4:2:2 Equipment

[sdsat]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a 4:2:0 ku system. I'd like to watch the sports feeds using 4:2:2 (missed one last saturday that I really wanted to watch). After reading as much as I can on this topic, I'm thinking that a QualiTV receiver is both out of my budget (more correctly my spouse's budget . . . .) and it doesn't appear to be very robust on a few levels, including blind scan for sports feeds.

So, I am considering purchasing a USB or PC card receiver for 4:2:2. A USB receiver would be great because I could use it on my laptop near my current satellite coax feed. But, I'm struggling with what to purchase and where to purchase it. Any help would be appreciated.

A few quick questions on this:

1. Do USB/PC card 4:2:2 receivers allow blind scan?
2. Do any of you try to put your computer screen picture on a television screen? If so, how? Can it be done cheaply with a decent product?
3. How hard is it to set up a computer 4:2:2 connection? I love this hobby, enjoy playing with the satellite receiver, and I know my way around a computer. But, I'm certainly not a techie. How hard is it?
4. I assume that one needs to have the coax from the satellite straight to the receiver. Any way to push that to another room in the house (in my case where my PC would be in my home office)? I'd like to be able to burn dvds and I can't do that on my laptop.

Thanks for any input!

SDSAT

 

[PSB]

1. No There may have been or still is one in Europe but very $

2. I don't but many do, some computer already have the Audio Video outputs

3. I use the DVB World USB Receiver, it really is Plug and Play, works flawlessly out the box!

4. Not with the DVB World box, it has no loopthrough so no way to slave anything off it!

 

[sdsat]

1. No There may have been or still is one in Europe but very $

2. I don't but many do, some computer already have the Audio Video outputs

3. I use the DVB World USB Receiver, it really is Plug and Play, works flawlessly out the box!

4. Not with the DVB World box, it has no loopthrough so no way to slave anything off it!

Thanks for the welcome and the answers!

If you can't blind scan with a 4:2:2 computer receiver, how do you find wild feeds? On my 4:2:0 system, I have to find a solid signal to find the satellites. On the backhaul board, it seems like there are people that can scan the skies for 4:2:2 sports feeds. How do they do that without blindscan?

I just checked my laptop and I have a remote DVD rewritable, so I can burn DVD's off of my laptop. But, it would still be great to send the signal to my big screen TV. Any ideas how to make that happen off of a laptop that doesn't have anything but a monitor out?

Finally, any recommendations on where to get a USB receiver? How much do they run?

Thanks
SDSAT

I'm

 

[dashaund]

It isn't very difficult to setup. However, 4:2:2 feeds are pretty processor hungry and 4:2:2 HD feeds (high defintion) are VERY VERY processor hungry. My setup you see in my signature can't handle the 4:2:2 HD sports feeds that NBC puts out (36 mbps might look great, but my processor maxes out and I get a very skippy picture). For a 4:2:2 SD feed, a modest computer can probably handle it with relative ease. Do you know how much processor speed your laptop has? May work, may not. Yes, you can hook up a computer to a TV. If you have a high defintion TV with DVI or HDMI inputs, you can connect a video card with DVI out to it. I'm sure your laptop does not, but this can be done with a fairly inexpensive video card. What kind of receiver do you have now? You can probably just run a cable from the loop out on the back of it to the input on the Worldbox. Any more questions just shout!

I use my TV receiver with blindscan to find the feeds. Pretty much, if you find a signal that doesn't have a picture but (normally, sometimes not) has sound, then you've found a 4:2:2 feed. Then, I punch in that freq and symbol rate in TSReader (my software) and BOOM, there it is. Not difficult at all. I'm very good with computers...what you might call a techie so let me know what else might be confusing you.

 

[PSB]

Finally, any recommendations on where to get a USB receiver? How much do they run?

Thanks
SDSAT

I'm

I recommend the DVB World USB receiver for 4:2:2 and HD, have a look at the review here.........

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=55482


They cost around $100 with remote shipped!

Moving this thread to the DVB PC area

 

[dashaund]

To get the picture onto your bigscreen, you'll need one of two things: a "scan convertor" which processes the monitor out and converts it so you can see it on the TV. Don't know the prices on these, but I hear they can be fairly expensive. Alternatively, a new computer with a video card with component or composite out. I know, this seem ridiculous, but a new eMachine computer isn't very much (think about $300) and add a new video with TV outs and there ya go! Then, you can use the laptop to search the web while you watch TV!

