Inexpensive HD FTA receivers from Far East on e-bay

[polgyver]

A few weeks ago I ordered two such no-name receivers with 12 V separate power supplies and one which was wall powered. The cost for 12 V was around $ 48 and for 120 v - $ 52 (all Canadian dollars).
I had really hard time to program 2 of them on my 3-year old 46" LED Samsung TV, as it did not recognize the video format. Had to use RCA cables, and other tricks to set up the 2 receivers and finally got them working.
Today I used my 24" 3-year old LED Toshiba for programming one of the 12 V receivers, and the programming was a breeze...
The receivers have graphic interface almost identical to our forum's favourite, micro HD. However, their remote does not interfere with Toshiba TV.
Got 16 pictures to share, in 2 instalments
Cheers, polgyver

 

[polgyver]

Remaining 8 pictures :

 

[schlever]

I just ordered one of those last week to play with in my shop. Will give it a try and post results when it gets here.

 

[FTA4PA]

Nice pics polgyver. Do you have a link to it? I have a cheap one bookmarked on eBay that I was going to try for tuning at the dish but not sure if this is it. Hopefully all the scans are accurate but seriously what scan modes are available besides accurate scan? Thanks!

 

[Titanium]

It's an Ali chipset, but which one? Snap a photo of the system information screen. Should list the chipset.

If you open the STB, see what tuner model. From the hardware position, it looks like it could be a PCB mounted IC tuner.

 

[iBoston]

It looks like one i bought. The USALS didn't calculate correctly for Western satellites. Verify the USALS works right.

 

[Corrado]

Some of those are selling for $31.91 with free shipping.

I wouldn't expect any sort of support with a no name product such as this.

One of the listing states it has the ALI3510 processor.

 

[polgyver]

This rec has 3 scan options : auto scan, preset scan and accurate scan.
More info on photos.

 

[FTA4PA]

Guessing 'accurate scan' is like blind scan then??

 

[Titanium]

In the Ali SDK:
Auto=Blind scan
Preset=Preprogrammed TPs
Accurate=Slower TS analysis during service logging

With the cover on the tuner and the heatsink on the CPU, the hardware build is a guess. If you are really curious about the chipset and tuner, the fins could be heated and removed and the tuner cover removed. The information screen just shows that it is using the generic SDK for the demod. Might download the firmware and look at the code. The chipset and other basic build information is usually displayed unencrypted.

 

[FTA4PA]

Thanks Titanium!

 

[gpflepsen]

Oh man, you undoubtedly voided your warranty now! Good luck with any claims! (that was tongue in cheek)...

Where do these ship from?

 

[ken2400]

Oh man, you undoubtedly voided your warranty now! Good luck with any claims! (that was tongue in cheek)...

Where do these ship from?

My mother use to say "I give you three guesses and the first two don't count"
China

 

[Mr Tony]

The screen looks like a SSO (Sathawk/Solomend/Openbox)

I know the MicroHD has very similar screens too

 

[Cosmo Blatz]

Oh man, you undoubtedly voided your warranty now! Good luck with any claims! (that was tongue in cheek)...
Where do these ship from?

All-knowing alibaba has the answer!

http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search...atId=&SearchText=satellite+dvb-s2+set+top+box

 

[gpflepsen]

My mother use to say "I give you three guesses and the first two don't count"
China

I figured it was China somewhere. Isn't is amazing someone can (steal a design) produce a receiver, sell by the piece, and ship a box 1/2 way around the world for less than $40? It cost me probably $20 to send a box coast to coast in the US.

 

[Hockeynut]

Curious if anyone has tried the Ali editor with this box for creating a NA sat list?...I wonder would it work?

 

[gpflepsen]

Curious if anyone has tried the Ali editor with this box for creating a NA sat list?...I wonder would it work?

Would you risk it? I'd hate to get into a situation like the micro hd with the boot loop and corrupt software on a pretty much unsupported receiver. What would you do when there's no documented way to restore the original firmware?

 

[Hockeynut]

Would you risk it? I'd hate to get into a situation like the micro hd with the boot loop and corrupt software on a pretty much unsupported receiver. What would you do when there's no documented way to restore the original firmware?

LOL...Really.?...If killing a 30 dollar receiver is a concern then it may be time to get out of this hobby!!!..Now if the Ali editor works to create a NA list this is a great deal....Some folks may not care about a proper sat list but for myself I am a stickler like that...Just the other day I seen that Intelsat 16 at 79 was active and updated all my receivers with an up to date list..That is just me..

 

[iBoston]

Check out this one :

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hot-...TB-Digital-Satellite-DVB-S2-S/2032473030.html