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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
It could be the cable rather than the port - try another. I usually buy my HDMI cables from www.ebuyer.com for around £4 and have had no problems with any of them.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi, I am a bit new to forums so sorry in advance for any gaffs.
Just bought the ROSS HD Freesat kit from B&Q (£45) and have installed it by rule of thumb. I am delighted with it except for two things. 1. It gets all the Freesat channels except some CH4. Sadly not the 4HD channel. Do you think it is pointed at the right satelite, and needs to be scanned. There is a cluster of four or five channels all showing CH4. Culd it be that they are juggling the channels around? 2. The usb socket on the back only records intermittently. I have been using a 4gb stick (because desktop HDDs and my passport are not recognised by the box. Will a larger memory stick make any difference? Words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Arthur |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hello Arthur
Channel 4HD is encrypted and currently only available on satellite if you have a Sky subscription. I think it's inevitable that will change eventually but for the time being you can't get it. Channel 4SD has a number of regional variations to allow advertisers to choose which parts of the country they want to be seen in. I am not familiar with the Ross box itself so I don't know how you go about selecting your channels, however the information you need in order to choose the right version of C4 for you is all here: http://www.flysat.com/28east.php |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
C4 is also not FTA, both SD and HD channels are encrypted.. They are though currently still discussing a move onto freesat from the sky FTV platform
[edit] weird Chris that site gives c4 as FTA yet I rescanned yesterday and C4 was still encrypted.. Will take a new peek once I've re-adjusted my dish (Diseqc is slightly out atm) |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
There is a fully Free-To-Air broadcast of Channel 4 SD. There has been since just before Freesat launched in 2008. It took them a little while to get their other channels FTA but now all of them are, with the exception of 4Music.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Weird then... I can always just telnet in and add them directly on my box but suprised the latest scan didn't pick them up..
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Thanks everybody,
Your comments on Channel 4 broadcasts were very helpful. Almost all the other problems I was experiencing were corrected with a software update from the Ross website. Even usb recording is problem free now, and about 100 extra channels appeared on the list. So, for £45 (£5 coffin-dodgers discount) Ross and B&Q have given me a super little system which includes everything, dish, box, cable, and even the HDMI lead. Thanks again for your help, much appreciated. Arthur |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Just found out why I can't get C4.. Co-ax sprang a leak and the deteriation was stopping the 22khz switching tone on the Universal LNB.. :( Meant I was missing out on all of the lower and higher channels..
Glad I'm not some bloke who doesn't know a thing about technology ;) Long live the girls :D :p: ---------- Post added at 11:14 ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 ---------- Quote:
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I got the Ross dish and kit from B&Q...impulse buy..., but same problem, when I pointed the dish per instructions, Q=0 and L=100, but it seems the dish/LNB bracket already has the vertical offset pre-set in the design, when I set the dish to vertical, and pointed per dishpointer...... Found the signal no problem!!!!. hundreds of channels of crap :-) but HD channels absolutely brilliant. I just use a 22 inch PC monitor HDMI cable for full HD quality....
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi. New here but just looking for a little bit of advice.
Got the Ross HD kit and after abandoning a night time install came back next morning and maybe with a bit more luck than judgement got it going first time. I can't seem to get the quality of signal above 57% although this seems to be fairly normal? I can get BBC HD and all that but some of the channels present me with a "Signal Too Weak" message, namely CBS Drama/Reality. I just so happened to have a Sky HD box available to me and when I plug that in I get CBS Drama/Reality apparently without issue. From this I deduce one of three things.. 1. The channel is encrypted or scrambled in some way. 2. The Ross box has a different signal tolerance or has inferior reception parts in it. 3. The Ross box is faulty in some way. Your thoughts please? I'm not particularly bothered about that particular channel I've just been using it as a reference between the two boxes. I just want to make sure I'm getting everything I can. I've noticed that several people talk about a software upgrade on the Ross website but that appears to be for a different model of receiver (I have a HDR-8130USB and the site talks about a 6110). Finally I can't seem to find BBC1 HD (I can get BBC HD but my understanding is that that is a different service). Do I need to send the unit on a scan of the channels for the satellite I am pointing at? I believe I'm pointing at Astra 28.2E or the group of channels that are in that direction. Anyways, you seem like nice chaps so I thought I'd see what you had to say. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Could be tolerance ... not sure on that point. I do know that the CBS channels are not encrypted, so you should be able to get them.
You might try fractionally re-aligning the dish so it is in a better compromise position between the satellites you want to receive from (yes, there's more than one ... ). |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Yeah. I thought that initially Chris but the fact I can get the channels on the Sky HD box is suggesting to me that I must be on-line for that satellite.
The dish is only mounted on a pole so any movement would (unless it's the elevation) not exactly be scientific, more a "best guess". So which movement would I be performing? |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi John I got the Ros HDR-6110USB last week and have fathomed it out now.
