Starter Advice needed for an 'older' newbie.

There are 2 replies in this Thread which was already clicked 1,114 times. The last Post () by billybob69.

  • Hi all, and thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give.


    As you may have gathered from the title, I'm a little on the mature side, grew up without computers or mobile phones, and so hopefully you can bare with me when it comes to the tech speak. Some of it will be in laymans terms for fear I'll write something that I think is one thing, but turns out to be something else. I've done a lot of reading on all this, maybe too much, as the brain seems to be turning evermore into mush. It seems everyone else has a grasp on all this bar me, what with many different receivers, IPTV, cams, images, clines, motorised dishes, etc, not to mention all the acronyms, some of which I get, some are a bit of guess work. That being said, I'm no dummy and I learn quick, but my brain works better by seeing things rather than reading them. Unfortunately that's not possible here, hence the asking rather than the 'blind searching'


    So here's the deal. I'll say what I'm looking for ( if it's atall possible!) and hopefully you can gently steer me on my way. ( also to note what is quite important, it must be relatively easy to operate for the wife. If it's all too high maintenance, she'll get all bent out of shape, and no one needs that! )


    1) 1 receiver to start with, easy to use set-up, with EPG ( this acronym I know!) as simple as youview / *** etc


    2) access to North American sports channels ( lived in Canada for 11 years, love the ice hockey, but they show English footie as well)


    3) low maintenance. ( want to flick the switch and watch, not lose all my time trying to keep it running)


    4) able to receive regular uk channels. ( not too fussed about *** stuff, just regular free to air, with maybe a movie channel or two thrown in)


    5) mac compatibility. ( any software downloads needed would have to be done thru my iMac)


    6) programmable record, series record, pause live tv, watch one channel and record another.


    So there it is. Biggest issue I guess is number 3. I've been running an Apple TV 2 jailbroken for years now, but in all honesty it's crap. 90% of the time all links are down! or picture quality is from the '40s.


    I'm guessing I need to get the North American channels thru some form of internet connection to the receiver, due to satellite positioning, but again I'm not sure if they are available to a European satellite.
    In all honesty, do I need a dish, or is this all possible over the internet connection? (Christ, sometimes I sound really dumb, even to myself!).


    With regards to receivers, I kind of like the vu+ solo 2, as it seems to have a little headroom for if I get more and more into all this. Would that suit me for my needs? Dish wise, I don't have a clue. Motorised, fixed, 90cm, 1.5 motors, who knows. Any suggestions welcome.


    With that all said, I've probably bored you all enough already with what you might feel are basic common garden questions, but sometimes a little help can go a long way. I just need helping pushing away from the side..... Then I guess the swimming is down to me.


    All replies ( if any) are gratefully welcomed, so I can break free from the big corporations strangleholds once and for all..., but please go easy on me.... Like you're trying to teach your dad something!!!


    Many thanx
    Teeleef

  • Quote

    1) 1 receiver to start with, easy to use set-up, with EPG ( this acronym I know!) as simple as youview / *** etc


    Any enigma2 receiver will cover this.

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    2) access to North American sports channels ( lived in Canada for 11 years, love the ice hockey, but they show English footie as well)


    Set4nta sports gives a lot of hockey (not too sure if its canadian or usa or both) while bt show a bit of premier league.

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    3) low maintenance. ( want to flick the switch and watch, not lose all my time trying to keep it running)


    Most receivers will run ok with little maintenance once set up right. (i'd recommend the vix image for ease of use)

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    4) able to receive regular uk channels. ( not too fussed about *** stuff, just regular free to air, with maybe a movie channel or two thrown in)


    Need a satellite dish pointed at 28.2e to avail of english fta satellite or a cable/terestrial tuner to avail of english terestrial services.

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    5) mac compatibility. ( any software downloads needed would have to be done thru my iMac)


    Shouldn't be a problem as a lot of ftp client software is written for multiple platforms. (I know filezilla is available for mac, the latest version requires osx 10.7 or higher)

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    6) programmable record, series record, pause live tv, watch one channel and record another.


    Looking for a dual tuner receiver, be it a twin satellite or combo terestrial / satellite configuration.


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    With regards to receivers, I kind of like the vu+ solo 2, as it seems to have a little headroom for if I get more and more into all this


    The solo2 is a great receiver but only comes as a twin satellite receiver, no room to expand tuners (unless you go for usb tuners and sundtek tuners are recommended but are expensive)
    You should give the vu+ duo2 or the mut@nt hd2400 hd a look as these are more flexible when it comes to adding tuners.

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    The above receivers have twin satellite tuners and a single terestrial tuner installed.

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    Edited once, last by codar ().

  • Dish wise, I don't have a clue. Motorised, fixed, 90cm, 1.5 motors, who knows. Any suggestions welcome.


    All good advice there from Codar.


    There is quite a bit of Ice Hockey on Premier Sp*rts (formerly S*tanta Sports) and ES PN - although I don't know if it is North American hockey - therefore a fixed 60cm dish pointed to 28.2E might suit you just fine.
    Otherwise have a look at liveonsat or a similar website and see which satellites regularly show hockey and then work out what size dish you need from there.
    Generally speaking a fixed sat restricts you to a single sat only, a fixed sat with a multi-LNB holder gives you more options (although you might not be able to get two sat's which are close together) whilst motorised sat gives you more options as it has the potential to receive signals on the whole arc, although they can be difficult to install and set up.


    bb69

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