I find one place in Mississauga salle the openbox for $189.99 canadian now tellme the openbox better than pansat 9200 +S2 board any opinions I like to cleare my mine about the exange from the 9200 to the skybox s9hd I no did not have ota but close to home and no shipping charges and I have viewsat 9000 and sonicview8000 for the ota because I dont uze the receivers only for ota so no problem about ota issue any advice please.Tanks
openbox and pansat9200
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I used the Pansat 9200 for a few years and the bugs finally got to me. I snapped and bought an Openbox and I 
it! They can be got for less,(edit, I don't know about availability or prices to Canada) if you're willing to wait the shipping duration. site sponsor Sadoun has the Sathawk branded. My pansat 9200 W/S2 required a fan 24/7, Openbox runs COOL. Pansat locked up regularily, The Openbox hasn't in the 8-12 weeks I've had it. My openbox blind scan will ALWAYS beat the Pansat. :up The Pansat programmed with less keystrokes on the remote. Big deal! Pansat requires an eSata hdd, the SSO uses a more common, externally powered, USB HDD.
SSO's has a green tint to the picture if using the Composite out in 480i mode. Tint adjustment on tv takes care of it. again, Big deal. The Pansat clock is crap, Openbox is good as long as you leave the receiver ON, Makes timed DVR operation USEABLE with the SSO's. (Sure, it does some thing I think could be improved; minor operational changes I think would enhance operation via the remote. It's really a non issue.) Order one, I think/know you'll like it.
SSO = Sathawk, Solomend or Openbox branded HD S2 FTA receiver.
I now await PopcornNMore to chime in.
it! They can be got for less,(edit, I don't know about availability or prices to Canada) if you're willing to wait the shipping duration. site sponsor Sadoun has the Sathawk branded. My pansat 9200 W/S2 required a fan 24/7, Openbox runs COOL. Pansat locked up regularily, The Openbox hasn't in the 8-12 weeks I've had it. My openbox blind scan will ALWAYS beat the Pansat. :up The Pansat programmed with less keystrokes on the remote. Big deal! Pansat requires an eSata hdd, the SSO uses a more common, externally powered, USB HDD.SSO's has a green tint to the picture if using the Composite out in 480i mode. Tint adjustment on tv takes care of it. again, Big deal. The Pansat clock is crap, Openbox is good as long as you leave the receiver ON, Makes timed DVR operation USEABLE with the SSO's. (Sure, it does some thing I think could be improved; minor operational changes I think would enhance operation via the remote. It's really a non issue.) Order one, I think/know you'll like it.
SSO = Sathawk, Solomend or Openbox branded HD S2 FTA receiver.I now await PopcornNMore to chime in.
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Tanka,
Go with the Pansat 9200 HD Because there is better support for the pansat 9200 HD because there is a 2 year warranty and the openbox S9 is rebranded with several other labels and it is hard to get Frimware files. Pansat is the very first one and true place that first started true legal FTA Satellite. The 9200 HD can remeber 10,000 feeds and has better C band support. I have heard that you should by the 8PSK board from a pansat dealer because the Cheap $80.00 Lumminatii boards are causing the recivers to go out black and you have to shut them off. If you do get the the pansat 9200HD Get it with the pansat 8PSK Board from pansat. Plus pansat has more service centers than openbox S9. Big plus is that when you buy a pansat 9200 HD with 8PSK Board from a pansat dealer is that you get a 2 year waranty with the box and you even get 2 years of prepaid shipping to pansat when it is kept under warranty. Wish you the best of luck.
Go with the Pansat 9200 HD Because there is better support for the pansat 9200 HD because there is a 2 year warranty and the openbox S9 is rebranded with several other labels and it is hard to get Frimware files. Pansat is the very first one and true place that first started true legal FTA Satellite. The 9200 HD can remeber 10,000 feeds and has better C band support. I have heard that you should by the 8PSK board from a pansat dealer because the Cheap $80.00 Lumminatii boards are causing the recivers to go out black and you have to shut them off. If you do get the the pansat 9200HD Get it with the pansat 8PSK Board from pansat. Plus pansat has more service centers than openbox S9. Big plus is that when you buy a pansat 9200 HD with 8PSK Board from a pansat dealer is that you get a 2 year waranty with the box and you even get 2 years of prepaid shipping to pansat when it is kept under warranty. Wish you the best of luck.