I could only get 57% quality at first, but now it has crept up a bit (no idea why) and I always got the CBS channels ok. (I would worry about that later.) To get BBCOne HD you could scan, and should get it, but when I did, I lost loads of SD channels. It would be safer to just add the one channel. On my box you click 'Menu' Go down to 'Manual Add Service' and click. Select the satellite. (On mine it says 04 Astra/Euro1, which the handbook says is Astra 2A/B/D/Eurobird1.) If all else fails you can try both. Click on TP Number an scroll down to 10847 'ok'. Then Service id: 06941 Service type: TV video type and audio type: ' I cant remember which combination works. Probably makes no difference (try 'em all) Set PID: I only typed in the top two 5400 then 5401 I took these numbers from: http://www.flysat.com/28east.php I am delighted with my box now, and am only wondering if yours is older or newer! Good luck Arthur :dozey: |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
As a quick guide for new users.
B&Q have now added 'How to install a digital satellite receiver' to their list of how to leaflets. Brian |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi Arthur
Thanks for the run through, I'll give that a go. Not sure on the age thing. I can only assume the 8130 is the newer of the two as the 6130 has an update thingy on the Ross website. It was complete chance that I saw it in B&Q. We'd gone in for paint and there was this box sitting in the corner just all on it's own. Took it to the checkout to see how much it cost and then found out it was 15% off day as well so bargain all round. More than pleased with the box thus far. Knowing absolutely nothing about satellite I can't believe we managed to get it working. Dishpointer site was a massive help as it had some good landmarks I could work to and was seriously amazed when the thing just burst into life. I know it's probably cheap and nasty but it'll do me as a starter system before I decide whether I want/need to upgrade in the future. As it is working in the main I'm reluctant to fiddle with it too much unless I can be reasonably sure of getting back to where I was originally should it all go Pete Tong. Thanks for the advice thus far. The comments on here have been a great help in giving some much needed guidance. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Just overnight a couple more questions have occurred to me.
With regard to a satellite signal does it work in the same sort of way as a Freeview signal? On my TV I can get most Freeview channels OK but there are others (notably ITV1, CH4, CH5) that seem to be "weaker" so that sometimes I can't watch them. I was just wondering if the satellite channels worked in the same sort of way (i.e some are "stronger" than others). Along the same lines are satellite channels more or less affected by "atmospherics" than Freeview channels? Sorry, I seem to be full of questions at the moment. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I have installed one of these systems. I can't get more than 57%Q but everything seems to work. It found BBC1 HD when I did a rescan as well as Vintage TV. Didn't find BBC3 or 4 but will input these manually. BBC1 HD is not the same as BBC HD.
HOWEVER - re HDMI lead problems - it may not be the lead. On my box its a loose HDMI socket- wiggle it with the lead attached and the picture and/or sound will return! I am awaiting a response from Ross as its less than 12 months old. To conclude - yes its very fiddly to set up as its the 1st time I'd done it the 2nd would be a lot quicker! It is an ideal entrance to the world of freesat and to get away from BBC East Midlands Today! |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
@ MTJR
Before I used my receiver I upgraded the firmware http://www.ross.co.uk/upgrade/22300hd-r/ - the file's called 'miscBls.img'. Simply put the file on an empty USB stick - pop it in the USB port and switch the receiver on. The file will load and install in about 3 or 4 minutes - afterwhich the receiver's display will show 0000. After a reboot and a pause of about 1 minute a channnel will appear on your tv! BBC 1 HD (on my set anyway) is channel 0008 - no need for any rescan or manual channel input. Signal strength is around 90-95% on all channels using an old SKY dish mounted on a wooden post. I didn't bother adjusting the elevation as I got a great picture after about 30 seconds of fiddling with the lateral position (azimuth?) using a sat strength meter. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I think I'll fire an e-mail in the Ross direction. My model definitely says it's an 8130 (it's written on the manual and on the back of the receiver) and not the 6110 that the site says the upgrade is for.
I've no want to break it, considering I only just got it. :) |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I can't find any reference to that particular model anywhere - It'll be pretty interesting to know what the differences are between the 6110 and the 8130.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
As yet, no response from Ross re: the model differences.
