I just jumped into FTA. Digiwave (HD-9003PVR)

[mrpeter105]

Hi:

I just jumped into FTA. I bought the following.

Digiwave (HD-9003PVR) $60
DigiMonster DWD-90T | 36 Inch (85x93cm) Dish $50
Digiwave DGL-990D | Standard Linear Dual LNBF $20

A local store was having a sale and stock was getting low so I thought I better grab it before they sell out. I've been a lurker here for a while and always wanted to try FTA out in the back of my mind but was always somewhat hesitant. Anyways it's gonna be a bit before I can set the dish up. I have a lot of trees around so my choices are probably limited. In the meantime I would like to know if it is ok to power up the satellite box without hooking the cable up to the dish. I just want to see if the box even works. I would also like to give it a burn in test. Maybe just let it play a movie off the usb. I don't want to damage it so I thought I better ask first.

Thanks

 

[Anole]

Yes. A burn in sounds like a good idea.

Wandering around the setup menues might help, too.

I don't know that receiver. You might want to find a review.
See if new firmware is available for it (and maybe a new satellite list).

 

[mrpeter105]

Thanks for answering. I was unsure if I could damage it by NOT having it hooked up to the LNB and powering it up.

 

[mrpeter105]

Ok. I just booted it up. Hooked up through composite. It booted up in pal mode. Not sure how to make it ntsc.

 

[mrpeter105]

Oh, there was a thread on this player on this site. I tried to post a link to it but I was denied. I just signed up today.

 

[mrpeter105]

Ok. I was finally able to change it from Pal to Ntsc mode. Took some trial and error. It doesn't list my country when it does initial setup so I exited out of that.

 

[mrpeter105]

I stuck in a usb stick. It is now playing a movie. I'll let it do its thing. I hope the fact that it didn't have my country in its setup list isn't going to be a big problem. Oh, by the way thanks for your help.

 

[jorgek]

Did you buy that at Canada Computers? They are going out of the FTA business. Hope there is support for that model. Also go through the menus and find a List of Satellites. You want to make sure it has a current North America sats. The fact that it defaulted to the PAL mode tells me it was setup for Europe and elsewhere.
Yours best bet is to research it on the web.

 

[KE4EST]

If you can't find a NA sat list pre-made you can make your own via the remote, will just take a little time.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Have a sample on the shelf that I can connect-up if you get stuck with a question.

The unit blind scans and will play mpeg2/4, h.264, QPSK and 8PSK channels. MPEG2 480i/576i picture quality does not look good, but HD picture is nice. The unit is sluggish and requires frequent rebooting. You got a good price and will be easy to get your monies worth of enjoyment out of it.

 

[jorgek]

SatelliteAV,
Does it have a clock that works?
Is there factory support and firmware updates?

 

[FaT Air]

Just be sure to power down (unplug it) when connecting/disconnecting coax/LNBF.
Take a look at your location at www.dishpointer.com . May 'uncover' a likely spot to put it. I like to suggest G19 @ 97W as a first satellite. (Lots of 'targets' (transponders) to catch. See TheList (on top of all pages here)

 

[SatelliteAV]

SatelliteAV,
Does it have a clock that works?
Is there factory support and firmware updates?

Never took testing very far.... Requested a sample including the HD9008i when a SatGuy's member suggested that it was rumored to do 4:2:2. When it did not do 4:2:2, they went on the shelf. Searched for updates a few times and haven't found any. Talked with a sales person last month and he wasn't aware of any updates and said they hadn't heard any complaints about the boxes.

Digiwave boxes have always had minimal firmware support. Seems that their business model has really shifted into other appliances and products in the past few years.

Time reference is defaulted if power is lost or placed in standby. 24 hour mode.

 

[wallyhts]

Never took testing very far.... Requested a sample including the HD9008i when a SatGuy's member suggested that it was rumored to do 4:2:2. When it did not do 4:2:2, they went on the shelf. Searched for updates a few times and haven't found any. Talked with a sales person last month and he wasn't aware of any updates and said they hadn't heard any complaints about the boxes.

