Fortec star HD receiver now in maplin

[woodlouse]

Radiobuff, thanks for help with my loss of Prosieben HD. You were right, it wasn't recognised as HD channel.
I sorted it by deleting the relevant TP before entering values manually and then re-scanning. Now it works fine.

[SatelliteVirgin]

someone at Fortec has an ugly stick, that's for sure

You are not wrong there - and the bloody dish in the Maplin kit is brilliant white - sticks out like a sore thumb.

Other than that it seems to do the job. Never had a Sat STB so can't compare. Will see me through until Free HD Sat is more established and better boxes come out over the next few years. I think Freeview through my Samsungs own tuner is a tab better than the Passion SD, but its a close call.

[Analoguesat]

You are not wrong there - and the bloody dish in the Maplin kit is brilliant white - sticks out like a sore thumb..

So spray paint it with summat like car undercoat spray paint.

[vulmac]

I had the same problem with BBC HD at one time. Re-scanning for it doesn't help. I discovered the receiver wasn't recognizing it as an HD channel. Copy your channel list from your receiver on to a USB memory stick, then delete the ProSieben HD channel on the receiver. Take the memory stick to your computer and load into the channel editor. (If you don't already have it, v1.01 is at _http://laurals.net/fortecstar_passion_software.htm. Go to ProSieben 7 on the channel list, double click on it and check that the HD box is ticked. If not, put a tick in the box. Copy the list to the memory stick and download it to the Passion. Hopefully this will do the trick.

I am having this problem with BBC HD. I downloaded the editor but I cant find a HD box to tick any help appreciated.There are three tick boxes they are Locked Scrambled and Skipped .I downloaded version 1.00.I cant get version 1.01 as the download is password locked on laurals

[Llew]

For access to Laurals HD receiver info -

Logon Name: laurals53

Password: HD1080

Llew

[vulmac]

For access to Laurals HD receiver info -

Logon Name: laurals53

Password: HD1080

Llew

Many thanks for your reply unfortunately now I get a message that the file does no longer exist. In the meantime I deleted the BBC HD and re scanned thre frequency and all is well .I would still like to get the editor for future use.

[Llew]

Here's channel editor version 1.01 -

[timpe]

Purchased a Fortec Star Passion beta stock from Maplin 2 weeks back at £99. Also bought a roll of insulating tape to take the order value up to £100 and used the £7 discount voucher. I have had Fortec Star boxes before, but used them as 2nd receivers for the family, and used a Technomate 1600 as the main box as I preferred its capabilitis for blind scan, epg and general user interface design.
The Passion is a leap forward for Fortec, and the beta stock arrived in the original box, with only some slight signs of use around the on/off when viewed in strong light. Bargain. Worked out of the box.
Read the psost here and updated the firmware from 1.05 to 1.07. Also downloaded the channel editor. Use USB up and downloading and found this totally reliable.
The Passion is great and I would recommend it, especially at the price. Drive my panel through HDMI at 1080 and find no picture problems. Even the kids notice the better quality! The USALS works, but sometimes find some problems with it not motoring to the right point. Going to menu and changing to Disequ and manually moving the motor, then returning to USALS and using Go To Satellite option resolves this.
Miss the blind scan of the Technomate and experience problems with HD channels sometimes not working. Flicking through HD channels (setup in a Favourite) ususally gets one to work, then the others work again. Needs more work on firmware?
Found that HD channels loaded back from the channel editor software are not recognised, and have to be deleted and rescanned. Read the post about the HD tick box, and havent looked at this to see if this is the error yet.
Thanks to all who have posted here before with information. Very useful and great information.
The Passion looks like it could be a great platform for development, and if Fortec are clever they will support this as it will make sure they capture market share.

[Llew]

Hi timpe, welcome to the forum.

Nice to hear some positive comments on the Passion. There was a lot of activity regarding software development for the receiver from beta testers in alliance with Fortec in the months since it appeared, but has dropped off recently probably because of the impending release of new HD models from Fortec.