However, I am going slowly insane with this thing. After much faffing about and managing to break my F connector cable I now appear to be back almost where I started. I seem to have got a slight improvement on reception (showing 60% now on some channels) but other channels (CBS Reality) show as "Signal Weak". I'm loathe to even breathe near it now. I'm sure I'm missing just one final tweak but for the life of me I can't work out what it is. Anyone any ideas at all? Could it just be that I'm a little too low? John ---------- Post added at 16:42 ---------- Previous post was at 16:17 ---------- Scratch that. Just spoke to them on the phone. Tech Support is handled by BT Nexus in the UK (be warned, there's lots of button pushing). The telephone number is 01952 238 100 for those who might need it/don't have it/can't be bothered to look it up. According to the guy the 8130 is the HD Plus box and the 6110 isn't, He explained them as the "Sky Plus" and the "Sky" versions. Upshot is no update required. Also he said that I wouldn't be able to receive BBC1 HD as it's not currently FTA or there has been no official announcement to them of same. The only two HD channels I "supposed" to receive are BBC HD and ITV1 HD. I haven't tried manually adding BBC1 HD as yet, will report back once I've tried it. Finally, he said that I should rotate my LNB to around "8 o'clock" to correct the problems with weak signal channels. After doing this it made it worse so I turned it back. It currently sits halfway between 6 and 7 o'clock. What joy the world of satellite TV is! John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I did challenge him on the FTA thing but he then went into fluff about "official updates". My main concern is to get the box working properly first and I'll worry about BBC 1 HD at a later date.
I tried to run through the procedure that Arthur posted but I don't see the things that he describes. In a different menu section I can add a Transponder but the numbers it wants don't seem to tally with Arthur's. I get a rock solid picture on the first 20 or so channels up to CBS Reality after which it all goes a bit wibbly. The majority of channels show weak signal and some have a squiffy picture with or without sound which is usually interrupted by high pitched pops. I'm figuring I must be on target for the satellite(s) as I'm getting such good reception on some of the channels. Also, any turning of the LNB seems to make things worse. So my only option as far as I can see is to go up a bit. Does that seem logical? John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
What LNB settings are you using?
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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What I can say is that the LNB looks a bit like a shower head with the round circular receiving bit at the top. The cable comes out of the bottom but points somewhere between 6 and 7 o'clock. As far as I can see in the menus there seem to be some LNB settings but I've been reluctant to touch them as there is an AUTO option. What it "autos" I have no idea. The settings which specifically mention LNB are: LNB Type - Universal (There are options for User or C Band) LNB Low - 9750 LNB High - 10600 22Khz - AUTO (Options for ON or OFF also) That seems to be about it. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I've found BBC 3 and BBC 4 now. 3 was on the list as BBC TES 3 and 4 was on the list as cbeebies! (? shared channel because they are on at different times?). No reply as yet to my e-mail about the loose connection. May give them a ring and see if I strike lucky and they pick the phone up. By the way you can get the 6 BBCi satellite red button feeds they are grouped together somewhere in the late 200s. Good for F1 free practice and forum if they are bumped off the terrestrial red button.
---------- Post added at 09:27 ---------- Previous post was at 09:25 ---------- By the way - BBC 1 HD is FTA and available on the ross box. It has its own logo on screen. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
On my box (the 8130) BBC3 and BBC4 are listed as their own channels (channels numbers 6 and 7). BBC3 seems to show CBeebies during the day and I've yet to see anything other than a black screen on BBC4 which seems mighty odd.
Maybe I got lucky when I rang them as, other than the long set of option questions, I got straight through. I called them about 4:30pm so maybe that had something to do with it. The "e-mail" I sent (the Contact Us page) via the webpage seems to have disappeared into the ether. No acknowledgement or response. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I've received an answer re: BBC1 HD. On the 8130 model receiver you have to go to the MENU and then scroll down to TRANSPONDER LIST. Scroll down a bit further to the frequency marked 10847 (it's near the bottom of the first page) and then press the RED button to SCAN.
My box came up and said that there were 3 TV channels and 0 radio channels and offered the option to add them. Once it was done BBC1 HD appeared at the bottom of the channel list (press CH- when on BBC 1 to get to it easily). Job done. By and large I've got the box working in the main with a few channel oddities to sort out and a large number of lessons learned along the way. Thanks for your help and advice people! :) Interesting that nobody else has mentioned having the 8130 receiver. Don't know whether that means I got lucky or unlucky. Along the way I've had a professional satellite firm turn down the chance of work claiming the Ross systems are "cheap and nasty" and "had nothing but problems with them". An odd way to react to the possibility of earning a few quid. Still, when I decide I need to upgrade I know one place where I won't be going to get my stuff. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I can see their point though. A few quid earned can pale into insignificance against the possibility of making repeat calls to support the installation and to try to convince the customer that the kit is dodgy, rather than the install job.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I don't see their point though.
If they know of these boxes and they also know of any potential issues then they can say something before they begin the job. They have enough equipment at their disposal to prove their point so I can't see why they would turn down the opportunity to earn some money and also a possible future customer. The flip side being is whether there would be any possible repeat business once they've set it up but that would apply to any business in any particular field. I also think they've missed a potential to "upgrade" me. Bring along a piece of kit that's going to impress me rather than bad mouthing the opposition. I'm obviously open to the idea of satellite so try and persuade me. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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If it has been described as a HD Plus box - does it have dual input or 7 day EPG? Many thanks. Derek |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Sure!
