DM 8000 HD questions from newbie

petersu

Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
59
My Satellite Setup
Motorised dish + fixed dish pointing to 28.2
My Location
UK
Hi,

I am about to return my Humax Foxsat HDR due to the fact that you can't have proper EPG with non-freesat channels (and other complications casued by this).

I came across the Dreambox 8000 HD and am thinking about purchasing one with 2 DVB-S2 receivers. I already have a motorised dish and a second fixed one pointing at 28.2.

Here are my assumptions:
1) I will be able to receive all FTA channels (incl. HD ones) from 19.2 and 28.2.
2) There will be full EPG for the channels on 19.2.
3) There is a plug-in or similar available to get the freesat EPG.
4) I can fit a 1TB 3.5'' disk.
5) I can record one channel from each dish or 2 from the same (with restrictions) simultaneously.

Is there anything else I need to have/buy?

Thanks,

Peter
 

adiab

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2009
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
42
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox 8000
My Location
UK
I have a very similar setup to you: a dreambox 8000HD, with a fixed dish on 28.2, and a motorised dish. I got a 1.5 TB hard drive.

to answer your questions:

1. yes, I can receive all the FTA channels including the HD
2. Full EPG on all channels as standard:no, for most channels I only get a now and next, not the full day. I read something online somewhere saying that there's a work around, but I haven't yet bothered to look into it. I am using the pli image as you get more epg than with other images, but still not everything. FTA channels are better
3. Freesat EPG seems to work fine for me, perhaps because I have the epgrefresh plugin
4. yes, 3.5" 1T should would fine
5. Yes, you can record one from each sat, or 2 from the same sat - any more than that and you would need to get some additional DVB-S2 tuners. You can fit an extra 2 into the dreambox 8000. I've been thinking about getting an extra 2 as I have 2 cables from each dish, and at the moment I can only use one from each. Would be useful as I sometimes need to record one from each sat and watch something at the same time, or watching 3 programs (streaming/multi room)

Hope that helps
 

Analoguesat

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Messages
50,739
Reaction score
11,221
Points
113
Location
Scottish Borders
My Satellite Setup
TM 5402HD
Sky+ UK.
My Location
Scottish Borders
Both Sky and Freesat use their own epg.

Almost every receiver will give you little more than now & next on none epg channels at 28E.

Whilst some German channels carry several days of epg info by no means all do.
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
is there a plug-in to download EPG data (via internet connection) the same way that Elgato EyeTV for the mac does for example?
 

B16MCC

Dreambox Gimp & Coder
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
8
Points
0
Age
51
My Satellite Setup
2 Dreamboxes..........
---------------------------------------------
--- DM 8000 HD PVR & DM 800 HD ---
Motek SG2100 & Triax 80cm Dual LNB
------ Fixed Dish 28e Quad LNB -------
---- Sly HD Full & 24" Apple iMAC ----
My Location
/var/tuxbox/config
There is now several ways to get EPG on the Dreambox. The best way now is to use the Nabilosat Balckhole image. This now supports several methods of populating the EPG for several providers. It certainly covers everything from sly UK and some other popular european providers.
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
hi there

thanks for the info... do these also let you set up advanced recording, for example to recording a tv series?

regards...
 

Brecon

Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
61
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox 7000
My Location
West Midlands
Yes it does, but the EPG search does not work a 100% yet. You can scroll each channel for a week ahead and set recording. So you should be OK. O-zzz
 

B16MCC

Dreambox Gimp & Coder
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
8
Points
0
Age
51
My Satellite Setup
2 Dreamboxes..........
---------------------------------------------
--- DM 8000 HD PVR & DM 800 HD ---
Motek SG2100 & Triax 80cm Dual LNB
------ Fixed Dish 28e Quad LNB -------
---- Sly HD Full & 24" Apple iMAC ----
My Location
/var/tuxbox/config
The basic recording settings allows you to set repeat recordings for each day, or monday to friday, or same each week etc etc. Its really quite versatile.
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
ok, got a DM8000 and have it set up with nabilo black hole and have managed to get the EPG to download data from the internet. i'm not too impressed with setting up recordings... it's actually easier i find to use the web interface to set up the recordings.

