OK, thanks - so Could I use my Sky box with this, even if I cancel Sky? And the other more expensive boxes that record - do they do the same? ie a subscription to all channels etc? Can you recommend one?
YOu cant use two box on the same cable, you need another cable to run this and one to the sky box, look at the Blade boxs, HM9001, this box they all do the same more or less, you cant record and watch another chan at the same time, unless you are on the same freq or TP as they are called, you will need a dual tuner box such as the Amiko Alien 2, you can record and watch different chans, there are loads of posts on here covering and discussing them, tutorials on how to work them. You need to pay to watch subscription chans using a share or CLINE, nothing is free
If your sky box is the latest one it will be dual turner and have two cables from the dish to it. You can use one cable for the Skybox F3 and the other one for your other box. How ever you will not still be able to watch one channel on the old box and record another. If you unsubscribe from sky you will not receive any channels on the original Skybox but your Skybox F3 will still work as long as you have a Cline in it.
It certainly is not for the faint hearted. If you are not technically biased better to get somebody who knows what he is doing and pay him to get you up and running.
There is a simple user guide by e45, step by step with pics, easy to do, most boxs are flashed by USB now, user friendly yes you will be able to rec chans on the old sky box, FTA chans only, so dont do away with that,
get good firmware with channel list built in i got my first skybox f3 today took best part of 5 mins to have it all flashed and up and running with the wifi running good little box for the money firmware im using is 091112_Scooby_Snacks
How is your EPG with the scooby firmware - any better than the standard box firmware? Its really slow almost unusable a real pisser... Shame as its such a cheap and not nasty box for the dosh. Just the Epg and inability to schedule recordings that fecks it up.
Just in addition to this thread. Most open box (skybox f3, ariva, blade, etc etc) are put out, then after beta testing, (us using them and reporting faults), new firmware comes out. Be patient with the box, eventually it will be epg friendly, glitch free, and more stable. All round for the price of most of them, £40/£60 not a bad contender. In this price bracket I find the Ferguson Ariva or Redline 3000 more for advanced users, and the Skybox more for end user. If you want to record one channel while watching another, the VU is the business, but more than twice the price. My advice,spend little, update firmware, wait for new boxes emerging with dual tuners at affordable prices.
@ omendata i have not really even looked at the epg on this box as its a box i use in the bedroom when my boss/wife is watching her soaps lol i watch the sport on it i have a duel tuner dm800se in my main room.
Yeah i know i am waiting for the next firmware update to fix and enhance the epg that would be nice and its not that difficult to write the code for. If I could get the original source code i would consider writing it myself as I used to be a systems programmer , device drivers mainly so that should be a doddle. But yes its a great little end user box well worth the 50 squid i paid for it.
The EPG addition is fairly easy if the coders wanted to do this, dont know why they didnt, the Amiko Aliens 2 is getting some great reviews, its a duel tuner and in single tuner money to
I installed one of this Skybox f3 for a friend and it worked well for a while. Then just lost the signal on all channels. I have done a factory reset and flashed the box again but no joy. The issue is not the LNB or the dish as another box works Ok on same connection. Not sure what the problem can be. Has anybody had a similar problem before? Thanks in advance for you help.
Thanks Mick.a.h. bit of an outlandish name but will check it out. Amiko Aliens 2 hmmmm Sounds like a sequel to a Ridley Scott movie... http://amikostb.com/?q=product&id=153 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Amiko-Ali...on_Satellite_TV_Receivers&hash=item1c2e92e6c6 Looks interesting it even has a little add on keyboard. Still at £140 its still 3 times the price of the Skybox and with people as skint as they are these days i think the skybox will do for most end users. AMIKO ALIEN SHD 8900 - MPEG-2/4, fully DVB-S / DVB-S2 HD compliant - Linux embedded OS - Conax embedded smartcard reader - Endless channels (TV and radio) programmable - Multi-lingual menu support - Channel list editing - Favourite channel list editing - True-color On-Screen Display (OSD) - Full Picture In Graphic (PIG) function - Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) for on screen channel information - Subtitles supported - Teletext supported by software emulation - Parental lock facility by channel and program event - Programme and channel information transfer from receiver to receiver - DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and USALS - HDMI HD video/audio output - USB 2.0 Host - LED display for service information - RTC (Real-Time-Clock) - Time Shift - Video recording via USB - Recording one channel and time shifting another channel (optional) - FullHD 1080p output via HDMI - AVI, MKV, MPG, TS, WMA, WMV, M2TS, FLV, DAT, ASF, MP3 playback - YouTube, SHOUTcast Radio, and Picasa compatible - Weather forecast & Rss reader functions - Software upgrade support via USB, RS232 or internet - Endless possibilities with plug-in support - Message, FAQ and user manual support - Main processor: 450M Hz based CPU - Flash memory: Nor flash: 8MB X 1; Nand flash:512MB X 1 - DDR SDRAM: DDR2 128MB x 2 - Loop through: F-type connector, female - 22KHz Tone - Aspect ratio: 4:3, 16:9, letterbox - TV-SCART: Video CVBS/RGB output, audio L/R output - RCA A/V: Video CVBS output, audio L/R output - Coaxial digital audio (inc Dolby Digital Bit Stream) - RS-232C: Transfer rate 115.2Kbps, 9 pin D-sub type - RJ-45: 10M/100M
Have seen em cheaper than that on my travels, seen em for 140 Euros, which is not bad for a duel tuner box, thats the same price as a blade box give or take a few quid,there is a chan file out there which puts the chans into the same format and line up as the sly box, the F3 is a good budget box alright
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can turn the power to the lnb off in this box,,,try checking that,,,not too sure if factory reset defaults it to on. Its under settings somewhere.
Thanks but tried and no joy. Looks like something has gone wrong in the box. The LNB power is on alright.
mmm sounds like it could be a tuner fault, did you flash with the latest firmware? Have you tried a chan file on the box to see if the come in or a signal is on them? just to start eliminating what could be wrong, if you have then it sounds to be the tuner or the connection on the back could have become disconnected, try the above first and that dont work, could be a replacement one needed
