What should be the main system specifications of a Free-to-Air Digital Satellite Receiver?

Question

I am looking for a good free-to-air digital satellite receiver. What specifications a good digital satellite receiver should have?

Answer 1

panasat ,supposed to be good,i have been looking at them on ebay

Answer 2

Look for a Cam (or access module to some) slot in case you find something you want to subscribe to.
A cam will enable decryption along with a subscription card which slides into the cam and then into the slot on the receiver.
I would definately make sure that the receiver has a good range of symbol rates as this can differ greatly among broadcasters. A sky box only has 27500 and22000.
Also DisEqC 1.2 which will enable your receiver to communicate with a motorised dish in case you add this in the future.
Usals is also a good option but not necessary.
Below is some info on Usals from the Satcure website.
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USALS is a calculation system processed by STAB of Italy and given free to all manufacturers of satellite receivers and PC cards. The program enables the receiver to calculate the positions of all satellites in orbit with a precision of better than 0.1 degrees with reference to the installation site. This is achieved automatically without the need for specialised technical knowledge.

Please remember that USALS is a program and not a communication protocol. In collaboration with EUTELSAT, the DisEqC 1.2 protocol string has been defined to drive the motors in "Drive Motor to Angular Position (degree)" mode, which is the only command itilised by the USALS program. The USALS program is, therefore, an advanced option of the DisEqC 1.2 protocol.
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Armed with this information, you should find that this will help in your search for a receiver to suit you.

Enjoy!

Answer 3

It is important that it has a direct recording facility. This allows you to record directly on to the hard drive inside the unit itself.

Something else important is that it should have twin tuners. This will allow you to watch one channel while recording another. With a twin tuner, you can for example, watch BBC1 while recording ITV to the hard drive (mentioned above ). With a twin tuner you can (if you configure it correctly) record one channel to the hard drive while recording another channel to your VCR. If it has a single tuner, you will, for example be able to watch BBC1, but not see anything else. If you were to turn over your single tuner player for the purpose of recording it would record the newly switched-to channel.


I hope this helps and I wish you many years of happy viewing.

Answer 4

Just pick a well known make, pace ,phillips, sony .. they are all the same .. one that has a pay per view slot , incase you want more channels.

Answer 5

it should have a digital satelite receiver

Answer 6

that it works