Comag FTA Receiver

[RaiUn0]

Hello all

This is my first DIY entrance to satellite world so please excuse any ambiguity in my wordings.

I have bought a Comag receiver from Lidl (£69.??) yesterday (found few laying near the vegetables) and have tried the following:

1. Connected the receiver to my sky minidish and I was able to view some of the shopping channels.

2. Connected the receiver to my old dish pointing at 19.2 deg east and when I did an auto FTA channel search it pulled loads of Spanish and German channels with mostly 100% signal strength. However, I was only able to view VERY few channels. Andalucia, ARTE, CNN and few others.

My question is, what do I need now to view other free channels such as RTL SAT1 etc.? They show 100% signal strength but I get a "No Video or Audio" message on the screen.

What card/cam do I need to view some of the scrambled channels?

On the front panel of the receiver it says DiSEqC 1.2 but on the installation menu it displays DiSEqC 1.1. I am thinking of getting a motorised dish in the near future, can this receiver handle the motor?

The user manual is VERY brief but I found the menu system quite easy to follow.

I'd be very greateful if someone can answer my questions.
Thanks in Advance

Rai

 

[rolfw]

If they are truly FTA channels Rai, they should be visible with no CAM, but there is not too much of interest (to me anyway) FTA on 19.2E.

The CAM of the moment is the Matrix Reloaded, but as of yet I have no knowledge as to whether it will work with your receiver.

Not sure why it would give conflicting information on the DiseqC version, but assume that the version given on the front of the receiver should be correct and if so, then it should be fine for motorised operation.

 

[Channel Hopper]

I am not sure the Comaq will allow the viewing of scrambled channels, you will have to confirm it has a slot for a PCMCIA module.

It sounds like you may have the auto search facility set up, but without any form of network search (where the receiver takes information from the satellite, rather than from an old database within the receiver). This could be why only a few longterm frequencies show up

Or it may be the dish is not perfectly aligned to the satellite (or the dish is just too small)

PS- the furniture section would be more comfortable next time you take a quick 40 winks.

 

[easysat]

Not sure why it would give conflicting information on the DiseqC version, but assume that the version given on the front of the receiver should be correct and if so, then it should be fine for motorised operation.

Some other receivers that I've come across have DiSEqC 1.1 switching as the default set-up. You need to tell them somewhere that you are using motor otherwise the motor control menu is hidden.

As for the channels, the www.lyngsat.com site is a good source of information about what's available on what frequency.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Just spotted the Lidl website and the page

http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20031009.p.Digital_Satellite_Receiver

It does have CI slots so any cam thats DVB spec, but maybe not one of the later generation home proggie ones

Interesting that their sales blurb mentions 'digital signals from any satellite on the Clark Belt can be received'. Strictly speaking they should have stated 'MPEG2' and maybe 'DVB compliant' signals as there is plenty up there that is just outside the scope of a set top box of this type

 

[RaiUn0]

Many thanks for the quick response all.

The receiver have two PCMCIA slots. The manual mentions popular encryption types. Viaccess, Seca, irdeto etc. the video format is MPEG2 and it is DVB compliant and both are labeled on the front panel.

Rai

 

[Razor]

The box must have come pre programmed, if this is so it may be slightly out of date. This might have been done in some factory and could be more that a year old. See if you can do a rescan or even a transponder search.

Best of luck.

 

[digimac_uk]

RaiUno, having a Sky Mindish will only recieve the free to air shopping channels and maybe some music channels.If you can get sky news your reciver is working fine but your dish is pointing in only one direction. On 19.2 degs east a Magic Cam (Or a Matrix/Icecrypt/or any freecam for about £100 + card + programmer, total outlay £150 approx) should bring in Canal+ (movies & after 11 o'clock xxx) Premier (Pay per view movies, sport and recent movies in German, but a press of a button on the remote should get it in it's original soundtrack) and the Dutch channels such as Yorin, V8 and Veronica which show a lot of American series such as Buffy, The Simpsons and the odd old 80's movie.
Hope this helps, but if you want any real answers, just ask and the real clever guys on the forum will jump in!
Welcolm to the forum, by the way.

