Best receivers for Fringe Reception

joddle

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2x Pace 2600 C1 (in a box just in case) , 3 x Humax HD Foxstat (2 of which in store as spares) . 3x Manhatten Plaza - Pasat 2.4 PF dish mounted on flat roof with Invacom C120 quad LNB .
My Location
Massanassa, Valencia, Spain
Rather than having to trawl though all the threads for opinions and specs for all the various receivers for use on the fringe, I have asked for a sticky so we can post our thoughts and ideas in one place which is easy to find. Also as new products and sats come and go, we can keep the information updated for anyone starting out on fringe reception or wanting to update their equipment.

For my own twopennyworth, I use Freesat for the convenience; more than anything else. For that I have been using a Humax Foxsat HD which has worked really well here in Valencia - that is apart from a failure due to the use of inferior capacitors in the power supply, but that was easily fixed.

I have also been using one of the cheap Manhatten HD boxes, not it is not as sensitive as the Humax although works pretty well here.

I also use a couple of aged Pace 2600C Sky boxes (without any cards) and have found these to be the most reliable receivers I have ever come across but of course they wont work on HD altough produce good SD.

What I really need is a reliable Freesat HD box for use further south of here where reception is not as good - something as good as the Humax for sensitivity - any ideas?

Some of thes points will have been answered elsewhere but this is an attempt to bring all the information together under a single sticky thread.
 

william-1

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OP Gibertini 100 XP+ Inverto Black Ultra Lnb
Superior Dark Motor (160° max)
(50 east to 45 west)
Octagon SX88+Optima (A/B switch) Edision primo IP S2

Raven 88cm Mesh Dish + IBU Twin output
Stab100 H to H (120° max)
(53 east to 45 west)
Octagon SX88+ Ultra HD (A/B switch) Golden Interstar Alpha_X
My Location
Epping Forest Essex
TM6900HD Combo Super+ with a 0.2 Inverto Black Ultra on a 100cm Gibertini

I have found that this set up works very well on weak signals.
 

timo_w2s

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I found the Sky DRX595 is nice and sensitive, and when compared side by side with the Pace 2600C1 I'd say it was equal or even slightly better (the DRX595 was less prone to pops and squeaks when the signal was just starting to break).
 

dxhound2003

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Black Ultra LNB. Nov 2011 DrD F15.
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Dundalk Ireland
Rather than having to trawl though all the threads for opinions and specs for all the various receivers for use on the fringe, I have asked for a sticky so we can post our thoughts and ideas in one place which is easy to find. Also as new products and sats come and go, we can keep the information updated for anyone starting out on fringe reception or wanting to update their equipment.

For my own twopennyworth, I use Freesat for the convenience; more than anything else. For that I have been using a Humax Foxsat HD which has worked really well here in Valencia - that is apart from a failure due to the use of inferior capacitors in the power supply, but that was easily fixed.

I have also been using one of the cheap Manhatten HD boxes, not it is not as sensitive as the Humax although works pretty well here.

I also use a couple of aged Pace 2600C Sky boxes (without any cards) and have found these to be the most reliable receivers I have ever come across but of course they wont work on HD altough produce good SD.

What I really need is a reliable Freesat HD box for use further south of here where reception is not as good - something as good as the Humax for sensitivity - any ideas?

Some of thes points will have been answered elsewhere but this is an attempt to bring all the information together under a single sticky thread.

I think people should specify in future replies whether their recommendations are Freesat or non Freesat. It's probably obvious to most people in the UK which are or aren't but I wouldn't know just from a make and model number.
 

joddle

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My Satellite Setup
2x Pace 2600 C1 (in a box just in case) , 3 x Humax HD Foxstat (2 of which in store as spares) . 3x Manhatten Plaza - Pasat 2.4 PF dish mounted on flat roof with Invacom C120 quad LNB .
My Location
Massanassa, Valencia, Spain
I have already had some comments re replacing my Humax Foxsat HD so this may be repeating but I want to keep all the info in this thread. I do like the Humax and it has worked really well here but instead of getting another one I would like to try another make. I already have a little Manhatten which is OK but rather insensative - I don't want to go down the Linux path and don't want Sky either so a Freesat box makes most sense to me. What else is there which is good here on the Fringes?
 

william-1

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My Satellite Setup
OP Gibertini 100 XP+ Inverto Black Ultra Lnb
Superior Dark Motor (160° max)
(50 east to 45 west)
Octagon SX88+Optima (A/B switch) Edision primo IP S2

Raven 88cm Mesh Dish + IBU Twin output
Stab100 H to H (120° max)
(53 east to 45 west)
Octagon SX88+ Ultra HD (A/B switch) Golden Interstar Alpha_X
My Location
Epping Forest Essex
I have already had some comments re replacing my Humax Foxsat HD so this may be repeating but I want to keep all the info in this thread. I do like the Humax and it has worked really well here but instead of getting another one I would like to try another make. I already have a little Manhatten which is OK but rather insensative - I don't want to go down the Linux path and don't want Sky either so a Freesat box makes most sense to me. What else is there which is good here on the Fringes?

The TM-F3/5 has a very sensitive tuner & ideal for weak signals.
 

