Advice Needed SAT>IP Advice

elsmandino

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Linux Server (Running Openmediavault for OS and TVHeadend for PVR).
Internal TV Tuner Cards - Hauppauge HVR-2200 (Dual DVB-T) & Hauppauge Nova HDS2 (DVB-S2)
Server connected to multiple Raspberry Pis (running Librelec) via Gigabit Network.
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As per my signature, I am watching/recording both UK terrestrial and 28.2 channels via a Linux-based server that contains a couple of tuner cards.

At the moment, only one of the tuner cards has HD - I really want four HD tuners for maximum flexibility.

I originally chose to go with both Freeview and Satellite as there were channels on both that I wanted. However, due to the recent addition of Dave to 28.2E, I no longer have any need for Freeview (especially as it is often said that the satellite equivalents of the channels are better quality).

I was going to go down the route of just replacing my single DVB-S2 tuner with a quad version. However, there are a number of drawbacks to this and I have decided to go consider a SAT>IP device instead.

Can anyone recommend any model in particular or comment on any prior experiences with these?

A few things in particular:

* Even though I have a gigabit network, will recording/streaming multiple HD streams cause problems?
* I currently have a Sky Minidish with a quad LNB. I really wanted to avoid drilling any more holes through my wall. Would a unicable LNB work just as well?
* If I change over to a unicable LNB, would I have to change satellite dishes? I have heard that they are not really designed for minidishes.
 

jeallen01

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For starters if you want to use a unicable LNB then you would also need a unicable-capable sat card, so what card(s) are already in your server? Also, the processor in that would need to be powerful enough to handle multiple HD streams - but I can't much anymore than that .
 

elsmandino

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My Satellite Setup
Linux Server (Running Openmediavault for OS and TVHeadend for PVR).
Internal TV Tuner Cards - Hauppauge HVR-2200 (Dual DVB-T) & Hauppauge Nova HDS2 (DVB-S2)
Server connected to multiple Raspberry Pis (running Librelec) via Gigabit Network.
My Location
Essex, England
As my current DVB-S2 card only has a single tuner, it does not have any unicable support.

I have looked at two SAT>IP Servers:

Megasat SAT>IP Server 3

http://www.triax.com/products/satellite/sat-ip/tss-400-sat-ip-server

and only the second seems to support unicable (good job you pointed that out) - unicable is not an absolute deal breaker but would be nice.

In terms of server, it is based on a Haswell G1840 CPU - only a celeron but as I am literally passing streams on to the clients (no transcoding), multiple HD streams shouldn't be a problem.
 
A

Archive7

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If your system is going to be based on watching FTA channels, sooner or later you will discover that it isn't worth it.
Take a little pause and consider investing in some packages subscriptions first.
You indicated your interest in French and German channels.
TNTSAT subscription will give you a lot of French TV channels from Astra 19.2E for peanuts (15 Euro for 4 years official price), but will need a dedicated receiver in order to use it.
Try tv corner.
German HD+ channels will let you watch many German channels
HD+ on Astra 1KR/1L/1N at 19.2°E - LyngSat
Also need a dedicated receiver. Try hm-sat
Then you will need to ask yourself how can you connect these two receivers to your new system.
Of course I am only throwing two basic packages, but there are other more expensive ones.
Good luck with your project.
 
A

archive10

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At the moment, only one of the tuner cards has HD - I really want four HD tuners for maximum flexibility.
Are you sure your tuner's can't handle HD?
Technically there is not difference between SD and HD *in the tuner* - HD is mostly a matter of how you decode the streams.
The transport stream format is the same.
I am guessing that your tuners are DVB-S, rather than DVB-S/2. Most HD channels these days are on DVB-S/2 modulated transponders.

Which means you want a four-port DVB-S/2 capable tuner card.
I was going to go down the route of just replacing my single DVB-S2 tuner with a quad version. However, there are a number of drawbacks to this and I have decided to go consider a SAT>IP device instead.

Can anyone recommend any model in particular or comment on any prior experiences with these?
You can choose any SAT>IP LNB, but I have only ever seen the Invertos in actual action.
If you go with a SAT>IP solution, you need to have Cat-5 or 6 cable all the way to close to the LNB.
How far does your PDS cabling extend?
You still need to go the last mile with coax, and you will then be limited to a single tuner/cable.
Unless you upgrade to a four-coax cable run to the LNB.