I'd love to answer you but I have no clue what the hell you said. Here is a novel concept....punctuation.....works wonders
i have used both and i will say the openbox s9 is a lot better then the 9200. you will get no overheating freeze ups and rebooting with the openbox. plus i think the blind scan is better just do not have pid entry in the s9 reveiver but you can do it with editor.and the firmware right now is working very good.
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My review of the SSO as biased by my previous experience with a Pansat 9200.
(thought it would have been done a day after the previous post, but hey, it's finally done)
SSO = SatHawk/Solomend/Openbox
Programming Sats. Well here I have to say I had an advantage as the GBox had already been programmed with all sat positions from 137W to 53 W. This saved me some time, but think it wasn't much.
Operation of the GBox and Disqc switch by the Openbox has been flawless.
Select sat with a check mark, to program the sat, in the Sat List, then back out and re-enter Abtenna Setup to program a sat.
Blind scans are FAST! I would say it's 50% faster overall, than the 9200. Does it miss anything? I would have to answer that with "sometimes" It has missed a few. On ocassion, it has missed an active programmed channel when rescanning a sat. Scanning a second time usually gets it. So most of my blind scans are repeated, (wildfeed hunting) Some Weak signals have had to be TP scanned (in the TP List) to get.
The DVR function uses a common USB drive where the Pansat requires an eSATA drive. Use of an externally powered USB HDD seems to be required. Many USB HDD's draw more power than the SSO can provide.
The clock works, meaning that timed recordings are possible. (The clock in the 9200 is "crap") The SSO must be left ON for the clock to keep time. (Software clock instead of a hardware clock) DVR operation, on a 8Gb usb stick and a spare HDD with a USB/SATA adapter cable, has been flawless.
A timed recording will shut the receiver off when it's done! Meaning, you can only use one timer recording.
The clock format is Military and cannot be changed to 12 hour format.
The date format is also military, I.E: Day/Month/Year
Runs a whole lot cooler than the 9200, and doesn't need a fan. Might even be cooler than the Pansat 3500SD. Does audio formats that the 9200 doesn't.
Negatives:
The three things, I think, that the 9200 has over the Openbox S9:
1) a more user freindly menu system.
I.E: It takes less keystrokes to program a sat, edit TP's or just normal operation with the 9200.
2) the Openbox does not identify any info for the channel except for the PID's. No way to tell if it's S2, 8PSK or QPSK. No Pilot on/off in TP scan, or indication if pilot is used. This is not a big problem, unless you need that information for another receiver.
3) No way for manual PID entry. You must do it with the channel editor run on your computer. Easy to do, but just not as user friendly.
Other quirks in the Openbox, and would apply to all brands, (SSO)
The composite video out has a noticable green tint. (with 480i V Format selected)
I don't know why. but some channels seem really "green" and others are not as noticable.
Another is the Channel/Sat selection function. Hit OK to see the channel list, you can scroll up and down, then select another channel on the list with the OK button, and the receiver goes to that channel.
BUT, if you hit left/right, the receiver immediately goes to the next sat. I wish it would wait until I make a channel selection on another sat.
This flaw makes the Recall (last Channel) function almost useless. There is a way to use Recall, with two channels on different satellites, but it requires many, many more, keystrokes to set up.
When recording using the (instant)Record Button, to stop the recording the keystrokes required are STOP, LEFT, OK. Why not make it STOP X 2 ? Hitting the stop button twice would be so much more convienient.
Hitting the Record button twice brings up a little window with 02:00 in it. The format is: Hours:Minutes (I don't know why I couldn't figure this out myself, I was stuck on minutes
s)
I miss, after a blind scan with the 9200, how it went to a preview mode where you could see the channels you just scanned in. Exiting the preview mode, with just one keystroke, put you back in the scan menu.
With the SSO you must completely exit the programming mode to view the channels. Quite a few OK and Exit keystrokes are required. (but hey, I sometimes scream at my computer to "KEEP UP WITH ME")
Things that need to be fixed in the SSO's, in order of priority.
1) The receiver shoud NOT turn off at the end of a Timer recording. (!)
This makes all the timer functions listed unusable, except for the fist one.
2) The Left Right buttons should not cause an immediate change of channel/sat
when in the channel list. Wait until I make a channel selection.
Same should also apply when selecting a satellite from the satellite
list, just show that satellites channel list, but don't change sat/channel
untill I select a channel. Fixing one of these functions, means they
could delete the other function.
3) The green tint of the CVBS output has to be fixed.
It was good until a firmware update.
4) A rescan of a satellite should not rename channels I have manually named.
