First of All I wanna wish you all a very happy thanksgiving.I have a few questions today the thing is I have a c band dish with 4dtv and a Pansat 6000.But the thing is the Pansat 6000 is only an sd receiver and a lot of channels on c band are starting to go Hd only.I was looking at different options but I found something called an AZ box.You can store music on it and different things but the main thing is I don't understand what it's actually for.On their webside it says that it can connect to different kind of tuners but I don't understand what they mean and they don't explain.Do they sell the tuners and how much does the tuners cost and is this thing really meant for Fta c band?Because it can store mp3s on it and that's great because in the weekend I play my Oldies cd's all they long and if I can like copy my cd's onto the harddrive of this thing I can like shuffle artists and play around much more with the order the music is played.But I wanna know if I can use it for Fta c and Ku band or what do I have to buy in addition to use it with c band.I also wanna know what company manifactures them since most things I bought new lately ended up in my garage because they broke really fast I wanna know who makes these and if any of you have one let me know how relieable it is.I'm mostly interested in DVB hd and DVB S2
Az box questions
- Thread starter Dannymcenrow
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 34
- Views 6K
moved thread to azbox section
Best thing to do is read about the azbox from this section. Lots of good info
Best thing to do is read about the azbox from this section. Lots of good info
Danny,
The AZBox (Elite or Premium) is a FTA satellite receiver with a lot of added bells and whistles (You-Tube, WWW browser, E-Mail, RSS News feeds, music and movie player etc.) It appears like a Media Center PC in its theme, but its main function is as a FTA receiver. Some of the specialty functions are not entirely supported just yet, but they are forthcoming. The functions which are not or were not perfect at the beginning are being improved at a very reasonable rate.
They offer DVB-S2 tuners for digital satellite reception. ATSC (DVB-T) tuners for OTA terrestrial signal reception and DVB-C tuners for cable use. When you purchase the receiver, it usually comes stock equipped with one tuner module - a DVB-S2 tuner. There is also a special tuner for South American satellites if that is desired.
All you really need to get started is the basic stock receiver with the DVB-S2 tuner for use with Ku and C-band satellite reception.
You can add one of the other tuner modules later, but acquiring them right now is rather difficult in North America.
That may depend upon your dish setup and whether or not you have an actuator (motor) and what type. A simple H-H motor would need nothing extra, but a actuator for a larger C-Band dish would require an external positioning box.
You will be required to purchase a HDD (internal or external) to support recording of received programs and for storing of your music/movie files. Some freeware and some purchased software programs may be necessary to aid in the support of the AZBox.
The parent company is OpenSat. This is a very reliable company/manufacturer. You won't be hiding this box in your closet, attic or garage.
RADAR
Oh thank you all for this info.
But why are the other tuners hard to find in the U.S.A?
The thing is if I buy it I have to have the DVB S2,regular DVB HD tuner and DVB sd because I already have a 4dtv and a Pansat and if I add a 3rd receiver i may need to buy a splitter and do some more splitting and that's gonna ruin my signal quality.
I have the 4dtv the move the dish and adjust the skew.
Yeah the dish is old.
And what kind if company is Open sat?
Is it American?
Japanese, KOrean or Chinese?
But why are the other tuners hard to find in the U.S.A?
The thing is if I buy it I have to have the DVB S2,regular DVB HD tuner and DVB sd because I already have a 4dtv and a Pansat and if I add a 3rd receiver i may need to buy a splitter and do some more splitting and that's gonna ruin my signal quality.
I have the 4dtv the move the dish and adjust the skew.
Yeah the dish is old.
And what kind if company is Open sat?
Is it American?
Japanese, KOrean or Chinese?
A tuner that does DVB-S2 also does DVB-S, and there's no such thing as an SD or HD tuner, that's up to the output hardware and/or software. In other words, even if you get the single-tuner model it'll do everything, except 4DTV. Now on the other hand, if you get the dual-tuner model when it comes out (you can supposedly put another tuner in the single-tuner model, but only an over-the-air or cable tuner, and a US version isn't available for either of those), you'll still need to feed the second tuner from your dishes as if it was a whole separate receiver.
Lots of AzBox Co. info here:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/195343-tele-satellite-1001-pdf.html
Just a clarification. ATSC and DVB-T are not the same. While I think the DVB-T tuner might be available in Europe, I don't think the North American ATSC tuner is available anywhere. So in reality, for North American use, there is only one tuner available, and you can't even buy a 2nd one of those. I also think that the "South American" tuner you refer to is not for satellite reception, but I'm not really familiar with it.