A few things in particular:

* Even though I have a gigabit network, will recording/streaming multiple HD streams cause problems?
No, if you have gigabit network, the HD streams should be fine on the network (disregarding any penalty imposed by old server / WIFI etc)
* I currently have a Sky Minidish with a quad LNB. I really wanted to avoid drilling any more holes through my wall. Would a unicable LNB work just as well?
I am not aware of a SAT>IP server that support Unicable, but then again, I haven't been looking for a while.
* If I change over to a unicable LNB, would I have to change satellite dishes? I have heard that they are not really designed for minidishes.

No, it's all the same. The Unicable LNBs has an additional electronic circuit that pretends it is more IF LNB oscillators.
The mechanicals of the dish is exactly the same as with "normal" dish set-ups.
HOWEVER, if you have an oval (ellipsoid) Sky Dish, the feed-horn of the LNB needs to match the shape of the dish.
I do not know of any unicable LNBs that match Sky dishes, but I will leave that to be commented upon by my esteemed UK-based co-members on this board.
 

elsmandino

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My Satellite Setup
Linux Server (Running Openmediavault for OS and TVHeadend for PVR).
Internal TV Tuner Cards - Hauppauge HVR-2200 (Dual DVB-T) & Hauppauge Nova HDS2 (DVB-S2)
Server connected to multiple Raspberry Pis (running Librelec) via Gigabit Network.
My Location
Essex, England
Thank you both for your comments on this.

My current two tuners are these:

WinTV-HVR-2205 Board Product Description

Hauppauge: WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 Satellite Receiver Product Specifications

As mentioned above, the more I have looked into other satellites, the more I am starting to realise that it might perhaps not be the best move (at least not for the time-being). Perhaps I shall stick with just 28.2e for the time-being.

My other option, if I do stick with 28.2e, is whether Freeview might be an alternative. All the channels that I watch tend to be on both, but I have heard that Freesat offers better quality.

There are SAT>IP versions for DVB-T2:

HDHomeRun CONNECT - Silicon Dust

But not only do these have only 100Mb ethernet but only two tuners, so I would have to buy a couple of them.
 
A

Archive-8

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Thank you both for your comments on this.

My current two tuners are these:

WinTV-HVR-2205 Board Product Description

Hauppauge: WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 Satellite Receiver Product Specifications

As mentioned above, the more I have looked into other satellites, the more I am starting to realise that it might perhaps not be the best move (at least not for the time-being). Perhaps I shall stick with just 28.2e for the time-being.

My other option, if I do stick with 28.2e, is whether Freeview might be an alternative. All the channels that I watch tend to be on both, but I have heard that Freesat offers better quality.

There are SAT>IP versions for DVB-T2:

HDHomeRun CONNECT - Silicon Dust

But not only do these have only 100Mb ethernet but only two tuners, so I would have to buy a couple of them.


I have the hd home run dvb-t2 tuner, i wanted to intergrate in to my FreeNAS/Plex setup.

Plex allows me to intergrate the tuner, but doesn't allow me to setup recordings as the TV guide is for the satellite versions.

The hd home run app work great on my Xbox 360 and Xbox one, I haven't tried intergrating it in to kodi, kodi does have native support for hd home run tuners.

My windows 10 pc's all show the tuner in my network places.

Setup was a breeze, all I had to do was plug in the tv aerial, network cable and the wall wart, load the webpage via a pc or smart phone, a couple of clicks later it had tuned in the channels.

If you do buy a dvb-t2 tuner I would be interested in your comments.

Mine cost me £120 via the bay.
 

elsmandino

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My Satellite Setup
Linux Server (Running Openmediavault for OS and TVHeadend for PVR).
Internal TV Tuner Cards - Hauppauge HVR-2200 (Dual DVB-T) & Hauppauge Nova HDS2 (DVB-S2)
Server connected to multiple Raspberry Pis (running Librelec) via Gigabit Network.
My Location
Essex, England
Having done a bit more research, I have decided to go with one of these:

Sat-IP server Telestar DIGIBIT R 1 from Conrad Electronic UK

It seems to be very highly regarded and I have confirmation that it does work with Unicable.

I cannot seem to find any Unicable LNB's that work with minidishes, so I am gong to have to buy a non-Sky satellite dish.

Could anyone possibly recommend any Unicable LNB's and dishes that would do the job, please?
 

Tururu

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90cm motorised dishes(98x90)+fixed+multiLNB+24Unicable.
Currently 56 satellites, 61°West to 57°East.

