Review of Pansat 2500A
I purchased my Pansat 2500A this summer. This is my first experience with FTA, so I can't compare it with other receivers.
I purchased the Pansat for its "smart search" feature, which works quite well. It's very easy to use: once you have found a satellite, you go into the installation menu and select Smart Search. You can search by FTA and scrambled channels, or FTA only. It takes about 15 minutes to scan a satellite. It's also possible to do a "satellite scan" which I think means it scans all the transponders already in memory for a particular satellite, but doesn't search for new transponders. An "advanced scan" lets you manually set PIDs. None of this is explained very well in the manual.
The procedure for adding a channel takes two steps. First you add the transponder under "TP Edit", then do a scan for that transponder. There are step by step instructions for this and adding a satellite on Pansat's web site.
These features all work quite well, although the poorly-written manual doesn't explain how to do them in enough detail. Once you have the satellites set up, the receiver works fine most of the time, but there are some problems.
The first problem I had was trying to add a SG-2100 motor. Although the Pansat has provisions for USALS, I couldn't get it to work, so I used DiSEqC 1.2 to control the motor. Most of the time it worked, but at times the motor would suddenly veer off in the wrong direction. By looking at this and a couple of other forums, I discovered the original Pansat software doesn't work with the SG-2100. I successfully downloaded updated software from Pansat's site, which loaded without a problem, but it does reset everything and you lose whatever channels you had stored.
The new software usually works well with a motor, but every once in a while it simply won't find a particular satellite you're seeking and you have to reset the unit with a switch on the back. I've noticed this tends to happen if I've been changing satellites several times or readjusting the DiSEqC settings. Pansat does sell their own motor (or at least a motor made by someone else with their name on it) so perhaps these problems are only with the SG-1200 and it works better with their motor.
The remote is small and it's easy to hit the wrong button. Also, occasionally adjusting the volume on my tv's remote will change a channel on the Pansat, but not on a regular basis. But the various remote commands work well, such as bringing up the satellite list, a graph of signal quality, switching between TV and radio channels, or changing the audio feed. There is also the provision for five favorite channel lists.
There are a couple of other annoyances. In order to enter the installation or channel list edit menus, you must enter a password. It becomes rather tedious to keep entering the password. Also, any changes made to the channels list (such as renaming a channel or moving it to a different location in the list) must be done with the "all satellites" list rather than the list for the specific satellite, which means wading through 600 channels.
The Pansat has very nice picture quality, and the on-screen graphics are easy to read. Actually watching TV with the unit is a pleasant experience, and the smart search really does work well. However, I think Pansat needs to do some more work on the software to eliminate the motor control problems, and make editing a channel list an easier chore.
I purchased my Pansat 2500A this summer. This is my first experience with FTA, so I can't compare it with other receivers.
I purchased the Pansat for its "smart search" feature, which works quite well. It's very easy to use: once you have found a satellite, you go into the installation menu and select Smart Search. You can search by FTA and scrambled channels, or FTA only. It takes about 15 minutes to scan a satellite. It's also possible to do a "satellite scan" which I think means it scans all the transponders already in memory for a particular satellite, but doesn't search for new transponders. An "advanced scan" lets you manually set PIDs. None of this is explained very well in the manual.
The procedure for adding a channel takes two steps. First you add the transponder under "TP Edit", then do a scan for that transponder. There are step by step instructions for this and adding a satellite on Pansat's web site.
These features all work quite well, although the poorly-written manual doesn't explain how to do them in enough detail. Once you have the satellites set up, the receiver works fine most of the time, but there are some problems.
The first problem I had was trying to add a SG-2100 motor. Although the Pansat has provisions for USALS, I couldn't get it to work, so I used DiSEqC 1.2 to control the motor. Most of the time it worked, but at times the motor would suddenly veer off in the wrong direction. By looking at this and a couple of other forums, I discovered the original Pansat software doesn't work with the SG-2100. I successfully downloaded updated software from Pansat's site, which loaded without a problem, but it does reset everything and you lose whatever channels you had stored.
The new software usually works well with a motor, but every once in a while it simply won't find a particular satellite you're seeking and you have to reset the unit with a switch on the back. I've noticed this tends to happen if I've been changing satellites several times or readjusting the DiSEqC settings. Pansat does sell their own motor (or at least a motor made by someone else with their name on it) so perhaps these problems are only with the SG-1200 and it works better with their motor.
The remote is small and it's easy to hit the wrong button. Also, occasionally adjusting the volume on my tv's remote will change a channel on the Pansat, but not on a regular basis. But the various remote commands work well, such as bringing up the satellite list, a graph of signal quality, switching between TV and radio channels, or changing the audio feed. There is also the provision for five favorite channel lists.
There are a couple of other annoyances. In order to enter the installation or channel list edit menus, you must enter a password. It becomes rather tedious to keep entering the password. Also, any changes made to the channels list (such as renaming a channel or moving it to a different location in the list) must be done with the "all satellites" list rather than the list for the specific satellite, which means wading through 600 channels.
The Pansat has very nice picture quality, and the on-screen graphics are easy to read. Actually watching TV with the unit is a pleasant experience, and the smart search really does work well. However, I think Pansat needs to do some more work on the software to eliminate the motor control problems, and make editing a channel list an easier chore.
