Fortec Star Dynamic Installation Results

[AcWxRadar]

I did an AUTO SCAN of satellite Galaxy 25 @ 97.0W. It scanned all the channels in in 70 seconds. Total time was 2 minutes 45 seconds as it also had to move the dish from 119.0W NASA channel to 97.0 W first. It moved and waited for a signal before it began to scan. This is good as I have seen other receivers try to start scanning while the motor was still in motion. So, this receiver was properly programmed to wait until the "move to" function was completed.

NICE again!

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

I have used all three scan modes now and I am very pleased with the result of each. Nothing to complain about here... Let me investigate some of the other menus and see what I can learn.

TV Setup: I have been here already. Aspect Ratio selections, Video output format (S-Video and YPbPr), SPDIF (Sony Phillips Digital Interface Format On or OFF).

Time setup: Self explanatory, but I would rather see time zones like ET CT MT PT, instead of city names. No biggy.

Product information screen is nice. I see it also has a software transfer capabilities to clone another receiver. Transfer FIRMWARE or the DATABASE... I assume that database means the channel data and setup information. That is good!

By the way, press menu to back out of one menu and return to the previous. Press EXIT to completely exit the menus.

Hey, this is a nice feature... The front display panel indicates what menu you are in! Nice idea!

Lot's of nice features in the OTHERS menu. Signal beeper, radio image selection of ON or OFF, Transparency, the satellite sort options that was discussed earlier in the thread (got that set to POSITION now, thanks!).

Here is one I don't recognize - channel Switch AUTO/DIRECT/DELAYED... Hmmmm Channel Change mode (Fade in/out/ freeze/Hide). I will have to see what that does when I change channels.

Channel editing modes... Straightforward EDIT, SORT and FAVs. Nice.

Utility features... Edit satellite, ADD channel, Calender, GAME and TIMER functions.

Games? Who buys a FTA receiver to play games? Just wondering. Tic Tac Toe? I lost! LOL

The add channel menu is great to see. I don't use it very often, but glad to see it is here!

EDIT SATELLITE! Very nice! EDIT, ADD or DELETE right there in front of you! No searching for how to do it!

Well, I don't know what else to check just right now. Oh wait.... I have to look for the channel editor and loader programs. Off to that project.

Hope you enjoyed this, it was fun for me and I am very pleased with the results! It is extremely user friendly and it works very well.

AcWxRADAR



RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Hey, I almost forgot to check out sat 30.0W.

Yep, that was wrong. It won't drive to 30.0W in USALS from my longitude entry. My Coolsat won't do that either. It drove partways and then stopped and scanned whatever was there.

I have to select DiSEqC 1.2 and step it there manually, but as I stated in the earlier post where I questioned this, 30.0W should be blocked by the house, so there is nothing I can get from it until I relocate the dish. Even 43.0W is partially obscured, so I only get the very strongest TPs from it.

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Thanks for coming along on this adventure

Thank you to Sadoun for setting me up with this Fortec Star Dynamic, I am very pleased that you did! This is a very good receiver! After testing a few other brands, I can tell that this one will not be stowed away in a closet or dumped on EBay. I may be buying some more. I was always in love with my Coolsat 5K, but since they were discontinued, I had no direct replacement for them. Now I do and the price is just right, so I may be buying some more in the course of time.

Oh my! I feel so sad now. I might cry... My Coolsat 5000 has his little eyes closed and he looks so sad. He won't even look at me now. He is like a little puppy that was scolded. Don't worry little fella, you are staying here with me for all time! I didn't give up on you, I just brought you a buddy to play with when I am away!

RADAR

 

[turbosat]

Channel switch mode is explained on page 19 of the manual, its great to have control over that part of its operation (my Icon doesn't). These are prb the best all around fta boxes out there, as they seem to have spent time making the firmware to really work for legal use, instead of what works best on circular satellites.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Channel switch mode is explained on page 19 of the manual, its great to have control over that part of its operation (my Icon doesn't). These are prb the best all around fta boxes out there, as they seem to have spent time making the firmware to really work for legal use, instead of what works best on circular satellites.

