microHD Development: Feature Requests

[carlospr43]

Iceberg
You are my friend! I'm not negative, mentioned 2 times the world POSITIVE in my threads. Maybe I'm not using the right way to express my self , no further comments, case closed

 

[melgarga]

In retrospect, perhaps the title containing the term "Feature Requests" was too ambiguous. Maybe "Enhancements and Improvements" would have been a better choice.

Seems we did cover virtually every conceivable feature request in the original thread, and the target audience for this thread is those who will be field testing menu paths and other user interface inefficiencies and anomalies the firmware may hold that the development team didnt catch on initial testing.
Clearly we cant request additional hardware or I/O, this unit is in production. Component connections are out, as well as external RS232, "lost remote" navigation buttons, Multi USB ports, LAN/(USB)WIFI (even if it was supported by the HW, no place to put a connector.) so the realm of what we can do is to tweak for the most user friendly. I think that is what has been misunderstood.

As the box gets into more users hands I suspect there will be more on topic observations. (not dis'ing the team Brian. I believe yall have done a helluva job)

The next step about the "out of box" idea for using a non MicroHD remote was loosely based on work that is done with JP1 remotes. Most people dont even know what that is.

I resurrected the SA feature because in the original thread I read it that Brian indicated the feature existed but a truly useful implementation beyond "eye candy" would require considerable effort to code something usable over the available video formats. I was just voting to see the "eye candy" anyway.

I am a tinkerer. I remember mention of pads for an RS232 (serial) port. Likely unsupported in any place in the FW except maybe at the assy line for testing. I think a PC based Remote Control app using the port would be cool too, but it will never be added to the production run hardware (or firmware)
I do believe that if the patch eye gang can make many brands of old STBs speak IP over a USB or serial port to share hacking data, it may be possible to do something similar, to share the PVR's hard drive content on a home network. Streaming would be unlikely but file transfer should be possible.......but again, not likely to see anything like that on this generation of the Geosat line.

So now, before this product is even in all the hands that ordered it (including mine!) we are poised at discussing another version, one that includes all this one is, including the super development team support, AND whatever the heck else we can thing of.........but as they say that's another story, for another thread........

 

[rdehaven]

Feature request: It would be nice to have a vertical stretch option to crop the SD channels that have the black bars on the top and bottom.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Feature request: It would be nice to have a vertical stretch option to crop the SD channels that have the black bars on the top and bottom.

Doesn't this already exist?
Have you tried the Apect Mode in 16x9 then selecting Wide Fit on the TV?

 

[rdehaven]

I was hoping that the option would be available within the microHD itself. If it has a scaler chip it might be an easy addition.

The good news is that I was able to obtain the correct aspect ratio for SD letter-boxed content only by having the microHD output a 480i SD signal and then using the zoom/vertical stretch on the TV. The vertical stretch feature is not available when the input signal is HD. Additionally when using this combo of modes the UI for the receiver is cut off due to the stretch.

 

[Mr Tony]

here is a wild thought

Any way to integrate folders into the DVR listings? Not like the Dish/Directv DVR's where it automatically puts same name stuff in a folder. One that you could create a folder and put say "kids shows" in it or if you record alot of one sport folders by team?

Or is that too difficult to even attempt?

 

[rad360]

DVR

Would it be possible to get a "confirm delete" for the DVR? I hit the yellow button by mistake (easy to do because the yellow button brings up the file list. I am used to buttons acting as a toggle) and zapped a file by accident. Lucky I already watched the program 'cause its gone now.

Thanks.

 

[SatelliteAV]

here is a wild thought

Any way to integrate folders into the DVR listings? Not like the Dish/Directv DVR's where it automatically puts same name stuff in a folder. One that you could create a folder and put say "kids shows" in it or if you record alot of one sport folders by team?

Or is that too difficult to even attempt?

Should be simple to create. Base the development on the folder options in the other media types. We will investigate for a future firmware release.

 

[SatelliteAV]

DVR

Would it be possible to get a "confirm delete" for the DVR? I hit the yellow button by mistake (easy to do because the yellow button brings up the file list. I am used to buttons acting as a toggle) and zapped a file by accident. Lucky I already watched the program 'cause its gone now.

Thanks.

The DVR section will have additional development in a future firmware version. This is a perfect example of a needed change. Make the items selectable then allow batch deletion with confirmation without exiting after each single deletion.

 

[qwert1515]

It would be nice to be able to edit the USALS satellite degrees on a screen with the signal quality.
Is it possible to see the FEC/MOD for transponders without channels, this can be useful when aligning dishes?
Can the transponder parameters be saved when they are scanned in so that HBCD is not displayed once a feed ends?
Can the blind scan screen show the current frequency it is scanning?

 

[toucan-man]

• When doing a blind scan, in the box where you can set the scan frequency range, it would be nice for the focus to default to the "OK" button, so that a quick click will commence the proceedings if you've no intention of changing the freqs.
  
  
• I still would like an individual channel volume control feature, did you implement it and I just haven't found it? You can get blown out of your chair should you want to flip back and forth between loud and "normal" channels. It drives people nuts in this household.
  
  
• Coming from the Coolsat 8000, the microHD has a slower speed when scrolling through a favorites list (when viewing TV and wanting to jump to another channel). Can it be made to go faster? Can I be made to go slower? Maybe I should do some work on the latter.