Octagon SF8008 4K Twin, VU+Duo², VU+Ultimo4K.
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A physically unicable LNB is like a normal one, looking at the LNB collar, has an F output, you have models that also have another output, this works like a normal lnb (legacy connection).
The mini disk you have is not sized, I have unicable LNB of 0'1dB on a 90cm antenna and behave with rain/storms as badly as if it were 70cm.

The difference between an LNB of 4 universal outputs and a LNB unicable of 4 (SCR), low 3 cables less from the antenna/roof.
--------
Un LNB unicable fisicamente es como uno normal, mirando la sujeccion al cuello del LNB, tiene una salida F, tienes modelos que tienen tambien otra salida, esta funciona como un lnb normal (conexion heredada).
El mini disco que tienes no se tamaño, tengo LNB unicable de 0'1dB en una antena de 90cm y se comporta con las lluvia/tormentas tan mal como si fuerra de 70cm.

La diferencia entre un LNB de 4 salidas universales y un LNB unicable de 4 (SCR), bajas 3 cables menos desde la antena/tejado.

Normally they do not have the heatsink, it's the one I have of SCR24/Normalmente no tienen el disipador, es el que tengo de 24SCR.

LNB_unicable_24SCR.jpg
 
A

Archive7

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Having done a bit more research, I have decided to go with one of these:

Sat-IP server Telestar DIGIBIT R 1 from Conrad Electronic UK

It seems to be very highly regarded and I have confirmation that it does work with Unicable.

I cannot seem to find any Unicable LNB's that work with minidishes, so I am gong to have to buy a non-Sky satellite dish.

Could anyone possibly recommend any Unicable LNB's and dishes that would do the job, please?
I bought recently Inverto Unicable LNB with support for four tuners + Dual standard LNB (Legacy).
You will need a 4-Way splitter.
Inverto IDLB-QUDL42-UNI2L-OPP Unicable Quad 40mm LNB: Amazon.de: Elektronik
TechniSat 4-Wege Sat-Verteiler: Amazon.de: Elektronik
As for a dish, I bought S Telestar Digirapid 60 Sat-Dish 60 CM but they have larger size 80Cm and maybe 100cm
Hope tis helps.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B009T4Q0UC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I like to buy from Amazon Germany because I can return the product if I am not satisfied within a certain time window and considering all the hassle if shipment overseas, they give me the best support.
 

elsmandino

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Linux Server (Running Openmediavault for OS and TVHeadend for PVR).
Internal TV Tuner Cards - Hauppauge HVR-2200 (Dual DVB-T) & Hauppauge Nova HDS2 (DVB-S2)
Server connected to multiple Raspberry Pis (running Librelec) via Gigabit Network.
My Location
Essex, England
Thank you for the recommendations.

One other quick thing - sorry, am learning so much on here!

Can you use Unicable in conjunction with a DiSEqC switch?

For example -

Say I bought a new satellite dish (Dish1) with a Unicable LNB as per the above.

I then put a motor on the dish I already have (Dish2) and connect a coax a single coax to it.

If I wanted use of both satellite dishes which (if any) would I do:

1. Run the coax from Dish 1 to one of the Digibit inputs and and run another coax to one of the other inputs or

2. Run the coax from both dishes into a DiSEqC swith and then a single feed from that to one of the inputs
 
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Archive7

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The Unicable LNB I gave a link to has two legacy outputs.
They should work with a DiseqC switch.
But I would never connect the Unicable output to a DiseqC switch near the dish as it can complicate the setup and you need the 4-Way splitter which should be connected at the end of the cable connected to the unicable output presumably in the living room and other rooms with more cables.
I could be wrong of course.
 

elsmandino

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Linux Server (Running Openmediavault for OS and TVHeadend for PVR).
Internal TV Tuner Cards - Hauppauge HVR-2200 (Dual DVB-T) & Hauppauge Nova HDS2 (DVB-S2)
Server connected to multiple Raspberry Pis (running Librelec) via Gigabit Network.
My Location
Essex, England
Sorry - you are completely right.

I am pretty sure that a DiSEqC directs the signal to only a single LNB at a time, so option 2 would mean that if I was using Dish2, Dish1 would be completely out of action.

Option 1 seems the logical choice.

The question is whether the Digibit R1 is sophisticated enough to accept a combination of Unicable and Legacy feeds at the same time.
 