Turbo,

I definitely agree! Without getting into too much of a discussion about hack boxes, I can tell anyone that this box was constructed and designed to do the job of pulling in FTA channels and not just a disguised hacker box. I am sure that many of the folks here have bought a FTA STB and found that it don't work worth a (explative deleted) but has all the gadgets to get DN or some other pay provider. Those are the boxes that go into the closet or the barn storage and never seen again or mentioned.

When I want to buy a FTA receiver, I want a FTA receiver! And I want a good one!

I guess just about anything can be hacked if someone is persistent enough, but when you buy something right off the shelf that says it is for FTA and it has other capabilities built right in, oh man, you know it isn't legit. And they usually don't work very well for FTA either!

Same thing with these ads for HD FTA receivers. They want you to pay $300 to $800 for an HD FTA receiver. Legit? Hell no! How many FTA channels are HD? Three? Five? Seven? Probably more like five at most right now. So what are the people using these HD boxes for? To watch PBS on 125.0W AMC 21? LOL! Come on! I am not buying that.

But, I will buy this Fortec Star Dynamic! This is why I went through all the time spent to test it here. I can tell by what it does and how it reacts that this was meant and designed for legitimate use. This makes me very happy as now I can have a receiver that I can offer to honest people (my friends) that doesn't have some stigma surrounding it. I could set one of these up for my Grandmother and be proud, not ashamed! That is speaking metaphorically because my Grandmothers have both passed away now, but you understand the gist of this.

I don't know how I found this Fortec Star, but it was somewhere within this forum that I ran across a discussion of it and I just had to try it out! I am very glad that I did!

Gordy (AcWxRADAR)

 

[AcWxRadar]

I think I will take a break for a while and watch "The Virginian" on RTN WEST.

Please Don't Squeeze the Charmin! Squeeze it at home like everyone else! LOL! Mr. Whipple!



RADAR

 

[melbfla]

Radar
Just have to tell you thanks for taking the time to document all of your work and time. For the record I have a Fortec Lifetime Classic I purchased probably almost 4 years ago (time flies) with the motorize system and had not had one bit of trouble with it. So happy with it I also purchased a system for my daughter and her husband also one for my son and his wife and a non motorized system for my mom aimed at 30W for the Spain channels oh and my copy cat "lol" brother in law also bougth a motorized system all Fortec Classic all still up and running. Only trouble so far was the lnbf on my mom's system died not sure why.
Anyhow thanks again

 

[AcWxRadar]

Melbfla,

I am very happy that you liked my thread here and the information. I see that you are a very strong fan and supported of the Fortec receivers and now I am joining the same fan club!

I think these receivers are going to be around for a long time. They have already been well established and as long as they stick to this kind of quality, they will continue.

Sounds like your family is quite enamoured with them, that is truly wonderful! I believe that the FTA programming is going to become increasingly more popular in the next few years. The programming isn't quite as versatile as the subsription providers like Dish Network (which is the only one that I have ever had a subscription with) or Direct TV or the Canadian based providers. They just have too many subscribers already and are so well established that they can offer a lot of great things. FTA cannot compete with that at this time, but I think with hobbyists like us, this competition will change the balance and tip the scales.

I tell my friends about FTA satellite TV and RADIO and they look at me like I have two heads. They don't believe me even when I show them all the channels I get FTA. They pay $50 or more for a bunch of advertisements and I am watching 400 channels and listening to 200 music (radio) channels for free. They just go nuts. I try to show them how to do this, but the younger crowd wants DN and DTV, they don't seem to like the GOOD stuff.


RADAR

 

[melbfla]

Radar
My first exposure was back in the late 80's my neighbor had a 8 or 10ft solid fiberglass dish setup this was when a lot of things were open , he got tired of it they started scrambling so I bough the system cheap got 2 friends we dough up the cement with the pole and rolled it into my backyard long story short had it for many years but one of our hurricanes bang it up badly still have the Uniden receiver and some of the other goodies this was only C band I never had any pay tv in the house when my kids where small I did not want them spending a lot of time watching tv just had ota antenna. Then about 4 years ago I realized how much was available on KU so I got back into it. So I have my FTA and and OTA antenna with a lot more digital channels. I also want to thank while I am here Sadoun and AV Sat for being great suppliers . I am sure some of the pay tv companies are none too happy with the digital transition OTA and even less with FTA. Now if I can just find a free 1 meter or + I can get my old equipment going .....uhmmmm always driving around looking for one...