Still a great box for the price though

Llew

[timpe]

I did see mention of v1.08 firmware release, any information on this?

The simple PVR capability of the Technomate HD box to record HD through the USB port would be nice as well.

It would be a shame if Fortec abandoned the Passion so quickly, as it would certainly mean that I would go back to Technomate for a future purchase to avoid the built in obselecence.

[Llew]

Don't think there were any major changes to the FW with the 1.08 upgrade. It was a beta stage, never released officially.

Apparently some reports of a brighter picture with SD and HD.

[teddie]

i had the passion for 3 weeks,..great hd and upscaled sd pictures,...i had to leave it back ,..diablo not initalising most of the time,.and when left in passion the cam got very very hot ,..as a lot of other owners discovered,..too many problems with this STB,..even with all the new firmware,...this box was not ready when it was released,...i now have a tm hd 68000,..now theres a joy to behold,...teddie.

[a_q]

There is a new offer in Maplin for the Fotec Star plus dish. I picked up a 'B' grade one and have attached it to my TV.

So far I have the menus up and I've just attached the dish - just about to point it (I'll wait till the adverts in the Rangers match ;^)

However I only have the menu on composite video so far - I have tried connecting the Fortec to the plasma screen (old NEC) with a HDMI->DVI lead but no dice - there is no video out of the HDMI. I have set the thing up to 720p and CVBS (RGB greys out the 720 option).

So my question is will it output video on the HDMI port ONLY to a HDMI device - not DVI? Or are there any tricks?

P.S. Slung a dish up on the roof on a couple of bricks and tuned it in in under 30 minues on Astra 18.2E, is this a record? ;^)

[mick2me]

Been away from these forums for a while.
Now with the coming of FreeSat

Can you tell me what I need to do with the Fortec Passion to get it?
I have a Diablo and CAS3

[Llew]

Download the Passion loader and channel firmware from _www.fortecstar.com.

You don't need a cam for the Freesat channels.

[mick2me]

Download the Passion loader and channel firmware from _www.fortecstar.com.

You don't need a cam for the Freesat channels.

Thank You Llew

Are they on 28e?

[tricky1]

Hi there how do i use the power search mode on the passion, since i updated the software a menu with the amount of time in hours you could set for the scan has gone, do you still have to put the passion into standby mode to make it happen, i just have a fixed dish pointing at 28.2 E, also is power search the same as blind scan, cheers

[Llew]

Thank You Llew

Are they on 28e?

Yes mate, check them out here -

_www.lyngsat.com/28east.html

[Llew]

Hi there how do i use the power search mode on the passion, since i updated the software a menu with the amount of time in hours you could set for the scan has gone, do you still have to put the passion into standby mode to make it happen, i just have a fixed dish pointing at 28.2 E, also is power search the same as blind scan, cheers

I usually left the box in standby overnight with powersearch on. I can't recall seeing the time-setting facility in the earlier F/W though (?)

No blindscan available, it just loads the latest network info from your chosen satellite.

Llew

[tricky1]

Many thanks Llew

[lopos2000]

The Passion HD receiver will be on offer at Maplin from Wednesday for £159.99 incl. dish and LNB.

[lopos2000]

Just to let know. The Passion HD offer at Maplin is even better now. I cheched three boxes out today and all of them had a Passion+ receiver in it instead of a Passion one. So I decided to buy one. A real bargain for £159.99 if you ask me.

[timpe]

Is the difference between the Passion and Passion+ firmware or hardware?

If it is firmware, does anyone know if a firmware upgrade will be possible to existing Passion receivers to allow PVR through the front USB socket?

[Ratchet]

Is the difference between the Passion and Passion+ firmware or hardware?

If it is firmware, does anyone know if a firmware upgrade will be possible to existing Passion receivers to allow PVR through the front USB socket?

The Passion + has a different mainboard with a new chipset that supports PVR functions via USB. It is not possible to get PVR funcionality on the standard Passion HD due to hardware limitations.

[kosovac]

OK, thank you a lot of the , and so I can watch HD channels on the receiver?