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joddle

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My Satellite Setup
2x Pace 2600 C1 (in a box just in case) , 3 x Humax HD Foxstat (2 of which in store as spares) . 3x Manhatten Plaza - Pasat 2.4 PF dish mounted on flat roof with Invacom C120 quad LNB .
My Location
Massanassa, Valencia, Spain
The TM-F3/5 has a very sensitive tuner & ideal for weak signals.
Looks a nice box but seems to lack a scart socket which I would need for recording from but it maybe a good replacement for some rooms so may give one a try.
 

dmaavrigdo

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Yamaha HTR-2067
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Looks a nice box but seems to lack a scart socket which I would need for recording from but it maybe a good replacement for some rooms so may give one a try.
Just plug an external hard drive or memory stick in the USB socket and record.I reckon the 500gb drive I have on mine will hold about 400 hours of tv.
 

Deso

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Another question would be, do you need a single or twin tuner, depending on what you want to record and when?
 

joddle

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My Satellite Setup
2x Pace 2600 C1 (in a box just in case) , 3 x Humax HD Foxstat (2 of which in store as spares) . 3x Manhatten Plaza - Pasat 2.4 PF dish mounted on flat roof with Invacom C120 quad LNB .
My Location
Massanassa, Valencia, Spain
Oops - we are getting off topic - and really thats my fault for asking too many questions and posting too many of my own issues. Really I want this thread to come up with peoples experiences of different receivers on the fringe rather than solve my problems although any recomendations for receivers would be appreciated.
 

Huevos

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I already have a little Manhatten
Good job you've got it connected to a 2.4m dish, in an 80cm reception area. Joking aside that is certainly not a fringe box.
 

Captain Jack

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F15 (not Freesat though) is the best I've tried for fringe. Vu+ Uno is good too but struggles with low SR frequencies. With enough plugins, it can be made to act like a Freesat box.
 

Huevos

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With enough plugins, it can be made to act like a Freesat box.
With OpenViX no additional plugins are needed. ABM to update Freesat channel list. And OpenTV download to keep the EPG data fresh (7 days). Both run on the second tuner (if the box has one) so don't interfere with normal viewing.
 

joddle

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My Satellite Setup
2x Pace 2600 C1 (in a box just in case) , 3 x Humax HD Foxstat (2 of which in store as spares) . 3x Manhatten Plaza - Pasat 2.4 PF dish mounted on flat roof with Invacom C120 quad LNB .
My Location
Massanassa, Valencia, Spain
Good job you've got it connected to a 2.4m dish, in an 80cm reception area. Joking aside that is certainly not a fringe box.

Ha Ha - Ok - many people have pointed out the Manhatten is not a "Fringe Box" but its Ok on my big dish but nowhere as good as the old Humax. I am more interested to know what Freesat boxes are considered better for the fringe. I know many people out here use more complex systems as indicated in ealier posts but is there a really good Freesat off the shelf box as I need the simplicity of a Freesat box for rental properies. Too many visitors try and "fiddle" so the simpler the better!
 

dxhound2003

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Ha Ha - Ok - many people have pointed out the Manhatten is not a "Fringe Box" but its Ok on my big dish but nowhere as good as the old Humax. I am more interested to know what Freesat boxes are considered better for the fringe. I know many people out here use more complex systems as indicated in ealier posts but is there a really good Freesat off the shelf box as I need the simplicity of a Freesat box for rental properies. Too many visitors try and "fiddle" so the simpler the better!

What you are looking for is real life experiences from people living in your part of Spain who have Freesat receivers. And then the subset of that community who are on this forum. "Better for the fringe" would hardly have been a criterion considered by the designers or manufacturers of Freesat boxes given that they are for use in the UK on a very strong beam. The"fringe" could be in Spain or Scandanavia or central Europe, it's a sort of meaningless phrase. Your experience on the fringe may be different than that of another person 100 miles away. Anyway I googled "Best Freesat box for fringe reception" and there are some results there which may be of interest. At a glance Humax seems to be the choice of most people.
 

woborny

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Have had no problems with the Manhatten Freesat HDS2's - or their HDR-S
But the boxes they had before (HDS) were poor - did not like the weaker uk beam signals on small "1m" dishes, but other boxes got them fine.
Humax work fine.
Bush - similar to the Manhattan plaza - struggle with the signals sometimes, where other boxes were fine.
 

samoloko

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If you are not saying your choise Is best compared to which boxes - It Is not very usefull
also which linux box
 

Huevos

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TBH, Woborny, if as you say you can receive all transponders on an 80cm dish you are not really in a fringe area. Personally done direct comparisons between Ferguson 102e and the Manhattan, and find the tuner on the Ferguson is very sensitive.
 

joddle

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2x Pace 2600 C1 (in a box just in case) , 3 x Humax HD Foxstat (2 of which in store as spares) . 3x Manhatten Plaza - Pasat 2.4 PF dish mounted on flat roof with Invacom C120 quad LNB .
My Location
Massanassa, Valencia, Spain
I think Woborny is well and truely in a fringe area - Gandi in Spain is pretty "fringe" and well out of the publushed 80cm area for the UK spot beam. Its just so happens there are a few hot spots around this area. Re he Manhaten, I am using the HDS2 adn find its sensitivity quiet a bit down on the Humax yet still well up for goo recepetion. Its onwl metering gives me 100% SQ and around 75% SS wherease the Humax was showing 90% to 100% SS and 100% SQ - in fact I had to put an attenuator in line for 1N as it was getting swamped for some transponders - no such luck with 2E and 2F though!

I know the in-box meters cannot be acuratly compared with each other but the Humax was always good - even in poor conditions. It took a really heavy thunderstorm to make it break up.
 
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