 

[AcWxRadar]

Excellent story Melbfla,

I understand you on all those points. This is an excellent hobby, I don't watch much TV, only when I am scanning and then of course, that interrupts my scanning. Yesterday, when I was scaning, I had to refuse the urge to look at what I was scanning, because I might get interested in something and then go off on a tangent. LOL

So I just kept scanning and came here to discuss the results. Kept me occupied during the process and also generated interest from people like you. I even received assistance along the way. I think it makes for a great thread for anyone who is trying to set up one of these receivers. Good advice from the members along the way and feedback from me as to how the operation was responding.

I think it turned out very good and I have you guys and gals to thank.

RADAR

 

[Sadoun]

But, I will buy this Fortec Star Dynamic! This is why I went through all the time spent to test it here. I can tell by what it does and how it reacts that this was meant and designed for legitimate use. This makes me very happy as now I can have a receiver that I can offer to honest people (my friends) that doesn't have some stigma surrounding it.
Gordy (AcWxRADAR)

That is why we sell and trust this FTA receiver only and nothing else.

• High Quality
• High performance.
• Designed and manufactured for True FTA only

BTW, excellent write up on your new hobby. You may want to make a YouTube video of your receiver review. You will get a lot of viewers and people interested in this hobby.

Of course, we won't mind if you mention that you bought it at Sadoun

 

[TimLones111]

I agree Radar:
Very good review:Gave me some ideas of minor tips and tricks I hadnt considered yet with my own Fortec Dynamic..

 

[Blindowl1234]

Well, I'm glad everyone loves their Dynamic....mine started out good but ended up garbage. When setting up Cband I had the dish set at 99W. I scanned the channels and only a few of them came up. I had to manually enter the info. Some of the Tp's I entered the receiver wouldn't accept. I'm guessing it's because they were valid tp's on another sat? I,m now getting 99w and somw of 101W together. I can bump the dish slightly and I can't get anything additional. Also note: I had to add a new sat to the receiver as I found nothing intiallly when I scanned 99w or 101W.
I've tried to delete a sat on this receiver and it won't do it. I've tried to power scan and several times it gets to 10-15% and locks up. I've deleted everything and started over and it won't find 99w or 101W unless I manually add a new sat and enter the tp's manually. Oh well too broke to replace it for now. Thanks! Blind

 

[FTABman0]

I have had my Dynamic up and running since October last year, it is a straight forward little STB! Had no issues at all with it so far, works flawlessly! Better than my old Classic NA and seems a bit faster than my Merc II the Dynamic is built like a tank!

The receiver seems very sensitive at times better than my CNX Mini! Fortec Star makes the best “Blind Scan” STB on the market but that is just my opinion!

Higher price receivers don’t mean jack! We know why people have those higher priced units!

The Dynamic seems to out perform the big boys by far! I love the Classic NA “Blind Scan”, it might take a long time for it to do it but it finds everything up there on all active TP’s and the Dynamic is the same way but just a lot faster!

Of course I got mine from out wonderful Gold Sponsor Sadoun! Had to give a plug there, I just bought another system off them this weekend for another FTA setup here in the Mountain State!

I would recommend this STB to the new user for ease of setup and use and for the veteran FTA user! Only if they would ever manufacture the Passion for the US market, boy I would have me one of those!

AcWxRadar, very nice review indeed! I really never found a flaw or thing I did not like about this box as of yet!


K E V I N

 

[FTABman0]

Well, I'm glad everyone loves their Dynamic....mine started out good but ended up garbage. Oh well too broke to replace it for now. Thanks! Blind

Sorry to hear that Blind! I guess there can be a bug unit from time to time on anything you buy these days! Most factories have robots anymore that assemble these types of electronics and about all receivers are made in Korea.

Hate to hear that though, I have set up about 5 of them so far plus I own one and nothing wrong out of box to setup to enjoyment with no issues! Get another one and bet that one will work! Just got a lemon on the worst Friday of a manufacture date!!

K E V I N

 

[AcWxRadar]

I went to the Fortec Star website and downloaded the channel editor and software loader for the Merc II (as per Hiebert's kind information).

I found the download section and pulled up the Merc II and entered my company name, my name and email address. The file downloaded, I unzipped it and had it on my desktop.

