Dreambox sounds amazing but what else do I need?

00evan

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I came across mention of the dreambox by accident today and I'm hooked.

I want one! :cool:

But before I take the plunge, what else am I going to need?

I currently have Sky+ with a sky dish. Can the db also hook up to this dish or do I need one of those 1m motorized jobbies?

And the hard disk option is for PVR type stuff, right? Does db have similar PVR capabilities to Sky+ or is that too much to hope for?

Btw I'm really looking for access to films and non-sky English/Scottish footie rather than anything else. Will I be able to get English Prem games on Saturday afternoons and can db decode Setanta?

Thanks for any advice...
 

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If you just connect it to your Sky dish all you will only get the Astra satellites.

Won't decode Setanta as they use the same encryption as Sky. The football that is available on satellite is on other satellites than Astra so you will need a motirised dish of at least 90cm

If I'm wrong someone will correct me.

Dreambox can record to hard drive (7000s only) but again not Sky programmes.
 

rolfw

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Yes a lovevly tool, wasted though without a motorised dish. Put a 90cm dish on a DiseqC motor and you'll have loads of alternative channels.
 

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I agree...this box is amazing.Loads of great software for it too.Just been using Tuxvision where you can watch and record from the dreambox to your pc hard drive :cool: Only had the box myself for about 10 days, but i wouldnt swap it for any other receiver :D
 

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I can strongly recomend the box - The PVR is okay as you can specify how long you want to record for or indeed when you want it to stop recording.

The is a English premier league channel which covers those Games.

you also get the equivalent of Sky box office channels with many films to choose from.

Go for the motorised dish option as having multiple lnb's would come to the same price anyway.

The mature content is also widely available.

Make sure you get a 0.3db lnb, I have the 88cm triax dish which also looks pretty good.

Some experience with computers is also a pre-requsite to get the most from the DB.
 

00evan

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rolfw said:
Yes a lovevly tool, wasted though without a motorised dish. Put a 90cm dish on a DiseqC motor and you'll have loads of alternative channels.
Thanks for all the responses. So basically it looks like I need something like these to make the most of a db:

http://www.satalogue.com/section4/page4.htm
http://www.satalogue.com/section4/page7.htm

which will come to around 225 pounds.

Are these going to do a job for me? Any other recommendations?

Also, can anyone help me get an idea how much English/Scottish football this is going to make available for me?

Thanks again...
 

rolfw

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Yes the Raven 90cm is a nice dish and the motor OK, have foumd that the Moteck SG-2100 is better value though. You can probably find those items for better prices on the web as well.

Can't answer the football question, have a look in the football forum, quite a few threads there concerning that topic.
 

00evan

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rolfw said:
Yes the Raven 90cm is a nice dish and the motor OK, have foumd that the Moteck SG-2100 is better value though. You can probably find those items for better prices on the web as well.

Can't answer the football question, have a look in the football forum, quite a few threads there concerning that topic.
Thanks Rolf.

Just need to convince my other half that we actually need a dreambox and a 2nd satellite dish. This is proving more difficult than I expected.
 

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I recommend the site below for your dish/Lnb.

http://www.satelliteonline.net/

I watch quite a bit of football (Man U fan :cool: ) and if things stay as they are encryption wise then i would hope to watch the full season. Two good site below that lists footy on satellite.If you support one of the big clubs i.e Man Utd,Arsenal,Chelsea and dare i say Liverpool then you should get quite a few games.Ive watched 99% of utd games over the last 2/3 seasons on satellite.
Not sure about Scottish footy....but thats not real football anyway O-Ha

http://www.knplogic.co.uk/sport/
http://www.satfootball.com
 

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I'll resist the temptation to respond to the "Scottish football is rubbish" comments, partly because I wouldn't really have a leg to stand on.

Thanks for the tip but I couldn't find everything I needed on the satelliteonline site.

Have struck a deal with the missus, involving something called "Jimmy Choos". I'm planning to go for this setup now.

Raven 90cm Solid dish £85.00
Digisat Pro Satfinder £69.00
DiSEcQ 1.2 Motormount 1 metre dish £89.00
Satellite Installation Kit1cable - Length: 20m £15.00
Invacom 0.3dB High power LNB £39.00

All from http://www.brymar.co.uk and I'll be buying a dreambox separately. If I'm paying a few pounds extra for the convenience of getting it from under one roof then that's fine.

Does this combo make sense? Is this everything I need? Forgive the daft questions but I'm a total newbie.

I already have a pole where the previous owner had a 1m dish.

Thanks, as always, for any comments/suggestions.
 

rolfw

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That should just about do it. :)


Don't forget the connectors and the self amalgamating tape, if it isn't in the kit.. :)
 

00evan

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The kit contains 4 wall bolts and plugs, 1 x box of clips, 2 x F connectors, LNB sealing tape, 2 x wall bushes plus 10 or 20 meters of high grade satellite cable.

But here's a thought: what powers the motor? Do I need to run a power cable up as well?
 

rolfw

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No, the diseqC motor is powered by the coax cable. You will need 4 "F" connecotrs, as there is a coax cable from LNB to motor and another from motor to receiver.
 

00evan

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Thanks Rolf.

Placed my order and now the shop is recommending that I upgrade to a Funke 1m high gain dish or downgrade to an ISS 85cm/80cm because the Raven won't let me pick up anything that the 80cm won't.

Is this good advice?
 

rolfw

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The performance on a 90cm Raven should be better than the 85cm Funke dish, but whether by a significant amount I cannot guarantee. The 1m dish should be OK, but is at the top end size wise. :)
 

00evan

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Ok. Will the 1m dish give me anything that the 90cm won't?

Visibility is not really a problem. It'll be on the roof and not visible from the ground.

Is there any other drawback of having a larger dish?
 

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Larger dish will pull in more signal. You will get a better reception of channels that you situation puts you on the fringe of their footprint.

Other channels will not suffer so much from a drop in signal due to bad weather for instance.

A larger dish is heavier which puts a greater strain on the mount or motor, if you use one. Being large they catch the wind more, again adding to the strain.

Anything above 90cm and you should get permission to put it up - that's my understanding but maybe different authorities have different rules.
 
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