Physically the unit has an LNB in and thru connector. Two USB ports, one on the rear and one on the front with one HDMI socket. Just based on what other people have said the menu system seems different. Also, Tech Support confirmed that the upgrade on the website is not suitable for the 8130. As for the specs on the unit I'll have to post them later. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Thanks for that John!
The 6110 has the HDMI port and single USB port at the back. Strangely, the 6110 manual states that the USB port is at the front! It'll be interesting to see the specs - wonder if an internal HDD could be added? |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I doubt if there'd be enough space for a drive. In any case, fitting an internal drive would cause you to break the warranty seal.
The box it came in made sure you were in no doubt that the unit has NO 7-day EPG. Just now and next. The more I think about the techie's "Sky Plus" comment the more I'm confused by it. Visually the box is black with a red LED display for the channel number, a red light to indicate power is getting to the unit and a yellow light above that to indicate it's either operating (light on) or not. There's a peculiar round button arrangement to the right of that which I've not had to use yet as the remote seems to do everything I need. In MPEG2 Decoding the formats the 8130 is capable of are 480i/480p/576i/576p/720p and 1080i whilst audio decoding is MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (Layer I/II), AC-3 & E-AC-3 (both marked as optional) and HE-AAC (Levels 2&4). Dolby isn't mentioned at all by name. Sampling frequency is listed as 32K/44.1K/48K. That about covers it. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
You would think that the FTA people would make a fortune by selling a FREESAT update firmware ;)
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I'm not sure it's quite that simple ... there are some pretty tightly-defined hardware specs for Freesat boxes, and the consortium has been working with each manufacturer individually to ensure they are adhered to (which is why Freesat receivers have been relatively slow to market and why some of the obvious consumer brand names are still missing).
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Adhere to spec?? Most are based on the same hardware decoding chipsets, the only diffrence is that freesat is channel locked and the epg is broadcast on a single transponder.. If it was a box connecting to a two way link I would agree but in these are just recievers
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Well, I don't know what goes on in meetings between Freesat and branded receiver manufacturers, but those meetings do happen, and have been happening since before the service launched ... :shrug:
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
You'll find that to use the freesat logo they have to be type approved, but that doesn't stop any manufacturer writing firmware to recieve the specific channels and also the EPG as they are all free to recieve and not encrypted..
My sat has the enigma firmware on it that since V2 in 2008 has been freesat epg compatible ;) |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Am I correct in assuming that Freesat is basically the same as the Freeview service? More specifically with regard to the red button functionality?
If so, does this not require a bit more programming on the software side of things as opposed to just putting an EPG on it? Those type of details may be what the meetings are about. Not that I know a lot about it. In fact, not that I know anything about it. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Freesat is meant to be the answer to the problem that Freeview cannot, and will never, reach 100% of UK households (neither will Freesat for that matter, but it comes very close).
There is a large overlap in the channels that are available but the line-up is not identical. A few popular Freeview channels (like Dave) are missing from Freesat. On the other hand Freesat has a lot more channels in total (although whether most of them are worth the bandwidth is another matter entirely). Freesat has red-button functionality but it's quite basic at the moment. It carries information pages but tends not to have multi-screen broadcast options. The platform is constantly under development (it was a year or so post launch before the first iPlayer trials began, for example, and this was something they were trailing as a big advantage of Freesat for months before launch). |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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I think apart from the additional USB port, a bit of restyling and improved audio decoding (I don't think the 6110 has the E-AC-3 option - will check later), there's no real difference between the two models. As an aside, I've just installed the receiver at home using the included dish. After a bit of fiddling about I've managed to get a max of 63% quality (level is 99%). Back at the caravan - using a ten year old Sky dish - I got 90-95% quality. Although the channels are displaying perfectly at the moment - would a different LNB (Sky?) improve the % quality and hence reduce the likelihood of break up during bad weather? |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
The LNB supplied should be fine.. Also remember that long co-ax runs can attenuate the signal..I presume at the caravan it'll be a short run
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I sort of did the reverse of that. Put a Sky+ receiver on the end of the supplied dish. At the time the Sky+ receiver "worked" better than the Ross receiver (e.g A bad channel on the Ross box seemed to work fine on the Sky+ box).
Unfortunately, the Sky+ box doesn't give you a figure for quality just a bar so was unable to make a direct comparison. At the moment the Ross box tells me that I have a Signal Quality of 60% on BBC Four (the same amount as for the other BBC channels) but all I ever get when I tune in (I know it doesn't transmit before 7pm) is a black screen with no audio. All the other BBC channels work fine. I'm hoping to resite the dish onto the side of the house and also take it up a metre or so in height and I'm hoping that might solve some of these little niggles. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hooray - received an email from Nexus asking me to send my box back for inspection/repair/relacement with a freepost address! Seems fair enough to me and will be sending it off now that F1 is over for this year. Noticed last night that my ITV1 HD is Granada - may have picked the wrong one to re-number to get all the stations I want at the start of the guide! My "expert" next door neighbour said my dish wanted to be higher but don't think i'll bother. I was quoted £280 for professional? freesat install! Quite happy with Ross so far.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Has anyone experienced any lip sync issues with anything recorded off ITV1 HD?
