Fortec Star Beta

[Maurizio]

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and to the world of satellite TV in general.
I have recently bought a Free to Air satellite receiver system, which includes a satellite dish, an LNB and a Fortec Star Beta receiver from Maplin.co.uk (they were sold cheap and I just wanted to watch some italian TV without too much cost, every now and again). The system is shown at this webpage _http://www.Maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=99085&doy=5m10#overview and the one I bought was sold as B-Grade. A few minutes after installing the system the remote control stopped working and didn't show any more interaction with the receiver. I returned the receiver and its remote control to Maplin in order to receive a replacement. Their customer service was abysmal! They've lost the receiver in transit and it took more than a month to resolve the issue and to send me a replacement receiver.
Finally the new receiver and remote were delivered yesterday, but, unfortunately, after installation I found that the remote control is not working on this system either. I can't work out if the fault is with the receiver or with the remote itself.

So my question is: is this a known problem with this receiver?
If so, is there anything I can do to fix it? (don't reply "get a better receiver" please).

I am incredibly annoyed with Maplin for selling systems as fully working (even though as B-Grade) , with the knowledge that they are not really working and I am worried that if I go through their customer service it will take one more month and at the end of it I will have just another of these faulty boxes.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Maurizio

[Robbo]

Hi Maurizio,

To be honest, I think you are better off just getting your money back.

I had one of those and it kept going wrong too. (Different problem though)

I wonder why they have so many B-grades for sale, perhaps it's because they get so many returns.

I got rid of my Beta and got a Technomate 1000D instead. I 've had it about 6 months now and not had a single problem. You can get them from £59.

Ooops, just read the bit 'don't tell me to get a better receiver'.
Sorry.. But I think that may be the answer.

Robbo

[Maurizio]

Cheers Robbo,
I was hoping there was something I could do to avoid having to deal with Maplin customer service people ever again. But I suppose that getting the money back should be "relatively" pain free and then I'll take my custom elsewhere.
Thanks again for your reply.
Maurizio

[kip]

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and to the world of satellite TV in general.
I have recently bought a Free to Air satellite receiver system, which includes a satellite dish, an LNB and a Fortec Star Beta receiver from Maplin.co.uk (they were sold cheap and I just wanted to watch some italian TV without too much cost, every now and again). The system is shown at this webpage _http://www.Maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=99085&doy=5m10#overviewand the one I bought was sold as B-Grade. A few minutes after installing the system the remote control stopped working and didn't show any more interaction with the receiver. I returned the receiver and its remote control to Maplin in order to receive a replacement. Their customer service was abysmal! They've lost the receiver in transit and it took more than a month to resolve the issue and to send me a replacement receiver.
Finally the new receiver and remote were delivered yesterday, but, unfortunately, after installation I found that the remote control is not working on this system either. I can't work out if the fault is with the receiver or with the remote itself.

So my question is: is this a known problem with this receiver?
If so, is there anything I can do to fix it? (don't reply "get a better receiver" please).

I am incredibly annoyed with Maplin for selling systems as fully working (even though as B-Grade) , with the knowledge that they are not really working and I am worried that if I go through their customer service it will take one more month and at the end of it I will have just another of these faulty boxes.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Maurizio

i know somebody with one of these and i know you said dont tell me to get another reciever but ...... GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!! There is a patch for this box - it is about a year old and unlocks nothing... But hey it could be worse, you could of got a metronic touchbox 3 from Maplin as i did for my first reciever.. there is no patch or support for this box

[Robbo]

There is a patch for this box - it is about a year old and unlocks nothing...

Well, I did get it to d+, but the ky edit procedure was too much of a faff, and the stupid thing kept getting it's channel list into a tizzy, which could only be rectified by a factory reset, and that was an A grade.

[sajid123]

how put key in fortec star beta thanks

[Robbo]

how put key in fortec star beta thanks

Don't bother, it is a waste of time, you won't get anything, the software is too out of date.

[kip]

Yes, look at the date of the original post, it was out of date then