These first four should be fixed, in my book, to take a very good
product to the level of an exceptional product.
The rest are minor and only address user friendlyness, such as:
To stop a recording in the instant record mode should be just STOP x 2.
PID entry and TP information display.
Can't think of anything else.
Overall, I like the Openbox very much, I like my 9200 almost as much, but that may change when I finally get around to repairing the P.S. and do the heatsink mods.
(thought it would have been done a day after the previous post, but hey, it's finally done)
SSO = SatHawk/Solomend/Openbox
Programming Sats. Well here I have to say I had an advantage as the GBox had already been programmed with all sat positions from 137W to 53 W. This saved me some time, but think it wasn't much.
Operation of the GBox and Disqc switch by the Openbox has been flawless.
Select sat with a check mark, to program the sat, in the Sat List, then back out and re-enter Abtenna Setup to program a sat.
Blind scans are FAST! I would say it's 50% faster overall, than the 9200. Does it miss anything? I would have to answer that with "sometimes" It has missed a few. On ocassion, it has missed an active programmed channel when rescanning a sat. Scanning a second time usually gets it. So most of my blind scans are repeated, (wildfeed hunting) Some Weak signals have had to be TP scanned (in the TP List) to get.
The DVR function uses a common USB drive where the Pansat requires an eSATA drive. Use of an externally powered USB HDD seems to be required. Many USB HDD's draw more power than the SSO can provide.
The clock works, meaning that timed recordings are possible. (The clock in the 9200 is "crap") The SSO must be left ON for the clock to keep time. (Software clock instead of a hardware clock) DVR operation, on a 8Gb usb stick and a spare HDD with a USB/SATA adapter cable, has been flawless.
A timed recording will shut the receiver off when it's done! Meaning, you can only use one timer recording.
The clock format is Military and cannot be changed to 12 hour format.
The date format is also military, I.E: Day/Month/Year
Runs a whole lot cooler than the 9200, and doesn't need a fan. Might even be cooler than the Pansat 3500SD. Does audio formats that the 9200 doesn't.
Negatives:
The three things, I think, that the 9200 has over the Openbox S9:
1) a more user freindly menu system.
I.E: It takes less keystrokes to program a sat, edit TP's or just normal operation with the 9200.
2) the Openbox does not identify any info for the channel except for the PID's. No way to tell if it's S2, 8PSK or QPSK. No Pilot on/off in TP scan, or indication if pilot is used. This is not a big problem, unless you need that information for another receiver.
3) No way for manual PID entry. You must do it with the channel editor run on your computer. Easy to do, but just not as user friendly.
Other quirks in the Openbox, and would apply to all brands, (SSO)
The composite video out has a noticable green tint. (with 480i V Format selected)
I don't know why. but some channels seem really "green" and others are not as noticable.
Another is the Channel/Sat selection function. Hit OK to see the channel list, you can scroll up and down, then select another channel on the list with the OK button, and the receiver goes to that channel.
BUT, if you hit left/right, the receiver immediately goes to the next sat. I wish it would wait until I make a channel selection on another sat.
This flaw makes the Recall (last Channel) function almost useless. There is a way to use Recall, with two channels on different satellites, but it requires many, many more, keystrokes to set up.
When recording using the (instant)Record Button, to stop the recording the keystrokes required are STOP, LEFT, OK. Why not make it STOP X 2 ? Hitting the stop button twice would be so much more convienient.
Hitting the Record button twice brings up a little window with 02:00 in it. The format is: Hours:Minutes (I don't know why I couldn't figure this out myself, I was stuck on minutes
s)I miss, after a blind scan with the 9200, how it went to a preview mode where you could see the channels you just scanned in. Exiting the preview mode, with just one keystroke, put you back in the scan menu.
With the SSO you must completely exit the programming mode to view the channels. Quite a few OK and Exit keystrokes are required. (but hey, I sometimes scream at my computer to "KEEP UP WITH ME")
Things that need to be fixed in the SSO's, in order of priority.
1) The receiver shoud NOT turn off at the end of a Timer recording. (!)
This makes all the timer functions listed unusable, except for the fist one.
2) The Left Right buttons should not cause an immediate change of channel/sat
when in the channel list. Wait until I make a channel selection.
Same should also apply when selecting a satellite from the satellite
list, just show that satellites channel list, but don't change sat/channel
untill I select a channel. Fixing one of these functions, means they
could delete the other function.
3) The green tint of the CVBS output has to be fixed.
It was good until a firmware update.
4) A rescan of a satellite should not rename channels I have manually named.
