Inexpensive HD FTA receivers from Far East on e-bay

[wallyhts]

Ya you will have to drop $700 +

 

[iBoston]

Just as a comment, that actually works quite well but the problem with 4:2:2 is that you need decent hardware at the TV to play it. For example, a Raspberry Pi (original or version 2) will not play it, even if you have installed the MPEG license, which allows playback of pretty much anything that's not 4:2:2, at least on a Raspberry Pi 2 (tested on a Raspberry Pi 2 running OpenElec with Kodi). I've actually wondered what is out there that will play 4:2:2 reliably, short of a full-blown desktop or a modern laptop computer. I doubt we will see a $50 or even a $100 device that will do it for quite some time, but it would be nice to find something in the range between $100 and $200 that will play a 4:2:2 stream without a hiccup.

I dunno, my FireTV plays the 4:2:2 with KODI just fine through the android app (Big2Small). I paid $79.oo for it.

 

[spongella]

Nice review polgyver. Good to know what equipment is out there and how it works. Best way to find out first hand how something works is to buy it and try it.

 

[ken2400]

Looking to buy a receiver to receive RTV from 87W. Where are you guys buying receivers listed above from? Thanks

 

[polgyver]

Both of 120 V receivers, ordered a few weeks ago, arrived today.
There are links in posts # 15 and # 20 for ordering. One receiver was sent from Guangzhou, the other from Shanghai. Both from China.
Photos follow :

 

[DK_Sat]

Polgyver,

With this new receiver i am not getting any Audio on the ION HD channels on 103 w . I am getting Audio on the SD ION channels, i am using the HDMI cable to the tv. I try DW on the same satellite and the AC3 Audio does not work.
Any help will be appreciated .

 

[Corrado]

If it has the audio settings in the menu like the microHD, make sure the LPCM is selected to decode the AC3 not bitstream selection.

 

[DK_Sat]

The receiver is set on LPCM still no Digital or AC3 Audio, Does any one else with the same receiver have the same problem. Thanks.

 

[Titanium]

That chipset is available with and without Dolby license. Are other Dolby audio services decoding?

 

[FTA4PA]

That chipset is available with and without Dolby license. Are other Dolby audio services decoding?

I wanted a cheap receiver to take to the dishes this Spring so I bookmarked one of those on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/131409040785 (out of stock now). Near the end of the listing the description states:

• License: Optional DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, RM/RMVB, Divx License.

Wondering if the listing stating optional license has something to do with the lack of Dolby Digital for DK_Sat?

 

[DK_Sat]

This is from the place i got the receiver http://www.ebay.com/itm/391034591794

This is the info they have on the receiver.
Audio Decoder: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (Layer I/II), MP3, AC-3 (Dolby Digital), AAC-LC, WMA
E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus) decoding HE-AAC 5.1 multi-channel decoding.

 

[FTA4PA]

This is from the place i got the receiver http://www.ebay.com/itm/391034591794

This is the info they have on the receiver.
Audio Decoder: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (Layer I/II), MP3, AC-3 (Dolby Digital), AAC-LC, WMA
E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus) decoding HE-AAC 5.1 multi-channel decoding.

That's definitely the same receiver I have bookmarked, just from a different seller. If you scroll down, their description for the one you bought has the same optional statement (License: Optional DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, RM/RMVB, Divx License). Hope it's just a setting somewhere that can be resolved but maybe not if they didn't pay the extra fee to license the Dolby technology.

 

[schlever]

Mine is working fine with the ac3 stuff over HDMI on 125w. I haven't check any other.

 

[Titanium]

Is the AC3 being decoded by the STB or the TV? If you connect the RCA left/right to the TV, do you still hear the PBS audio? If so, the STB is the decoding device. If not, then the STB is not decoding.

 

[DK_Sat]

I will try different satellites today to see if it decodes the Digital AC3 audio

 

[schlever]

Is the AC3 being decoded by the STB or the TV? If you connect the RCA left/right to the TV, do you still hear the PBS audio? If so, the STB is the decoding device. If not, then the STB is not decoding.

I had to switch to HDMI to get it to work, as it didn't run on the RCA. It goes to a RF modulator so its definitely the STB doing the decoding.

Here is the one I bought:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/391004471164?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Sorry I only have KU here, so can't test the ION.

 

[Titanium]

If the audio plays with HDMI connection, but does not play with RCA connection, the STB IS NOT decoding the digital audio.

The RCA jacks carry whatever audio the STB is decoding. If the audio is present on the RCA connection (the modulator doesn't matter) then the STB is decoding the digital audio.

 

[DK_Sat]

I have a Openbox S10 and a Coship S2 MPEG-4 , they both decode the Digital AC-3 thru the HDMI and the Video and Audio cables.

 

[Titanium]

I have a Openbox S10 and a Coship S2 MPEG-4 , they both decode the Digital AC-3 thru the HDMI and the Video and Audio cables.

Correct, because these STBs have an on-board Dolby/AC3 decoder. STBs without Dolby/AC3 decoder must pass the digital audio out to an external device to decode. Many inexpensive STBs control the build cost by sourcing the hardware without decoder.

 

[polgyver]

With this new receiver i am not getting any Audio

True, you just discovered serious flaw of this cheap receiver.
I scanned 125 W with two 120 V receivers, and found out, that only Montana and another TV has audio, as they are not Dolby.
All other programs, (including Create), which use Dolby, do not have sound on these receivers.
Schlever is lucky as his rec has sound.
Cheers, polgyver