[Cham]

Well I was rather surprised to find a package delivered sometime today at the door... Opened it up and looks like what I ordered. Tiny little receiver.
Will play with it later this evening, looking forward to seeing what it will do!

The shipping/tracking must be really messed up. Still shows delivered to Logan, Utah. Maybe I moved and didn't know it...

 

[Jorgek]

Well I was rather surprised to find a package delivered sometime today at the door... Opened it up and looks like what I ordered. Tiny little receiver.
Will play with it later this evening, looking forward to seeing what it will do!

The shipping/tracking must be really messed up. Still shows delivered to Logan, Utah. Maybe I moved and didn't know it...

A lot of the menu configs appear to be similar to my old Openbox S9. Its not just a sat rcvr but a media player. I haven't tried all the options yet. Have fun.

 

[Jorgek]

Here you can find the ALI editor to try out. 【V9Prime/V8UHD/V9 SUPER/V8Finder-METER】Ali DBEditor(12/05/2021) - GTMEDIA Forum

 

[Cham]

Very basic, easy to setup. Have about 20 sats programmed in this am. Set it up on a 90cm Ku dish and motor combo. Drives the motor perfectly. Set up all the sats in USALS mode except for 30W which works in diseqc 1.2 mode, just drive the motor to the eastern limit and play with the signal a bit to max it out, save the position, and away we go.
I see @cyberham has a channel/sat list posted, will try to load that when I have time.
Speaking of time, have to set my time zone. Haven't found that yet.
Web apps might need a network connection, haven't set that up yet either so no reports on that. I'll have to find the mac address and set up an internal IP with port filtering before connecting it. Considering the source I certainly don't want to give it unlimited web access!

 

[cyberham]

I've posted a North American satellite database in a separate posting on this site. I find USALS works well.

Time setting is Menu > Setting > System Setup > Local Time Setting. The web apps don't work well. Use this box only as a satellite receiver and you will be happy with it. I recommend setting up a wifi connection. It works better that way.

 

[laurienicol]

I still have the GeoSat Pro 1200, and my range with the 1.2 meter dish and STAB HH120 motor, is from 72W to 129W.
Talk is about the new V9 Prime. I hardly ever change satellites anymore. Mostly my young bride watches her religious programs on Galaxy 19.
Is there a good reason for me to change to the V9 ? Even with the 1.2 meter dish, some of the signals on the KU band are a little iffy.

Laurie in Delta BC (and roof mounted DB8e)

 

[cyberham]

I'm not familiar with the GSP 1200 so I can't compare. But the V9 Prime has the fastest Blind Scan I've seen. It also has Accurate Scan which is a slower blind scan so I assume it's checking the spectrum more carefully than when blind scanning. The receiver is very sensitive so it picks up a lot of data transponders which are of no practical value other than making you feel you are catching everything up there. These data tps can be useful if you are trying to zero in on a satellite that you haven't received from before. The V9 can lock very low SR transponders. I've locked down to SR 360.

The V9 supports H.265 (HEVC) video decoding so this may occasionally let you view more transponders. The V9 does well on C-band. With your 1.2m dish, if you've never tried a C-band LNBF with it, you should. It's fun experimenting with that. Of course, a larger C-band dish is much better and opens new worlds over Ku only.

 

[laurienicol]

I was looking at the LNB mount on my 1.2m dish. It's not so simple to just swap out the LNBF for a much bigger and heavier dual C/KU LNBF. at least the ones I've found doing an internet search. For me, it's just not worth the trouble to re-engineer the brackets to hold and focus a dual band LNB. Easier to look for a used 6ft dish meant for the C band and swap out the 4 ft dish. If the STAB HH120 motor could handle it.
laurie in Ladner

 

[Cham]

The GSP 1200 is a 9 year old receiver. If it does what you want it's fine. It will do C-band as well, and It would likely get many TPs. Not sure how many receivers these days have a built-in PVR, but most have a USB connection for an external drive, including the V9.

There are newer receivers from GeoSat Pro that are likely more similar to program than the V9 Prime. I think Titanium (Brian) sells them and SatelliteAV. My main receiver I use most of the time is an Edison OS MIO 4k which works well on stationary dishes (Ku and C-band), but it lacks motor control for c-band dishes. There are add-on products that can control the linear actuators using diseqc2 programming in the receiver which works fine, just another thing to purchase if you are using an aim-able C-band dish. I have an ASC-1 unit to control the big dish.
Big C-band dishes are heavy and clumsy to move, and neighbours might not appreciate seeing them in your yard, HOAs etc to deal with. Then you need a significant supporting structure which may include a cement pad; labour to dig a hole (equipment rental) for a base and concrete, strong metal pole to mount it on (may be included with the mount if it is used). It can be quite a project, but for many of us it is part of the enjoyment of the hobby.