 

[sdsat]

It isn't very difficult to setup. However, 4:2:2 feeds are pretty processor hungry and 4:2:2 HD feeds (high defintion) are VERY VERY processor hungry. My setup you see in my signature can't handle the 4:2:2 HD sports feeds that NBC puts out (36 mbps might look great, but my processor maxes out and I get a very skippy picture). For a 4:2:2 SD feed, a modest computer can probably handle it with relative ease. Do you know how much processor speed your laptop has? May work, may not. Yes, you can hook up a computer to a TV. If you have a high defintion TV with DVI or HDMI inputs, you can connect a video card with DVI out to it. I'm sure your laptop does not, but this can be done with a fairly inexpensive video card. What kind of receiver do you have now? You can probably just run a cable from the loop out on the back of it to the input on the Worldbox. Any more questions just shout!

I use my TV receiver with blindscan to find the feeds. Pretty much, if you find a signal that doesn't have a picture but (normally, sometimes not) has sound, then you've found a 4:2:2 feed. Then, I punch in that freq and symbol rate in TSReader (my software) and BOOM, there it is. Not difficult at all. I'm very good with computers...what you might call a techie so let me know what else might be confusing you.

My laptop is an IBM thinkpad with a 1.5 Ghz processor and 504 MB of RAM. Will that work?

My current receiver is a Pansat 2700. Blind scan works great on some satellites. But, on others, particularly it seems the ones that have internet access showing on lyngsat, the blind scan takes like an hour per satellite.

I actually found the feed I was looking for on AMC2 on Saturday and it had audio, but the video was scrambled. I can do blindscan on AMC2 so that may be where I focus in the future. And, most of the games I want to see are in SD. But, it would be nice to see the HD ones as well . . . .

 

[PSB]

PC requirements
- 500MHz CPU or above
- 8M Bytes RAM or above
- 128M Bytes RAM or above
- USB2.0 support
- 50M Bytes hard disk free space

 

[dashaund]

500Mhz will probably work for 4:2:0 SD, but extremely margianal for 4:2:2 SD. I'm sure 1.5Ghz will work, as long as you don't have a ton of stuff running in the background (anti-virus, etc...). There isn't anyway you're going to get HD out of that laptop. You'll need a 3Ghz processor to muster that. Good luck though! Believe me, it's worth buying and setting up...you'll have access to a LOT more games that way. And even if you can't get HD, a lot of networks (ABC especially) also broadcasts an SD feed of the HD game, so you should be able to get that.

 

[mark_calgary]

My current receiver is a Pansat 2700. Blind scan works great on some satellites. But, on others, particularly it seems the ones that have internet access showing on lyngsat, the blind scan takes like an hour per satellite.

I actually found the feed I was looking for on AMC2 on Saturday and it had audio, but the video was scrambled.

And that is how you identify a 4:2:2 SD feed on a Pansat - the video is a blocky mess but the audio works. The more motion, the messier it is so that you can guess whether or not there is something useful there or just colour bars. HD and encrypted feeds have a blank picture.

dashaund:

I'm very surprised that you get poor performance on 4:2:2 HD with your system. I'm only running a Athlon 64 3200+ with a Nvidia 6600GT and I don't remember having a problem with these. As I don't watch these types of feeds very often since they are usually Nascar or NHRA (which I have no interest in), I cannot tell you what my CPU usage is offhand. I'll make an effort to look at one next time. Perhaps TSReader/VLC is processor hungry? I use a Directshow+Elecard based viewer for 4:2:2.

 

[sdsat]

Thanks all!

I think I will go ahead and purchase the usb receiver and see what happens. Any continuing suggestions that you have regarding picking up sports feeds on 4:2:2 I'd appreciate.

One other question: I had an installer hook up my existing dish and receiver (wasn't sure I could do it on my tall roof). But, I now realize that I don't know how he programmed the receiver to know where it was and how it matched up to the dish and motor. So, how do you "install" the usb receiver. I think I can handle the wiring (coax from dish to receiver, usb cord into computer, right?). But, once you have the hardward installed, how do you "match up the receiver and the dish so that you can find your satellites?

