Reviews: SatHawk PVR800 WorldDVB DVB-S2 HD FTA Receiver

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I agree, Zamar, now would be a good time for DVBWorld to comment on all these issues. Hope they are as on the ball as with their PCI products.................I really want to get on board but, will wait and see now.
 
No, I haven't opened it yet, and I don't know if I'm going to yet.
 
I dont think its possible. Even with a 22k switch instead of a diseqc

I cant get my DBS LNB to work with it motorized which is on a 22k switch
 
It may also be to restrict power consumption and prevent related voltage drop. Its a low power unit as they say...

Keep in mind also, as unusual as it may sound, some of these CN sat product makers do not have a motorized or C-band installation in the office, so they can't verify the product output except by using an SA, and hence don't have hands on experience playing with various advanced features and setup scenarios that are not typically used by an average user. Once they understand the issues they can fix most by firmware and hardware revisions (sadly not applicable to early testers ;)), but not the more complex ones that would really require a different receiver to fix.

I think, Ice can teach a lot of tricks to some of these guys when it comes to sat reception. ;)
 
I didnt' read every post in this thread but quite a few of them and am surprised there was only one mention of the crappy remote. Noisy buttons and slow response time..you need to have the remote pointed dead on at the sensor for it to work. I took the box apart in hopes that the sensor could be repositioned closer to the front but there is no way I can see to move things. Is everyone happy with their remote, do I have a bad one?
 
It is a little clunky but I've had worse

hell I went through, erased all sats and created all new sats from 72-129 with the remote
 
After a day playing with it, here are my quick synopsis of pros cons (some of which lak7 mirrors)...the bolded one IMO are big

Pros:
Fast Blind Scan - DVB & DVB-S2...faster than my Coolsat
No need for DVB-S2 FEC and Pilot, just need Freq - Polarity - Scan Rate

Easy to use, especially since there is no Manual
Menu Layout...very simple menus
Fast Boot compared to AZBox
Runs cool
Easy to delete/move/rename channels
Motor is spot on both Diseqc 1.2 and USALS
63 motor settings for Diseqc 1.2 (some receivers only have 20-25)

Has "remove USB safely" option so no need to shut machine off
HD picture looks beautiful

Cons:
Motor will not move if you select a Horizontal Transponder...edit: found a workaround. Select a V transponder channel and the dish moves. Then select a H transponder on same satellite and it will still move. You just can't make the motor "start" on a H transponder
No Channel Editor...have to do everything through the manual
Channels deleted after Firmware Update
No indication of DVB-S or DVB-S2
No 4:2:2 support...get a gobbly gook screen
If unit is set to 1080i, the Menus do not work via the SD Video output (yellow cable)
Will not play AC-3 audio through HDMI or RCA cables. Will play through coaxial or optical plug
Will freeze if press too many buttons too quickly
Will not record high bitrate feeds
When you blind scan it automatically scans 11700-12900 which takes up time. (but blind scan is still fast)

Havent tested fully
PVR (like will it put the file as one or break ups)
Dolby digital output...will a Sonic Voom work properly with it....edit: worked with sonic voom. It will work if the option is selected in the menus
Switch setup.....sounds like right now it wont work with multiple LNB's or 22k & motorized
 
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HD video will stutter on some channels. The stutter appears on the channel after 3 minutes of wathcing a channel, if you change channels quickly and go back to the original channel the stutter goes away for another 3 minutes. It seems like the buffer fulls up and then causes problems.

Record files seem large, one hour of sd nbc from gal 16 is 1 GB. Maybe it is recording the whole tp? Because 1 GB/Hour seems right for an HD channel / and 5 sd channels.

My receiver will not turn back on, after turning it off via remote. I have to reset it from the back. So I have been keeping it on. Sadoun, unless others report this problem I might have to send it back for another.
 
HD video will stutter on some channels. The stutter appears on the channel after 3 minutes of wathcing a channel, if you change channels quickly and go back to the original channel the stutter goes away for another 3 minutes. It seems like the buffer fulls up and then causes problems.
this is with a HDD hooked up or just playing the channel?

Record files seem large, one hour of sd nbc from gal 16 is 1 GB. Maybe it is recording the whole tp? Because 1 GB/Hour seems right for an HD channel / and 5 sd channels.
oh god no. I recorded 5 hours last weekend of a SD feed and it was 48 GB...it depends on the channel and bandwidth...the GDMX channels on G16 are usually 3GB for a 2 hour show. This is with the azbox

My receiver will not turn back on, after turning it off via remote. I have to reset it from the back. So I have been keeping it on. Sadoun, unless others report this problem I might have to send it back for another.
mine turns on with the remote no issues
 
this is with a HDD hooked up or just playing the channel?


Just playing the channel. USB thumb drive is connected but not being used. This stutter is evident on the "2 1/2 Men" feed channel on gal 16. The S2 transponder plays the feed just fine. The regular dvb-s feed (HD Clear), i believe it has a higher SR, does stutter.
 
I'll have to try it on a high bitrate feed tomorrow...actually I could try My HD as it records as high bitrate (crap I can't...its not hooked up to C-Band....only KU right now)
 
I'll have to try it on a high bitrate feed tomorrow...actually I could try My HD as it records as high bitrate (crap I can't...its not hooked up to C-Band....only KU right now)

MyNet HD is choppy too, just watching it. This one is choppy almost instantly. The stutter isn't that noticable but is there.
 
I just tried a higher bitrate HD feed on KU (basketball game) and it played fine...watched about 10 minutes

30000 symbol rate

no HDD hooked up
 
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Found a workaround for the "motor wont move on a H transponder"

lets say you're on AMC5 (79W) and you want to go to AMC15 (105W)
-select "Macy's channel" which is a vertical TP channel
-after motor starts moving, select NYN which is a horizontal TP channel. The receiver sends 18 volts and the motor moves faster. Again when its quiet in the house I can hear the motor run. You can hear it "kick into higher gear" after going to a H transponder channel

Again you cant "start" with a H transponder channel when you want the dish to move. If you want it to go to H2 (74) you cant select ONN. Dish wont move
 
When you blind scan it automatically scans 11700-12900 which takes up time. (but blind scan is still fast)

It scans to 12900 with a standard LNB?

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.

But, the SatHawk has never picked up any of them, despite the fact that it picks up more transponders everywhere else.
 
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Anyone ever have a problem with floating platforms messing up the dish?

Royal Pain