Interested in the AB IPBox 9000HD

[AcWxRADAR]

Hello,

I read about the IPBox 9000HD Plus in TELESatellite magazine. I am very interested in this receiver, but there is not a direct outlet for these receivers in the US or Canada yet (that I know of).

I was pondering ordering one to play around with from a shop in the UK, but they seem resistant to sell.

They state that it is not for NTSC signals, but I am not looking at NTSC signals. We have mostly ATSC satellite signals (DVB-S and DVB-S2) here. The NTSC stuff is being phased out.

Everything that I have read from AB-COM's site regarding specs indicates that it should work for our free satellite signals here. The only two problems I would have to contend with are the AC input voltage considerations and the SCART outputs.

I would have to modify the line input circuitry to accept our voltage level by using a step up transformer.

As for the SCARTs, I assume I could just ignore them as I would be using the HDMI, YPbPr or S-Video outputs, so that is not a problem to simply leave the SCARTs as unused features.

Am I missing anything that would prevent this receiver from working with free to air signals here in the states? They transmit linear polarized downlink frequencies in 10.7 - 12.2 GHz FSS band with symbol rates up to 30.000 MS/s and are unencrypted. My Invacom QPH-031 LNBF converts this to 950 - 1450 MHz which works fine with my digital satellite receiver that I currently have.

I have several issues with my current system, one is that my receiver does not support 8PSK signals and there are many channels which are switching to this now. Also, my last two DVD/HDD recorders have failed miserably for me (they worked great for about a year each, then died a horrible and grotesque death about 2 months after the warranty expired).

With the internal HDD and dual tuner of the AB IPBox 9000HD, I would have everything I need with a few advanced amenities.

If anyone can shed some light on this receiver, I would be very grateful for the information!

I would like to state that I am new to this site and this is my first post here. I hope that I have adhered to the rules as I was a little uncertain about the North American providers discussion. I assumed that this inferred the pay subscription providers.

I am not referring to the signals from these sources. The signals I receive are what we refer to as FTA (Free To Air) signals which are unencrypted and available to all. I understand that Europe has a very great selection of FTA broadcasts, so I hope that our stateside counterpart is acceptable to speak of here.

I am a member of a similar forum in the U.S. where the same rules apply, we generally refer to the negatives as "hack talk" and that is not allowed.

Thank you,

AcWxRADAR

[compufunk]

They state that it is not for NTSC signals, but I am not looking at NTSC signals. We have mostly ATSC satellite signals (DVB-S and DVB-S2) here. The NTSC stuff is being phased out.

Hello and welcome AcWxRADAR,
NTSC refers to the signal sent from the box to the TV, not the signal sent from the satellite to the LNB/Box.

If the box doesnt provide for NTSC output to the your NTSC tv, then you wont be able to watch it. I'm surprised that it doesnt, a Dreambox for example can output PAL or NTSC.

As regards your other question on frequencies, I'll leave it to someone with more knowledge in this area.

Its a very nice receiver, the only thing that would put me off it is lack of compatibility with my chosen EMU.

C

EDIT:
According to this spec it can output in both PAL and NTSC.

_http://www.satbutikken.no/index.php/vmchk/HD-Tunere/IPBOX-9000-HD-HDTV-PVR.html

Are you sure this was the reason they were reluctant to sell you one?

[Topper]

Welcome to the forum AcWxRADAR

Well a sale is a sale is a sale as they say but I suspect there may be other reasons for their reluctance. Unfortunately too many European on-line sales stores have suffered at the hands of the International credit card fraudsters who rip off people world wide to the tune of some 48 million dollars each year, whilst nobody is suggesting you are one of them I agree in a genuine case it does seem a bit hard on folks but equally having worked for a company selling on line until last year, I do have a lot of sympathy with them. Ask them if that is indeed their concern, and if there is any other form/method of monetary transfer they would be willing to accept instead of, perhaps an international credit transfer.

[thecaretaker]

Just for info, I have the Cuberevo (Same box) and they have just updated the UBoot 1.3.3 which says:

add display : SD-NTSC, 720P-60HZ, 1080i-60HZ

The update was dated 4th May 2009

As for the reciever, I'm loving it. It's features are incredible and the picture quality on both upscaled SD and HD is the best. It took a while to get my head round as I had never had a Linux box before, but once you get the hang of it, it is well supported on various forums.

Official website: _http://www.cuberevo.com

[AcWxRADAR]

Hello and welcome AcWxRADAR,
NTSC refers to the signal sent from the box to the TV, not the signal sent from the satellite to the LNB/Box.

If the box doesnt provide for NTSC output to the your NTSC tv, then you wont be able to watch it. I'm surprised that it doesnt, a Dreambox for example can output PAL or NTSC.

As regards your other question on frequencies, I'll leave it to someone with more knowledge in this area.

Its a very nice receiver, the only thing that would put me off it is lack of compatibility with my chosen EMU.

C

EDIT:
According to this spec it can output in both PAL and NTSC.

_http://www.satbutikken.no/index.php/vmchk/HD-Tunere/IPBOX-9000-HD-HDTV-PVR.html

Are you sure this was the reason they were reluctant to sell you one?

Hello Compufunk,

No, I am not certain of their reasons, but that is what they stated and I am pretty certain that I did not read the specs incorrectly, so without direct supporting information from folks like you who own one, I have not too much to go on.

