Black Gold - BGT3595

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Black Gold - BGT3595

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#72540 28-Nov-2010 17:40

Hi guys - not long 'till Xmas now!

Well, it has been a while since trawling through the forums here at Geekzone. My HTPC rig has been running without a hitch so not a lot of need to really.

However, since it was nearly Xmas, I thought I might give myself an early present. One thing that had been on my mind for a while was a dual DVB-S tuner. I'd looked at a few, and had ALMOST convinced myself that something like this could be in order:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Components/Other-PCI-cards/auction-334688440.htm

Well, after seeing a review of the Black Gold on GZ, I'm really pleased my sometimes trigger-happy mouse finger didn't hit the "buy now" button.

What's changed? The exchange rate for a start! The New Zealand Dollar buys 0.478 British pence which makes the Black Gold Card at £109.00 come out around $250 NZD delivered! That's only $11 more than the TBS.

The other thing is that the BG gives me a dual DVB-T tuners as well. Now, while this will be of no use to me here is Gisborne at the present time, I am told (again by GZ) that we might be on the list to have terrestrial service in time for the RWC 2011. Fingers crossed!

So all-in-all it has been a fruitful visit to GZ - Dunno why I didn't come back earlier!

My HTPC - Case Antec Fusion Remote, MOBO Intel DH67BLB3, CPU Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz, RAM 8GB DDR3 1333, HDD 120Gig Corsair Force Series 3 SSD system | WD Caviar Black 2TB data, Tuners Black Gold BGT3595 dual DVB-S/S2, dual DVB-T, Video nVIDIA GeForce GT 520, 1024MB, Sound Intel® High Definition Audio (onboard), OS Windows 7 x64

rvangelder

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#410558 29-Nov-2010 08:54

So, where are you buying these from?

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#410567 29-Nov-2010 09:23

Hi there

There is no one who stocks these cards in NZ so I have bought it directly off their website in the UK.

The freight was quite reasonable - 12.5 pounds to NZ, and as it was an export sale there was no VAT.

Not sure about delivery time - ordered it yesterday so I will let you know!

Blair.

rvangelder

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#410621 29-Nov-2010 11:30

I'm quite interested.
I'm looking at switching out my media center in the next few months, and a couple of these cards should do the trick.

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#410624 29-Nov-2010 11:34

Would you like to add a couple on to my order? It is still Sunday night in the UK and I'd expect my order to be process first thing Monday morning.

rvangelder

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#410626 29-Nov-2010 11:37

Thanks for the offer, but no.
I do appreciate it.

There is a hand-me-down thing going on with the computers in my household. I have yet to work through all the options, so it will be a while before I make a decision to purchase.

Cheers

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#410628 29-Nov-2010 11:42

No problem - it actually occurred to me after I hit the reply button that having 3 or 4 of these cards coming through the NZ boarder would have a fair value and might be liable for GST!

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#410664 29-Nov-2010 12:56

Mine arrived 10 days after ordering. Is a great unit, just don't forget to plug the power connector in!
Oh, and as a bonus it is also DVB-S2, so a bit "future proofed" as well (if there is such a thing in the PC world!) enables watching the HD stream of SBS Tasmania

Lounge:
WIN7 HOME x64 HTPC - E6420 2.13Ghz - 4Gb 800MHZ PATRIOT RAM - ASUS HD5670 1GB
ASUS P5B-VM MOBO - LG BLU-RAY DRIVE - BG3595 TUNER - 1.5TB STORAGE
PANASONIC 42" FULL HD PLASMA - PIONEER VSX1019AHK RECEIVER - WHARFDALE DIAMOND 10 SPEAKERS

Man Cave:
XBOX 360 MODERN WARFARE 2 EDITION - PANASONIC 37" PLASMA - SONY MONSTA 5.1 SURROUND SYSTEM

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#415204 9-Dec-2010 18:46

Christmas has come early for me - it's arrived!!!

Well, as expected the card has arrived after about 10 days. I'm impressed with both the speed in which it arrived and also the packaging.

The card was easy to install, but interestingly it didn't contain any driver CD or instructions. Curious as I thought that this was the retail product, not the OEM that they also show on their website.

That aside, my trusty TeVii S470 was tossed aside and the BlackGold was installed.

Problem - Scanning for channels saw Media Center crash...

After some furious googling I recalled some words uttered by Rollux... "don't forget to plug the power connector in!"

DOH!

Pleased to say that the card is running like a dream. Like others, the channel switching seems smooth and fast, and switching between Freeview channels (horozontal) and SBS (vertical) is flawless. Previously this was a bit hit and miss.

Overall, I think for the money this card rocks!

rvangelder

352 posts

Ultimate Geek

#415209 9-Dec-2010 18:58

thanks for the feedback. this card is now definitely on my wishlist!

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#415420 10-Dec-2010 10:18

Hey Blur
Glad to here you're pleased with it. The power lead seems to be a common oversight upon installation - I guess the PCIe slot just can't provide the power necessary.
And having the DVBT for future is great (not that we're ever going to get it here in Marlborough)

Definitely a premium product in my opinion - half height too for those that need it.

thorax

75 posts

Master Geek

#424517 6-Jan-2011 06:31

Hi,

Is anyone using the BGT3595 card able to answer some questions about the card and sky dish/lnb compatibility?

Please and Thank you.

Does the card supply enough juice to power 3 inputs at the same time, both DVB-S x 2 and 1 DVB-T ??

Is the card compatible with the quad (sky 13v/18v) lnbs??
If so how well can these cards handle the 13v/18v switching.

I have an old SkyStar2 that lost the ability to tune Horizontal so I can only get the SBS channels. So this card is look very good at the moment, just want you to do my homework.

Thanks again.

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#424798 6-Jan-2011 22:02

It does support diseqc, so will be able to power these fine. However, if not using sky via a card reader and you are only viewing one satellite you don't need to worry about it.

thorax

75 posts

Master Geek

#424800 6-Jan-2011 22:09

Rollux: It does support diseqc, so will be able to power these fine. However, if not using sky via a card reader and you are only viewing one satellite you don't need to worry about it.

Thanks, looks like Im getting one of these - ordered.