New to FTA

[lionel.c@talktalk.net]

Hi all

I am in the UK and I am a complete newbie to FTA so please excuse my ignorance. I have a bog standard (as far as I am aware) Sky mini dish which I have not used for some time. I have an HD ready TV and want to purchase an HD FTA receiver. Any suggestions as to which receiver would do the job and if indeed they would be compatible with my existing dish.

All advice will be appreciated

Lionel

 

[Tron]

Most members here are from the United States, so I'm not sure if we can give you the best answers for a FTA setup in Europe.

Here it is necessary to have at least a 30" dish with a linear Ku-Band LNBF (either standard or universal, although in Europe they are most likely all universals). Not sure what is used for the Sky service, it may be circular, in which case you would need a different LNBF (and possibly dish).

There are far more options in Europe for FTA, especially when it comes to HD receivers. Fortec is currently selling the Passion receiver in Europe, but it has yet to come to the States. There are many other companies in Europe selling HD receivers than there are here. Also, there are many more DVB-S2 receivers over there. I would recommend this feature if you are in the market for a new receiver, since many uplinkers will soon be switching to this format.

 

[lionel.c@talktalk.net]

Many thanks for your response Tron but after looking around I think my best bet seems to be a complete Fortec Star setup from Maplins for £159 which does seem to be an excellent buy compared to some prices.

Maplin > HD Satellite Free-To-Air Kit


Lionel

 

[badhat]

So that would be $317.84 USD? Why is there a difference between here and there to where we have to wait for a NA receiver? When we could just purchase one now from overseas?

 

[updatelee]

keep in mind the euro fortec passion does NOT do blindscan or 4:2:2

 

[Tron]

One must also consider that shipping one of those complete systems over from Europe would probably cost more than the entire system ... That is the main problem with importing the mini actuators for our 1 and 1.2 meter Channel Master dishes.

 

[badhat]

Ouch I meant just the receiver. And double ouch... I hope the NA model has all the bells and whistles.

 

[Anole]

Yea, and frankly, I wouldn't take the Euro model of the Passion for free.
It's just not what the North American market needs.

But don't assume the price here should be outrageous for any of those parts mentioned.
Look at the going price of Fortec Mercury II receivers, and Traxis 3500's.
Likewise, the price in the competitive market of xx2100 motors.
You ship in enough of 'em, and the price is fine.

 

[brentb636]

"Yea, and frankly, I wouldn't take the Euro model of the Passion for free. "
Boy are you a tough guy !

Realistically, I suspect we'd all take one for free, but as it sits, it's no prize for the North American market. Reading the review of the Passion makes me wonder about how happy we'd be even IF it had Blindscan and 4:2:2 support. I suspect that having a lot of features will make the box pretty slow at everything that it does. That's not a particularly attractive thought , either.



Brent

 

[Anole]

Passionless

Realistically, I suspect we'd all take one for free, but as it sits, it's no prize for the North American market. Reading the review of the Passion makes me wonder about how happy we'd be even IF it had Blindscan and 4:2:2 support. I suspect that having a lot of features will make the box pretty slow at everything that it does. That's not a particularly attractive thought , either.

If it had what it promised, and if it had all the (working) features the NA guys want, I suspect it'd fly off the shelves!
Can't think of any reason it'd be slow at anything.
But, with each passing month, and no-show, it loses momentum.
And where it could have commanded $500 in the summer of 2007, today it could not.
The company has totally missed their prime opportunity on this product.

Will it make it out of the lab by the summer of 2008, as one recent posting has suggested?
If it does, all the bells 'n whistles had better be there . . . and working!
What we don't need is any more Maxwell Smart HD FTA boxes: "Would you believe? I missed it by that much!"

 

[Tron]

Somehow I feel that, if it does reach the NA market, it will simply not be the same receiver. It will probably be a totally redesigned model, with a new name or model number, not the same hardware being sold in Europe.

Throw in 8PSK DVB-S2 support and add firmware support for the E-SATA connector, and I'd buy the Pansat 9200 right now