AZBox Elite vs. Pansat 9200?

[mr3p]

Greetings,
Its been several years but I'm looking to get back into things with a motorized KU dish. I'm considering both the AZBox Elite and Pansat 9200 and was hoping I could get some opinions on the differences or pros/cons of each receiver. As best as I can tell:

4:2:2: The AZBox can do 4:2:2 whereas the Pansat will not. Can I ask what this actually translates to in terms of what North American FTA programming is available in 4:2:2? I'm just trying to understand why this is an important issue to many.

Blindscan: Pansat has blindscan whereas the AZbox does not although I hear the Elite+ will add blindscan. Is a specific Pansat daughtercard needed for Blindscan?

Tuners: Which tuners does the AZBox come with an how difficult/expensive are they to add? For the Pansat, it looks like there are a few different daughterboards available, is there one which is considered the "best" or can do it all? Othere than 4:2:2 progamming, are there things the AZBox can tune that the Pansat can't get or vice versa? I don't really care about ATSC reception.

Thats about the major differences I can figure out but I'd love to get some input from those that have one or the other (or both )

Thanks in advance and happy new years!

 

[oldford]

I have a 9200HD. No 4:2:2, lots of sports feeds apparently are 4:2:2.
Blind scan on DVB-S out of the box, add-on board required for S2.
Only the Pansat Brand add-on board will work properly for FTA.

If I were buying now, I'd go with the Az-box and use my Pansat 3500 for blind scan.

HTH, Eric

 

[Mr Tony]

4:2:2: The AZBox can do 4:2:2 whereas the Pansat will not. Can I ask what this actually translates to in terms of what North American FTA programming is available in 4:2:2? I'm just trying to understand why this is an important issue to many.

lots of sports feeds are 4:2:2
If you're into sports this is almost a must

Blindscan: Pansat has blindscan whereas the AZbox does not although I hear the Elite+ will add blindscan. Is a specific Pansat daughtercard needed for Blindscan?

Pansat will scan DVB as is. To get DVB-S2 available, you need to add the Pansat DVB-S2 card. There are some other S2 cards out there but they will not work for free to air. So beware of those

Azbox sort of has a blind scan. They recently added it but it will only scan one symbol rate so it is kinda useless right now unless you know the symbol rate you want. I use a Coolsat 5000 to blind scan then input the HD/4:2:2 feeds into the azbox. The azbox will do pretty much anything out there
DVB SD 4:2:0 (all receivers do this)
DVB SD 4:2:2
DVB HD 4:2:2
DVB HD 4:2:0
DVB-S2 SD 4:2:0
DVB-S2 SD 4:2:2
DVB-S2 HD 4:2:0
DVB-S2 HD 4:2:2

Tuners: Which tuners does the AZBox come with an how difficult/expensive are they to add? For the Pansat, it looks like there are a few different daughterboards available, is there one which is considered the "best" or can do it all? Othere than 4:2:2 progamming, are there things the AZBox can tune that the Pansat can't get or vice versa? I don't really care about ATSC reception.

Pansat tuner is DVB stock...DVB-S2 can be added
azbox tuner is what I posted above...you can add a 2nd tuner card but they are hard to come by

The azbox seems to have software updates all the time so they are improving it.

 

[gmd63]

If you had the money I would get both together and slave the AZBOX to the Pansat.
I would not use the AZBOX as a stand-alone, especially if you are just getting into it or are new to the "sport".
I would start with a cheap receiver first then move up (the cheap receiver could be linked to the AZBOX. If you start with the AZ and are new you could get frustrated fast.

If I had to get just one or the other, I would get the Pansat 9200HD (WITH S2 card), you would just be missing out on some 4:2:2 stuff then, and the Pansat is more user friendly .
I have both, and use both together. The AZBOX seems like it is more sensitive though. A feed that will go to pixels and break up, will be solid with my AZBOX.

 

[ikki]

Do not forget the Pansat 9200 HD will also do ATSC (The north america HDTV standard) from over the air stations.

This for me is a must have. So far the AZBox does not work for ATCS.

 

[mr3p]

Thanks for everyone's input.

Can I ask what the downside or disadvantage of the AZBox Elite compared to the Pansat 9200? The AZBox seems to have definite tuner adavantage with 4:2:2 so its seems like it the better choice.

I have an old Pansat 2500 somewhere which I had used with Primestar dish long ago, does the 2500 have blind scan?

 

[ikki]

The down side(s) of the Pansat 9200 HD include;

1. Unstable software revisions.

2. No (publicly available) way to get the recordings off the PVR harddrive so that you can watch them on your PC.

3. When the transponder list gets to large strange things start to happen.

4. The cooling system on the main board leaves a lot to be desired. In my case I mounted two fans inside.

 

[Mr Tony]

yes the 2500 has blind scan....its slow but very thorough (I have both a 1500 & 2500)

 

[mr3p]

Are the majority of 4:2:2 feeds C band or KU?

 

[Mr Tony]

both

lots on KU and a fair amount on C-Band