Which PVR Dual tuner?

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tools

13 posts

Geek

Topic # 86247 4-Jul-2011 16:02

Greetings,

Having read too many forums and reports on all the different PVR twin tuners and not actually seen one working or what they can do. I would like to find out from the NZ users what would be a good (at common request), easy to use, future proof (within reason) PVR twin tuner to purchase.

So far I have come across the Vu+ Duo, DishTv 7090 and the UltraPlus 9000. All seem to have their good points and bad points (whether patched, wrong drive, heat etc)

How easy are these units to setup (Are there any suppliers in theWellingtonarea), the screen dumps in the online manuals are a little hard to view or lack some information.

Basic requirements are:

Record two channels and watch other.

EPG on the SBS channels.

Transfer captured programs to another device.

Pause live feeds.

Sorry for the double up on “What should I buy”.

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369 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 42

Reply # 489234 4-Jul-2011 16:20

What bad things have you heard about the Vu+Duo?

Possibly the only reasons not to get one of these would be no on-board DVB-T and price.

It will do everything on your list and 101 things more, and if you're really keen you can write your own extensions :-)

Things are LookingUp.... A photo from my back yard :-)
http://www.astrophotogallery.org/u141-rodm.html

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

Reply # 489289 4-Jul-2011 18:03

Yup - Vu+ Duo.
I like mine more and more.

Last night I had mine recording 2 programs, was copying other stuff from it across my LAN to my Mac, and using it to play MP3s from my iTunes library - all at the same time time, and with no drama at all.

It's not perfect, but it'll do me until perfect comes along at I price I can afford.

tools

13 posts

Geek

Reply # 489290 4-Jul-2011 18:04

Cheers,

The only bad review I saw about the Duo was the chap on Trademe plus the comments he made on the Austech site (correct me if I am wrong). It could have been a matter of patching or lack of understanding.

My concern is purchasing the beast and having the same issue (not understanding the tuning aspects) around tuning it.

cheers.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

Reply # 489294 4-Jul-2011 18:13

What was the gist of the bad review?

tools

13 posts

Geek

Reply # 489349 4-Jul-2011 20:57

Well, it could be viewed as a bad review or as a one off faulty unit or lack of RTFM (haven't seen any other bad reviews, most reviews were in a foreign language - Youtube) .

The forum is Austech and the member who complained about the Duo was KiwiRoadKill. http://www.austech.info/other-linux-based-receivers/53883-vuduo-ultraplus-9000comments-both-units-2.html

As I said it's only complaint, I have seen/read another bad reviews/feedback.

Is there anyone in the Wellington area selling these units (Duo)? It would be good to see a unit operating and query on the does and don'ts (how to tune, setup the unit).

It's a bit like fixing/tuning a car, where do you start and what do you look for if it won't start after the tune up (I can deal with cars, smoke and mirrors is another thing, if the smoke leaks out of the HDD, then that's bad...).

Cheers.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

Reply # 489356 4-Jul-2011 21:07

I'll take a look at that post and see how it jibes with my experience.

As for getting the Vu+ Duo up and running, this is what you do:
- Unpack.
- Connect power.
- Connect HDMI to TV or receiver.
- Connect coax to LNB input A.
- (optionally, connect LAN cable; WiFi can be used, but doesn't provide the bandwidth for full HD functionality).
- Turn on.

That's it. It's shipped with all Sky, SBS, Freeview, yadda, yadda services set up.

There are some potential additional steps. You may need to change the LNB frequency, and if you are running two feeds from your LNB to the separate tuners (recommended), rather than using the internal looping option, you'll need to tell the unit that you've done so.

You may need to do a scan if you want to pick up the DVB-S2 services (Nine, Go, Gem).

If you want to use LAN services, you'll need to share the resources on your network, and set up mount points in the Vu+, although it may be able to discover these on its own.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

Reply # 489371 4-Jul-2011 21:24

OK - I looked at the thread.

I can only guess about where the person went off the rails, but it must have been early in the piece, and been a monumental blunder. I had no need to hunt for channels, and I've never touched the satellites.xml file. He doesn't mention it, but I wonder if he immediately loaded a different image.

I also wonder if the "copious amounts of alcohol" he mentioned may have been a significant contributing factor.

I swear, I did nothing more than plug mine in and turn it on and I was receiving.
I wanted to record to a network volume so I attached an ethernet cable, set up a mount point and recording path. It worked.

I wanted to use two feeds so I could record H and V pol simultaneously. I attached the second feed, configured Tuner B to be the same as Tuner A. It worked.

Later, I installed an internal disc (I bought one without), initialised it using the appropriate menu, and set the recording path. It worked.

I moved a bunch of stuff to external 2TB drives on my Mac, and shared those on the LAN. I set up mount points in the Vu+ for them so I could access about 7 TB of files without budging from the couch. It worked.

benneg

47 posts

Geek

Reply # 489395 4-Jul-2011 21:56

Hi Tools,

Just wondering if you have bought a unit yet?

I also checked around for twin tuner recently and got some expert advice on what is going on with this market; what I was told was that the VU+ Duo was not really well supported here and that a number of people had purchased these units only to have returned them for the Ultraplus units. The build quality and components used were better on the Ultraplus (I am only passing on what I was told and cannot verify this; but they were the best sources in the business here).