These first four should be fixed, in my book, to take a very good
product to the level of an exceptional product.
The rest are minor and only address user friendlyness, such as:
To stop a recording in the instant record mode should be just STOP x 2.
PID entry and TP information display.
Can't think of anything else.
Overall, I like the Openbox very much, I like my 9200 almost as much, but that may change when I finally get around to repairing the P.S. and do the heatsink mods.
Sounds good. Have you tried recording high bitrate feeds, and if so, how high does the bitrate have to be before it stutters?
Regarding issue #4, wiping out manually-named channels, there's supposed to be a workaround, but I haven't tested it. Use the editor to change the name (or download the settings and open them in the editor after changing it), then change the SID (or give the channel an SID if it had a null SID.) Supposedly it won't recognize it as the same channel the next time you scan. The down side is, you'll then have duplicate channels.
:upSo far I haven't delved into the high bitrate stuttering. It's next on the list. I have run into a few recordings that refuse to convert to any other format on the computer. What I am not understanding is other recordings from the same channel convert just fine.
#4-I have read about the work around, and even if it does work, it's a hassle. I think it should be fixed in firmware.
#4-I have read about the work around, and even if it does work, it's a hassle. I think it should be fixed in firmware.
I set up two recordings early last evening on two radio channels on the same satellite in the same mux. This mux sends the correct time in the stream. I have the time set to the "GMT" setting, so that the receiver gets its time from the stream. The second recording was set to start 1 minute after the end of the first recording. Both events recorded flawlessly.
Now to try this with TV channels...
Now to try this with TV channels...
This time I chose two television channels, one SCPC and the other in a mux. Neither one has the correct time in the stream, so I set the time as manual.
I left the receiver on and when the time of the first recording arrived, "Event Notify" came onscreen an the channel started recording. At the end of the first recording, the unit went into standby mode with the time, instead of a channel number, on the front panel display.
When the time for the second recording arrived, the receiver booted up, changed the channel and started recording the second event. When the recording time was up, the receiver went back into standby mode with the time on the display.
After that, pressing the power button on the remote makes the red standby light disappear, but the time remains and the receiver doesn't boot up. I had to cycle the back panel power switch to get it to boot, and of course, the time needs to be reset.
I'm using firmware dated 5-28-2010, BTW, but I'm sure this will work on later firmware.
There is a bug, however, in that once you get the time on the front display, and have to flick the back panel switch to reboot, you have to leave it on awhile in order to be able to go back into a normal standby mode. So, if you leave your receiver on all the time and it only goes into standby at the end of a recording, you shouldn't have to worry about this issue most of the time.
Also, if I you have timer recordings set, the receiver is in standby with the clock display, and you want to watch something and have to back switch reboot, the recordings are still set, but you have to reset the time/clock so that the recordings will be made.
Next thing I'll try is having the time and a recording set, putting it into standby mode with no clock in the display and seeing what happens...
PS. Occasionally when turning the receiver on from the back panel, I get "On" stuck on the front display and it won't boot. It sometime takes two cycles of the back switch to get it to where it will finally boot up.
I left the receiver on and when the time of the first recording arrived, "Event Notify" came onscreen an the channel started recording. At the end of the first recording, the unit went into standby mode with the time, instead of a channel number, on the front panel display.
When the time for the second recording arrived, the receiver booted up, changed the channel and started recording the second event. When the recording time was up, the receiver went back into standby mode with the time on the display.
After that, pressing the power button on the remote makes the red standby light disappear, but the time remains and the receiver doesn't boot up. I had to cycle the back panel power switch to get it to boot, and of course, the time needs to be reset.
I'm using firmware dated 5-28-2010, BTW, but I'm sure this will work on later firmware.
There is a bug, however, in that once you get the time on the front display, and have to flick the back panel switch to reboot, you have to leave it on awhile in order to be able to go back into a normal standby mode. So, if you leave your receiver on all the time and it only goes into standby at the end of a recording, you shouldn't have to worry about this issue most of the time.
Also, if I you have timer recordings set, the receiver is in standby with the clock display, and you want to watch something and have to back switch reboot, the recordings are still set, but you have to reset the time/clock so that the recordings will be made.
Next thing I'll try is having the time and a recording set, putting it into standby mode with no clock in the display and seeing what happens...
PS. Occasionally when turning the receiver on from the back panel, I get "On" stuck on the front display and it won't boot. It sometime takes two cycles of the back switch to get it to where it will finally boot up.
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