FAQ: FTA receivers to avoid buying - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

DrSat · 2011-07-25, 01:03 PM

In order to avoid having people wasting money on poor performing FTA receivers, we will be listing brands to avoid purchasing in here. It is sad that some dealers still highly recommend some receivers in this list as they only cater to the piracy market even if the actual receiver itself is a poor performer for FTA use.

As you can notice, a common issue with all receivers in this list is that the only satellites and transponders that tend to be current are the Echostar and Nimiq satellites so it takes a lot of time to update it by hand when setting up the receiver, especially for a motorized system.

Main brands to avoid:

nFusion: Horrible user interface, buggy software, outdated satellite list and no blind scan. Very hard to bring up satellite list in order to filter channels for only 1 satellite at a time. Company is no longer in business so no warranty.
nFusion HD: Outdated satellite list, buggy software, no blind scan and receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module). Company is no longer in business so no warranty.
Sonicview: Outdated satellite list and buggy software which makes the satellite & channel list become corrupted from time to time. Unable to assign or edit satellite orbital locations so newly added satellites must use DiSEqC 1.2 instead of USALS for motor positioning. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches). Piracy software on most firmware versions, even with so called "factory firmware". "Update required" error message appears when receiver is used for non-piracy use with newer firmware versions, even with the latest factory firmware file. Company existence is uncertain as it is currently being sued by Dish Network as their staff is involved with satellite piracy.
Sonicview HD: Outdated satellite list and buggy software which makes the satellite & channel list become corrupted from time to time. Unable to assign or edit satellite orbital locations so newly added satellites must use DiSEqC 1.2 instead of USALS for motor positioning. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches). Unlike what is claimed in the specifications, receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module). Sonicview was contacted in regards to this but they don't care as they only cater to the piracy market. Power supply easily fails due to inferior capacitors being used. Piracy software on most firmware versions, even so called "factory firmware". "Update required" error message appears when receiver is used for non-piracy use with newer firmware versions, even with the latest factory firmware file. Company existence is uncertain as it is currently being sued by Dish Network as their staff is involved with satellite piracy.
Viewsat: Outdated satellite list. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches) Poor blind scan performance. Company is no longer in business so no warranty.
Viewsat HD: Outdated satellite list. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches) Poor blind scan performance. Unlike what is claimed in the specifications, receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module). Company is no longer in business so no warranty.
Nanosat aka Conaxsat CNX nano: Outdated satellite list. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches). Buggy software.
Limesat: Re-branded Viewsat so same issues as Viewsat.
Limesat HD Air: Re-branded Viewsat HD so same issues as Viewsat HD. Unlike what is claimed in the specifications, receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module).
K-box: Outdated satellite list. Poor motor control with "dish moving" message appearing even when unnecessary. Have to wait for the message to timeout as no remote key will clear it unlike other receivers. Poor blind scan performance.
i-Link: Outdated satellite list. Buggy software.
Captiveworks: Outdated satellite list. Blind scan does not work.
Dreamlink HD: Similar to Limesat HD and other satellite piracy HD receiver in which unlike what is claimed in the specifications, the receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module).

Other brands to avoid:

Satzen / Zoomsat
NeoSat
Dreambox DM100 or DM500 (most of these are clones which have no official manufacturer warranty)

Please note that any retailer recommending or even carrying any of these receiver models as new units is most likely involved with satellite piracy and should be avoided in order to prevent indirectly supporting the piracy market. As well, many of these dealers are getting pursued legally by lawyers working for Bell TV and Dish Network so it is best to avoid doing any business with them.

Pinza · 2011-07-25, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrSat

Sonicview HD:"Update required" error message appears when receiver is used for non-piracy use with newer firmware versions, even with the latest factory firmware file.

Disagree with this statement 100%. I am running a Sonicview 8000, aimed at 3 birds, I get no message at all, it works just fine.

