VU+ Duo Problems with S*y

[stu25171]

I live in Spain (Costa del Sol) I had a S*y HD box with the movies and HD enabled, but later in the afternoon, I would loose most of the movie, HD and music channels. I phoned the local installer to discuss the problem and he told me it was the modulation range lmitation of the box. ( I thought I needed a bigger dish as it just seems that certain times of the day that I lost everything I have a 120cm dish).

He then sold me a VU+Duo with 500Gb HDD (for a lot more than I could have got one myself) came and set it up with the Black Hole image.

I have encountered many problems since. No EPG, EPG recording randomly, stopping recording 5-10 minutes from the end of the programme.

And I still do not receive the same channels as before with the old box.

When I asked him about these problems he had no idea how to help me, he just told me that his mate had set up the box and it worked fine when he tried it at his house....

Can anyone please offer any advice??? i.e. Should I try and reflash with Vix image? Is there any way to help the EPG record on time? I have set up the Cross EPG plug in and the Fast EPG Plugin I got instructions from this site it is very good.

Or do I go back to my old s*y HD box and get a bigger dish?? He certainly won't take it back.

It is more for my wife to use, she finds the Black Hole menus very unuser friendly and the channel listing is quite complex as you have to add everything to the favourites boquet so you do not scroll through every satellite in space.

Thanks.

[Stanman]

First off did he give you any gifts with the box?

[basilyoung]

on the VU are you using your card ( sky card ) on this unit, and is the unit internet connected?? if so, disconnect the internet connection to the unit straight away, or remove the card

and yes, get a bigger dish, the "modulation" is bullsh*t

[stu25171]

Internet but no card.

[stu25171]

No gifts, not sure what you mean.

[Stanman]

Without a card, how are you viewing the channels?

[basilyoung]

are you getting sky on your vu+ ?? and other encrypted channels,

[stu25171]

Card in Internet out. HD channels still do not work. It must be the dish size. I would still like to know if there are more user friendly images to use with this box.

[basilyoung]

dish size for uk channels in spain...needs to be very big...not sure of what size to recomend to you

but on the unit ( vu ) your standard sky unit is no worse or better than the duo, and recomend you do not use the VU
I am slightly confused by some of your post though, the VU unit, how much did it cost you, and also why did you buy it, it sounds to me, that you have been taken for a right mug

[stu25171]

Yip I think you are right about the mug bit. I bought it because I was told that my Sky box did not have the range for the channels is Spain. It is a Pace. But you live and learn. The 120 used to be enough, but as more and more channels have been added it seems to be less able. The dish is mounted on my chimney so I think the biggest I can go with is 140. Would a new LNB help? Thanks for the help though... :)

[basilyoung]

Yip I think you are right about the mug bit. I bought it because I was told that my Sky box did not have the range for the channels is Spain. It is a Pace. But you live and learn. The 120 used to be enough, but as more and more channels have been added it seems to be less able. The dish is mounted on my chimney so I think the biggest I can go with is 140. Would a new LNB help? Thanks for the help though... :)

regards to the range in spain,..surely thats not relivent, as you are trying to watch uk channels, they would be the same in spain as they are here
back to the VU,...does it give you any thing of use?? is, Spainish, italian or whate ever? if it gives nothing of note,...perhaps you need to confront the dealer, and ask for your money back

also what image is on the unit? this is important, as you may also of been sold a clone unit

[stu25171]

The image is Black Hole. What is a clone unit? How would I know and what difference would it make??

[basilyoung]

it would make a big difference, in that, in time, the unit will very likely fail

if the unit gives you nothing speacial, I would update the unit to the latest image, thats if you want to keep it, the latest images give you a full epg on uk/non uk providers

[stu25171]

Could I use the ViX image with the flashing instructions available on this site? And, do they have the Sky channels or do I need to add them? I have never done this before, but am fairly computer handy...

[basilyoung]

Could I use the ViX image with the flashing instructions available on this site? And, do they have the Sky channels or do I need to add them? I have never done this before, but am fairly computer handy...

yes, its a simple process, all done via usb, channel list can be downloaded direct from the unit, via plugins, catseye listings are very good if you use a motorized system, mr mister listings for uk only

[Alec]

I live in Spain (Costa del Sol) I had a S*y HD box with the movies and HD enabled, but later in the afternoon, I would loose most of the movie, HD and music channels. I phoned the local installer to discuss the problem and he told me it was the modulation range lmitation of the box. ( I thought I needed a bigger dish as it just seems that certain times of the day that I lost everything I have a 120cm dish).

He then sold me a VU+Duo with 500Gb HDD (for a lot more than I could have got one myself) came and set it up with the Black Hole image.

I have encountered many problems since. No EPG, EPG recording randomly, stopping recording 5-10 minutes from the end of the programme.

And I still do not receive the same channels as before with the old box.

When I asked him about these problems he had no idea how to help me, he just told me that his mate had set up the box and it worked fine when he tried it at his house....

Can anyone please offer any advice??? i.e. Should I try and reflash with Vix image? Is there any way to help the EPG record on time? I have set up the Cross EPG plug in and the Fast EPG Plugin I got instructions from this site it is very good.

Or do I go back to my old s*y HD box and get a bigger dish?? He certainly won't take it back.

It is more for my wife to use, she finds the Black Hole menus very unuser friendly and the channel listing is quite complex as you have to add everything to the favourites boquet so you do not scroll through every satellite in space.

Thanks.
What you should do first is look for the Astra 2 footprint for Spain. Something like this http://www.brymar.co.uk/info/europe_dish_size/Spain/spain.html. Buy a suitable dish and then a decent LNB. Setting up the box can be a nightmare if you are new, and requires a lot of reading. http://www.astra2.org/astra2.html

[twol]

Could I use the ViX image with the flashing instructions available on this site? And, do they have the Sky channels or do I need to add them? I have never done this before, but am fairly computer handy...

Ok, so I live in Germany... not quite Spain but at least I understand some of the problems :confused::)
1) I have a 1 metre dish, so would expect your needs to be greater, but there are various WEB sites that can help on this .. just Google or PM
2) providing you have the correct dish and alignment, the Sky box may be OK, what model do you have?? A thomson box that has upgraded PSU is OK but will not have the latest EPG, a newer Amstrad or the VU is better.
3) Updating the VU to a VIX image is straightforward, and with Mr Mister bouquets uses the same Sky channel numbers, which would please your wife.
4) support for Sky packages such as Sports and films requires installation of additional add ons such as CCcam, but again is pretty simple.
5) the CrossEpg add on with the VIX image provides an EPG that is at least as good as the latest new Sky EPG

[starskyman]

I have a 1.4 mtr dish in Benalmadena and have not experienced any problems apart from loosing bbc1 itv1 and channel 4. Itv 2,3 & 4 are available in hd channels. I use open vix and have found it easy to setup and add to.