Newby query on Fortec Star LifetimeDiamond

amg054

Hi..I'm thinking of buying a Fortec-Star Lifetime Diamond, for satellite & terrestrial freeview channels.... but before I do, can anyone answer my queries?

I presume if I plug the FSLD into my existing Sky-dish setup, it will pickup Astra 2A, 2B & 2D, along with Eurobird 1 (as my current Sky FTV setup does). What I want to know is;
1) Will the FSLD see all 4 satellites as 1 'clustered entity' which it will then blindscan ? Or does it need to detect each satellite individually, and then blindscan one-by-one ?
2) Does it automatically identify satellites(eg. from a carrier signal), or does it need to be told which one it's pointing at?
3) Does anyone know how sensitive the terrestrial tuner is (ie. may want to use it in 'fringe' areas) ?

(btw..I'm only interested in obtaining FTA channels at 28degE, and am not interested in setting up dual-LNB's, or moving-dishes/diseqc etc...... yet !)

Grateful for any info offered,
amg054

Llew

1. It will scan and store all satellites on those beams.

2. As long as you are pointing at the correct satellite(s), the receiver will scan and store those transponders in its database, provided you have selected the appropriate satellite.

3. Haven't heard of any tuner problems, but apparently there is a quirk with the screen aspect ratio - no full-screen option. Some channels are displayed in 4:3 with a black band at the top, bottom and sides. Perhaps a software update will resolve this.

Llew

amg054

Thanks for the info Llew.

Sorry if this is really obvious, but can you (or anyone else) tell me if I'm right in my understanding of the "TV/VCR to ANT-IN Loopthrough" ? (Identified as Co-Ax connections '3' and '6' in the manual ).

Am I right in believing that;
1) The unit could be used solely for digital reception (DVB-S & T)- In this case, you could output the signal to the TV via SCART OR Co-Ax/RF, *without* also having to pass Terrestrial-analogue signals. ? In this case, you wouldn't need to patch the 'Loopthrough'.
2) Still using the unit solely for digital reception (DVB-S & T), you may not wish to ouput on an RF signals to any other units. In this case you'd only use SCART to pass signals to VCR & TV.
3) Using the unit for DVB-S, DVB-T & analogue reception, you may not be able to use SCART, so can 'loopthrough' both the DVB-S & DVB-Tchannels *plus* standard analogue TV signals.
Again, sorry if this is a really stupid question, but I'd be really grateful if anyone can confirm/correct me on this.

Many thanks,
amg054

Llew

Had a look at a picture of the rear of the STB.

You have the normal RF modulator which as usual you can connect an analogue aerial, output providing off-air analogue and receiver modulator channel.

Connecting the aerial to the DVB-T input, looping through to the analogue RF input will provide DVB-S, DVB-T and analogue signals via the modulator output (4).

Just use the scart as on a basic STB to provide the above signals.

Suppose it's just a question of connecting up and seeing what you get.

Llew