New Cheap Lidl Receiver

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Prunepitplucker

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Hello,
I see that Lidl will be selling a new Digital/Analog satellite receiver from Thursday 26th July. Its only £39.90 and that includes a dish and 20m of cable. THe thing is that I have no idea if it would be any good. From the advertisement the receiver seems to be made by Welltech. It has Twin Philips digital LNB for digital and analog reception, 999tv/radio slots, Currently programmed to Astra, Eutelsat and Turksat, IF Frequency 900-2150 mhz, 22khz signal switching for Eutelsat, Infrared remote control, audio frequency band 5.0-9.5 mhz, 3 scart jacks and DiSEqC 1.0.
Now I am a complete amateur in the satellite field. I have a sky digi box and thats it. What does all of the above mean? I live in Northern Ireland and all I want to know is what could this reciver pick up and is it worth the 40 quid or so? The fact that its digital sounds good. What could I receive free-to-air as I dont want to pay any more monthlies.
Warm Regards,
Prune
 

2old4this

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39.90
???
Shome mishtake shurely.
I'll take a hundred. I can flog them across here for at least 399 each.
2old
 
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Prunepitplucker

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No mistake.
I'm looking at their latest poster type ad thiney. It definately says 39.90...the only caveat is that the wall mounting bracket for the dish is 2.99 extra if you want it.
So tell me...what sort of digital free to air stuff could I get with this receiver?
All the best,
Prune
 

2old4this

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There must be some mistake...
The cost of a dish alone would normally exceed GBP 39.90, let alone a full set (dish, LNB, mounts, cabling) AND a digital/analogue receiver!!!
The cheapest FTA-only digital-only receivers I know of (no dish/etc) sell for the equivalent of GBP 150+
Just look at the price of an unsibsidized Sky box: just reduced from GBP 299 but still GBP 199.
And you're talking about a combined digital+analogue receiver! They are normally top-end boxes in any case!

Can you provide details of the specification of the box? I am very curious but unable to locate any info on any receivers made by Welltech!

2old
 
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Prunepitplucker

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hello 2old,
I cant find anything on Welltech either.
Ill tell you what Ill do, Ill scan the ad in and stick it up on a piece of my webspace...then you can look at the whole thing for yourself.
Ill post the address here in an hour or so.
Good luck
Prune
 
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Prunepitplucker

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Ok. Ive put a scan of the ad at:
http://www.idontbelieveit.co.uk/lidlreceiver.htm
Tell me what free-to-air channels that it would be capable of receiving.
All the best,
Prune
 

rolfw

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[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 19-Jul-01 AT 07:27 PM (GMT)[/font][p]Just looked at the ad Prune', what does it say on the front of the receiver. I can't make it out.

I would bet that it's the LNB that they're talking about when they say digital and analogue receiver, plus it looks like the older design which may not be a universal, I'd love to be proved wrong though as I have a Lidl down the road from me.

The spec they mention on the ad for the receiver would be appropriate for an analogue receiver only.

Rolf
 

kenrea

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I have installed this receiver today for a friend it's not digital but analogue the supplied lnb is a universal and the dish is solid steel and the receiver is one of the smallest I have ever seen but I guess the cost is worth it for the cable, lnb and the dish and one other thing it as no onscreen menu
Regards
Ken
 
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Prunepitplucker

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Rolf,
Om the left hand side of the receiver it simply says 'Welltech' and on the right, it says 'Stereo satellite Receiver'. Forgive my ignorance, but its only the LNB thats digital, then I assume I will still need a suitable digital receiver to resolve the pictures?
Kenrea, is the receiver you installed exactly the same as this one. What tv/radio channels was your friend able to receive? I wonder would Lidl really chance its arm that much...the ad clearly says 'Phillips digital and analog receiver'. Hmmm I wonder.
Thanks for the replies guys.
Prune
 

rolfw

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[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 19-Jul-01 AT 09:57 PM (GMT)[/font][p]Is the LNB a twin Ken?