For music and/or low to medium bitrate video, a thumbdrive plugged into one of the USB port works fine, for recording, so a HDD isn't necessary even for recording. For playing back either music or video, you can also do this via the ethernet connection. Currently, I haven't tried to record via ethernet, although it may be possible if you map the drive so that the Azbox sees it as an internal drive, I'm not sure. However, if you've recorded via other methods, you can play back via ethernet without the need for a hard drive.
Ok first of all I'm a little old so I'm a bit left behind in Technology.
The thing is I have a harddrive on my Pansat 6000 that is removable and it can connect to the computer with a USB cable.
Now can I hook that up to the Az box too?
And one other thing maybe I'm dumb but the thing is I wanna ask does the Az box come with a cd drive?
I guess not huh?
I was thinking like I'm gonna copy all my cd's into mp3's onthe hard drive and play them but I'm too much science fiction I think because it's a Satelitte receiver and not a juke box.
But you know technology is just so crazy these days that I'm thought everything is possile.
The thing is I have a harddrive on my Pansat 6000 that is removable and it can connect to the computer with a USB cable.
Now can I hook that up to the Az box too?
And one other thing maybe I'm dumb but the thing is I wanna ask does the Az box come with a cd drive?
I guess not huh?
I was thinking like I'm gonna copy all my cd's into mp3's onthe hard drive and play them but I'm too much science fiction I think because it's a Satelitte receiver and not a juke box.
But you know technology is just so crazy these days that I'm thought everything is possile.
BUt wait a minute.
Sorry if this is a stupid question but the AZ box can connect to the internet right?
Now is there a way to connect it to a mac computer?
Like I can copy all my cd's on the computer and connect it to the Az box and copy them onto the Az box.
Or if the Pansat 6000 Hard drive can work with the Az box can I hook it up to the computer put the mp3's on it and them hook it up to the AZ box and play them?
I know it's a stupid question but on their webside it said that it can play mp3's that's why I was thinking this.
Sorry if this is a stupid question but the AZ box can connect to the internet right?
Now is there a way to connect it to a mac computer?
Like I can copy all my cd's on the computer and connect it to the Az box and copy them onto the Az box.
Or if the Pansat 6000 Hard drive can work with the Az box can I hook it up to the computer put the mp3's on it and them hook it up to the AZ box and play them?
I know it's a stupid question but on their webside it said that it can play mp3's that's why I was thinking this.
As long as the external harddrive is formatted FAT32, it should work fine with the AzBox and Mac.
Danny,
Not a stupid question. The AZBox can do this. Music, Movies and Pictures. Ihaven't got really fancy yet, but I have recorded a movie on the AZBox, FTP'd it over to my PC. Converted the file and edited the commercials out, changed the format and sent it back to the AZBox where I can watch that program without the commercial interruptions.
I have FTP'd pictures from my digital camera to the AZBox and a few songs, too.
Some of the processes are very time consuming, but it does indeed work.
Some folks are streaming video and audio back and forth between the PC and the AZBox, but I haven't been able to figure this out myself, yet.
RADAR
I'm on a mac. I use transmit to ftp to the Azbox. Simple as drag and drop from the mac to the Az. Good for adding fonts, archiving the Azbox, etc. I don't have a drive hooked up to the Az currently.
I haven't tried it yet (maybe after the wife is done with the TV) but you should be able to turn on file sharing on the mac and see it on the Az.
The way I work it is that I have a cheap PC set up as a media/file/print server. All of my 'bulk' storage goes there. All computers including the Azbox access files from there using sharing. Works very well, with the Azbox having some issues with file formats.
Thank you very much.
That's all I wanted to know.
Now the only thing to do is actually buy it.
Maybe next year.
I was planning to go with dishnet but now I think I'll buy the Az box and keep my big dish for a lot longer.
Fta looks like it has a future 4dtv is gonna die but fta has a future so that's what I'll do.
That's all I wanted to know.
Now the only thing to do is actually buy it.
Maybe next year.
I was planning to go with dishnet but now I think I'll buy the Az box and keep my big dish for a lot longer.
Fta looks like it has a future 4dtv is gonna die but fta has a future so that's what I'll do.
I have topographical issues with locals so I subbed to DN. I have the dish welcome pack + locals for $15/mo. It's month to month and a nice package (if you can stand their accounting) and I finally got them to honor their promise for a year of cinemax for a penny.