The lip sync on the live broadcast is pretty much spot on - but when playing back the lip sync seems to be out by miles making viewing unbearable. Strangely, there are no lip sync problems when playing back anything recorded off BBC HD or BBC1 HD! TIA |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
What are you recording to? If it's USB what class of device is it?
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi Kymmy,
I've been testing out the recording/playback using a 4Gb USB stick with a view to using a spare 60Gb 2.5" HD when my IDE-to-USB external HD adapter/case finally arrives. One thing I've noticed is that ITV HD has 'disappeared' - not sure if that's somehow related to the ITV1 HD problem. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
If the 4gb USB stick is of a slow class then you might get sync or stuttering problems.. It might have the class wrote on it (a number in a circle (either 1/2/4/6/8/etc..)
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
It's a PNY Attache - not sure of the class - I'll check it out when I get home. Funny thing is that there are no lip sync issues with any of the recordings off BBC1 HD or BBC HD - perhaps they're upscaled SD and not true HD like the ITV1 HD recordings?
I'll test the playback on my PC and see if I can determine whether it's a recording or playback issue. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
A rough guess is that the HD channels are approaching the threshold of the usb devices bandwidth.. Memory cards are normally marked where usb devices may not be :(
BBC HD might be just under the thershold where ITV might be on or just above the threshold.. Have you tried playing the recordings on a PC and see if you get the same? (you might need to Gspot the files to get the correct codecs) |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
My box goes back today. Was watching a programme recorded onto a Verbatim 6GB stick and all of a sudden the playback froze. Eventually got it restarted but kept freezing every 4/5 mins thereafter. The coloured file management options (including delete) have disappeared as well! Not as happy as I was 7 days ago. Will see what they say but might be time to upgrade. Will report back.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Sorry to hear that midland. Haven't tried hooking up a USB drive to mine yet so that joy awaits me.
Hope to have the dish anchored to the wall this weekend. Should be able to use a 5m cable rather than the 10m one supplied which may help things as well. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
If the cable is decent quality, the signal loss over 5m shouldn't be significant. Precise dish alignment is always the number one priority.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Just fell in love with my system again :) just figured out how to stream the channels to my PC :D
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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I've been using a 4Gb PNY stick for testing and found that the boot up from standby is around a couple of minutes - probably because the box is expecting to load an update. I've since (last night) tried a 30Gb 2.5" Toshiba HD fitted in an IDE-to-USB adapter/case and found that the boot time is now only a few seconds. Regarding the playback - I have issues with recordings off ITV1 HD. At the minute I have two ITV1 HD's - the first one broadcasts perfectly, but when recorded and played back, either has lip sync issues or causes the screen to go blank and freezes the box (which I then have to turn off by the switch on the back. The second suffers from an intermittent stutter in the video - yet has perfect audio and plays back perfectly (apart from the video stutter of the live broadcast). I've tested with a couple of memory sticks and the 2.5" HD - and the results remain the same. BBC HD, BBC1 HD, LUX HD and all the SD channels (tried so far) record and playback perfectly. The details of the two ITV1 HD's are: - 10936 V, 22000, video pid 0513, audio pid 0641, pmt pid 0289, pcr pid 0513, tele pid 8191, service ID 03851- 63% quality, perfect picture/sound - playback lip sync issues or system hang. 10832H 22000, video pid 2362, audio pid 2369, pmt pid 0288, pcr pid 2362, tele pid 8191, service ID 10000 - 63% quality, picture stutter/perfect sound - perfect playback. Perhaps there's a third ITV1 HD that I could manually programme in? |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Question for you guys with a Ross FTA box... Do you get access to the bbc red button streams?
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
That all depends on the Ross firmware. You never used to be able to do it on Sky boxes, until they eventually hit the +HD ones with an update so users could manually add ITV1 HD, which at that time was a red-button-only channel (and, as a result, a Freesat exclusive).
With the Ross being a bargain basement box I would personally be very surprised if you can order it to treat a data stream as a TV stream ... but I'm willing to be pleasantly surprised. As you say, one for the Ross owners to answer. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Most bypass the channel on an autoscan due to them being marked as data.. The ROSS boxes should have a manual input
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
True, but the Sky boxes do have a manual tune feature - they just can't (with the exception of the +HD box) be forced to tune to a channel marked as data.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Ahhh, I see.. On mine I just ftp the settings in/out using dreambox-edit, whilst in there I can change the status
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
On my 8130 model pressing the TXT button on any of the channels except the HD ones brings up a screen that looks like the old CEEFAX screen with the page number in the top left. Not surprisingly, nothing happens.