Prune', unfortunately they probably don't really know what they are advertising, so it's always likely to be misleading. But as said earlier, if it's a twin universal, then that is worth £35+ anyway.

Rolf
 

kenrea

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The LNB is a single output universal made by Phillips and of course would work for digital and analogue but the receiver is only analogue
 

rolfw

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[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 19-Jul-01 AT 10:41 PM (GMT)[/font][p]
[bold]The LNB is a single output universal made by Phillips[/bold]

Thanks Ken,

Perhaps this is a slightly different package, as it clearly states twin on the advert, mind you it says other things that are misleading as well.

I'll take a trip down there next week and see.

Prune, if you want to see what yopu can pick up with the analogue receiver, go to http://www.lyngsat.com

Rolf
 

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If the system actually supplied is the same as the system illustrated, then I think there is a case here for action against Lidl under the Trade Desciptions Act... since the descriptive text does not match the system illustrated!

"digital and analogue receiver" ...
it is not. The receiver is digital only. The Philips unit is not a receiver, but an LNB (Low-Noise Block down-converter), and yes, Prune, you need a digital receiver to get anything from a digital LNB. In fact the Philips LNB illustrated is a universal LNB - bog standard these days. All universal LNBs are suitable for down-converting both analogue and digital signals.

"twin Philips digital LNB" ...
well make your mind up guys, a moment ago it was a digital AND analogue unit. In any event, it is not even a twin unit. The photo clearly shows a single output LNB.

"22kHz switching for Eutelsat"...
well heaven knows what they are referring to here. Universal LNBs use 22khz switching for selecting the upper or lower range of the Ku-band frequencies. But that is nothing specific to Eutelsat. Astra and many other satellites also make use of the extended raqnge of Ku-band frequencies that made such switching necessary.
DiSEqC switches also use 22kHz pulses to select between differnet LNBs in multi-satellite systems. If they are implying that there is a switchable LNB (allowing reception from both Astra and Hotbird using DiSEqC commands) then that isn't true either, since the LNB is clearly not a double unit that would be required.
In all likelyhood they would defend this statement by saying they refer simply to the fact that the receiver is capable of generating the 22kHz switching signals, rather than that the system is suitable for actually making use of them. But then that is nothing more than stating the receiver has DiSEqC 1.0 capability - and I note they DO state that as well anyway!

"currently programmed for Astra, Eutelsat & Turksat"...
well that may well be true as stated, but (especially combined with the "22khz switching" statement) is very misleading... with the fixed dish and single LNB as illustrated there would be no way to receiver signals from more than one of those sats in any case. Switching from Astra to Turksat (say) would require manually re-aligning the dish!

2old

PS, if there is no on-screen menu for this receiver, as one of the posts above states, then I wonder how on earth you would manage to retune it...

PPS:
here are some related websites, if you want to go digging:
Lidl: http://www.karriere-bei-lidl.de/
L&S Electronic: http://www.ls-electronic.de/
L&S shop: http://www.ls-shop.de/ (here you find some items very similar to those illustrated in the Lidl ad)
Welltech: is this an own-brand name of L&S...?
 
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Prunepitplucker

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2Old, Rolf and kenrea,
Thanks for the detailed and helpful responses.
I think I will now cancel that early morning stake out at Lidl next Thursday.
All the best,
Prune
 

frikoriko

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Prunepitplucker said:
Rolf,
Om the left hand side of the receiver it simply says 'Welltech' and on the right, it says 'Stereo satellite Receiver'. Forgive my ignorance, but its only the LNB thats digital, then I assume I will still need a suitable digital receiver to resolve the pictures?
Kenrea, is the receiver you installed exactly the same as this one. What tv/radio channels was your friend able to receive? I wonder would Lidl really chance its arm that much...the ad clearly says 'Phillips digital and analog receiver'. Hmmm I wonder.
Thanks for the replies guys.
Prune

Does anyone know how to store channels on the receiver with the remote?
 

frikoriko

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Does anyone who bought the Welltech receiver still remember how to Store programs on it? I just got one without the manual and can't figure out how to store my channels
 
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