Also the OTA Tuner is good on this box IMHO, better than the one in the Bell PVR's I own.

tdti1 · 2011-07-25, 06:41 PM

Hey Pinza the Sonicview 8000 is worthless for most though no? it does not even do s2 so whats the point?

Pinza · 2011-07-25, 07:30 PM

It works fine for what I want.

DrSat · 2011-07-26, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinza

Disagree with this statement 100%. I am running a Sonicview 8000, aimed at 3 birds, I get no message at all, it works just fine.

Also the OTA Tuner is good on this box IMHO, better than the one in the Bell PVR's I own.

The "update required" error message is an issue with the latest factory firmware that Sonicview released for the SV8000. Since then, it appears they simply changed the link on their site to an older factory firmware version from January 2008 which does not have this problem instead of fixing it. The older firmware versions don't have this issue as piracy dongles are not supported on them but are missing all of the bug fixes and improvements made to the unit over the last 3+ years.

As you are using the receiver on a fixed dish system using a switch as opposed to a motorized dish, the fact that you can't add or edit satellite orbital locations has no impact to you. I agree that the ATSC tuner on this unit is fairly good but the focus of this thread is receivers used for FTA satellite.

The main reason I created this thread is to avoid having people paying lots of money for a receiver which has significant drawbacks as it was designed for satellite piracy. Not all brands are like this which is why you don't see Coolsat, Pansat or others listed in here as they don't suffer from the same usability issues even though they were also primarily designed and used for satellite

HDTV Junkee · 2011-07-26, 12:34 PM

Dr. Sat

Thank you for taking the time to prepare the above.

Pinza · 2011-07-26, 01:24 PM

Many thanks for that clarification, I must be running older software then, even though it was from the website only a few weeks ago.

bigredneck · 2011-07-27, 11:38 AM

I too think highly of sonicview. When piracy was virtually stopped, I bought several off of craigslist very very inexpensive. I cleaned up by factory reset. I have had exceptional service, & ease of operation. Openbox is a nightmare compared to sv. They just don't get all the channels

majortom · 2011-07-27, 10:48 PM

Bigredneck,
have you tried upgrading the firmware in your Openbox yet?
They've made some improvements. Loaded the July 17th North American version the other day. Seems pretty solid so far.

bigredneck · 2011-07-28, 09:26 AM

Majortom , no I haven't. I'll look up the file and give it a try. My wife is learning the openbox. But she hits the wrong buttons sometimes and gets truly frustrated. I changed to openbox just after she got comfortable with SV. We've gone OTA and FTA only. No more subs. Over a $100 month is now staying in my pocket. We have 20 OTA channels now that everything went digital. Plus many FTA.

tseto · 2011-07-30, 10:02 PM

I suggest pop open the remote control and place a small piece of black tape under the vformat button and you wouldn't loose video again. you still can access the video format by going through the menu button. at least you are in there by choice.

bigredneck · 2011-07-31, 06:18 AM

Great idea, my wife will be happy about that !

HDTV101 · 2011-07-31, 05:04 PM

That vformat button on the remote is the stupidest thing ever to put on a remote. It's like a self destruct mechanism.. you push it once and now you can't see anything to change it back.

The OpenBox remote is kind of cheaply made to me.... feels like it's going to fall apart if I drop it. The SV8000 has a very nice strong remote... only if the OpenBox had a remote like the SV.

HDTV Junkee · 2011-08-01, 11:39 AM

For me, the Video format button works extremely well.

I use it often, when I use my composite set-up (or other) through the Computer TV tuner USB stick).

I guess, it really is a mater of getting use to it. But, I must admit the manual for Openbox S9 is not as good as my Pansat 2500 clone.

