gedwal introduction

[gedwal]

Hi everyone, I'm sure over the oncoming weeks and probably months I shall be seeking advice from the members of this
forum and so it only seems courteous to introduce myself. I am Gerard and have recently taken up the idea of purchasing a satellite
receiver. For many years I have used Sky for broadband and phone and over the past few years been using Sky Q after they offered me a deal when I threatened to cancel. During that time prices have continued to increase and I have now decided enough is enough and cancelled everything. After sourcing a cheaper broadband provider and returning Sky's property I would still be left with the Sky Q dish. At first purchasing a dedicated Freesat box seemed the logical move until I started investigating my options. I wanted a 4K device and only Freesat offered one and after checking their reviews quickly wrote off that idea. I had been looking on ebay to find what was available second hand but there seemed to be very little around. It suddenly occurred to me that my search had been based on Freesat and so I changed the search to Satellite receivers and became aware there was a world of receivers outside of Freesat, Humax, Manhatten etc: and my hunt was on.
I have over the past few weeks been searching and learning what I can from Google and members from the Digitalworldz forum, many of whom have made some very helpful comments. ( I did try registering on this forum at the beginning of my search but unable to join. Having received an email from the forum I tried again and this time everything worked as expected).
As a retired 71 year old I have been able to spend some time on my laptop reviewing the various receivers and reading comments of the various owners. Unfortunately as is with most products one mans meat is another mans poison and so it's been a bit of a struggle deciding on a device that meets my requirements. I've been looking for a 4K receiver that can record at least three channels while watching another and that leads me to believe I now need a device with FBC tuners of which there only appears to be VU+ and Gigablue.
Having now been on the hunt for a couple of weeks I have become aware there is a considerable learning curve compared to buying a dedicated Freesat machine. Many years ago I developed an interest in computers after repairing one i had for my business. That led to a new hobby and for may years I would buy second hand components and put together second hand machines. More recently I have installed alternative software on Android phones and so feel that the world of Satellite receivers may well become a new functional hobby that I shall enjoy. I notice this forum also has areas for computers and phones so it certainly looks as though several of my interest will be covered.
Back to my choices, because of my criteria I have been looking at the VU+ Solo 4K and Uno 4K as well as the Gigablue UHD UE which is my choice at the moment. I can only find these two makes with FBC tuners, if other members are aware of others I shall appreciate comments offered. The Freesat 4K cost £260 and I'm trying to keep my budget to that sort of bracket. Also if any one owns any of the above, once again I shall appreciate any comments.
For now
Gerard

[Morini]

Hi Gerald, I recently went through exactly the same process. A long time Sky Q customer I decided to move back to the enigma2 world due to ever increasing costs. I was faced with the same decisions as you and eventually opted for the Gigablue UE 4K. I am quite pleased with it, but be aware to get the most out of the FBC tuners you will need to change the LNB on your dish to a unicable one. This is very simple to do providing the dish is accessible (I don't like ladders, luckily my dish is mounted quite low).

Did you have multiroom / Sky Q mini's? If so, in the enigma2 world you can do something very similar and distribute the signals from your main receiver over the network to clients around the house.

[Huevos]

I have become aware there is a considerable learning curve compared to buying a dedicated Freesat machine.

Don't believe everything you read. We have gone out of our way to make the OpenViX image simple and easy to use. You don't need any prior computer/Linux knowledge and they work similar to a Freesat box if that is the way you set it up.

On the other hand if you want to get involved in customisation and coding the sky is the limit, and there is a lot of information and help available from this forum.

Regarding FBC, it it true that the only available options are Vu and GB. And to get the most from FBC you need a Unicable LNB.

I have always had Vu boxes, but other developers in the OpenViX team have the GigaBlue UE and are very pleased with it and is well within your budget.

[gedwal]

Thank you both, I have been searching through the various sources of information and arrived at the need for a Unicable LNB. I have been in touch with World of Satellite through their ticket process and they have advised using the Unicable 2. Unless somebody comes forward with a method where I can record at least three channels together whilst watching another I think I shall be going with the Gigablue. From my limited learning to date I'm starting to feel that getting to grips with a receiver is more akin to a phone than computer. Indeed yesterday I read somewhere of someone warning about unlocking, or similar, a boot loader which is something needed to be done with a phone before being able to install alternative software. The various receiver images also come across in a similar fashion. LineageOS is based around Android and offers various options depending on the users needs and choices.
I have to say I am looking forward to purchasing a receiver and getting involved in the setting up and countless options that seem to be out there for these devises.
One question I keep meaning to ask forum members, and this probably suits Morini best, is when I eventually purchase a receiver and set it up as it should be, does the whole process continue to work in the same manner as Sky Q does. I'm hopping I can just get it up and running with a regular EPG that gives me options to view about a week ahead, record channels in a straight forward manner and more or less have it setup as a Sky Q box would. My wife is not very adventurous when it comes to technology and I'm more concerned about her.
Second question lies with this Forum. I tried to register here at the beginning of my search and having run through the requested details it refused to accept my sign in. After several attempt I gave up and registered with Digitalworldz which was no problem at all. It was only when I received an email from this site pointing out I needed to accept the rules. I clicked on the email which opened the site and I liked the look of it. On a further attempt to sign in it was this time accepted and I'm glad to say here I am. The only other issue I've had is getting to the Hello section. I found the area but was unable to post and so went to the General Topics section. Most of this is probably me, I don't that often get involved with forums although this may well change once my receiver purchase is made.
For now thank you both.
Gerard

[Morini]

One question I keep meaning to ask forum members, and this probably suits Morini best, is when I eventually purchase a receiver and set it up as it should be, does the whole process continue to work in the same manner as Sky Q does. I'm hopping I can just get it up and running with a regular EPG that gives me options to view about a week ahead, record channels in a straight forward manner and more or less have it setup as a Sky Q box would. My wife is not very adventurous when it comes to technology and I'm more concerned about her.

Sky TV is outrageously expensive for what it is, but I have to say the Sky Q interface and EPG are very slick, intuitive and user friendly. You can get a close(ish) proximity with enigma, but if I'm honest the UI isn't as good as Sky Q. My wife likes "simple" (my adult offspring don't actually watch a lot of TV), so I have to set things up so it "just works". Luckily we had an enigma receiver before we switched over to sky so my wife didn't take long to get used to it again. The biggest difference where Sky appears more "polished" is around series record. With Q its a one click thing whereas with E2 the autotimers are a little bit more difficult to set up. My wife normally tells me what she wants recorded and I set up the autotimers for her.

The rest of it is pretty similar experience. You can have a nice 7 day EPG and there is plenty of flexibility when it comes to look and feel.

Second question lies with this Forum. I tried to register here at the beginning of my search and having run through the requested details it refused to accept my sign in. After several attempt I gave up and registered with Digitalworldz which was no problem at all. It was only when I received an email from this site pointing out I needed to accept the rules. I clicked on the email which opened the site and I liked the look of it. On a further attempt to sign in it was this time accepted and I'm glad to say here I am. The only other issue I've had is getting to the Hello section. I found the area but was unable to post and so went to the General Topics section. Most of this is probably me, I don't that often get involved with forums although this may well change once my receiver purchase is made.
For now thank you both.
Gerard

Can't help with that, though I locked myself out of my own account recently when trying to change the email address I have associated with my profile. I didn't receive any verification email to the new address so i had to switch back tom my gmail address to get back on. Maybe there are some issues with site email delivery?