Sonicview 4000

[stogie5150]

I picked up one of these about a week ago. I was interested in the USB because of ease of channel list loading, and that Sonicview CLAIMS I can plug in a external hard drive to it and it makes a PVR. I haven't tried either so far, but it does have a great picture and a decent, if slow, blind scan. It picked up some channels on G25 that my CS5K didn't, but OTOH it missed some that the CS got no problem.
The signal meter is not as good as my Coolsat either, but the Sonicview has a beeper, FWIW...
I'll find out how it does with a motor when my Sg2100 gets here Tuesday. I have it hooked up to my 1m dish with the extra outputs from my Invacom and it seems pretty stable SQ-wise, almost as good as my Coolsat 5000.

Stay tuned for further developments.

 

[stogie5150]

Well, I got the motor installed, and man alive is the signal meter squirrely. I had a heckuva time getting the dish dialed in with the motor because the signal meter bounced around so much. I think, however, it may have something to do with the stock Primestar LNB on the 84e dish because when my Invacom was feeding it it didn't bounce around so much. I think a LNB upgrade is definitely in order. Other than that, I found that USALS on the SV-4000 is useless. Its doesn't move the SG-2100 at all. I had to manually drive the motor, peak the signal, and then store the position. It took me about 5 hours to store 8 satellites...most of that time, however was figuring out HOW to store them amid the confusing options that Sonicview gives you. The Coolsat is fairly intitutive, this ain't. The SV-4000 is not a beginner's box.

 

[Tron]

Stogie, did you see this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/KU-LNB-FTA-PRIM...ryZ11726QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Or this one...

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-KU-LNBs-FTA-P...ryZ11726QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[stogie5150]

Stogie, did you see this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/KU-LNB-FTA-PRIM...ryZ11726QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Or this one...

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-KU-LNBs-FTA-P...ryZ11726QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I already have one of those I just haven't tried it yet. I don't know if it is better than the P* LNB or not...but I will see...you can bet on that...

 

[Anole]

I'm disappointed to hear the problems with the Sonicview.
Last time a user got one (different model?), he was so upset with it, he sent it back.
Think that was a few months ago.
Is that an option, or are you going to put up with the problems?

I can't see USALS being something I could compromise on.

Will be keeping an eye on this thread.
Hope you get a chance to test the USB hard drive interface.

Guess I'll have to find a local dealer with a Conaxant Duo, if I want to test something similar.
That way, I can take it back if I have any major problems.

 

[stogie5150]

I'm disappointed to hear the problems with the Sonicview.
Last time a user got one (different model?), he was so upset with it, he sent it back.
Think that was a few months ago.
Is that an option, or are you going to put up with the problems?

I can't see USALS being something I could compromise on.

Will be keeping an eye on this thread.
Hope you get a chance to test the USB hard drive interface.

Guess I'll have to find a local dealer with a Conaxant Duo, if I want to test something similar.
That way, I can take it back if I have any major problems.

Well, its like this. I know how to manually set the positions, and as long as they don't move too much I can deal with it. The receiver does go from satellite to satellite real well so far, in other words it goes back to the same spot each time.

I bought it from a joint in LA, CA, thats has an all sales final policy so its mine. Although I guess I could make a stink and maybe send it back....I dunno.

If I were going to buy another reciever it'd be another Coolsat 5K. Hands down. :up

EDIT: I took your lead and sent them an email asking about the suitability of the Sonicview with a motor. And if that was normal I wanted to exchange the reciever for a Coolsat. Lets see what they say.

 

[Anole]

have it "your way"

I wasn't trying to be a wet blanket.
Maybe there's later factory (or other) firmware that addresses the problem.
Well worth checking on.

Just that the #%&* community doesn't have a lot of need for motors, so it's not necessarily a priority.
On the other hand, you might be pleasantly surprised in a few months.

Motor and good switch control are well ahead of blind scan - get a box without that, and you're stuck.
I already compromised once on a box that didn't do blind scan, so it's well worth getting what you want.

As for a swap, or making a complaint, especially on something new or on-the-edge, buying local might help.
Or buying from one of our sponsors.
Either would be easier to approach with your concerns, if you know what I mean.
(baseball bat or bad press on forums)

 

[stogie5150]

I wasn't trying to be a wet blanket.
Maybe there's later factory (or other) firmware that addresses the problem.
Well worth checking on.

Just that the #%&* community doesn't have a lot of need for motors, so it's not necessarily a priority.
On the other hand, you might be pleasantly surprised in a few months.

Motor and good switch control are well ahead of blind scan - get a box without that, and you're stuck.
I already compromised once on a box that didn't do blind scan, so it's well worth getting what you want.

As for a swap, or making a complaint, especially on something new or on-the-edge, buying local might help.
Or buying from one of our sponsors.
Either would be easier to approach with your concerns, if you know what I mean.
(baseball bat or bad press on forums)

I am getting to the point that it wouldn't matter to me WHERE the software came from as long as it made the motor work right. This evening I spent a bit of time with it going from sat to sat and they ALL were off. I had to bump it around to tweak it, everytime. Looks like I have to take back what I said about accuracy.

I'm not going to say where I got it, but it was 160 shipped. I couldn't touch that price anywhere except ebay, and I really didn't want to do ebay for a reciever.
Local is out here, no stores near me. I'll see....

 

[stogie5150]

Well, looks like I have to eat a bit of crow. Partially anyway. The dish mount that I made was MOVING AROUND....and that was precisely why the Sonicview wasn't able to hit the positions. I redid the mount, I had to shim up the motor shaft for a tight fit, voila!
But the USALS still doesn't work, what I have been doing is setting the TP on the sat I want and just driving the motor until I get the signal, stop the motor, and then tweak it in and save the position.

The stock P* LNB was making the signal meter crazy on the 84e dish, so I swapped it out for an Invacom quad off my 1m dish, and put a Direcway LNB on the 1m dish. The Direcway LNB is AMAZING, btw. 90+ SQ on EVERY tp on G10.
Once I got a good stable signal, blind scan on the Sonicview caught TP's that the Coolsat didn't. And so far, the Sonicview is tracking the arc well. I ran it back and forth a couple times and it hit the positions right every time. Time will tell. Stay Tuned.

I am still looking for answers on why it won't do USALS though.

 

[voomvoom]

Congrats on being able to get at least part of it to work! That's better than it was.

Al

 

[digiblur]

Well, I got the motor installed, and man alive is the signal meter squirrely. I had a heckuva time getting the dish dialed in with the motor because the signal meter bounced around so much. I think, however, it may have something to do with the stock Primestar LNB on the 84e dish because when my Invacom was feeding it it didn't bounce around so much. I think a LNB upgrade is definitely in order. Other than that, I found that USALS on the SV-4000 is useless. Its doesn't move the SG-2100 at all. I had to manually drive the motor, peak the signal, and then store the position. It took me about 5 hours to store 8 satellites...most of that time, however was figuring out HOW to store them amid the confusing options that Sonicview gives you. The Coolsat is fairly intitutive, this ain't. The SV-4000 is not a beginner's box.

Sounds like the Viewsat's and their motor control problems.

 

[Tron]

Stogie, was that DirecWay LNB the one that was advertised on E-Bay?