Is pansat 3500 sd still ok to use?

[mastermesh]

I haven't used my fta receiver in a few years since we went to using roku, but in the near future we are contemplating getting rid of dsl and a phone line to save a few bucks monthly as we are going to have a lot of new expenses we never had before long (Baby's due date is in July! ) Is it still viable to use a pansat 3500 sd or is everything now all changed to using a protocol that that receiver won't be able to see any more? i.e. is it worth trying to set up the 3500 sd again or is it a pointless effort since what is up there that it can see is not much at all as all the birds are now doing newer things that require a new receiver, if so what receiver is best for what is available up there fta wise now?

 

[T134]

You are going to miss a ton of feeds and programming unless your goal is pretty much to only get 97W Ku. Most of the good stuff on other birds like PBS is DVB-S2, most of the good feeds are HD and are more and more coming down S2.

 

[mastermesh]

which receiver is 'best' for getting s2?

 

[jorgek]

Hispasat 30W is still SD with lots of current programming and movies.

 

[FaT Air]

My 'short' list (in no particular order) Traxis DBS6000, Geosatpro microHD, Amiko nanoHD, Manhattan RS-1933, Pansat9500.

I have my Pansat3500 on a dedicated dish for the audio channels available on 103W Ku.
Do you have a C band dish??

 

[mastermesh]

what about AZBOX? Read somewhere that it is only box that can do 4:2:2?

Also, if these new boxes do hdmi, do you have to have a tv, or can you just plug them in to a computer monitor?

 

[FaT Air]

Read somewhere that it is only box that can do 4:2:2?

That's correct. They are the 'only' STB able to play 'live' 4.2.2 video other than a computer DVB tuner. [card or USB] Although 4.2.2 is pretty rare. Think i'd put it somewhere near 1% [IMHO] Any of the aforementioned will record 4.2.2 streams. They can be played back on your computer. (external HDD for recording) I use VLC.
You should be able to plug the HDMI output of the STB receiver into any monitor/television that has an HDMI input.
Most no longer have the 'old school' RF ch. 3 output, but may also have baseband video and/or component.