ITguy · 2011-08-02, 04:56 PM

I am new to this forum and FTA. The only receiver I have is a Conaxsat Nano which is OK considering it's price of $40- but the software is buggy. I have the latest 7.11 version from the manufacturers website but for every glitch solved there is a new one to take it's place!
I am considering a Pansat 250m for $99.99 on EBay. HD or component output is not a necessity but RF modulation is because I am watching on a 1976 RCA Colortrak 26" console. I know it's old but the dot matrix CRT has an unbelievably warm and detailed picture. There is also a family history to it. Thanks.

2011-07-25, 01:03 PM	#1
DrSat Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Oakville, ON Posts: 655	FAQ: FTA receivers to avoid buying In order to avoid having people wasting money on poor performing FTA receivers, we will be listing brands to avoid purchasing in here. It is sad that some dealers still highly recommend some receivers in this list as they only cater to the piracy market even if the actual receiver itself is a poor performer for FTA use. As you can notice, a common issue with all receivers in this list is that the only satellites and transponders that tend to be current are the Echostar and Nimiq satellites so it takes a lot of time to update it by hand when setting up the receiver, especially for a motorized system. Main brands to avoid: nFusion: Horrible user interface, buggy software, outdated satellite list and no blind scan. Very hard to bring up satellite list in order to filter channels for only 1 satellite at a time. Company is no longer in business so no warranty. nFusion HD: Outdated satellite list, buggy software, no blind scan and receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module). Company is no longer in business so no warranty. Sonicview: Outdated satellite list and buggy software which makes the satellite & channel list become corrupted from time to time. Unable to assign or edit satellite orbital locations so newly added satellites must use DiSEqC 1.2 instead of USALS for motor positioning. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches). Piracy software on most firmware versions, even with so called "factory firmware". "Update required" error message appears when receiver is used for non-piracy use with newer firmware versions, even with the latest factory firmware file. Company existence is uncertain as it is currently being sued by Dish Network as their staff is involved with satellite piracy. Sonicview HD: Outdated satellite list and buggy software which makes the satellite & channel list become corrupted from time to time. Unable to assign or edit satellite orbital locations so newly added satellites must use DiSEqC 1.2 instead of USALS for motor positioning. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches). Unlike what is claimed in the specifications, receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module). Sonicview was contacted in regards to this but they don't care as they only cater to the piracy market. Power supply easily fails due to inferior capacitors being used. Piracy software on most firmware versions, even so called "factory firmware". "Update required" error message appears when receiver is used for non-piracy use with newer firmware versions, even with the latest factory firmware file. Company existence is uncertain as it is currently being sued by Dish Network as their staff is involved with satellite piracy. Viewsat: Outdated satellite list. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches) Poor blind scan performance. Company is no longer in business so no warranty. Viewsat HD: Outdated satellite list. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches) Poor blind scan performance. Unlike what is claimed in the specifications, receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module). Company is no longer in business so no warranty. Nanosat aka Conaxsat CNX nano: Outdated satellite list. Does not support DiSEqC 1.1 (i.e 8x1 switches). Buggy software. Limesat: Re-branded Viewsat so same issues as Viewsat. Limesat HD Air: Re-branded Viewsat HD so same issues as Viewsat HD. Unlike what is claimed in the specifications, receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module). K-box: Outdated satellite list. Poor motor control with "dish moving" message appearing even when unnecessary. Have to wait for the message to timeout as no remote key will clear it unlike other receivers. Poor blind scan performance. i-Link: Outdated satellite list. Buggy software. Captiveworks: Outdated satellite list. Blind scan does not work. Dreamlink HD: Similar to Limesat HD and other satellite piracy HD receiver in which unlike what is claimed in the specifications, the receiver does not support DVB-S2 8PSK (even with addon tuner module). Other brands to avoid: Satzen / Zoomsat NeoSat Dreambox DM100 or DM500 (most of these are clones which have no official manufacturer warranty) Please note that any retailer recommending or even carrying any of these receiver models as new units is most likely involved with satellite piracy and should be avoided in order to prevent indirectly supporting the piracy market. As well, many of these dealers are getting pursued legally by lawyers working for Bell TV and Dish Network so it is best to avoid doing any business with them. Last edited by DrSat; 2013-05-12 at 07:25 PM.