i really miss having something similar to elgato's eyetv advanced recording setup, where you can input a tv programme name (and filter on particular channels or times) so that it will automatically set up a record based on where the programme appears in the EPG rather than a fixed time... this is much more versatile and reliable.

i set up a load of recordings last night, but seems that only a couple of them recorded successfully? not sure what the issue is? i'm suspicious that maybe only one of the tuners is working off the softcam? how can i check this?

also, the EPG data is lost when the box crashes or is switched off? any work around for this?
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
ok, got a DM8000 and have it set up with nabilo black hole and have managed to get the EPG to download data from the internet. i'm not too impressed with setting up recordings... it's actually easier i find to use the web interface to set up the recordings.

i really miss having something similar to elgato's eyetv advanced recording setup, where you can input a tv programme name (and filter on particular channels or times) so that it will automatically set up a record based on where the programme appears in the EPG rather than a fixed time... this is much more versatile and reliable.

i set up a load of recordings last night, but seems that only a couple of them recorded successfully? not sure what the issue is? i'm suspicious that maybe only one of the tuners is working off the softcam? how can i check this?

also, the EPG data is lost when the box crashes or is switched off? any work around for this?
 

B16MCC

Dreambox Gimp & Coder
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
8
Points
0
Age
51
My Satellite Setup
2 Dreamboxes..........
---------------------------------------------
--- DM 8000 HD PVR & DM 800 HD ---
Motek SG2100 & Triax 80cm Dual LNB
------ Fixed Dish 28e Quad LNB -------
---- Sly HD Full & 24" Apple iMAC ----
My Location
/var/tuxbox/config
Ok the easy one first, Go to the addon panel and select Scripts. Download the script that suites your box to save the EPG on reboot. (HDD , USB , CF etc )

As for recordings not working, do you use a motorised system ?
If so, where the recordings on different satellites ?
Did the recordings overlap at all ? Have you set the 'minutes before and after ' in the customise menu ?
I found an unexplained issue where if I set a recording for a program on another satellite and I was not currently on that sat, when the time came to start the recording the motor would not move. I still have the issue.
 

B16MCC

Dreambox Gimp & Coder
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
8
Points
0
Age
51
My Satellite Setup
2 Dreamboxes..........
---------------------------------------------
--- DM 8000 HD PVR & DM 800 HD ---
Motek SG2100 & Triax 80cm Dual LNB
------ Fixed Dish 28e Quad LNB -------
---- Sly HD Full & 24" Apple iMAC ----
My Location
/var/tuxbox/config
Ok the easy one first, Go to the addon panel and select Scripts. Download the script that suites your box to save the EPG on reboot. (HDD , USB , CF etc )

As for recordings not working, do you use a motorised system ?
If so, where the recordings on different satellites ?
Did the recordings overlap at all ? Have you set the 'minutes before and after ' in the customise menu ?
I found an unexplained issue where if I set a recording for a program on another satellite and I was not currently on that sat, when the time came to start the recording the motor would not move. I still have the issue.
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
hi there

thanks for the suggestions... i'll give it a try when i get back home.

i do have a motorised dish, but all the recordings were on astra 2 which is where the sat was pointing. there were some successive recordings, but i have a DM8000 with two cards so that shouldn't be an issue unless it's trying to record everything with just the one tuner?
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
hi there

thanks for the suggestions... i'll give it a try when i get back home.

i do have a motorised dish, but all the recordings were on astra 2 which is where the sat was pointing. there were some successive recordings, but i have a DM8000 with two cards so that shouldn't be an issue unless it's trying to record everything with just the one tuner?
 