Welcome Pack:
AMC
Bloomberg
MSNBC
Boomerang
MTV2
Comedy Central
Oxygen
CMT
Discovery Kids
Food Network
TBS
Hallmark
TLC
HGTV
WE
The History Channel
Weather Channel
Of course most of the welcome pack channels that I use are found ITC and have a better picture. The DN package works really nice for when we 'camp' and rent a cabin.
The thing is we wanted to go Hd with the new receiver they have that has 2 tuners.
But the thing is I've got a little credit issues so I had to come up with a deposit I said ok when I'm ready I'll do it but then when the moment came that I could have gotten it I said no.
Our big dish is fine.
Because in all the other rooms I have cable but in the livin room there is no cable I bought this house and I found it strange that there is no cable in the livin room.
I know I can just call the cable guy to put the cable and put an extra box but my sister had problems at her house because they came with a new rule in their neighbourhood that you can't have a large dish.
So then she wanted to throw away the dish and the 4dtv but I had a dish way back in 1996 so I know about thee things so I wen like no give it to me so she gave me it.
We rented a truck,we pulled that thing outof the ground and brought it to myhome we're we fought with it to install it.
Then I bought a Pansat 6000 receiver for free to air that costed me about the same amount that was required at dishnet for the deposit.
But still I know I'm not pratical it looks like I'm stupid but since I had a big dish way back then it's normal for me to wait for the dish to turn to the correct satelite so I don't mind the waiting and we like the idea that we can get a lot of things for free.
Like I watch a lot of stuff from europe like Bvn tv on satmex ku band,DW and such and dishnet charges extra for dw and all the other cannels are only american.
I find that with free to air ad 4dtv together you still get a lot more channels that dishnet has and with free to air you get a lot of masters and those have way better picture quality then dishnet or cable.
So I think C band is still the best.
It depends how you look at it.
If you change your tv viewing habits to C band you'll find that you'll get hooked and never want anything else again
But the thing is I've got a little credit issues so I had to come up with a deposit I said ok when I'm ready I'll do it but then when the moment came that I could have gotten it I said no.
Our big dish is fine.
Because in all the other rooms I have cable but in the livin room there is no cable I bought this house and I found it strange that there is no cable in the livin room.
I know I can just call the cable guy to put the cable and put an extra box but my sister had problems at her house because they came with a new rule in their neighbourhood that you can't have a large dish.
So then she wanted to throw away the dish and the 4dtv but I had a dish way back in 1996 so I know about thee things so I wen like no give it to me so she gave me it.
We rented a truck,we pulled that thing outof the ground and brought it to myhome we're we fought with it to install it.
Then I bought a Pansat 6000 receiver for free to air that costed me about the same amount that was required at dishnet for the deposit.
But still I know I'm not pratical it looks like I'm stupid but since I had a big dish way back then it's normal for me to wait for the dish to turn to the correct satelite so I don't mind the waiting and we like the idea that we can get a lot of things for free.
Like I watch a lot of stuff from europe like Bvn tv on satmex ku band,DW and such and dishnet charges extra for dw and all the other cannels are only american.
I find that with free to air ad 4dtv together you still get a lot more channels that dishnet has and with free to air you get a lot of masters and those have way better picture quality then dishnet or cable.
So I think C band is still the best.
It depends how you look at it.
If you change your tv viewing habits to C band you'll find that you'll get hooked and never want anything else again
Dannymcenrow, the OPENSAT company is headquartered in Portugal. They are not a very old company (2005 I believe), according to an article about them in TELE-Satellite magazine. You can find a post around here that will lead you to an on-line version of the magazine. You will appreciate reading this rag as they have a lot of good articles.
Here is the link to the post about the magazine: http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/195343-tele-satellite-1001-pdf.html
RADAR
Last edited:
It doesn't come with a CD or DVD drive, but they have built in some menus that make you think that they were or are planning some sort of future support for an external one.
Yep, kinda crazy, but this AZBox is trying to be a mini-media center PC, so a great deal of options may be possible down the road a bit.
RADAR
I've been using FAT instead of FAT32 with good performance so far. Not sure if one of the linux filesystems will work - I guess i"ll see what that does unless someone knows if it'll mess up the azbox or simply won't see the filesystem.
Oh so they have more down the road so better if I wait a bit then.
But one other question.
The company is in Portugal.
So can the Az box support both c and Ku band or only Ku?
Because when I was in the Netherlands this past summer I went to look at Satelitte equipment and all they had over there is KU.
But one other question.
The company is in Portugal.
So can the Az box support both c and Ku band or only Ku?
Because when I was in the Netherlands this past summer I went to look at Satelitte equipment and all they had over there is KU.