The advice was to go for the Ultraplus unit amd I am glad I did; I notice that the VU+ is no longer carried by Freeviewshop and no longer being sold on Trademe by the distributer so they may not even be imported any longer? Which is along the advice that I was given.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

Reply # 489414 4-Jul-2011 22:26

benneg: I also checked around for twin tuner recently and got some expert advice on what is going on with this market; what I was told was that the VU+ Duo was not really well supported here and that a number of people had purchased these units only to have returned them for the Ultraplus units. The build quality and components used were better on the Ultraplus (I am only passing on what I was told and cannot verify this; but they were the best sources in the business here).

The advice was to go for the Ultraplus unit amd I am glad I did; I notice that the VU+ is no longer carried by Freeviewshop and no longer being sold on Trademe by the distributer so they may not even be imported any longer? Which is along the advice that I was given.

I think you need to find another expert.

Go to the manufacturer's website here:http://www2.vuplus.com/
On sale by importer here: http://www.satlinknz.co.nz/
Talk to the firmware developers here: http://www.pli-images.org/forum/viewforum.php?forum_id=65
Get advice from a community of hundreds of users here:http://www.world-of-satellite.com/forumdisplay.php?11-VU-Duo
Or here: http://www.vuplus-support.org/wbb2/board.php?boardid=22
Or here: http://www.satpimps.com/forumdisplay.php?f=505

tools

13 posts

Geek

Reply # 489416 4-Jul-2011 22:29

Thanks Xargi and benneg,

As yet I haven't bought one, although from the sounds of things the Duo and 9000 are looking good. apparently there is a shipment on it's way.

Yes, I would agree there were one too many drams consumed during the setup of that plagued Duo. I have myself seen a fare many ice cream containers with engine bolts left over after an engine rebuild, and the chap asking why there is no oil pressure.

Just on the linux image side of things, has anyone flashed an image of a final build of their system to a USB stick (as a backup, restore point)?

Oh, the other item I am looking at is whether to shell out for a 1.2meter dish for the SBS channels or go with a 90cm dish. (it's like build a car from scratch again, stay with a straight worked 6 or over kill with a nasty V8)... so many options.

Cheers.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

Reply # 489447 4-Jul-2011 23:23

I've backed up my image (or so I believe), but never had occasion to re-install it, and never felt any need to try anything different from the openPLi image the unit shipped with.

I get SBS on a 90cm dish with no trouble at all. Intelsat 5 should be feasible too, but I didn't bother as the additional content wasn't worth the cost of a bigger multiswitch to me.

tools

13 posts

Geek

Reply # 489564 5-Jul-2011 10:26

Thanks for the advise.

Hopefully I will not strike any issues.

Cheers.

LookingUp

369 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 42

Reply # 489620 5-Jul-2011 12:25

Sorry, been off-line for a bit, but to add my agreement to what Xarqi has said - I literally got mine out of the box, plugged it in, did the normal AV settings for TV and sound, and started watching.

Since then I've:

* Learnt how to scan and build my own channel lists, update channel lists when Sky add new channels (eg. Comm Games, ESPN HD etc.) which is pretty simple.

* Done one firmware upgrade - simply a case of copy a file to a USB stick, reboot the box, check AV & TV settings.

* Extended the EPG code so that it automatically changes SD channel entries to the HD channel equivalents when selecting from the on-screen graphical EPG.

* Had endless hours of fun (not frustration) exploring all the other capabilities.

* Enjoyed the look on MySky users faces when I've demoed the machine to them ;-)

Things are LookingUp.... A photo from my back yard :-)
http://www.astrophotogallery.org/u141-rodm.html

Jaxson

6770 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 602

Trusted

Reply # 489646 5-Jul-2011 13:21

xarqi:
I wanted to use two feeds so I could record H and V pol simultaneously. I attached the second feed, configured Tuner B to be the same as Tuner A.

Did you get an LNB capable of both H and V polarity simultaneously, or use one of the newer SKY quad output oval LNB's?

And by splitting the tuners like this, does this mean one can only ever do H pol and the other V pol?

And if so, how do you get on recording something on TV3 at the same time as TV1 etc?

Cheers.

Oh and I suspect the fact the Vu+ Duo is not on certain websites is due to supply issues rather than anything else. I suspect it's more to do with 'it's been a popular seller, the stocks from the last shipment have been sold and I don't want to offer it for sale and disappoint my customers with a lengthy delay' sort of thing.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

Reply # 489650 5-Jul-2011 13:30

I have a dual output LNB and run two cables from it to the inputs of a 3 in, 4 out multiswitch. I run two cables from that to each of two locations in the house terminated in wall faceplates. At one location, short cables run one from each wall socket to each Vu+ Duo tuner input. In the configuration, I disabled the loopthrough, and set tuner B equal to tuner A.

Every output from the multiswitch, and so every wall socket, can get any transponder on any polarity without affecting any other output - that's the big benefit of a multiswitch over a splitter.

So - the upshot is I can record as many as 5 separate events simultaneously as long as they don't come from more than two transponder/polarity combinations; I could do the same at the other location in the house at the same time, although there is just a cheapy, non-recorder, single tuner box there at the moment.

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