Nexus-S/Skystar1 PCI card review.

[Cascade]

The Nexus-S is a PCI card designed for FTA reception.

Originally developed by Technisat and sold as the SkyStar1, Hauppauge took on this card in Europe where FTA has exploded in recent years.
Both are basically the same card, have the same features and use exactly the same drivers.

The main feature that sets the Nexus apart from the competition is the inclusion of an onboard hardware MPEG-2 decoder with TV out so you can watch FTA on your monitor or your television set - both at the same time or independently.

The card includes an IR remote, remote sensor, Audio/Video cables and driver/application CD.

The connector toward the back of the card is for an optional CAM interface.

Software compatibility is probably the highest of all cards with numerous applications being developed for it all the time.

The card can also run in software mode to receive HDTV or 4:2:2 feeds.
In software mode the burden of MPEG decoding is taken from the onboard decoder and routed through software so is entirely CPU dependent.

It also handles Diseqc switching, USALS motor control and 22KHz switching (Although I haven't tried the 22KHz switch)

As with the SkyStar2 card the capabilities of the receiver are only as good as the software used, I still use ProgDVB as it is updated on a weekly basis by the author and new plugins are being written for it all the time.

Some of the available plugins:
3 different Diseqc/USALS for motor control.
Stream router to enable more than 1 PC to take control of the card.
A scheduler to record or watch The Simpsons every night (for Pete)

The plugin I use for my SG2100 is DiseqcU:

For flexibility and ease of use, this plugin is amazing. It features an editor to program your Diseqc 1.2 positioners memory as well as USALS to make your installation a lot easier.

Those with a slower machine will definitely appreciate the onboard MPEG-2 decoder as it barely takes any CPU power at all - most of the work is offloaded to the Nexus.

ProgDVB features a timeline in which you can pause, rewind and record live TV - This buffer can be as large as your harddrive and comes in handy for catching those awkward feed moments.

There are several applications written specifically for this card to turn an old PC into a set top box, most notably VDR which is a Linux based installation with PVR capabilities, DVD playback and a lot more.
If you're a Windows user you have at least 5 choices of great applications to turn your PC into a PVR with this card, most can run the card to a TV set without interrupting PC use leaving the PC free to surf the web, etc.
Channel changes are fast and take roughly 1 second depending on the bandwidth of the channel being switched to.

Overall this card is definitely the cream of the crop, I've never had any problems using the Nexus-S and it performs flawlessly.

 

[TuxCoder]

I had thought the Nexus didn't have a hardware MPEG decoder. Maybe a different model. I learned something from that nice review.

To add my two cents, a hardware MPEG decoder is very much worth the extra cost compared to the software-only cards. HDTV and 4:2:2 support through hardware would be nice but since right now there's not many of those streams right now (as far as I know), software will do since those are just "the icing on the cake" when it comes to what else is available FTA.

 

[Cascade]

The Hauppauge Nova-S is the budget model, it doesn't have the decoder onboard.

It's up for sale if anyone's interested, thought I'd write a review while I still had it.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=30059

 

[timmy1376]

Great review Cascade. I have been trying to learn ProgDVB, but it is slow going. I sure hope everything goes OK with the reason you are selling.

Have you though about reviewing some other apps like Ritzdvb, DVBDream or DVBApps?

tim

 

[Cascade]

Cheers timmy, I reckon a review of the different software packages could work.

If you have time to write a review of one of the other packages out there, that'd be a good read too

 

[GutBomb]

I am using this card right now as my primary reciever. The only thing that I miss is the blind search ability. I have not found any software that will do blind search. I also use ProgDVB as shown in the screenshots. I have a question though cascade... what is the scheduler plugin called? I could not find in the application any way to schedule recurring recordings and would LOVE to do that. I am also curious about what plugin you use for streaming and if it does XNS streams. I have tried avbroadcaster in MyTheatre do stream to my xbox with some success, but MyTheatre is bloated and slow.

The picture quality I get from this nexus card is better than I got from my pansat, and the fact that this thing is all hardware based means I can have the TV playing some college football, and on the computer the card is in I can also be playing a very taxing game like Doom 3 with no slowdown on either. This truly only uses 1-2% CPU for displaying video.

This card so far has been my favorite purchase as far as sat stuff goes. now if someone would develop a blind search plugin for progdvb i would never leave my desk.

 

[Cascade]

The closest you'll get to blind search is a program I used ages ago, I forget the name but it's something like DVBxtreme. The only prob is that it's slow, and I mean *very* slow, like 20 hours slow..
The scheduler plugin comes with Prog, look up in the Service menu.
The streaming plugin is also in the package, I forget what it's called (again) although I'll PM you a link with some info.

And you're right, MyTheatre is bloated, the author won't directly support the hardware based cards, the official support forum for MT installs a trojan on your machine AND he charges $40 for the software.

I found that a few of the plugins for MT work with Prog, they're both based on DVBCore.

 

[timmy1376]

What do you guys consider "blind search"? When I scan for channels with Progdvb, am I not doing a blind search?

Apparently, I am behind the curve so to speak, so a review will have to wait a bit.

 

[Cascade]

Blind search scans all frequencies, polarity and symbol rates to produce a list of active transponders.
I've heard that it takes roughly 2 minutes on the faster set top boxes.

There's nothing really like that for the DVB cards.

 

[cgott42]

can any of the DVB-S cards record HDTV (with a 3.2 GHz Pentium 4)?

 

[MrMylesG]

Nexus -S

I absolutely love my Nexus. I gives flawless pictures on my PC and the output with included RCA cables is superb to my 13". I use MT and ProgDVB but my favorite is ProgDVB. It does not have the flash of MT, but it is easy to use and the plugins work seamlessly together. I wish MyEPG would work with it but the built in EPG is no slouch and works great.

I also have a Twinhan 1020 that I bought before the Nexus and it also works good too, but does pull around 30% - %40 CPU time. Image quality is very good with the right graphs.

Just my 2 cents....

I asked the author of ProgDVB about blind search capability and was told it would probably not be implemented because of the time it would take for a scan. For blind searches I use my Fortec Ultra, which is another amazing device. USALS function is right on target if your dish is properly positioned.

MrM

 

[beeb]

can any of the DVB-S cards record HDTV (with a 3.2 GHz Pentium 4)?

All DVB-S cards can record and play live HDTV. To watch live you need around 3Ghz Pentium, but to just record and then play back the recording a 1.5Ghz will do too.
The problem is there's not much out there. 1 PBS channel on Ku and some CBS on C-band (if it's still free).

 

[beeb]

And you're right, MyTheatre is bloated, the author won't directly support the hardware based cards, the official support forum for MT installs a trojan on your machine AND he charges $40 for the software..

In my opinion MyTheatre is in a league of its own, way better in every single apect than anything out there. Its value is more than that of any other freeware, way more than $40 difference.