, about half doesn't exist anymore or have new names or positions, so that desperately needs updating. I edited two satellites, and have Galaxy 3C 95W and Galaxy 19 97W (was listed as Intelsat 5 in settings) scanned in just to test the receiver, seems to work great.

According to the Receiver Information Menu, the current configuration is:

Bootloader: 0.13
Main S/W: PFTAUSW-090501UL
Satellite U009
H/W Version: V0.1
Model Name: VS2000 ULTRA LITE

Basically, I want to restore it to factory specs, and get rid of what appears to be old hacker junk that is on it.

I picked this up for a mere $8 in a thrift shop, and looks brand new, came with the original box, remote, & manual. Thought it would make a great spare or receiver to do dish setups outside due to it's small size.

THANKS!

Click to expand...

OK, Here are the files that I found, but I just haven't tried em yet. I'm going to regroup, and get an AMIKO A3 HDSE from KE4EST' s ebay store for $90, and we're going to invest in a Titanium ASC1 as well . With this unit built for the latest system requirements, like DVB-S2 decoding etc., with a Great looking style, with Smart and User friendly environment. I think I would like to do what you were talking about making the Viewsat a really good portable setup system. I've got a little 5" B/W TV/Radio from back in the day, and it would be a good little monitor, and take a small bungie to clip them together using the openings on the rcvr. and run it over the TV to make a little carrying unit. I have power within reason out there, so it's a do-able thing for sure. Thats such a cool idea, Thanks! Here is the loader and the others. I'm looking back at these with a little more educated eyes, and anything above ver .12 would be an upgrade (however useful).to this unit. But if you would please let me know if these are useful to you. I think I might go ahead and see what is on there with the loader program. (I think you'll like it), it gives you an editing capabilty, which would be useful to at least correct the names like you said, and see about what it takes to change some screwy locations I see, and or get the system closer to this century lol. It has a (Lets call it Acceptable but not as extensive interface, but I don't have much in my experience to compare to, so I'm going to just let someone that has more experience than myself to guide us in a more knowledgeable direction. I have learned some valuable lessons in this forum, and these folks have alot more experience and can teach us stuff we didn't know that we needed to know. Take a look at the AMIKO A3, and watch the videos, and you will be very close to be ready to get it out of the box, and rock and roll. But I want to make the very best of the ViewSat if possible, and let it be working for us in some capacity. Good Luck, and let me know how your doing. Take Care T

Tom14 said:

OK, Here are the files that I found, but I just haven't tried em yet. I'm going to regroup, and get an AMIKO A3 HDSE from KE4EST' s ebay store for $90, and we're going to invest in a Titanium ASC1 as well . With this unit built for the latest system requirements, like DVB-S2 decoding etc., with a Great looking style, with Smart and User friendly environment. I think I would like to do what you were talking about making the Viewsat a really good portable setup system. I've got a little 5" B/W TV/Radio from back in the day, and it would be a good little monitor, and take a small bungie to clip them together using the openings on the rcvr. and run it over the TV to make a little carrying unit. I have power within reason out there, so it's a do-able thing for sure. Thats such a cool idea, Thanks! Here is the loader and the others. I'm looking back at these with a little more educated eyes, and anything above ver .12 would be an upgrade (however useful).to this unit. But if you would please let me know if these are useful to you. I think I might go ahead and see what is on there with the loader program. (I think you'll like it), it gives you an editing capabilty, which would be useful to at least correct the names like you said, and see about what it takes to change some screwy locations I see, and or get the system closer to this century lol. It has a (Lets call it Acceptable but not as extensive interface, but I don't have much in my experience to compare to, so I'm going to just let someone that has more experience than myself to guide us in a more knowledgeable direction. I have learned some valuable lessons in this forum, and these folks have alot more experience and can teach us stuff we didn't know that we needed to know. Take a look at the AMIKO A3, and watch the videos, and you will be very close to be ready to get it out of the box, and rock and roll. But I want to make the very best of the ViewSat if possible, and let it be working for us in some capacity. Good Luck, and let me know how your doing. Take Care T

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For $90 I assume you mean the Amiko Mini HD SE (The Amiko A3 is their Android based receiver - more features, more $, higher learning curve)? If so, it's a good choice. I've been using my Mini HD SE for about a year now and am very happy with it. I don't use an ASC1 myself but hear they are an excellent mover and built like a tank. Both products receive great support and you should be very pleased with them.

