Quick roundup of the ultimo for people who are looking to buy.

[fruitball]

Hi all thought i would give my initial impressions of the vu+ ultimo as i have just recently purchased one.

I bought this receiver due to wanting the ability to have 3 tuners and to be able to mix and match them so i will have 2 tuners for satellite and 1 for terrestrial. Also i wanted it because vu+ is a good make and there is plenty of support out there for the receivers, I also have the duo so i wanted the reliabilty of the vu+ and also the support that goes with it.

Price: Mine cost £450 and im happy with that. For what you get it is not bad atall. Remember the dm800se is £429 and does not hold a candle to this receiver. Now you can buy an original duo for £280 - £300 but you only get 2 tuners. If you spend the little extra and get the ultimo you wont be dissapointed, You get better cpu, and more memory which is always a good thing. Tuners are slightly better then duo, you get a damm sexy vfd display, 2 cam slots and 2 cards slots, wireless dongle for the receiver included, 3 tuner slots to record up to 8 channels at once, and with mix and match it doubles as a freeview box and a cable box. Qwerty remote (may not be everyones cup of tea but you can change it).

Hardware:
400 Mhz processor (BCM 7413)
• 10/100 MBit compatible Ethernet Interface
• HDMI Connection
• 3 x Pluggable Tuner Slots (DVB-S2/C/T)
• WIFI USB dongle 300 Mb
• Plug & Play support for 2.5" and 3.5" SATA hard drive
• Big graphic display 256x64 pixel OLED

Technical Data:

Broadcom 400MHz MIPS processor (BCM7413)
1GB Flash
512MB Ram

Front Panel
2 x Smart Card slot
2 x Common Interface
1 x USB 2.0
Key 5 buttons (standby, volume + / -, Ch + / -)
Large Graphic VFD display type (256 × 64) pixels

Rear Panel
3 x Pluggable Tuner Slots (DVB-S2/C/T)
1 x TV Scart Connection
1 x RCA Video output (composite)
Video output (component) YPbPr
1 x HDMI Video / Audio output (digital)
2 x RCA Audio output (analogue)
Audio output (digital) standard optical (SPDIF)
2 x USB 2.0
1 x Ethernet
1 x RS 232
FAN Control Automatic
1 x e-SATA

Power
Main range 100-250/50-60 V / HZ
Power consumtion
(Max / type. Operation / standby) 60/25/1 W

RF
RF range 47-864 MHz
FEC, de-multiplexed DVB-S2 / DVB-C / DVB-T standard

Video
CCIR 601 video resolution (720 × 576 lines), 576p, 720p, 1080i
Video decoding MPEG-2, MPEG-4 compatible
Input data rate 2-45 Msymb / s
S / N> 53dB

Audio
Decoding AC3, MPEG-4 (AAC-HE), MPEG 1, Layer 1,2 and 3
Sampling rate 32/4.1/48KHz
S / N> 65dB

LNB
LNB supply (Hor / vert.) 14/18, max. 400 V / mA
Control 22KHz signal, ToneBurst, DiSEqC 1.0/1.1/1.2, USALS

General
Dimensions (WxHxD) 380 x 60 x 290mm
Weight 3.0 Kg
Universal Remote Remote / QWERTY keyboard

Im pleased to say it is nice and responsive, quicker then my duo and my dreambox (if set up right) and picture quality excellent.

Quality: Box came rapped up and uses a nice eco friendly box if that floats your boat, The receiver has touch sensitive buttons on the front and has an excellent paintjob. The unit it self is very well made and has adjustable blue leds for the front panel. Common interface slots is protected by a magnetic door which is nicely built. I like the remote that comes with the receiver but by no means the best, it is very LINE OF SIGHT dependent and you may want to change it to one of the harmany remotes. Receiver has a nice array of connectivity at the back which i have listed down in the specs up above.

support: I am using the latest vix image on my receiver and it is brilliant, nice and stable and nice and quick. Tried to make it crash a number of times but it will not. Blindscan feature is rubbish but hopefully will be sorted in the next image. not much more i can say as i really havent had a good play with it but i have loaded a multisat bueteq and using 2 tuners and it has performed flawlessly. I have my sub card for 13e and it works brilliantly. HD picture quality is excellent, optical out works well aswell. Always plenty of support on this site.

Verdict: If your willing to stump up the cash to buy it you will not be dissapointed, As with any linux receiver there may be some teething problems but help is always on hand here. Its truly an excellent receiver if you want 3 tuner capability and extra horse power the box has.

regards

fruitball.

