Advice Needed 4k, Fringe, Kodi, 2xS2+1xT Tuners.

Hey everyone.

I bought a Technomate TM5402 HD some years ago for fringe reception by advice given on this forum and it has served me well. But now it's time to upgrade to something a bit more modern.

I'm located in southern Sweden and I got a 1.8m dish pointed at Astra 28.2 for Freesat and a smaller dish pointed at Astra 19.2 and Hotbird 13. In addition to this I have a new terrestrial antenna that I now want to feed into the same box for convenience, hence the reason for upgrade.

I also have an old Intel Haswell NUC running Kodi which is struggling with h265 media playback. If I could replace it with a Linux receiver and have everything TV in one place it would be great.

My feature-list is as follows:
Two dvb-s2 tuners
One dvb-t tuner
Kodi
Best possible fringe reception

This has narrowed it down to three 4k receivers; the Gigablue UHD UE 4K, the Octagon SF4008, Mutant HD51+usb tuner and one 1080p receiver: the Edision OS mega triple tuner.

1. How is the fringe reception on these? I'm currently getting around 80% signal quality for Astra 28.2 with the Technomate and I'd like to keep it around that if possible.
2. How well does these do Kodi? Better Kodi support would make me sway me towards one over the others because I watch more local media than sat/tv broadcasts.
3. Should I get a 4k receiver to future proof? I don't have a 4k TV/Projector but I might upgrade in the future and getting Sky F1 UHD along with Kodi 4k media playback would be reasons to do so.
4. What sets these receivers apart? Which one is best supported etc.
5. Given there is a new HDMI spec coming out next year, would it be smarter to to wait for receivers with it to pop up? I know the current spec is bandwidth constrained and cannot do 4k60 4:4:4 10bit but I assume that's never going to be a problem for satellite broadcasts and most media playback in the near future.
6. Is dvb-s2x necessary?
7. From what I can tell, only the Mutant 51 supports CI+, is this something I would need for Sky or other Swedish/German providers?

Thanks!

Some answers for you:

1) The signal strength indicators are not directly comparable between receivers - they do not give absolute readings, just indicative. They cannot be relied on fdor different receivers of the same make let alone different manufacturers

3) Thats up to you BUT if you want Sky F1 UHD then you use the official SkyQ receiver.....

5) There are always new technical innovations coming along - if you waited for ewach one you would never buy anything - you have to bite the bullet and buy, but realise if there is an essential for you development in a couple of years then you need to replace it.

6) Its not widespread enough atm to worry about

7) Sky UK cards are paired to their Sky receiver, and for many channels you have to use the Sky box or do without. If you want the German HD+ service then you need CI+ capability.

Zeknurn said:

I'm located in southern Sweden and I got a 1.8m dish pointed at Astra 28.2 for Freesat

[snip]

1. How is the fringe reception on these? I'm currently getting around 80% signal quality for Astra 28.2 with the Technomate and I'd like to keep it around that if possible.

Click to expand...

For fringe, the size of the dish massively outweighs any differences in general available SAT receiver technology.
With a (reasonably shaped) 1.8m in southern sweden and a good LNB, I would dare guess that it doesn't matter which one you buy.
You are most likely to have good reception on all of them.
I do all of 28.2 on a 1.2m near Broby, both using Humax boxes, TBS tuners, and old Sky boxes.
Your dish is therefore more than double the size of mine.
With a 1.8 in good shape, you should be very well covered. We're very close to the center of the first side-lobe...
(...it is of course an offset dish with a f/D of 0.6 that your are using, yes? Not a prime focus, I assume?? Else your LNB doesn't match the dish).

What I'm saying is: Don't let the "fringe sensitivity" distract you - get the receiver that functionally works best.
(which is of course a whole different matter - very different to gauge before you actually try them

Zeknurn said:

Hey everyone.

I bought a Technomate TM5402 HD some years ago for fringe reception by advice given on this forum and it has served me well. But now it's time to upgrade to something a bit more modern.

I'm located in southern Sweden and I got a 1.8m dish pointed at Astra 28.2 for Freesat and a smaller dish pointed at Astra 19.2 and Hotbird 13. In addition to this I have a new terrestrial antenna that I now want to feed into the same box for convenience, hence the reason for upgrade.

I also have an old Intel Haswell NUC running Kodi which is struggling with h265 media playback. If I could replace it with a Linux receiver and have everything TV in one place it would be great.

My feature-list is as follows:
Two dvb-s2 tuners
One dvb-t tuner
Kodi
Best possible fringe reception

This has narrowed it down to three 4k receivers; the Gigablue UHD UE 4K, the Octagon SF4008, Mutant HD51+usb tuner and one 1080p receiver: the Edision OS mega triple tuner.

1. How is the fringe reception on these? I'm currently getting around 80% signal quality for Astra 28.2 with the Technomate and I'd like to keep it around that if possible.
2. How well does these do Kodi? Better Kodi support would make me sway me towards one over the others because I watch more local media than sat/tv broadcasts.
3. Should I get a 4k receiver to future proof? I don't have a 4k TV/Projector but I might upgrade in the future and getting Sky F1 UHD along with Kodi 4k media playback would be reasons to do so.
4. What sets these receivers apart? Which one is best supported etc.
5. Given there is a new HDMI spec coming out next year, would it be smarter to to wait for receivers with it to pop up? I know the current spec is bandwidth constrained and cannot do 4k60 4:4:4 10bit but I assume that's never going to be a problem for satellite broadcasts and most media playback in the near future.
6. Is dvb-s2x necessary?
7. From what I can tell, only the Mutant 51 supports CI+, is this something I would need for Sky or other Swedish/German providers?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Several receivers support CI+, depends which image you load. I have a Gigablue uhd quad 4k with HD Freaks image, supports CI+

TJExcalibur said:

Several receivers support CI+, depends which image you load. I have a Gigablue uhd quad 4k with HD Freaks image, supports CI+

Click to expand...