Pressing the RED button at any other time brings up a SCAN menu. However, flicking through the channels last week I did find the old Grand Prix highlights that I know run on the BBC red button service. The channel was marked something like "STREAM-1". So the video sections are there, you just have to hunt for them a bit. In the book it says the TXT button is "Not available on this model". Which I assume to mean it doesn't actually work. :erm: John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
The red buttons channels are the STREAM0 to Stream6 channels, if you have them then you have the GP/sport and anything else BBC would put on a red button channel..
Please though do not confuse what I'm saying with red button interactive services like teletext |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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So, just to clear up my confusion is the only difference between a Freesat box and a FTA box the fact that the Freesat box has a 7-day EPG? John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Branded Freesat boxes have:
- at least 7 days epg (some have more) - A basic digital teletext service on the red button - An increasing number of the PVR boxes also have iPlayer, if you connect them up to your home network via the ethernet port |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Just joined forum and just read the 18 pages of this thread. Interesting read but still not answered my reason for finding this site :).
I saw the Ross HD package in B & Q yesterday (£89.99), although since I have found that it is available in Homebase at £79.99. It looks ok as a start into the world of satellite TV, especially paired with an HD TV. Reading through this thread the verdict still seems undecided. So as I am obviously interested in Sat TV, HD included, what would you recommend as a starter system? What would be available with this starter system that is not available with the Ross system? And what potential for expansion does your starter system give me over the Ross system? As an aside I do have an old Sky Dish and receiver buried in my shed somewhere, assuming I have it right reading through these threads I could use this sky dish and the ross dish to have the receiver pick up from different sats at same time (save moving the dish around etc.) - is my assumption correct? Could the Sky receiver be used to receive some basic free to air channels in a different room? Any and all advice appreciated. Thank you. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Ding dong .... Could Kymmy please attend the Ross thread immediately. Thank you. <click>
There you go. The forum's biggest satellite nerd will be here shortly. :D |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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One other thing, I noticed (again reading through the 18 pages) that the Ross HD was only £50 in B & Q last month, whereas now the SD is that price in B&Q and homebase. Is the price likely to drop again and worth waiting. The world of satellite TV is indeed intriguing but creates a lot of questions for us noobies. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
2nd could well be me :erm: But I'm afraid I've never chosen kit parts and self-installed from scratch. I've got an old Sky dish at home and an independently-installed dish at the in-laws holiday flat. We have a FreesatFromSky box and a Goodmans official Freesat box attached to a quad-LNB here, and a Freesat HD box at the holiday flat (suddenly can't remember what brand that one is). The most I've ever done to my own system is swap out the old mono-LNB for a new quad and run the extra cable to the spare room. Thankfully I've never had to mount and position a dish, but if I ever do, I will definitely be using a sat finder to do it.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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Anyhoo. My understanding is this. It's not that the Ross box versus any other will give you any more or less channel availability. The Ross box will pick up any FTA channels the same as a Freesat box but what you won't get is a nice shiny EPG, all you get is a Now & Next selection. You can also add a USB drive to the Ross box so you can record stuff. Again, the menu system for this is a bit clunky but it works. I've had the Ross kit for about a month now and overall it does pretty much everything I want it to. The dish is located on top of a free standing basket ball hoop thing and with a few exceptions I get every channel on the list (there's a couple of hundred). I didn't use any sat finding equipment. Just got the direction from the sat finder website, pointed the dish in that direction and bingo! Intrestingly, I did use a Sky HD box with the Ross dish and everything on that worked fine and in some cases a little better than the Ross receiver. For £70 I think, at the very least, it's an ideal starting point. I may, at some point, get a different receiver only because I would get a 7-day EPG and a better user interface but that's only a cosmetic thing. I can't think why I'd get any more free channels with a different box. If it makes you feel any better I was (and still am) a complete novice to satellites but I just couldn't resist the offer in B&Q. John |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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This lnb malarky, I noticed all the posts regarding quad lnb's etc. which I think I would definitely want to do, and pretty quickly as would want a larger selection of channels. Now each lnb is used per satellite? So a single lnb would not work on multiple sats at same time? So pointing at 42E would get everything from the sats at that point with one lnb? and the second could point at 28.2E and the 3rd from 19.2E (not sure what these sats just using the figures Ive seen mentioned before). Hope that makes sense to someone :). |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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If you have four tuners (say, a PVR in the lounge and basic boxes in the kitchen and master bedroom), you would need a quad-LNB. You can go on and on, adding more tuners - you can get an octo-LNB if you need 8 feeds, for example. Sat broadcasts intended for the UK come from a number of different satellites, but they are all very close together in the sky, so one properly-aligned dish, aimed at a compromise point between them, will adequately collect all the signals you need. As others in this thread have testified, you can do this without a sat finder, but if you can nab one cheap off eBay, it is undoubtedly more straightforward if you do have one. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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Last time I went into B&Q, they had a Ross satellite kit that had a built in 320Gb hard disk for around £135 - not sure if it was Freesat (i.e with 7 day EPG) or FTA though. I bought my satellite finder for under £7 from Amazon - comes with patch lead, basic instructions and works great! |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I did spot some kits in Homebase the other day. Marked at 79.99 but it was a 15% off (or 20 maybe) weekend. They were obviously old stock as the box had markings on it for "Watch the World Cup in HD".