16726

[Larry-G]

very nice write up and i totally love your custom VFD message, that just cracks me up.

[dilly1066]

Hiya, i have to agree with you on the write up fruitball, as you know i got a ultimo the day after you and so far very pleased with it, great photo of your display mate lol,


Sent from my iPad 4 using Tapatalk HD

[Huevos]

Tuners are slightly better then duoNo way, the Duo tuners are exceptional.

[fruitball]

No way, the Duo tuners are exceptional.

I beleive it is a matter of opinion. I have duo and ultimo plus dreambox, technomate and other receiver and i find the ultimo tuners are better then duo but then i have only used one image on the ultimo atm. From what i have tried the ultimo performs better then the duo so for me it is better. Guess it depends on the circumstances and what software loaded on the box eg drivers ect on how the software utilises the tuner.

[Huevos]

It's not a matter of opinion. The Ultimo tuner does have features that make it interesting to certain groups (like parameter auto-correction and blind scan capability) but the bottom line in performance is can it catch the signal and in that respect the Duo tuner is more sensitive especially at higher IFs.

Both tuners report incorrect front end info (drivers).

[fruitball]

Well as a satellite installer by trade for 11 years installing systems for hundreds of customers a month i have had a chance to play with a wide variety of receivers, linux or not, dedicated or not, fiber optic systems and irs systems, You name it i have done it, And i find the ultimo results are slightly better then duo. At the end of the day they will never beat calibrated meters and equipment but i stand by what i say as i have the to receivers sitting in front of me now and im playing with them as i type my results that the ultimo is better, slightly more sensitive but still not perfect. I find the duo tuners are blind as bats. As i say only a matter of opinion

[Huevos]

as a satellite installer by trade for 11 years installing systems for hundreds of customers a month i have had a chance to play with a wide variety of receiversI'm an installer too but that doesn't make my posts more valid than anyone else's.

It's not a matter of opinion. The tuner in the Duo is more sensitive than the Ultimo at higher IFs. Try doing a Google search for "Ultimo tuner problems". Also have a look here (http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?14995-tuner-problems).

Also, I don't know where you get the idea that the Duo is deaf, it's one of the most sensitive receivers out there.

BTW, don't get me wrong, I'd choose the Ultimo over the Duo in a flash.

[fruitball]

I'm an installer too but that doesn't make my posts more valid than anyone else's.

It's not a matter of opinion. The tuner in the Duo is more sensitive than the Ultimo at higher IFs. Try doing a Google search for "Ultimo tuner problems". Also have a look here (http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?14995-tuner-problems).

Also, I don't know where you get the idea that the Duo is deaf, it's one of the most sensitive receivers out there.

BTW, don't get me wrong, I'd choose the Ultimo over the Duo in a flash.

Hi m8, Just looked at the threads and see what you mean. Odd thing between testing the and see what conclusion i will come to, but for ME it does perform better then my original duo.

I noticed in the post it said about driver issues? Is that correct?

Cheers

fruitball

[Huevos]

I noticed in the post it said about driver issues? Is that correct?I don't know. It would be interesting to see the same screenshots for the Uno and Duo side by side. And also Ultimo and ET9x00. On my 1.8m dish I struggle to receive certain Astra 2 north beam transponders that were easy on the Duo. If it were drivers I could see that causing false readings on a signal bar, but I can't see how drivers could desensitize the tuner. A side by side test of Uno and Ultimo would be interesting too as the tuner is the same.

[fruitball]

I don't know. It would be interesting to see the same screenshots for the Uno and Duo side by side. And also Ultimo and ET9x00. On my 1.8m dish I struggle to receive certain Astra 2 north beam transponders that were easy on the Duo. If it were drivers I could see that causing false readings on a signal bar, but I can't see how drivers could desensitize the tuner. A side by side test of Uno and Ultimo would be interesting too as the tuner is the same.

Hmmm yes would be intresting to put the 2 receivers together. Was actually thinking about buying the uno but cash tight atm, But if i do buy it i will do a side by side comparision.
Unless anyone else would care to do it if they already have the receivers?

[clem58]

I was lookin at this unit and on your recommendation , i don't think i will be disappointed :thumbsup:

[parkher]

Comparison of Ultimo with ET9000 would be very interesting, as they both have the same processor.

I need to buy a new receiver next week, before Roland Garros begins on Sunday :)
I love ET9000 but I'm thinking about Ultimo.
The third tuner might come handy too - for cable.

[Stanman]

Have both and for the extra monsy the Ultimo is wotyh it, bigger VFD and plug and play triple tuner well wortn it imho