Advice Needed Which satellite 'card'?

Captain Jack

Captain Jack

Retired human
My Satellite Setup
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My Location
North Somerset
Hello,

At the moment, I have a TBS5922SE card... it's OK but it's not really a patch on Skystar eXpress I had. The signal levels are erratic, especially below lock and it doesn't work very well with multistreams (no ability to select PLS code).

So, I am on the hunt for a new one (and it must be a USB one since I don't have a PC to put PCI cards in). The TBS5925 seems to be the obvious choice but it's freaking expensive. At over 200 Great British ones, it seems a bit much. I still have a welder I want to buy... However, I could stretch to this if it really is the best one. My concern is the failure rate of its PCI counterpart, the 6925. Are these USB ones more reliable?

The other choice is the Prof7500, which I know is a well regarded card. It's getting on a bit, though, and I am not sure what kind of capabilities it has. @aceb - I know you have have, would love to hear your opinion.

Ideally, I would it to be able to do multistream with manually selectable PLS code, 16/32PSK and potentially ACM/VCM... at least as far as locking the signal.

Thoughts/advice?
 
I have (had) two TBS5925 CJ. My second one has worked well so far, after a year. The first one started to perform erratically after a couple of years, in that it would shut down suddenly during a scan. The problem was, it didn't like LNBs whose current requirements exceeded 150mA or so (e.g. my XMW Ka band LNB ).

After a while, it didn't fancy working any LNB. I checked the minimum load it would take before the cut-out operated using a rheostat, and found the short-circuit cut-out operated when it was supplying anything over 20mA!

So it seems its LNB cut-out circuit developed a weakness over time, or it's not up to providing higher loading of its input. Or maybe I just had a dodgy unit.
 
Gah, that's not encouraging for a card costing what it costs :(

Perhaps a Prof7500 would be a better one to get. And cheaper.
 
Where would you buy a Prof 7500 as they seem out of production?
Code: 
http://rickcaylor.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1286074769&postcount=10&forum=106995
 
Yeah, they are old cards. But I am after reliability... You can still get them from satmultimedia site.
 
Those TBS cards scare me. They have a habit of stopping working after a year.

What's the power for? I rarely view video - that's what the receiver and the tv are for...
 
Captain Jack said:
Those TBS cards scare me. They have a habit of stopping working after a year.

What's the power for? I rarely view video - that's what the receiver and the tv are for...
Click to expand...
The pci-e card needs more power, than the board can give it.
 
Captain Jack said:
The other choice is the Prof7500, which I know is a well regarded card. It's getting on a bit, though, and I am not sure what kind of capabilities it has. @aceb - I know you have have, would love to hear your opinion.
Click to expand...

I don't have the USB version, mine is the 7301 PCI card but they all have the same spec. DVB-S and S2 upto 8PSK. Performance in those modes is the same as the TBS6925.
 
Chris1979 said:
The pci-e card needs more power, than the board can give it.
Click to expand...


Chris,

I have a TBS6883 card and do not have the card molex connector receiving power from the PC power supply unit. It seems to work OK for my limited use. Is it definitely supposed to be connected or is it just for some functionality?

Thx
 
I guess it depends on what you do with it - if you start driving a DiSEqC motor back and forth, it will probably need more juice than PCI-e bus can provide.
 
Captain Jack said:
I guess it depends on what you do with it - if you start driving a DiSEqC motor back and forth, it will probably need more juice than PCI-e bus can provide.
Click to expand...


Ah, I forgot about using the card for driving a motor. I never use DiSEqC motors so probably dont need the extra electrical power to the card.
 
moonbase said:
Chris,

I have a TBS6883 card and do not have the card molex connector receiving power from the PC power supply unit. It seems to work OK for my limited use. Is it definitely supposed to be connected or is it just for some functionality?

Thx
Click to expand...

Yes @Captain Jack is right, my 6925 card packed up on me, and they suffered with a power problem.

So I was able to send my old card back for a straight swap to a 6983 card.
 
Captain Jack said:
I guess it depends on what you do with it - if you start driving a DiSEqC motor back and forth, it will probably need more juice than PCI-e bus can provide.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. When people start powering switches, lnbs, diseq motors all off the same card the pci-e bus cannot supply enough cuurent by itself.
 
I have recently ordered a TBS 5925 from this person on ebay, I am expecting delivery tomorrow TBS 5925 USB Professional DVB-S2 TV Box 16/32APSK ACM VCM GS Streaming

I paid just over £150 incl postage, as first I was a bit suspicious as he wanted to test it as he does with all TBS cards he sells apparently but if you want to save £60 then this is the cheapest option it seems

I don't like to hear they don't seem to last though, my prof 7500 has performed perfectly for the last 4 years, bought direct from prof tuners themselves for $99...
 
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