Maybe the other thing worth pointing out is that the Ross box has no card slot so you can't pick up any subscription channels, if that sort of thing is important to you. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Cheers for the help guys, my mate works at Homebase (always forget!) and that would mean 20% off so about £64 at today's price.
Chris, thank you for the explanation. So S.E. London (Eltham) 80cm dish (IIRC that is what is in the Ross package) I could hit multiple sats at once meaning more channels without moving the dish at all? quad lnbs would just mean all getting same signal from dish and distributing it to more receivers. Got it I think! |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
As with any standard Sky or Freesat installation, you do not need to motorize the dish in order to pick up all the channels specifically aimed at the UK.
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
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Using the 80cm dish and being in se london what do you think the best position / selection of sats would be to aim for? Could also use old sky dish if needed for more. Would like the basic channels including the new HD ones but any sport would be welcome to. Any suggestions welcome. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
An old Sky digital dish will work fine (an analogue dish (60 or 80cm) will be fine as well but you will need to probably swap the LNB for a new one..)
From London if you want English speakng channels then best to go for the Astra2 group at 28.2E (same position as Sky) where all the freesat channels are and either a FTA setup, Sky box with Freesat card or a Freesat box will do you.. In the end it depends on whether you want just basic channel viewing, or if you want the extras like 7 day EPG, reb button, HD, interactive services and even iPlayer |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
HI every one, i have purchased the ross satelite and it is good in some ways, but why dont i have a full tv guide? i can only view now and next guide and to do so you have to switch to each individual channel to whats on?....
the other thing is, can you upgrade this dish or decoder in any way shape or form? any advise will be well appreciated. thanx. ;);););) |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
The Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) is what you're after. I'm afraid you can't get one on that Ross box.
To get an EPG you have to buy a box that is branded by either Sky or Freesat (as both of those organisations operate an EPG service), or else buy any other Free-to-air satellite receiver that is capable of being programmed to collect data from one of those EPG services. Unfortunately the Ross kit doesn't give you any of those options. Which is probably one of the reasons why it's so cheap. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
hi thanx for ur reply, so will the dish still work with a different box or do i have to get the whole lot?
i have a freeview box, will that work? thanx again. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
The dish will work with other boxes..
Freeview (DVB-T) though is a totally different system on different frequencies so a freeview box can not be attached to a sat dish (DVB-S) |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
The Freeview box won't work with any satellite dish. It needs a normal terrestrial aerial.
Any satellite receiver will work with the dish you have bought. If you want the simplest EPG solution, buy any box that carries the Freesat logo: https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...010/12/115.jpg |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
I know it is probably best to attach dishes to nice firm brick walls but I would prefer to hide the dishes at the rear of my house but that would mean a pole of some kind attached to the rear wall. Is this going to work attaching a sat dish to a pole? Will probably have the TV aerial attached at top of pole to as need to put that up to :).
Any ideas on where I can get a reasonably priced pole and correct wall attachments? |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi Folks
Can any one help? I have just purchased a Ross system that was supplied with the HDR8130USB receiver. I have followed the procedures for installing BBC 1 HD as per MTJR post 11/11/2010. The screen tells me it has found 3 new channels one of the being BBC 1 HD at location 0067, but when I go to that channel it is not there and is something like klicks which appears to be a music/children program? I have also been through all the channel listings and cannot find it? Thanks |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi - I am new to the forum and to satellite TV - just been given the Ross HD system as a present, have managed to set it up and find the satellite with a meter (never new there were so many satellites in that part of the sky!!). System worked fine for a few days but then whilst we were watching one day we lost picture and the signal has dropped to 20% and the quality levels have dropped to 0%. Have checked the box, connections and dish, nothing obvious so cannot work out why the levels have dropped. I am wondereing if the LNB is faulty?
The other factor is when I reconected the signal meter, the meter shows full strength signal but will not adjust when the dish is moved, this may sound odd but the audible signal from the meter sounds different too. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks - Tony |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Could you clarify please, what happened when you put the sat finder back onto the system?