CI+ has evolved a few times over the past decade, v1.4 is the last card slot standard that receiver manufacturers have been working on

Common Interface - Wikipedia

Analoguesat said:

Some answers for you:

1) The signal strength indicators are not directly comparable between receivers - they do not give absolute readings, just indicative. They cannot be relied on fdor different receivers of the same make let alone different manufacturers

3) Thats up to you BUT if you want Sky F1 UHD then you use the official SkyQ receiver.....

5) There are always new technical innovations coming along - if you waited for ewach one you would never buy anything - you have to bite the bullet and buy, but realise if there is an essential for you development in a couple of years then you need to replace it.

6) Its not widespread enough atm to worry about

7) Sky UK cards are paired to their Sky receiver, and for many channels you have to use the Sky box or do without. If you want the German HD+ service then you need CI+ capability.

Click to expand...

1) That makes sense. I thought I'd lose signal quality when upgrading but given what st1 said, I shouldn't worry as much and the only way to find out is to try.

3) & 7) Ah, that's too bad. In Sweden the providers are forced to allow the use after market receivers and I thought it was the same in the UK. That rules out getting Sky unless the UK somehow stays in the EU and the planned common digital market.

5) This is a sensible approach to technology. I'm sure the current specs will be fine for me for a while at least.

st1 said:

For fringe, the size of the dish massively outweighs any differences in general available SAT receiver technology.
With a (reasonably shaped) 1.8m in southern sweden and a good LNB, I would dare guess that it doesn't matter which one you buy.
You are most likely to have good reception on all of them.
I do all of 28.2 on a 1.2m near Broby, both using Humax boxes, TBS tuners, and old Sky boxes.
Your dish is therefore more than double the size of mine.
With a 1.8 in good shape, you should be very well covered. We're very close to the center of the first side-lobe...
(...it is of course an offset dish with a f/D of 0.6 that your are using, yes? Not a prime focus, I assume?? Else your LNB doesn't match the dish).

What I'm saying is: Don't let the "fringe sensitivity" distract you - get the receiver that functionally works best.
(which is of course a whole different matter - very different to gauge before you actually try them

Click to expand...

Yeah, it's an offset dish with a f/D ratio of 0.63. I got it for roughly €50 a year ago and the dish itself was in mint condition. All I had to do was fix the bent lnb arm and reinforce it. The owner said they had bent the arm to make it a prime focus dish which was a bit puzzling. I don't mind as it was a bargain and it has been working great. I've been getting flawless reception of the freesat HD channels in rain.

The reason I asked about fringe reception is because when I bought the TM5402 I was told it was one of the best for fringe reception and that I should avoid linux receivers because they weren't as good at it. But this was a few years ago and I'm sure the technology has improved.

Not having to take it into consideration when picking a receiver makes it a lot easier. Thank you.

TJExcalibur said:

Several receivers support CI+, depends which image you load. I have a Gigablue uhd quad 4k with HD Freaks image, supports CI+

Click to expand...

I'll have to look into this. Thank you.


I'm leaning towards the Octagon right now as it seems to be the most bang for the buck. I just need to find out well Kodi works on it.
Am I right to assume it's better to get a receiver with all the necessary internal tuners than the Mutant HD51 which I would need to get an additional tuner over usb for dvb-t?

Zeknurn said:

1) That makes sense. I thought I'd lose signal quality when upgrading but given what st1 said, I shouldn't worry as much and the only way to find out is to try.

3) & 7) Ah, that's too bad. In Sweden the providers are forced to allow the use after market receivers and I thought it was the same in the UK. That rules out getting Sky unless the UK somehow stays in the EU and the planned common digital market.

5) This is a sensible approach to technology. I'm sure the current specs will be fine for me for a while at least.




Yeah, it's an offset dish with a f/D ratio of 0.63. I got it for roughly €50 a year ago and the dish itself was in mint condition. All I had to do was fix the bent lnb arm and reinforce it. The owner said they had bent the arm to make it a prime focus dish which was a bit puzzling. I don't mind as it was a bargain and it has been working great. I've been getting flawless reception of the freesat HD channels in rain.

The reason I asked about fringe reception is because when I bought the TM5402 I was told it was one of the best for fringe reception and that I should avoid linux receivers because they weren't as good at it. But this was a few years ago and I'm sure the technology has improved.

Not having to take it into consideration when picking a receiver makes it a lot easier. Thank you.




I'll have to look into this. Thank you.


I'm leaning towards the Octagon right now as it seems to be the most bang for the buck. I just need to find out well Kodi works on it.
Am I right to assume it's better to get a receiver with all the necessary internal tuners than the Mutant HD51 which I would need to get an additional tuner over usb for dvb-t?

Click to expand...

I believe it's better to get a receiver with all the necessary internal tuners.

Zeknurn said:

Yeah, it's an offset dish with a f/D ratio of 0.63. I got it for roughly €50 a year ago and the dish itself was in mint condition. All I had to do was fix the bent lnb arm and reinforce it. The owner said they had bent the arm to make it a prime focus dish which was a bit puzzling. I don't mind as it was a bargain and it has been working great. I've been getting flawless reception of the freesat HD channels in rain.

Click to expand...

Very intriguing...
Can you post a few pictures please?
There aren't that many 1.8 metre designs around, it would be very interesting to have a picture or two of the front and (very importantly) the back structure of the dish...
(And no, you cannot bend the arm to make a 1.8m offset into a prime-focus...)