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Archive7

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Are you sure that the Sat-IP server Telestar DIGIBIT R 1 supports Unicable LNB?
From the attached image showing the back, it looks like it will work with Quattro LNB (H/H, V/H, H/L, V/L) rings a bell for my Quattro LNB RIP before I changed it to Unicable LNB.
Sat-IP server Telestar DIGIBIT R 1 Back.jpg
 

elsmandino

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Linux Server (Running Openmediavault for OS and TVHeadend for PVR).
Internal TV Tuner Cards - Hauppauge HVR-2200 (Dual DVB-T) & Hauppauge Nova HDS2 (DVB-S2)
Server connected to multiple Raspberry Pis (running Librelec) via Gigabit Network.
My Location
Essex, England
Thanks for the heads up.

I was sure that I read it did support Unicable but I am not so sure now.

Unfortunately, I can only find German pages to seem to talk about it and my German is too poor to decipher whether it is supported or not.

I am going to have a go with an online translator, to see if that helps.
 
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Archive7

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Thanks for the heads up.

I was sure that I read it did support Unicable but I am not so sure now.

Unfortunately, I can only find German pages to seem to talk about it and my German is too poor to decipher whether it is supported or not.

I am going to have a go with an online translator, to see if that helps.
I downloaded the user manual in German and it says that the unit can support unicable.
https://www.telestar.de/assetsFS/downloads/assets/medias/docus/80/$v6/bda_Digibit_R1_001.pdf
See page 10/32
It mentions that you must connect the cable to the far left side so that is H/H input and set it up in the user interface.
But I think that this will work only for one tuner so what about the rest?
I think I would try connecting the unicable cable to the 4 port switch (mentioned earlier) and then connect the four outputs to the unit at the back with a short cable like 50cm.
I hope that this will work for you.
 

kevjs

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I downloaded the user manual in German and it says that the unit can support unicable.
https://www.telestar.de/assetsFS/downloads/assets/medias/docus/80/$v6/bda_Digibit_R1_001.pdf
See page 10/32
It mentions that you must connect the cable to the far left side so that is H/H input and set it up in the user interface.
But I think that this will work only for one tuner so what about the rest?
I think I would try connecting the unicable cable to the 4 port switch (mentioned earlier) and then connect the four outputs to the unit at the back with a short cable like 50cm.
I hope that this will work for you.

My TRIAX SAT>IP Tuner has different LNB Options - Quattro/Quad&DiSEqC/Unicable.

My Assumption (and initial playing with the HL input) is that there is internal switching - i.e. LNB1 input is not connected directly to tuner 1 but is infact switched as needed.

When in Quad/DiSEqc Mode the LNB : Tuner relationship is a 1 to 1 - this being the only mode where DiSEqC is of any use. You can connect in any combination you want - e.g. I have LNB 1,2,3 connected to Astra 28,2 and LNB 4 connected to 19,2. TVHeadend copes with this fine - not sure about "regular" receivers.

When in Quattro Mode the LNB : Tuner relationship is broken, instead the unit manages the routing - e.g. if Tuner 1 and 4 need H/L then that single input is routed to them, while Tuner 2 might be using H/H and Tuner 3 might be using V/L. This needs to be connected correctly to a Quattro LNB

When in Unicable mode you choose the channel and frequency (no idea if it's Sky or the EN standard) and the single feed is split between all the tuners internally.

This (Quad/Unicable) is how Sky boxes work too AIUI.
 
A

Archive7

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I thought of this possibility i.e. there is an internal switching inside the box, but didn't find any information to confirm this.
Thanks for clarifying this point and I hope the OP's receiver has the same feature.
 

elsmandino

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Internal TV Tuner Cards - Hauppauge HVR-2200 (Dual DVB-T) & Hauppauge Nova HDS2 (DVB-S2)
Server connected to multiple Raspberry Pis (running Librelec) via Gigabit Network.
My Location
Essex, England
Thank you - really helpful.

Kevjs - what made you go for the Triax, rather than the Digibit?

Given that I want to consider a motorised dish, do you know whether it supports DiSEqc 2.1 or USALS?
 

a33

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I was sure that I read it did support Unicable but I am not so sure now.

Unfortunately, I can only find German pages to seem to talk about it and my German is too poor to decipher whether it is supported or not.

The german manual (I do unserstand quite a bit of german), see: Pagina 10 van Telestar DIGIBIT R1 handleiding
says yes, it supports unicable I and II. Connect unicable-lnb to just the LNB-1 port.

I know nothing of the box, though.

Greetz,
A33
 
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