2011-07-25, 06:41 PM	#3
tdti1 Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Montreal Posts: 908	Hey Pinza the Sonicview 8000 is worthless for most though no? it does not even do s2 so whats the point? __________________ 4DTV DSR922 HDD 200 VC 2+ GI2500R VC 2 Pansat 2500a c/ku/dbs feed 10.6ft Clearview mesh AMC-8 to AMC-12 24"Venture.

2011-07-27, 11:38 AM	#8
bigredneck Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 196	I too think highly of sonicview. When piracy was virtually stopped, I bought several off of craigslist very very inexpensive. I cleaned up by factory reset. I have had exceptional service, & ease of operation. Openbox is a nightmare compared to sv. They just don't get all the channels __________________ "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"

2011-07-27, 10:48 PM	#9
majortom Veteran Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2,558	Bigredneck, have you tried upgrading the firmware in your Openbox yet? They've made some improvements. Loaded the July 17th North American version the other day. Seems pretty solid so far. __________________ uhf/vhf combo rotor chimney mount homebrew vhf hi hpf ap-8700 preamp 4way split lg lcd dtt901 pctuner mythtv

2011-07-28, 09:26 AM	#10
bigredneck Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 196	Majortom , no I haven't. I'll look up the file and give it a try. My wife is learning the openbox. But she hits the wrong buttons sometimes and gets truly frustrated. I changed to openbox just after she got comfortable with SV. We've gone OTA and FTA only. No more subs. Over a $100 month is now staying in my pocket. We have 20 OTA channels now that everything went digital. Plus many FTA. __________________ "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"

2011-07-25, 07:30 PM	#4
Pinza Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: GTA Posts: 8,572	It works fine for what I want.

2011-07-26, 12:34 PM	#6
HDTV Junkee Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 174	Dr. Sat Thank you for taking the time to prepare the above.

2011-07-26, 01:24 PM	#7
Pinza Veteran Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: GTA Posts: 8,572	Many thanks for that clarification, I must be running older software then, even though it was from the website only a few weeks ago.

2011-07-30, 10:02 PM	#11
tseto Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 58	I suggest pop open the remote control and place a small piece of black tape under the vformat button and you wouldn't loose video again. you still can access the video format by going through the menu button. at least you are in there by choice.

2011-07-31, 06:18 AM	#12
bigredneck Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: South Arkansas Posts: 196	Great idea, my wife will be happy about that ! __________________ "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"

2011-07-31, 05:04 PM	#13
HDTV101 Veteran Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2,000	That vformat button on the remote is the stupidest thing ever to put on a remote. It's like a self destruct mechanism.. you push it once and now you can't see anything to change it back. The OpenBox remote is kind of cheaply made to me.... feels like it's going to fall apart if I drop it. The SV8000 has a very nice strong remote... only if the OpenBox had a remote like the SV.

2011-08-01, 11:39 AM	#14
HDTV Junkee Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 174	For me, the Video format button works extremely well. I use it often, when I use my composite set-up (or other) through the Computer TV tuner USB stick). I guess, it really is a mater of getting use to it. But, I must admit the manual for Openbox S9 is not as good as my Pansat 2500 clone.

2011-08-02, 04:56 PM	#15
ITguy Rookie Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Ontario Posts: 1	FTA receivers that are a good buy I am new to this forum and FTA. The only receiver I have is a Conaxsat Nano which is OK considering it's price of $40- but the software is buggy. I have the latest 7.11 version from the manufacturers website but for every glitch solved there is a new one to take it's place! I am considering a Pansat 250m for $99.99 on EBay. HD or component output is not a necessity but RF modulation is because I am watching on a 1976 RCA Colortrak 26" console. I know it's old but the dot matrix CRT has an unbelievably warm and detailed picture. There is also a family history to it. Thanks.

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