 

[silvernet]

I have had one of these receivers for about 3 months ( ish ) from Lidls.

They do indeed have 2 CI slots and yes mine was pre- programmed with Astra 19 and Hotbird 13. Mine even has the favourites programmed, however, they are mainly for German viewers tastes.

A good value little receiver, however, it does have a weak tuner and will not pull in as many channels as my Samsung 9500.

Mine works OK with a Matrix Reloaded Cam.

They are rebadged clone of another receiver and somewhere on the web you can find more info. ( sorry cannot remember where )

Oh and finally, you can download the latest software over the air on Astra 19.

Hope this helps

silvernet

 

[rolfw]

Thanks silvernet, someone did ask about the Matrix Reloaded and that receiver, I will add it to my list of working receivers.

 

[Razor]

Looks good Rai.

 

[RaiUn0]

Thanks everyone for helping me out. I now feel verymuch welcome here.

digimac_uk - When I tried the receiver with mini skydish I did get skynews and Cnn.

I will now try to download the software from 19.2. to see if it does the trick.

More questions: sorry if this is going off topic
Can a CAM be used for more than one encryption or do I need seperate CAMs for each encryption type?
or can a CAM be reprogrammed for a different encryption? I dont fully understand yet how this works.

if Matrix Reloaded works on this receiver then I will get one. please also tell me what card + programmer I need. A link would be great.

After sorting out 19.2 I wanna move to hotbird then motorise dish...just one at a time :-)

Rai

 

[rolfw]

The MR should be all the CAM you need Rai, a very good programmer is the Infinity Phoenix USB, get yourself a couple of Fun6 cards and you will be "Tooled Up"

PS. Toecutter has a deal on the MR for October at £95 I believe, that is really good value.

 

[RaiUn0]

Thanx rolfw

Before I read your reply I found a site selling MR + Infinity USB Programmer + Fun 6 card for £140. Is that good value?

I'll see if I can get them from Toecutter for less or same price.

 

[silvernet]

I agree with rolfw, I would get your Matrix Reloaded from Toecutter, if it is faulty, he will change it, no problem. also you will get good support from him.

No I aint on Toecutters Payroll .. I wish..

Really, I suppose before you do that, you should get your dish and lnb all sorted, an 80cm with a Monobloc LNB will probably be ok for Astra 19 and Hotbird, depending on your exact location.

silvernet

 

[rolfw]

@ Rai, Cheap does not always equate to value. When new software is needed, it won't be the source you mention who provides it, they won't be there either if you have problems installing the new version, it'll be forums like here and Toecutters who will be left to sort out the problem, that's why I advocate supporting them rather than a purely commercial outlet.

It's easy to cut prices to the bone when you offer no after sales service, plus also bear in mind that it was Toecutter who brought the prices down on these specialist CAMs from the £180 mark in the first place, (much to the chagrin of some of the retailers I might add).

 

[rolfw]

Here is a site with software and utilities for the Comag. http://members.lycos.nl/wifiminded/

 

[Razor]

I agree with Silvernet, a good 80/90cm dish with a monobloc LNB. This will do both 19e and 13e and these two are the current hot spots.

 

[RaiUn0]

Thanks rolfw,

you always provide good advice. I have already downloaded the latest software for my receiver but didnt get round to install it yet.

I visited Toecutters Den last night looking for MR + USB infinit phoenix programmer + fun6cards but only found MR advertised on top of the forum, maybe i'm missing some links?? pls pm the links. I will happily pay more for after sales support.

In the meantime, I'v been playing with the lnb settings on the receiver. The default lnb high frequency was something like 10xxx. i manually increased that to 11754, the highest i can input. Did a channel scan and I got more FTA pictures in clear. Looked at lyngsat for frequency on 19.2 deg. RTLs and most german channels are on higher frequency than I can specify on my receiver. Is this because my lnb is old? it was for sky analogue system.

Rai

 

[RaiUn0]

Silvernet, Razor- As well as 19.2 and 13 east, i am also interested in 5deg east, 7deg west and maybe 30.deg west depending on how big a dish i can put without upseting my neighbours too much. I intend to have a motorised dish but before that I wanna get hand on experience with the old dish i got.

cheers for the help guys.

Rai