Having problems with my Visionsat

[eric286]

I received the unit but need a user manual. Does anyone know where I can download one from?

 

[Mr Tony]

In all seriousness the manuals usually suck and there have been so many updates on the receiver since the original post (almost 3 years ago) that most of it is outdated

 

[Turksat]

I may still have my manual, but this site has SO MUCH MORE info than a manual can provide. Honestly, I don't even think I looked at that manual (if there was any to begin with)...

btw, Eric, great avatar!

 

[eric286]

I got it dialed in. I already had the dish aligned and got the freqs and such from the old receiver. But the picture is not as good as with the old receiver. Any tips?
Also, any tips on finding a drive and setting it up to record?

 

[Turksat]

eric,
what is the problem with the picture? I noticed that sometimes mine looks pixelated/blocky, like a smaller resolution image stretched to fit, but other days it works fine. Otherwise it runs perfectly fine %95 of the time, knock on wood.

 

[eric286]

The picture from the Humax reciever is very sharp, at least as good as cable. The picture from the Visionsat is not as sharp like I was watching it on a TV that was too large.

 

[Turksat]

Yes, I had exactly that time to time. How is the weather? Which satellite are you watching?

 

[eric286]

I think I understand now. Since a pvr records everything before viewing, there will be some lose due to compression. I’ve been watching TiVo HD for so long I forgot what the earlier models were like. Is there somewhere to set the amount of compression?
Also I should probably check the firmware version.
I really appreciate your help with this. I’m pretty excited that it works. I put in a 4G flash drive and was able to record and play back.

 

[Jim S.]

I could be wrong, but there shouldn't be any compression going on in the Visionsat, because the signal is already digital when it gets to it.

 

[eric286]

My TiVos offer several quality settings. These change the amount of compression used. The better the picture quality the less compression and more disk space required to store the video. To save on disk space and allow you to store more shows you can choose greater compression which results in lower quality video. Since I’m getting a less clear picture with the VisionSat than I was with the Humax I would have attributed this to them using compression to save on disk space. That may not be the case.

 

[Jim S.]

Are you watching via the same outputs on the new receiver as you were on the old one? What was the old one anyway? I don't think Tivo makes an FTA receiver.

 

[eric286]

Back up. I didn't say I was watching the the FTA signal thru a TiVo. I just used the TiVo as an example because that is my experiance with digital video recorders. I was using it to explain the use of compression. The receiver I was using to watch this signal before was a Humax with no recording capabilities. That's why I got the Visionsat. I wanted to be able to record.

 

[Turksat]

Upgrade the firmware and check again, compression or not, the video quality should be same. I never watched anything with a USB stick or play-back, and I did have the pixelization that you are referring to.

 

[eric286]

I'm trying to figure out what my firmware version is and I don't see anything that says firmware. Here is what I see:
Loader Ver L 0.81
H/W Ver S1000 1.00
Application Ver V 1.72
Driver Ver API 1.00
Data Ver FDU v1.2

Do you know which is the Firmware?

 

[Mr Tony]

I think I understand now. Since a pvr records everything before viewing, there will be some lose due to compression. I’ve been watching TiVo HD for so long I forgot what the earlier models were like. Is there somewhere to set the amount of compression?

The PVR actually record the stream so there is no picture loss

My TiVos offer several quality settings. These change the amount of compression used. The better the picture quality the less compression and more disk space required to store the video. To save on disk space and allow you to store more shows you can choose greater compression which results in lower quality video.

You cant adjust the quality settings on it. It records one way. My azbox and Sathawk receiver are the same way. There is no option as to how "good" to record

I'm trying to figure out what my firmware version is and I don't see anything that says firmware. Here is what I see:
Loader Ver L 0.81
H/W Ver S1000 1.00
Application Ver V 1.72
Driver Ver API 1.00
Data Ver FDU v1.2

Do you know which is the Firmware?

you have version 1.00
I highly suggest updating. Here is version 1.45

unzip file
load on thumb drive
put thumb drive into receiver
turn off on with switch on back
wait 15 seconds and a screen will pop up to update
press red button
let it download to receiver and reboot
after it reboots, turn off with switch and remove drive (and delete file from it)...otherwise it asks every time you turn on the receiver to update

 

[eric286]

That was easy. Thanks.
I've got a 500G USB hard drive on the way so that I can record more than the 4G flash drive.

 

[Mr Tony]

after you update the software since you're starting out almost new I would do a master reset to clear any issues out

 

[eric286]

Done. Much easier the second time around.