Recent content by bifferos

I have a Sky digibox, which I believe gives me a few more channels than a simple FTA setup. I bought it off a friend for a fiver, then paid about a tenner for the dish. This has been working nicely and has all the channels I need, but I'd now like to get a setup which can record more than a...

Unfortunately, these are films no longer available (on DVD or VHS), and also analogue home recordings before I got a camcorder with firewire, otherwise I'd do this on the PC. Yeah.. I deliberately left that out :-). So long as I can play back on a PC (now) I believe I am probably OK for the...

Hello, I am looking for a DVR which can be used to digitise VHS cassettes and also for general use recording (analogue) output from my Sky box. I say 'hackable' because I would like to be able to get into the system so I can transfer recorded files onto a Linux server and use them with XBMC...

Skystar2 works fine under Linux. If you don't want the hassle of installing vdr, then use dvbstream in combination with mplayer. It's not so good for channel-hoping, but it does work!

With respect (such a wonderful expression isn't it), whether you would or wouldn't give away such equipment is irrelevant. Your level of electrical experience is also irrelevant. Your post had the potential to mislead other forum members so I responded.

Hmm... Something suitable to hand that clamps the mains cable incase the box gets knocked on the floor, a grommet for the place the cable goes in, so it doesn't get bent out of shape, something to mount the toroid on inside the box, something to keep its leads from coming together, then the same...

You've forgotten one important component - the box!! This is mains :-). Interesting to know what it looks like inside a real postioner, but since it's working at 12v, and I don't mind the speed it moves at think I'll stick with what I've got. Just done a search on Ebay and found an AT PSU...

Answers: -Yes, -yes, -yes, -(Sorry - my first post to a forum involving pictures)

Right-hand pic: This is the whole thing. There's a board glued to the top of an ATX PSU (don't ask - from another project:D). The relay board (top-right) was bought as a kit off ebay. Bottom-left goes to the PC serial port, bottom right to the dish. Left-hand pic: This is the bit that does...

OK, I stand corrected, 40 quid then. However, since the rest of the system is also homebrew, I need to be able to programmatically control the dish position, and I'm not sure what the possibilities are with off-the-shelf systems (even if the cost sounds reasonable). So far I've started on the...

Brilliant... The first link is the best. I should have it working by the w/e, hopefully. cheers, -biff.

I don't have £60 to spend on something I can make for a tenner! Also, is a V-box programmable from Python??? :-). -biff.

So far I have been 'positioning' my dish with a 12volt battery and a signal meter. I'd like to change this for something connected to the parallel port of my PC. It's an ACME actuator I bought about 10 years ago, with 4 wires - two are for the motor, which have to be reversed depending on...

I thought about this, but isn't scaffold generally 2 inch? I've tried using a 2 inch pole and home-made adaptor (a thick sheet of aluminium I beat into a curve) with the 3-inch mount on the dish and it wasn't very satisfactory. The dish, frequently got 're-pointed' in high winds! I'll be...

Nice link, but it doesn't say if 3 inch or 2 inch. I suspect it will be 2 inch dia. Worth bearing in mind for the future though...