Reviews: SatHawk PVR800 WorldDVB DVB-S2 HD FTA Receiver

[Mr Tony]

It scans to 12900 with a standard LNB?

yep. When I blind scan after about 25-30% the last "normal" TP shows up then form 30-50% is nothing....unless you're near a DBS sat

My Coolsat does, unless you set a manual scan range, and when I'm pointed to 91W it picks up a few of the lower-frequency Nimiq transponders and even scans in channels on one of them.

my Coolsat defaults to 11700-12200

But, the SatHawk has never picked up any of them, despite the fact that it picks up more transponders everywhere else.

mine did. Picks up 12676 H 20000 on 91W and logs channels (scrambled)

 

[Mr Tony]

Well CONFIRMED

AC-3 WILL NOT WORK
-not through RCA plugs
-not through HDMI
-not through the coaxial output to a sonic voom.

Montana PBS plays through sonic voom but no other PBS stations will....just dead air

EDIT: Thanks to thebaggins you can get it to play audio through coaxial or optical with a sonic voom. There is a setting in the menus for digital audio. The default is LPCM (default) and BS out. If you change to BS out it WILL play through the coaxial or optical outputs. SO my sonic voom WILL work

 

[1inabillion]

Well CONFIRMED

AC-3 WILL NOT WORK
-not through RCA plugs
-not through HDMI
-not through the coaxial output to a sonic voom.

Montana PBS plays through sonic voom but no other PBS stations will....just dead air

Thanks Tony thats a sad one to hear. think i will cancel my order

 

[Blindowl1234]

Thanks Ice and everyone for the great info. Without AC-3 audio I doubt I'll want the receiver. My idea was to have only one receiver hooked up. Maybe these are easy bugs to be fixed. Sounds like it could be a decent unit with some updates. Blind

 

[Lak7]

It does recognize the Audio PID as AC3, so there is hope.

In Addition to Ice's findings, I would like to see Manual PID entry via Remote Control.

First thing, for me a least, is a way to backup and restore the Channel List, or that a Firmware Update does not delete the Sat & Channel Lists, and an Editor. I find it hard to invest the time in setting up the unit knowing that the next update will set everything.

 

[thebaggins]

Mine plays AC-3 through Sonic Voom on AMC-21 don't have HDMI on tv, had to change audio settings in set up menu from default to other option.

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks Ice and everyone for the great info. Without AC-3 audio I doubt I'll want the receiver. My idea was to have only one receiver hooked up. Maybe these are easy bugs to be fixed. Sounds like it could be a decent unit with some updates. Blind

I knew I couldnt have **one** hooked up as 4:2:2 was confirmed before they were shipped. But I thought it could be this one for most everything and azbox for 4:2:2 feeds

Hope they fix the bugs SOON! They were all gung ho with info while we were waiting. But now hopefully they see the list of bugs and fixes them

 

[Mr Tony]

Mine plays AC-3 through Sonic Voom on AMC-21 don't have HDMI on tv, had to change audio settings in set up menu from default to other option.

interesting....lemme go try that

 

[Lak7]

But now hopefully they see the list of bugs and fixes them

Did you PM DVBWorld with a Bug List?

Mine plays AC-3 through Sonic Voom on AMC-21 don't have HDMI on tv, had to change audio settings in set up menu from default to other option.

I tried the other Audio Option this morning, still no sound, but I did not reboot the unit.

 

[Mr Tony]

Mine plays AC-3 through Sonic Voom on AMC-21 don't have HDMI on tv, had to change audio settings in set up menu from default to other option.

you're right...a setting made it work

IN the menu there is an option for digital out and the options are LPCM (default) and BS OUT which if you change to BS out then the AC-3 works

Cool. Thanks for the tip

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks Tony thats a sad one to hear. think i will cancel my order

Thanks Ice and everyone for the great info. Without AC-3 audio I doubt I'll want the receiver. My idea was to have only one receiver hooked up. Maybe these are easy bugs to be fixed. Sounds like it could be a decent unit with some updates. Blind

see update above. There is a setting you need to change in the menus to make it work

 

[Mr Tony]

Did you PM DVBWorld with a Bug List?

working on that

I tried the other Audio Option this morning, still no sound, but I did not reboot the unit.

mine worked. I changed setting, exited out and voila audio through sonic voom on PBS HD. No reboot needed

 

[Mr Tony]

one other quirk I found

When you go to transponder list it doesnt list which satellite you're changing. It does go to the current satellite you're on and if you scroll left and right it goes to the next satellite in the list. Since I have the list from 72-129 in order I kinda know what the next sat is

 

[Lak7]

mine worked. I changed setting, exited out and voila audio through sonic voom on PBS HD. No reboot needed

I had checked using LPBS, will try again later.

 

[Mr Tony]

It scans to 12900 with a standard LNB?

sadly yes and I doubt they will change it as this is not a NA receiver. All the sats in the list are eastern sats

 

[Mr Tony]

I sent a bug list to dvbworld about the 3 "big ones"

1. The motor option will not work with a horizontal transponder. If you tell the receiver to move to another satellite and you select a horizontal transponder channel it will not move. If you select a vertical transponder channel the dish will move. Confirmed on 2 motorized setups
2. It will not play the AC-3 (Dolby Digital) audio through HDMI or the RCA cables (red/white). I have worked with 5 other HD receivers and all of them play the audio through the HDMI cable or the RCA cables.
3. When you blind/auto scan the receiver scans from 11700-12900 KU frequencies. Here in North America if you select 10750 as the LNB Frequency receivers normally scan from 11700-12200.

the channel editor wouldnt be considered a bug

Lak7 I suggest you send one to them too. Maybe they'll fix it quicker if more than one person sends it to them

 

[Jim S.]

With all the icons on the info screen, there's one thing missing: if a channel has both normal audio and AC3, there's no icon to let you know that AC3 is available. My Coolsat 7000 lights up the Dolby icon on channels that have an AC3 stream even if you're listening to the normal one. This can be verified very easily by going to Russia Today. You have to click the audio button on the remote to see that AC3 is available.

 

[Jim S.]

I've had a few more lockups This time it seems to be glitches in the stream, like when a feed goes off momentarily to change from camera to graphics or something like that.

 

[Lak7]

I did send PM, he usually responds in the evening our time.

 

[Lak7]

My Coolsat 7000 lights up the Dolby icon....

The Audio Button will show you all the Audio Options and list AC3 or AAC if available.