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi Chris - the meter showed full strength and would not reduce when adjusting the level control. The signal audible pitch also seemed different, so regardless of where the dish was pointed or the setting on the level control adjusted the meter reading remained the same (at max).
There was no change in weather, no visible obstructions, and I ensured that the meter was behind the dish when looking to make the adjustments. Thanks Tony |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Well, if your LNB is duff, the sat finder isn't going to get anything useful from it. In the absence of any detectable signal, a sat finder is liable to just collect background noise, which is probably what it's now reading back to you. I would say the fact the rig stopped working some time after the initial set-up went ok is all the diagnosis you need. Back to B&Q with that LNB ...
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Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Thanks Chris - I will let the forum know how I get on
Tony |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hello all.
Today I purchased the HD kit from my local B & Q for a (non technical) chum who has been desiring to make use of his High Def' Samsung Television. HD Freeview not available here until the end of 2012 I tested the Set-Top box with my existing equipment. It worked fine. I then tested the LNB. It worked fine. The total number of programmes was over 360. When I took it to my chum, we made up the dish and LNB assembly, then tested the system. I took the dish assembly into the garden with a clear line of sight to 28 degrees West. The Signal strength indicated 99%, and Quality 0% wherever I pointed the dish assembly (even with my hand covering the LNB). I am fully aware of the accuracy required to receive signals emanating from the 'Birds' in the 'Clarke Belt'. My chum and his wife were not impressed, my wife and I had already told them it worked well when I checked it at home. Removing the feed-line, caused the signal strength to drop to about 20% ( I assume noise level). I left my compass at home, so was unable to set the correct angle. I use about 154 degrees magnetic. With my Lidl Silvercrest system, the signal strength drops when I move the dish, or put my hand over the LNB. To have a problem so soon after purchase is disappointing. Has anyone else had this happen? Tomorrow (Sunday 8th) I will return with compass, my Feedline, LNB, and Set-Top Box. Then we will fix the dish assembly to a suitable permanent mount, and try again. As the system was purchased as a kit, if one item (e.g. LNB or Set-Top box) is defective, the whole kit will have to be dis-assembled and replaced? With my LIDL system, all the items were separate, therefore simple to replace. This could bring shame upon me from my chum (and especially his wife), if this is the case. I'll update tomorrow as to how we get on. Kind regards James |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hello again.
As promised, here is the update. My chum was so keen to get the job done, he fixed the dish assembly, and drilled a hole in the wall to pass the cable through to the lounge, shortly after sunrise. By the time I got there, all I had to do was tweak the dish, and prove the system. I connected my Silvercrest Box and LNB and cable, to find the 'Bird' at 28 degrees. A Sat-Finder reduces the time spent searching, as it responds quicker than the Box when aligning. Eventually I got a suitably strong enough signal. Then I swapped items one by one. The Signal Strength indicator of the Ross Box works differently to my Silvercrest, so my previous worry was negated. Basically, all my chum has to do now, is firmly screw down the dish mount, and tweak the alignment for the weaker transponders, to improve the quality of signals. All in all, a successful outcome. Hope this has been useful to others considering purchasing one? Regards James |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Once again it underlines the usefulness of a sat finder, and the total futility of trying to find satellites by holding a dish in your hand and waving it about ... ;)
Glad it worked out for you and your chum in the end. :) |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Update - tried to get a replacement LNB from the store, Management not interested and have referred me to Ross direct to gain a replacement. Email sent to Ross this afternoon and I await a response.
Will keep you posted Tony |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Tony: The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) clearly states that the contract of sale is between you and the retailer, not you and the manufacturer. B&Q has acted illegally in refusing to satisfy your complaint that the goods are unfit for purpose.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH ROSS ON THIS ISSUE. THE LIABILITY LIES EXCLUSIVELY WITH B&Q. A call/email to Ross Customer Services might help you resolve any set-up issues if you were finding the instructions difficult to follow, however you already had the thing set up and working properly. If the information you have already posted in this thread is accurate and complete, then you already have all the proof you need that the goods are faulty, and you are entitled to a refund or replacement. I suggest that you try to find time to go back into the store tomorrow, or any day this week, when the Sunday boys aren't on shift, and try to speak to a senior suprvisor, if not the actual store manager. This is your legal right and you are quite entitled to involve your local council's Trading Standards office if B&Q continues to be difficult. |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Hi im new on here, I am considering buying this dish from my local b & q in washington, north east england. my main reason for this is for the sport on the foreign channels could anyone please tell me if this is worth it?
Thanks, James |
Re: B&Q Satellite - Ross freesat box and dish
Depends if you like sport with non-english commentary (you will find though that a lot of it is encrypted as well)
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dave
hi al,l i have the ross hd digital receiver hdr-8130usb when instaled i can only get 48% on pic quality also only bbc london instead of north west can any body help ta
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