 

[skysurfer]

After hearing a discussion on a recent satellite talk radio show about diseqc motors and how no FTA receiver seems to be able to autopeak on a signal, I think it would be cool with the microhd and diseqc motor driven setups to have the microHD peak on a signal for maximum signal quality.

The way I envision things: your motor moves your dish to a sat where you've already programmed the dish motor position (diseqc position). once you get a lock on a signal on that sat to verify there is enough signal level to start a process, you would have the *option* to hit a key on the remote control (or select something on-screen) and the microhd would go into some routine to pulse once or twice to the east, pulse once or twice to the west, and monitor the signal quality number. a few pulses here, a few pulses there and the microhd would have the dish peaked up for maximum signal quality for the desired service.

that would be an awesome feature for best possible reception plus account for the fact a diseqc motor might lose a little bit of accuracy over time for whatever reason, including very slight post shifting.

 

[SatelliteAV]

When doing a blind scan, in the box where you can set the scan frequency range, it would be nice for the focus to default to the "OK" button, so that a quick click will commence the proceedings if you've no intention of changing the freqs.

On the short list. May make the menu optional as we are finding a conflict with Universal 5150/10750 function.

I still would like an individual channel volume control feature, did you implement it and I just haven't found it? You can get blown out of your chair should you want to flip back and forth between loud and "normal" channels. It drives people nuts in this household.

Currently there is no chipset support for saving volume offset per channel. No channel editor supports this function either. Another option might be your tv? Several of my tvs have an auto audio leveling.

Coming from the Coolsat 8000, the microHD has a slower speed when scrolling through a favorites list (when viewing TV and wanting to jump to another channel). Can it be made to go faster? Can I be made to go slower? Maybe I should do some work on the latter.

Have you tried the up/up, down/down double arrows near the bottom of the remote to jump through the channels one page at a time? I see no way to increase scroll speed.

 

[toucan-man]

Have you tried the up/up, down/down double arrows near the bottom of the remote to jump through the channels one page at a time? I see no way to increase scroll speed.

Shall do, chief.

 

[Mr Tony]

DVR

Would it be possible to get a "confirm delete" for the DVR? I hit the yellow button by mistake (easy to do because the yellow button brings up the file list. I am used to buttons acting as a toggle) and zapped a file by accident. Lucky I already watched the program 'cause its gone now.

Thanks.

been there done that

 

[Mr Tony]

Should be simple to create. Base the development on the folder options in the other media types. We will investigate for a future firmware release.

sweet

The DVR section will have additional development in a future firmware version. This is a perfect example of a needed change. Make the items selectable then allow batch deletion with confirmation without exiting after each single deletion.

good to know. Yeah I've hit the yellow button once too quickly and lost a show I hadnt watched yet

 

[Mr Tony]

• When doing a blind scan, in the box where you can set the scan frequency range, it would be nice for the focus to default to the "OK" button, so that a quick click will commence the proceedings if you've no intention of changing the freqs.

• 
  
  agreed.

 

[putney]

I've played with the box twice now (review forthcoming), and here are a couple of things that would be nice to have:

• menus follow current sat. When going from the sat config menu to the scan menu or the TP edit menu, those menus are not with the current sat. They seem to be on the sat previously used in that particular menu sending the motor moving.

• signal bar on scan menu. It's everywhere but on this menu

• page scroll. When in a sat pop up menu it would be nice to jump 10 sats (or TPs) at a time using the channel up/down button.

• sort by name, TP, etc. When in the channel list menu it would be nice to use the red/yellow/green/blue buttons for different sort options

• hover shows TP. When in the channel list menu you currently have to select a channel for the TP/SR info at the bottom to update. It would be nice to have that update as you scroll over a channel

• move items. This one might exist already, not sure. When creating a new sat or TP, it would be nice to select and move it in the list

• switching to USALS moves the motor. This one has stumped me a couple of times. I find that I have to toggle sats to get USALS to send a move command after switching from diseqc.

• Faster remote response time. The overall response of the remote while in the sat config menu is very slow, I can push three times and wait two seconds for the cursor to catch up (I'm not using the time shifting)

These are just a few things off the top of my head. The only one that is really irritating is the 'menu follows current sat' request. I've been copying the position numbers from my Azbox, and sometimes have to add a TP to get a lock. Switching menus sends things moving before I've saved a location in the MicroHD.

So far the microHD has been fun, and it's been easy to navigate with no documentation. I want to thank you again for letting me play for free as a contest winner! I look forward to the updates

[+1 on the focus on OK feature]

 

[Pixl]

On a Ku blind scan the default range is 11700-12750, well up into the DBS band.
I would like to request that it be changed to the most common range for most FTA LNBs in N.A. would be 11700-12200.
With your addressable range (thank you) you could still change it as needed.

 

[qwert1515]

On a Ku blind scan the default range is 11700-12750, well up into the DBS band.
I would like to request that it be changed to the most common range for most FTA LNBs in N.A. would be 11700-12200.
With your addressable range (thank you) you could still change it as needed.

It is correct for standard LNBs with a LO of 10750, but it scans up to 12750 for universal LNBs with a LO of 10600.