FTA4PA said:

For $90 I assume you mean the Amiko Mini HD SE (The Amiko A3 is their Android based receiver - more features, more $, higher learning curve)? If so, it's a good choice. I've been using my Mini HD SE for about a year now and am very happy with it. I don't use an ASC1 myself but hear they are an excellent mover and built like a tank. Both products receive great support and you should be very pleased with them.

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I need to check with him to make sure, I think it is the HD SE? I'm a little fuzzy on the exact model, but yeah, I saw the videos on it, and it looks so much nicer than this ViewSat Ultra-lite, and much more versital. More features(Primarily upgrades), but as far as the learning curve, bring it on. It will keep me challenged to keep learning more, but the ViewSat was my first one ever, and jumping a little bit before doing some more homework, I didn't even think about a forum at first, and what ones I poked around with were wanting fees to be a member, and it gave me a bit of an initial bad taste about the forum thing, but I was in a hurry to start sucking up knowledge, that I didn't keep looking for a good forum, and just tried to carry on to start learning about everything else. And like a big kid, being anxious to get my hands on something, I jumped a bit early and got this in a package thing as a starter kit as it were, and unfortunately, it wasn't really the best unit to have for a first unit, but it got my feet wet, and I did get lucky to find you guys relatively soon, so I'm calling it a win win. But my dear wife has been a charm through it all, and she has noticed that trying to be just a little too frugal can sometimes not really save you in the long run. Although I already was aware of this factor, but you know how it goes. I tried to find the best bang for the buck, and... When you need a dish mover, and you see $50 vs $180. You and I know which is going to be the better unit, but you try explaining it to someone that knows money better than they know electronics. So there ya go! But I'm seeing the sun rising on our project now, and I think we are going to be alot better off. But I have learned so much in the last month, that I'm too the level of wondering what I was thinking by not learning more before I shopped, but then she admits that she was anxious to broaden our horizons on entertainment after cutting the chord with the dish people. I was just happy about saving $100 a month now! But he's gonna get us fixed up, and we'll be searching the sky again pretty soon. I'm kinda bumbed, cause just after KE4EST sent me a board for my VBox7, we ended up sending it back due to a warranty thing, but here I am with a board to a VBox now, but not box to put it in temporarily.lol Ironic isn't it! But thanks for keeping your eye on me, as I need you folks to keep us going. Your great!

FTA4PA said:

For $90 I assume you mean the Amiko Mini HD SE (The Amiko A3 is their Android based receiver - more features, more $, higher learning curve)? If so, it's a good choice. I've been using my Mini HD SE for about a year now and am very happy with it. I don't use an ASC1 myself but hear they are an excellent mover and built like a tank. Both products receive great support and you should be very pleased with them.

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Just for grins, I have a Droid Maxx too. That'll be a good thing I hope.

FTA4PA said:

For $90 I assume you mean the Amiko Mini HD SE (The Amiko A3 is their Android based receiver - more features, more $, higher learning curve)? If so, it's a good choice. I've been using my Mini HD SE for about a year now and am very happy with it. I don't use an ASC1 myself but hear they are an excellent mover and built like a tank. Both products receive great support and you should be very pleased with them.

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Yes, You are correct! I had to look again, and got confused. It's the Mini HD SE. So many designators. I have a funny story to share with everyone later... You will all get a kick out of this. It is funny now, but... it sure wasn't when it happened LOL Later! Hint: Ask KE4EST.

dsmith0429 said:

But the Fortec receivers were capable, the one I purchased (Lifetime Ultra) had the ability pre-configured, but I reset it, to hide that functionality.

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I don't recall getting any word about the files I put up for ya. Did any of those help you? I did one, and it opened up more options in the rcvr., and even allows for changing key codes. HMMM? Anyway, I'll have to see where that post was, and see if I did it right. I'm still new here! I have the one with the Ultra-Lite loader but I don't know what the other one does. I'm still learning, but I did get the USALS figured out on it, and can edit the sat names and locations, but don't know how to delete anything yet. Have had a lot on the plate lately, and haven't been able to get to it like I want to. I did get my ASC1 today, and look forward to getting the AMIKO MiniHD SE, but I don't want to just throw the old ViewSat to the curb. I know that it is virtually useless for a lot of the stuff, but there is still room for it to have some uses. Anything you could share with me would be appreciated, cause I just had a hard time finding anything that was very useful. Lots of stuff to look through and not knowing just where to look! Thanks again... T