Excellent thanks. That is exactly what I had though Xarqi. Hardly enough to worry about. On the other hand, can you just delete the blank or duplicate channels?
speedy23: Excellent thanks. That is exactly what I had though Xarqi. Hardly enough to worry about. On the other hand, can you just delete the blank or duplicate channels?
Probably, but I haven't even bothered to do that. I always just use my "favourites" bouquet, and that only has about 10 channels on it (SBS HD, SBS 2, TV1, TV2, TV3, FOUR, Prime, Cue, Maori, TVNZ7, and 3+1 - so 11 actually). Cue could just about go - there's been nothing of interest for some weeks; TVNZ7, likewise - no new docos for months, and it's moribund anyway; Maori sometimes has a movie, but often I've already got them off SBS; 3+1 - well rarely I'll use it if it means I can resolve a timer clash that way). From time to time I'll make additions (such as when GEM/Go/Nine and Southern Cross were available) and deletions (when they disappear).
There's one oddity I haven't quite figured out. After a restart, which is very rare (usually a power failure - I just have my unit sleeping most of the time so I can access it over my LAN), it's not clear how to get only the favourite services appearing in the service list (the one accessed by an up or down arrow key). There is a way of choosing only those for display of EPG data (blue button I think), but it seems to take something like zapping to something in the favourites list from the full list before only the favourites list appears. Sorry if that seems confusing. It isn't a big deal though - a bit of channel hopping and it "comes right".
Well it had to happen, I have another question or two - or maybe three..... I purchased a dual LNB (dual output too) from Freeview then discovered I needed an adapter to make it fit the mount left when I removed the Sky LNB. So far so good. Wired it all up and set it as close as possible to the previous position and to the skew recommended. Upon doing a satellite scan I have now lost the SBS channels but the NZ free to air are all good..... Have tried twisting the LNB every which way to no avail. SNR running around 90%. So, is it the tuner set up or LNB now? Should I invest in one of the cheapy satellite finders? I have tried tuner 2 set to same as A, and as advanced with the same settings as A. I realise SBS is coming in vertical as opposed to horizontal but the old Sky LNB sorted that automatically. Any ideas would be much appreciated. Next. I have regular crashes - almost every evening. Sometimes when trying to use the permanent time shift, sometimes going in or out of EPG. Fixes itself when VIX restarts. If I just use the box to watch tv and change regular channels no problem... Third oddity is trying to play recorded programmes. Usually a recorded programme has a green dot beside it. Some have a yellow dot. I have a couple of recorded programmes that when I select them, nothing happens - blank screen - then a crash. I have spent hours fiddling, but I suspect someone out there will have a quick fix for which I would be most grateful. Thanks in advance! John
First up, the unit should be rock solid, hardware-wise, so if you are having crashes, I'd be looking to the VIX support forum for answers. I'm using openPLi. It's what was installed when I got it and I've seen no reason to change.
Under PLi, the dot colour shows whether the file has been watched or not - red - no, and various other yellow icons for partially watched files. VIX is probably similar.
If you are getting the FTA channels, a satellite finder isn't going to help - you are pointing at the satellite. You could tweak things based on the reported signal strength.
I'm told SBS reception does require the skew angle to be set carefully. I had no trouble though just by maximising signal strength on on of the FTA channels, either with my 90 cm dish or more recently with a friends 65 cm ex-SKY dish. I suspect your failure to get SBS is bad skew, another box holding the LNB polarisation as H, or a set up problem in the tuner configuration. First thing I'd do (again, this is with openPLi, so I don't know how it;s done under VIX) is just do a manual scan of the SBS transponder. You can get the details (S/R, FEC, frequency, etc) from lyngsat,com.
Thanks for that. Yes, I hadn't thought of trying the specific transponder for SBS so when it stops raining I'll try that and report back! Will try the other suggestions as well - thought I would give the Kiwi connections first try. Also have a problem with Serviio so will go to that specific forum also.
speedy23: Thanks for that. Yes, I hadn't thought of trying the specific transponder for SBS so when it stops raining I'll try that and report back! Will try the other suggestions as well - thought I would give the Kiwi connections first try. Also have a problem with Serviio so will go to that specific forum also.
Recently I ditched the old Sky LNB and replaced it with a low-noise MTR unit from Freeviewshop. I also had to buy and modify the mounting bracket, probably the same as you did.
In order to align the skew, I pointed it to the approximate position as detailed in the instructions that came with the LNB (F connector pointing to 8 o'clock IIRC). Then did a full scan as the LO was different from the old Sky LNB. Having found the SBS channels, I tuned in to SBS HD and then went to the "Service Searching" function in Setup. Near the bottom is a Satfinder function which is brilliant for aligning your dish or LNB. By gently rotating the LNB in either direction, I peaked the SNR as high as I could.
Aligning your dish/LNB using the SBS channels gives a more sensitive indication of whether you've got it right or not, because those channels are weaker than the ones intended for NZ. I have SNR of around 55% on the SBS channels whereas the NZ ones are between 72 and 77%.
