mutant v solo2

[nsw9154]

Well I have had my Mut@nt for about 5 days now and I am very pleased with it but one thing I must ask about the Cable tuners

is their any benefit in having more than one cable fixed for the 4 tuners, I have tried various configurations as I decided to attach 2 cables, one cable to tuner 1 and looped to tuner 2 then the second cable connected to tuner 3 looped to tuner 4 seemed to work ok, but if I disconnect the second cable the signal drops and the picture freezes
so I tried connecting tuner's 1&4 and looping the rest from tuner 1 and I still lost the signal if i disconnected tuner 4's cable

so i set tuner 4 to "nothing connected" and I could not get a signal even with the other 2 cables connected to tuner's 1&2 but if I plug a cable in to tuner 4 even a loop cable, even though it is set to nothing connected I get the signal back and the signal is the same 50 to 54% no mater how many cables I have connected and I was going to fit 4 cables looks like I only need 1

[Rob van der Does]

There should be no issue looping through cables for cable signal. Signal strength will drop a bit, but it's signal quality that you should look at.

[nsw9154]

Thank's Rob that is what I thought, connecting my LX3 with the same cable I get 99% SNR but on the Mutant I only get 50/54% so I am not sure if it is the 4 way splitter that I am using as it seems the same no mater what output I use for either receivers
my splitter is 5-1000 MHZ would a higher value make it better or worse as I have seen splitters with a value of 5-2400 MHZ, so should I try one at that value

nearly forgot to mention thats why I thought 2 cables might be better as I will only have 1 loop through per cable so the signal should be stronger

[maxben]

Are your tuners hybrid C and T2 ?

If so the following information may or may not be useful or relevant.

I read the following on a German forum which I dare not post the link to here, it is referring to the the AX Quadbox HD2400 which is the same hardware as the Mutant just a different badge.

Du kannst die Box auch mit 2x Sat und 2x hybrid Tuner bestellen, von daher kein Problem. Nur 4x hybrid Tuner geht nicht, da kann Tuner 4 nur DVB-C sein.

Hier nochmal der Hinweis Text von dem Sat Shop, wo ich bestellt habe.

(*) Hinweis:*es werden max. 3x DVB-C/T2 Tuner unterstützt, daher ist das Angebot mit 4x C-Tuner so eingestellt das 3x ein Hybrid-Tuner (DVB-C/T2) geliefert wird und der 4. Tuner nur ein DVB-C Tuner ist (oder man nimmt die Variation mit 4x DVB-C Tuner, dann allerdings keine Hybrid-Tuner die auch DVB-T/T2 unterstützen würden) !

Google translate:

You can use the box with 2x satellite and 2x hybrid tuner order, therefore no problem. Only 4x hybrid tuner is not because tuner 4 can only DVB-C.

Here again, the text of the satellite shop where I ordered.

(*) Note: * there are max. 3x DVB-C / T2 tuner support, therefore, the one offering 4x C tuner is set to the 3x a hybrid tuner (DVB-C / T2) is supplied and the 4th tuner is a DVB-C tuner (or one takes the variation with 4x DVB-C tuner, but then no hybrid tuners would also support DVB-T / T2)!

Which I take to read

2 x S2 and 2 x C/T2 hybrid ok, which is what I have.

3 x hybrid and 1 x sat ok

3 x hybrid and 1 x dedicated C tuner ok

4 x sat ok

4 x dedicated C tuners ok

4 x hybrid not ok

I read somewhere else (can't remember where) This issue is down to hardware addressing evidently.

[Rob van der Does]

Ah, interesting. According to the German text this issue has only been found after the box had been for sale with 4 hybrid tuners.
It's worth trying the box with 3 instead of 4 tuners.

And indeed: this smells like a hardware issue, but it might be resolvable with a driver update.

[nsw9154]

Thank's again Rob and maxben I am going to try it with only 3 DVB-C/T/T2 Tuners and see if the SNR moves above 54% so I will disconnect No4 and let you know (hey that rhymed)

[Rob van der Does]

No, not just disconnect; remove the tuner completely from the box.

[nsw9154]

Sorry Rob I meant to say remove N04 tuner silly me

[Rob van der Does]

OK, good to be sure.

[nsw9154]

Well I have Unplugged tuner No4 and the SNR is still 53% so what do I do now, do I leave it with 3 tuners or re-fit the 4th tuner as the receiver seemed to work ok but will it cause other problems we do not know about

Mutant 3 tuners.jpg Mutant SNR.jpg

[Rob van der Does]

More important than looking at numbers: are there any issues when all 4 tuners are in use?

[nsw9154]

Well to be honest Rob I never noticed any apart from the low SNR, every thing else seems to be running fine now that Apollo 100 has sorted out all of the issues with the EPG menu, and time shift seems to be working fine as well, so I will leave it with just the 3 tuners for the time being and see how it goes as like I mentioned earlier I have only had it for about 6 days

one thing that I would like to ask is would using a different value splitter make any difference as the one I am using is 5-1000 MHZ and I have noticed that their are also 5-2400 MHZ ones would that work better or worse thanks in advance

[Rob van der Does]

I'm not sure about that. But as long as there are no issues (you had all tuners in use and checked PQ?) I would regard it as cosmetic.

[nsw9154]

Thank you for your help Rob much appreciated and seeing as the picture quality is fine I will put the 4th tuner back in and stop being paranoid

[rossi2000]

i had low snr reading on my et8000 with dvb-c, yet everyhting was ok.
new drivers rectified this issue.