Also, if I have a usb receiver and my pansat 2700 hooked to the same dish, will I mess up the pansat?

thanks again!

 

[digiblur]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a 4:2:0 ku system. I'd like to watch the sports feeds using 4:2:2 (missed one last saturday that I really wanted to watch). After reading as much as I can on this topic, I'm thinking that a QualiTV receiver is both out of my budget (more correctly my spouse's budget . . . .) and it doesn't appear to be very robust on a few levels, including blind scan for sports feeds.

So, I am considering purchasing a USB or PC card receiver for 4:2:2. A USB receiver would be great because I could use it on my laptop near my current satellite coax feed. But, I'm struggling with what to purchase and where to purchase it. Any help would be appreciated.

A few quick questions on this:

1. Do USB/PC card 4:2:2 receivers allow blind scan?
2. Do any of you try to put your computer screen picture on a television screen? If so, how? Can it be done cheaply with a decent product?
3. How hard is it to set up a computer 4:2:2 connection? I love this hobby, enjoy playing with the satellite receiver, and I know my way around a computer. But, I'm certainly not a techie. How hard is it?
4. I assume that one needs to have the coax from the satellite straight to the receiver. Any way to push that to another room in the house (in my case where my PC would be in my home office)? I'd like to be able to burn dvds and I can't do that on my laptop.

Thanks for any input!

SDSAT

1. No... I remember seeing an old version of Skystar or something. I use my Fortec Lifetime to blind scan.

2. Yes, I use a Nvidia 7600 with a DVI to HDMI cable connected to my 57inch.

3. Not hard at all, especially with TSReader. Once you find the feed on the receiver, just flip over to TSReader. Punch in the freq and SR, hit tune, then double click the thumbnail on the right and up comes VLC with the video and audio.

4. Just route a piece of coax from the OUT port on your other receiver into the IN port on your PC DVB device.

And last but not least.... before you decide to buy something make sure the application you would like to use your DVB device in is supported.

 

[sdsat]

2. Yes, I use a Nvidia 7600 with a DVI to HDMI cable connected to my 57inch.

4. Just route a piece of coax from the OUT port on your other receiver into the IN port on your PC DVB device.

And last but not least.... before you decide to buy something make sure the application you would like to use your DVB device in is supported.[/QUOTE]
--------------------
How much is the DVI to HDMI cable and where to you get it? (I also hate to confess that I don't know what DVI and HDMI stand for . . .)

When you route the coax from the out on your receiver to the in on your DVB receiver, does that mess up the original receiver when you turn off the DVB receiver? In other words, if the DVB receiver moves the dish 1/2 way across the arc, does the the original receiver know where the dish moved or does the original receiver automatically return the dish somehow to the correct location per the original receiver?

I'm afraid that I didn't follow your last comment. What do you mean that the application is supported?

Thanks again for your help all.

 

[scottc98]

2.

When you route the coax from the out on your receiver to the in on your DVB receiver, does that mess up the original receiver when you turn off the DVB receiver? In other words, if the DVB receiver moves the dish 1/2 way across the arc, does the the original receiver know where the dish moved or does the original receiver automatically return the dish somehow to the correct location per the original receiver?

I'm afraid that I didn't follow your last comment. What do you mean that the application is supported?

Thanks again for your help all.

What he is saying is that he uses the loop out from his standard DVB receiever (the set top box that can blindscan) and routes it to the input of the PC DVB card.

The catch in this set up is that what ever satellite the set top box is locatated at, is the only sat the PC card can tune. In addition, the PC card can only tune H or V at one time and that is determined on what the set top box is tuned to.

What I do with my setup is about the same, expect my devices are reversed (my loop out on my classic NA is not working right). The only change I have to do is that when I blindscan on my Classic NA, I have to do it one polarity at a time. Essentially, the PC card is "slaved" off of the set top box

The plus side is that Blind scans can take a while ( about 10 min) but as soon as I see a new tp show up, I can immediatly enter it into the PC DVB card and start watching, while the Classic NA continues to scan.

 

[digiblur]

2. Yes, I use a Nvidia 7600 with a DVI to HDMI cable connected to my 57inch.

4. Just route a piece of coax from the OUT port on your other receiver into the IN port on your PC DVB device.

And last but not least.... before you decide to buy something make sure the application you would like to use your DVB device in is supported.