B16MCC

Dreambox Gimp & Coder
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
8
Points
0
Age
51
My Satellite Setup
2 Dreamboxes..........
---------------------------------------------
--- DM 8000 HD PVR & DM 800 HD ---
Motek SG2100 & Triax 80cm Dual LNB
------ Fixed Dish 28e Quad LNB -------
---- Sly HD Full & 24" Apple iMAC ----
My Location
/var/tuxbox/config
I'll test it for you. I have both built in tuners on a fixed dish on 28e. I have my motor on a 3rd HD tuner. I'll set some overlapping timers and see what I get.
 

B16MCC

Dreambox Gimp & Coder
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
1,562
Reaction score
8
Points
0
Age
51
My Satellite Setup
2 Dreamboxes..........
---------------------------------------------
--- DM 8000 HD PVR & DM 800 HD ---
Motek SG2100 & Triax 80cm Dual LNB
------ Fixed Dish 28e Quad LNB -------
---- Sly HD Full & 24" Apple iMAC ----
My Location
/var/tuxbox/config
I'll test it for you. I have both built in tuners on a fixed dish on 28e. I have my motor on a 3rd HD tuner. I'll set some overlapping timers and see what I get.
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
sounds like we have similar set-ups... i'm pointing to 28E on diseqc A and have the dish set to 13E on disecq D (i have a diseqc box to control the motor).

i also have a firedvb-s2 box connected to my mac and eyetv, but don't have this set up yet... i'll need to get a 4 output LNB to give a third feed, but toying with the idea of cardsharing for the mac?
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
sounds like we have similar set-ups... i'm pointing to 28E on diseqc A and have the dish set to 13E on disecq D (i have a diseqc box to control the motor).

i also have a firedvb-s2 box connected to my mac and eyetv, but don't have this set up yet... i'll need to get a 4 output LNB to give a third feed, but toying with the idea of cardsharing for the mac?
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
ok, had a quick play last night (wife went to bed early). i couldn't download the scripts list since i either got a "can't connect" message or it just kept me waiting for ages until i had to hard reboot to get control back... either the server was down or the dreambox is struggling to connect to the internet since i gave it a fixed IP address (but i can access via the web interface on the LAN ok)? are there any known issues with setting a manual IP with these boxes?

regarding freezing, i think i've discovered the cause... i had the EPG setup to download hotbird EPG data via satellite. however, the dish was pointing to astra 2 and seems that the disecq signal isn't sent when the EPG data tries to download or when the timer kicks in to record a programme. so i've disabled the satellite EPG data in Nabilo and set it just to download via the internet... would like to set up an internet download of the hotbird EPG though if anyone has a link for this? i see that the sky-IT data can be downloaded from the default setup, but don't know if the dutch BVN channel (which i want the EPG data for) is included in this list?
 

jonnymaserati

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
49
My Satellite Setup
Dreambox DM8000 with Nabilo Black Hole, 2.0m motorised dish with DiSEqC controler and twin LNB.

Mac Mini with FireDTV S2 and Elgato EyeTV (currently not in use)

Sky+ HD box and subscription (currently not in use as card is in Dreambox).
My Location
Syria
ok, had a quick play last night (wife went to bed early). i couldn't download the scripts list since i either got a "can't connect" message or it just kept me waiting for ages until i had to hard reboot to get control back... either the server was down or the dreambox is struggling to connect to the internet since i gave it a fixed IP address (but i can access via the web interface on the LAN ok)? are there any known issues with setting a manual IP with these boxes?

regarding freezing, i think i've discovered the cause... i had the EPG setup to download hotbird EPG data via satellite. however, the dish was pointing to astra 2 and seems that the disecq signal isn't sent when the EPG data tries to download or when the timer kicks in to record a programme. so i've disabled the satellite EPG data in Nabilo and set it just to download via the internet... would like to set up an internet download of the hotbird EPG though if anyone has a link for this? i see that the sky-IT data can be downloaded from the default setup, but don't know if the dutch BVN channel (which i want the EPG data for) is included in this list?
 
Top