I have ditched Open-PLI and am running VIX because it has "Auto Timers" (aka Series Link). This was the major shortcoming of Open-PLI so far as I was concerned. There are other nice enhancements in VIX too, but I can't think of them off the top of my head because I haven't used Open-PLI for quite a while. Currently I'm running VIX 2.1. Which version of VIX are you running Speedy23?
Great to get more help here! Sounds like the same deal with the LNB - setting the F connectors (2) at approx 8 o'clock. I hadn't thought of using Satfinder set on SBS so will do that tomorrow weather permitting. Should I have both tuners set the same? I suspect so as this is basically what was working with the dual throat, single cable LNB. I am using VIX v2.3, build 204 which seems very popular in the UK but does still have problems. Mostly I think it is my lack of knowledge and lack of time spent fiddling! Still haven't sorted out "favourites" yet but as it is of relatively low importance, I will get around to it sometime later. I still get surprised when I hit the wrong button sometimes and a new menu I haven't seen before pops up! Thanks again for your help.
speedy23: Should I have both tuners set the same? I suspect so as this is basically what was working with the dual throat, single cable LNB.
If you have two separate cables, you need to disable the Loop-Thru as Xarqi said earlier, and then set both up the same. Then your Vu Duo can use either tuner as it needs to in order to cope with simultaneous recordings which may be of mixed polarity.
speedy23: I am using VIX v2.3, build 204 which seems very popular in the UK but does still have problems.
I asked this question of one of the W-o-S forum admins recently and he admitted that there were still some problems with 2.3 although he hadn't encountered any recently. Then he mentioned that he is running a beta of a later version. I think I will stick with 2.1 for now, so long as I can fix the minor problem I am having with the "Recording List" button.
speedy23: Mostly I think it is my lack of knowledge and lack of time spent fiddling! Still haven't sorted out "favourites" yet but as it is of relatively low importance, I will get around to it sometime later. I still get surprised when I hit the wrong button sometimes and a new menu I haven't seen before pops up!
Until a few days ago, VIX 2.1 had been running rock-solid for weeks. Then I tried to copy a recording onto a USB stick and managed to stuff something up. I wish I had made an image backup first, as it would have been so easy to restore. Now I am faced with restoring factory defaults, and it will probably take a while to get things going again afterwards. I have learnt the importance of backing up my Favourites using Dreambox Edit via the ethernet cable. I've also gotten into the habit of writing down my settings, as there doesn't seem to be any foolproof way to back them up, short of saving a full image.
I have a Sky smartcard installed, so my Favourites list is quite a bit longer than Xarqi's at around 60 channels. We don't subscribe to Sport or Movies, or it would be even more. Dreambox Edit makes it very easy to reshuffle your favourites, although I don't find it too much of a problem just using the remote.
As you say, there are endless things to explore, and only now, after having owned a Vu Duo for almost a year, do I feel as though I know a reasonable amount. It sure beats being locked-in to Sky's hardware, without being able to make any changes at all...
Thanks to your collective excellent advice, I now have SBS back on line! Quite delicate tweaking needed but using SNR on the specific transponder worked a treat. SBS HD is coming through very nicely even with an SNR of only around 60%. Even after tuning both tuners, I had a problem of the EPG not populating until I noticed the box was asking which bouquet... I don't have one so it took a couple of exits and I'm not sure what else, but it started working anyway. All is good. Thanks again. Speedy PS, was silly enough to upgrade ubuntu today as well and that has given me a whole new set of problems!! Life was so easy in the "olden" days!
I'm glad you are over the initial bumps, and I hope you can get the crashing problem sorted too. I'd have felt pretty rotten if I'd helped put you on a path of frustration and disappointment.
No worries about the latter! Very pleased with the "box" as is my son-in-law in London who is going to get one when his Sky subscription runs out. He is in IT over there and is a linux guru (as is my son in Northern Ireland) so that will make it even easier for me when he makes his purchase. I am going back over in a few weeks (long distance baby sitter!) so hopefully he will buy it then. Besides, it is a poor day when you don't learn something new. With this forum and the other specialist ones, there is a wealth of information around - often the biggest problem is wording your question correctly and giving the needed information. Very pleased with the VT42 also. Was worried it would seem huge after the old 26 inch CRT, but I sit there now and wonder whether I should have bought a bigger one! Not really, I got fantastic bargains on my set up so happy all round.
Great to hear you're back online with SBS. Last night I watched a doco broadcast a few days back called "Civilisation: Is The West History?" which is excellent thought-provoking stuff that I haven't seen on any other channel. There are so many good docos on SBS, I am spoilt for choice!
I still think the Vu+ Duo is the best satellite receiver out there unless you're able to get Terrestrial as well as Satellite, in which case the Vu+ Ultimo would be better. Terrestrial will probably never come up our way in the Far North, so I expect to be using my receiver for a good long while yet. Glad to hear you're so happy with yours.
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