Hi All,
I'm hoping to tap the collective knowledge here about receivers and their capabilities before I spend money on the next one. Essentially this is a complaint / wish list of my current receivers, and I'd love to hear from anyone who knows either a better way or a better product. They are in order of importance to me.
Just for reference, I'm currently running a Fortec Lifetime Classic NA paired with a motorized 80cm, and a Viewsat Xtreme using a T-90. It ended up this way mostly because the Viewsat didn't seem to want to play nice with the motor all the time.
1. I'm terribly disappointed in the speed of scans on either unit. Okay, so short of buying a spectrum analyzer to identify active TPs, I realize one can't expect miracles. But it seems like just identifying the presence of a signal could be a lot quicker. Do any other units excel in this area?
2. A feature I would like to have is the ability to identify and watch active IDs in streams simply by tuning an active transponder. As in, not having to go into the menu and scan the transponder and enter channels. This seems somewhat contrary to the architecture and standard mode of operation FTA boxes appear to employ. But maybe there is something out there..
3. The selectivity of the tuner in the VS is horrible. The same channels will be found on adjacent transponders. This rarely happens on the Fortec. I'm unsure if this is common among Viewsats, or it's just my particular box, although I'm willing to bet it is a common problem. The VS gives me the general feeling of having been hastily designed, without much thought going into it.
4. A lack of control other than the remote. Several of my other STBs (and the television itself) can be computer controlled via serial port. The serial ports on these two FTA units are apparently only for firmware upgrades, essentially useless for my purposes. Right now, they are integrated into my system via an IR blaster, which just barely meets acceptability. This uncovers a secondary issue, particularly on the Viewsat: There isn't a standard entry point into the list of satellites in 'channel scan' or 'antenna setup'. (Stated another way, if you might not be familiar, it would be a lot more helpful if, say satellite #1 always appeared as a default when entering these modes. The Viewsat defaults to the last satellite selected in this mode, the Fortec is only slightly better by defaulting to the satellite currently being watched.)
I'm hoping to tap the collective knowledge here about receivers and their capabilities before I spend money on the next one. Essentially this is a complaint / wish list of my current receivers, and I'd love to hear from anyone who knows either a better way or a better product. They are in order of importance to me.
Just for reference, I'm currently running a Fortec Lifetime Classic NA paired with a motorized 80cm, and a Viewsat Xtreme using a T-90. It ended up this way mostly because the Viewsat didn't seem to want to play nice with the motor all the time.
1. I'm terribly disappointed in the speed of scans on either unit. Okay, so short of buying a spectrum analyzer to identify active TPs, I realize one can't expect miracles. But it seems like just identifying the presence of a signal could be a lot quicker. Do any other units excel in this area?
2. A feature I would like to have is the ability to identify and watch active IDs in streams simply by tuning an active transponder. As in, not having to go into the menu and scan the transponder and enter channels. This seems somewhat contrary to the architecture and standard mode of operation FTA boxes appear to employ. But maybe there is something out there..
3. The selectivity of the tuner in the VS is horrible. The same channels will be found on adjacent transponders. This rarely happens on the Fortec. I'm unsure if this is common among Viewsats, or it's just my particular box, although I'm willing to bet it is a common problem. The VS gives me the general feeling of having been hastily designed, without much thought going into it.
4. A lack of control other than the remote. Several of my other STBs (and the television itself) can be computer controlled via serial port. The serial ports on these two FTA units are apparently only for firmware upgrades, essentially useless for my purposes. Right now, they are integrated into my system via an IR blaster, which just barely meets acceptability. This uncovers a secondary issue, particularly on the Viewsat: There isn't a standard entry point into the list of satellites in 'channel scan' or 'antenna setup'. (Stated another way, if you might not be familiar, it would be a lot more helpful if, say satellite #1 always appeared as a default when entering these modes. The Viewsat defaults to the last satellite selected in this mode, the Fortec is only slightly better by defaulting to the satellite currently being watched.)