The channel editor is version 1.0 and the loader is version 0.98. However, when I use the channel editor to upload the channel file it opens a loader program with version 0.95. Evidentally the channel editor download contains a loader program of its own.

I see that the Fortec Dynamic requires an RS232 null cable. So I dug through my connector storebox and pulled up a null cable and hooked it up. I am using a Belkin USB adapter on port 4.

I opened the channel editor and browsed through the defualt channel list displayed. That was nifty.

Then I went on to upload the channel list from the receiver, but here I ran into a snag. When the loader screen opened, I selected port 4 and it stated READY. But, when I clicked on UPLOAD, it didn't do anything. It just said TURN STB ON.

I checked the BAUD rate, it was set at 115200. Which is correct.

I tried a different cable, same results.

Then I placed the receiver in standby with the remote and tried. Still the same. When I turned the receiver back on, as the receiver was booting up, it began uploading the channel data right away, but the reciever does not output a video signal to the TV during this time.

It required about 3 minutes or slightly more for the data to upload.

I like how the data is displayed. It even shows the Networks that were picked up down in the bottom left.

Satellites listed in one column on the far left, then a column for TPs and then a column for TV channels and last a column for Radio channels. Satellites and TPs that have channels detected have a green bullet indicator in front.

I haven't tried editing anything yet. However, I do see that you can import from SatCoDX, if desired. I do have the SatCoDX World Of Satellites program, so I will have to try that out, too.

I noticed that the printer function (ICON in the toolbar) is disabled. I don't have a printer connected to this laptop, so I wonder if that is why. When using Channel Master for my Coolsat, I was able to use the print function, but I had to send it to the virtual image printer file and save it on my USB memory stick and take it to another computer to actually print it out. Is the Fortec channel editor printer function enabled for anyone else that uses this?

RADAR

 

[AcWxRadar]

Here is another really awesome feature... Channel backup. If a new firmware version is issued by Fortec, you can backup your channel list, then perform the factory reset, then recover the channels when done. Rather than uploading them to the PC and saving them.

I haven't tried it yet, but I bet you could mess around with the channel list and if you screw up, you could recover the original if you had backed it up in advance.

I will have to experiment with this.

RADAR

 

[FTABman0]

AcWxRadar,
Assuming your cable is a NULL cable I see you are, try a BAUD rate of 9600. I was told along time ago that not all PC computers will run above 9600. Before I would write to the box I would try first on seeing if the channel data will come down and save to your PC first. If it does you should be good to try.

My Classic NA & Merc II both can use 9600 and Is what I have used with no problems before. I never had a reason To Anything Null with Cables to the Dynamic since it is really stable so far. Just a suggestion to try and of course, I am just suggesting what worked for me!


“Disclaimer Coming”

I take no responsibility for damaged Bricked STB’s! But yes, it did work for me at 9600 on the Merc II but never tried to give it a go with the Dynamic. Since the Merc II and the Dynamic are about the same, would not hurt to try that rate to see if you can use the channel editor first.

For what it is worth, give that a go if you want to try it.

Channel backup feature works great! Used it many times! Great Feature!!

B~Man

 

[AcWxRadar]

AcWxRadar,
Assuming your cable is a NULL cable I see you are, try a BAUD rate of 9600. I was told along time ago that not all PC computers will run above 9600. Before I would write to the box I would try first on seeing if the channel data will come down and save to your PC first. If it does you should be good to try.

My Classic NA & Merc II both can use 9600 and Is what I have used with no problems before. I never had a reason To Anything Null with Cables to the Dynamic since it is really stable so far. Just a suggestion to try and of course, I am just suggesting what worked for me!


“Disclaimer Coming”

I take no responsibility for damaged Bricked STB’s! But yes, it did work for me at 9600 on the Merc II but never tried to give it a go with the Dynamic. Since the Merc II and the Dynamic are about the same, would not hurt to try that rate to see if you can use the channel editor first.

For what it is worth, give that a go if you want to try it.

Channel backup feature works great! Used it many times! Great Feature!!

B~Man

FTABman0,

I will try that BAUD rate and see how it reacts when trying to upload the channel list first. If is is alright there, then I might chance downloading with that scheme.

Does yours take off right away, or did you have to reboot the receiver before the upload process would engage?

RADAR