--------------------
How much is the DVI to HDMI cable and where to you get it? (I also hate to confess that I don't know what DVI and HDMI stand for . . .)

When you route the coax from the out on your receiver to the in on your DVB receiver, does that mess up the original receiver when you turn off the DVB receiver? In other words, if the DVB receiver moves the dish 1/2 way across the arc, does the the original receiver know where the dish moved or does the original receiver automatically return the dish somehow to the correct location per the original receiver?

I'm afraid that I didn't follow your last comment. What do you mean that the application is supported?

Thanks again for your help all.[/QUOTE]

Do a google search on the cable...you'll find lots of places selling them. DVI out from the video card on the HTPC to the HDMI port on the TV.

The Fortec controls the dish and blind scans the satellite. As soon as I find a mux that is FTA but the Fortec can't view, I turn the Fortec off. This allows the DVB card to flip from H to V etc. I can also control the motor with the DVB card through the Fortec as long as the Fortec is off in stand by mode.

The application being the app you are going to view your video. I have two favorites, TSReader w/VLC and DVBDream. I know a lot of people around here recommend the DVBWorld, but all the problems I've seen between DVBWorld and TSReader and lack of native support in other applications has definately steered me clear of their product. Check with the others around here...if they can easily switch from TSReader to DVBDream without following some crazy procedure to reinstall drivers then maybe the DVBWorld is the device for you since it is USB.

Some other popular DVB apps are MyTheater, ProgDVB, Alt-DVB, RitzDVB

Here's the rig I use:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=63848

 

[PSB]

The DVB World USB receiver works flawlessly out of the box with the software it comes with, no other software is needed at ALL.

No need to open a PC to insert it, hassle free Plug and Play HD and 4:2:2

:up

 

[dashaund]

If you're slaving off of the original receiver (I hope you mean original DVB receiver, like your Pansat), then you must move the dish with that receiver, NOT your PC. There are ways that you can wire it up like that, but it's much easier just to have the original receiver move it. DVI and HDMI are just connections. DVI was a standard with computers for a while, but has now become a staple in the high-def television market. You can get a DVI to HDMI cable online for like $25...at the store for $50. Usually we just blind scan with the receiver, and once we hit a tp with the tale-tale signs of being 4:2:2, we switch to our computer and see what it is.

 

[bryanw20]

Not to hijack a thread, but my situation is so near the OP that I didn't want to start a new, similar thread.

I too have a big dish C & Ku & a small movable Ku dish (Sg2100 I think it is), anyway I too want to be able to watch the incresing number of digital sports fees that my std FTA box can't get now (HD and maybe 4:2:2). I don't have a way of freeing a PCI Slot, so I need a USB soloution. After seeing both reviews for the Starbox & Worldbox I'm torn. The Starbox mentions HD on it's info page, and sys requiremenets are higer than the worldbox that doesn't mention HD. But apparently both are cabable of handeling it.
Do both have the option of moving my small dish? If so, the sg2100 is different than a big dish actuator right, as in I can unhook my Bec STB and hook up to the USB card, re-program the sat's, then if I hook up the Bec again it knows where to go to find the sats again right? (did that make sense?) ie: A big dish counts as it moves, if you swap recievers, as long as you move to the same spot it's ok, other wise it's caos. The sg2100 just moves to a spot, or a mark, it doesn't "count".

I have a p4HT 3Ghz 1GB ram hooked up to my TV now, will that be enough power to watch HD or 422HD? If not a less convient, but do-able PC is a P4D(dual core) 2.8Ghz 2G ram is a 2nd choice.

Thanks for any suggestions, or other options.
Bryan

 

[PSB]

The DVB World USB Box does 4:2:2 AND HD, I know I watch HD EVERY night with mine! My computer has very similar specs to yours!

The DVB World box will also move a DiSEqC 1.2 motor like the Moteck SG2100

The EASIEST way to hook it up is as a slave to your main STB (I also use the BEC )

The STB moves the dish to the desired satellite and then the signal is looped (With a short RG6 cable between both) into the DVB World USB box, the only downside being you are always on the same polarity as the STB. No big deal!

 

[dashaund]

the only downside being you are always on the same polarity as the STB.

This is true, however, I usually put my STB on standby once I get to the desired satellite, and then I can switch polarities when I change channels.