So, I jumped on the internet and tried to research for any forums regarding this particular STB. This site was about the best I could see available. It is still quite a new box (model wise) so there doesn't seem to be a lot of information available just yet.

I would like to confirm that this box and the DVB-S2 tuners are the same as ourformat here in the states.

The problems with AC power and SCART outputs are not of a major concern to me as I can work around those items. I am an electronics tech and have worked with everything from TV and VCR and Radio/Stereo repairs to repairing weather RADAR for commercial aircraft (hence my handy screen name ACWxRADAR).

"AirCraft Weather RADAR". Nice screen name as no one ever seems to have such a name in use so it is always available. It is very a very specific scree name and rarely used. A very original title.

[AcWxRADAR]

Welcome to the forum AcWxRADAR

Well a sale is a sale is a sale as they say but I suspect there may be other reasons for their reluctance. Unfortunately too many European on-line sales stores have suffered at the hands of the International credit card fraudsters who rip off people world wide to the tune of some 48 million dollars each year, whilst nobody is suggesting you are one of them I agree in a genuine case it does seem a bit hard on folks but equally having worked for a company selling on line until last year, I do have a lot of sympathy with them. Ask them if that is indeed their concern, and if there is any other form/method of monetary transfer they would be willing to accept instead of, perhaps an international credit transfer.

Hello Topper!

Thank you for your kind welcome.

I guess I had not pondered those reasons for a reluctance to sell. I have not yet heard back from the company (the retailer) but I will ask them if that is a problem or concern for them and see if they have any work-around that suits them.

I can understand reasoning like that as it makes more sense then the blanket statement (which I think was incorrect) that they gave me initially.

I don't blame them one bit, but I also believe that it is attitudes such as this which are hindering the global economy. Personally, I think we should all work with eachother to support trade of anything either inter-country or intra-country. As long as folks want to buy, companies should be selling.

I figured that I did a lot of research on this receiver over the past year and should be taken serious, but they don't know me from Adam so I guess I could understand their position.

I assume that you folks understand me, but you are not the ones selling the receiver.

AcWxRADAR

[Topper]

I assume that you folks understand me, but you are not the ones selling the receiver.

AcWxRADAR

Absolutely and you are correct it is a negative side to any recovery of the world economy which being one of the unemployed myself I am all for. Unfortunately despite some very optimistic predictions of next year by one or two I go with the 5 - 10 year recovery.

Things will change with credit card fraud when all countries embrace the same standards of technology, unfortunately this will not be chip and pin which we have had for some time, it will however be fingerprint authorisation, which I believe is currently being developed and trialled in the UK.

[AcWxRADAR]

Just for info, I have the Cuberevo (Same box) and they have just updated the UBoot 1.3.3 which says:

add display : SD-NTSC, 720P-60HZ, 1080i-60HZ

The update was dated 4th May 2009

As for the reciever, I'm loving it. It's features are incredible and the picture quality on both upscaled SD and HD is the best. It took a while to get my head round as I had never had a Linux box before, but once you get the hang of it, it is well supported on various forums.

Official website: _http://www.cuberevo.com

Thank you CareTaker,

I have been a satellite TV junkie for quite a long time, since the days of C-Band in the US. Although I have never been a tremendous fan of TV watching, I am finding this (as a hobby) to be extremely rewarding to me. I live in the state of Nebraska and our winters here are quite boring. So I was always searching for a hobby that I could play around with to keep me occupied during the winters. This one suits my taste.

I had wondered how close the Cuberevo receivers were related to the IPBox. They are the same company and seem to be quite similar.

It was the dual tuner and built in HDD that got me interested.

I would Love to chat with you all regarding the free TV (via satellite) that you guys have available to you and comparing that to what is available to the US consumer.

Beyond my research of this AB COM IPBox, if I can chit chat with anyone regarding free TV I would certainly enjoy it.

It was one of your own countrymen who eventually led me to your site. He joined an American site to search for information for his brother who was moving here and wanted to do some research on what was available.

Here in the states, not many people realize that there is free TV available to them via satellite. This notion hasn't quite taken off here as it has in Europe and Asian markets.

If I understand it proper, there is a wide field of free TV overseas and it is just barely coming to life here.

Our pay subscription providers here are still the best market as they offer a really fine selection of channels. However, some of us have developed a very bad taste as these channels have adopted what we call "paid advertisements" and "infomercials" on our subscription channels.

I don't know if that is the same for you folks, but I work a night shift and when I get home and want to watch some TV, there is nothing on anymore but the Sham-Wow guy and I have to pay to watch him!

I turned my pay TV off and bought equipment to get FTA TV here. I still have to watch Vince (the Sham-Wow guy) but at least I am not paying for his hookers! LOL!

I have found quite a selection of good free TV here in the states. It isn't totally great and you folks probably have a lot better programming available to you. However, I am finding more and better channels here all the time.

I am quite content with this service and I enjoy it a great deal. At least when they air a commercial, I know that I am not paying for it.

How does your TV compare?

Thank you all for your responses so far and thank you for providing this opportunity to join your website. I always enjoy learning new information and I think that you all will provide some really great information. Thanks to all!

AcWxRADAR