re: fortec star mercury II

[michael847]

I've got one. Although it receives programming the timer is crippled and the clock is not real...it is name only.

I hope whoever wins it in Denver, or otherwise buys it, has better luck with it.

Mike

 

[Ilya]

Welcome to the forum!

Moving your post to the FTA area.

 

[PSB]

WELCOME to the SatelliteGuys.US FTA forum! I agree Fortec is a great brand And a GOLD sponsor here! I do not have the Mercury but have the Classic NA. and the Ultra

 

[Optical Serenity]

I have a Mercury II, and have no problems with the Timer or Clock. Have you updated your firmware to the latest one?

 

[updatelee]

My clock is all over the map as well, just assumed that was normal. sometimes its an hour off, other times a few hours off.

did you change any settings ? Id love to be able to just set the time manually insted of using sat time.

 

[michael847]

mercury II

When I got the unit it had the 1.6 firmware in it. I sent it back to get the 1.9 firmware. I didn't want to do it myself because I live by the adage, "If anything can go wrong...it will!"

After trying it again, and writing to Fortec Star, they admitted that the clock is not a real clock, but to try and use the clock that gets its information off each channel.

So, I tuned into the channels on IA5 kU and went through the channels. It seems each channel sends out time signals in whatever format they want. The minutes are pretty close, but the hours can agree with UTC, PDT, EDT, or whatever.

And then, to top matters off whenever I inserted the timings I wanted to turn the unit on and off to record programming it would either claim there was an error and NOT save them, or it would save them but then fail to turn on at the appointed time. When I went back to check the adtes and times had reverted to somewhere in 2003.

I've had enough. I hope everybody else gets a better unit. As for me I need a REAL clock so I have purchased another PANSAT unit.

I liked Fortec's Lifetime Ultra. It did what I wanted it to do. Unfortunately, it went to that big electronic happy hunting ground in the sky.

That's my two cents worth.

Carry on.

Mike

 

[Optical Serenity]

There are two clock settings... It'll let you set it via UTC (from satellite I suppose) or just flat out set it. I use the second setting, set it, and guess what, it works. Relying on data from some of these channels (ESPECIALLY IA5!) can't be fun

If I were to rely on time from a channel, I'd use ABC News One on IA8, or some other equivalent commercial business use channel.

 

[updatelee]

There are two clock settings... It'll let you set it via UTC (from satellite I suppose) or just flat out set it. I use the second setting, set it, and guess what, it works. Relying on data from some of these channels (ESPECIALLY IA5!) can't be fun

If I were to rely on time from a channel, I'd use ABC News One on IA8, or some other equivalent commercial business use channel.

perfect, turned GMT off (this feature could have been labeled better, lol) and my time has stuck, doesnt change from channel to channel. thanks