Yes that was my dumb butt well it was a misunderstanding lol

 

[mrpeter105]

jorgek,

>"Did you buy that at Canada Computers? "

Yes. I noticed that they've had these for quite awhile.I felt that they weren't going to replenish any stock because they hardly sold any. My local store was down to its last unit. It was now or never. So I threw caution to the wind and dove in.

>" find a List of Satellites."

Here are some of the sats in the list that would be applicable for me. Most had C and KU entries

127.0W Horizons 1
123.0W Galaxy 10R
121.0W Galaxy 23
097.0W Galaxy 25
095.0W Galaxy 3C
091.0W Galaxy 11

There were some others at the other end of the arc but I don't think i'd be able to get them.Also, you asked SatelliteAV if it has a clock that works. I was able to manually set the clock/date and it kept the time when powered off. 24 HR format though.

 

[mrpeter105]

Have a sample on the shelf that I can connect-up if you get stuck with a question.

The unit blind scans and will play mpeg2/4, h.264, QPSK and 8PSK channels. MPEG2 480i/576i picture quality does not look good, but HD picture is nice. The unit is sluggish and requires frequent rebooting. You got a good price and will be easy to get your monies worth of enjoyment out of it.

Thank you. It also plays flv and wmv files, haven't tried others yet. I did notice a bit of sluggishness here and there. Nothing major.

One question I do have. I have't gone through the initial installation setup yet. When it boots up it asks you to pick OSD Language and country and below that it has channel search. At this point I just press exit and it goes to the main menu.
It doesn't have Canada or the USA as a country. It has some South American, European countries and even Australia. Is it ok to just pick any country?

Also once that is done will it do a channel search? Does that mean it will do a blind scan or will it just refer to its internal database and list only those sats
that are observable from those countries?

Also if you do a satellite scan without the lnb attached can that damage the unit?

Thanks

P.S. Just to reiterate, i'm a total newbie when it comes to FTA. Although i've gleaned a bit from my lurking here.

 

[mrpeter105]

ke4est
If you can't find a NA sat list pre-made you can make your own via the remote, will just take a little time.

Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.

FaT Air

Just be sure to power down (unplug it) when connecting/disconnecting coax/LNBF.
Take a look at your location at www.dishpointer.com . May 'uncover' a likely spot to put it. I like to suggest G19 @ 97W as a first satellite. (Lots of 'targets' (transponders) to catch. See TheList (on top of all pages here)

Thank you. I will definitely unplug it when doing that. I've been to dishpointer and it looks like my best chance will be 125W. Going further east from there and there are a bunch of trees in the way.


wallyhts.
Thanks for doing about the only review of this receiver that I found on the internet. It's very hard to find info anywhere on it. You posted a thread on it on this forum.

 

[jorgek]

Mrpeter105,
That sat list is outdated.
Galaxy 10r went off the air about 3 years ago.
Galaxy 25 is now Galaxy 19 at 97w.

If you can, try for Galaxy 19, it has many strong transponders and is easy to get in the GTA. Its high in the sky and don't forget an offset dish is actually looking approximately 20-25 degrees higher than the face of the dish. For example if the face of the dish is vertical it is actually receiving sats that are 20-25 degrees above the horizon.

The easy part is over, that is buying the equipment. Now comes the challenge of installing and aiming the dish.
Dishpointer.com is a great tool for setting the dish up. I use it all the time.

Have fun and remember patience is the key ingredient to success.

 

[FaT Air]

In the 'stickies' is What satellite is where? with name history.
TheList (top of pages here) lists many, but not all, channels.
Is that receiver DVB-S2? If not, there's not much on 125W. (can't locate any specs) If only DVB-S, 97w would be a better quarry.

125W. Going further east from there and there are a bunch of trees in the way.

Going to have to find a solution for that. Seriously.

 

[jorgek]

Also 125W is low on the horizon up here in the Toronto area. There was a mention of trees around. I believe the box is S2 capable.