 

[cyberham]

I was looking at the LNB mount on my 1.2m dish. It's not so simple to just swap out the LNBF for a much bigger and heavier dual C/KU LNBF. at least the ones I've found doing an internet search....
laurie in Ladner

I used to just swap out the entire LNB bracket of my dish from a Ku-band to C-band LNBF. I had a dedicated larger bracket for the C LNBF. Of course then I could only use it on either Ku or C, not both simultaneously. But it took only a couple minutes to change between brackets (one bolt/nut holds them). Then I still had the motor to use on either band. I did try mounting a Ku LNB beside the C LNBF using an accessory bracket that allowed this. So the Ku LNB was offset by about 6 degrees and I could compensate for this on my motor programming. But I quickly learned that I like having each of my LNBs at the perfect dish focus for best reception. So I would alternate between Ku and C.

 

[Cham]

I've posted a North American satellite database in a separate posting on this site. I find USALS works well.

Time setting is Menu > Setting > System Setup > Local Time Setting. The web apps don't work well. Use this box only as a satellite receiver and you will be happy with it. I recommend setting up a wifi connection. It works better that way.

Yes I've set that but the time is still messed up. Turned on and off DST, switched time zones, etc..
I don't have it plugged into the network though. Checked with my test router and it wants to connect to several CN IP addresses and ports. I'll block them (except NTP) and see what it does when I connect it to the outside world. Maybe I'll have to let it connect, set NTP, and then shut down the network port and see what happens. Rainy day here, have a few jobs in the shop to do, then maybe I'll play with it some more.

 

[cyberham]

I never use the automatic time setting capability; I always have set the time manually. But I just set the automatic method and it seems to be working. Will it stay accurate? Worth trying since setting the time manually is a daily task because it won't stay accurate that way. I have wifi enabled maybe that helps.

 

[cyberham]

... and it wants to connect to several CN IP addresses and ports. I'll block them ...

What are you afraid will happen if you leave it connected? Who cares if it "calls home"? If somebody on the other side of the world records my viewing habits does it matter?

 

[Jorgek]

As well as "recording" your viewing habits, what else can it hack into?

 

[cyberham]

The only danger I can see is if the receiver gives access to outsiders via your home network to look into other devices such as your computers on your network. If it can do this, then it would be a concern. I doubt this though. I've tried using the network and both my PC and smartphone to access the receiver and I've failed in this.

 

[Jorgek]

The only danger I can see is if the receiver gives access to outsiders via your home network to look into other devices such as your computers on your network. If it can do this, then it would be a concern. I doubt this though. I've tried using the network and both my PC and smartphone to access the receiver and I've failed in this.

You may have failed, but you are not an experienced hacker are you?

 

[cyberham]

Definitely not. Not even an INexperienced hacker.

 

[cyberham]

... but the time is still messed up...

So I gave up using the automatic time setting feature. I think this item has the age-old problem that it syncs to specific satellites to automatically set the time. But when you change to a different satellite, then that satellite may not have accurate time. I've changed my box back to manual time setting and just check the time maybe once each day to be sure it's reasonably accurate. This is a weakness of this box and of most Ali chipset receivers.

 

[Jorgek]

Hard to believe you can buy a $10 watch that will keep accurate time yet the receiver manufacturers can't do so!

 

[JeffE2]

That's a good range for a Ku motor. When living in the east, I could receive as far east as 3W. With the exception of the 3W satellite, there wasn't much to receive on Ku east of 30W. Now living in the west, I can see as far west as 150W continuous from 82W then I jump with a fixed dish pointed at 180E. From 129W through 150W there are only data transponders on Ku. This is all why I'm glad I got my C-band dish up. It gives new things to explore. The day temps here (about 21C today) are perfect for working in as long as you stay in the shade!

I just started playing with Ku gear (StarChoice 60cm and motor) this summer. I've got a problematic GTMedia V8UHD that I'm awaiting firmware for, but have had some working sessions.

I'm in Victoria BC (123W), and have gotten signals between 123W and 95W. I'd love to get New Zealand and French Polynesia channels (172E 166E), but I've got a hill directly West of me. We still have undersea cables that run from here to Fiji, I think. Until those Sino-Russ science ships drag the cables. . .

I gather programming meant for Alaska is entirely C band. And maybe beam-formed away from me. I guess the South America stuff can't be heard up here?