Neotion 601S and motorized dishes etc

[andy_b]

I've just bought myself a Neotion 601S satellite receiver and hard disk recorder (for the bargain price of £129) and having connected it up to an old Sky minidish and pointed it at (I assume, as I just copied my neighbour's dish) 28.2E I can now receive loads of FTA channels, such as BBC, ITV & Film4 etc and so far I'm very pleased with it.

However, as I'm a bit new to all this I've got a few questions, which I'm hoping someone out there will know the answers to ...

1) The manual says that the receiver gets its updates (and which also allows SMS programme scheduling) from a service called Infocast, and quotes www.infocastmail.com as its web address. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to pick up this service from 28.2E, and the website seems to be unobtainable. Does anyone know if this service has been discontinued, or do I need to point my dish at another satellite?

2) The receiver has a viewing card slot, presumably some kind of Neotion embedded type, but I'm unclear as to what cards (or where they're obtained from) I could use in it. I guess I'm hoping that a card exists out there that will allow me to access Channel 4 and Five (and all the other FTV channels), but I somehow suspect that it doesn't exist.

3) I'm wanting to train my dish at 19.2E as well (so I can get BBC World), so would a second LNB angled at 9 degrees work on my 45/55cm dish, or would it be better to get a bigger dish or motorize it instead?

4) If I go for a motorized dish, and as far as I understand it they only would move the dish horizontally, so I don't understand how they can cope with satellites at different elevations. For example, I live near Brighton and Astra 2 at 28.2E is at around 26 degrees elevation, but Astra 1 at 19.2E is at around 29 degrees. So if the motor only moves the dish in the horizontal plane how does it compensate for the difference in elevation? Or am I being dim?

Any help would be appreciated,
Andy.

[Chris Muriel]

1) I would guess that if that is referring to OTA (Over The Air) upgrades that you need it to be on a different satellite.
Neotion or your dealer should be able to tell you which satellite.
You may be able to ask here :
http://www.my-neotionbox.tv/gb/index...0questions.php

It also seems like you can get software online for it so I assume you can upgrade the box via its serial port :
http://www.my-neotionbox.tv/gb/index...&rub=Downloads


2) I believe the box has a CI CAM slot (Common Interface Conditional Access Module); you can't buy a CAM for $ky (into which you would put a $ky viewing card). They use an embedded VideoGuard encryption system, a good business move on $ky's part- which is why they haven't been hacked.
You can buy and patch some CAMs (Predator, Ty Rex etc.) but these still require the card to be refreshed every few weeks in a genuine $ky digibox.

3) Would probably work but could be marginal. A second fixed dish pointed at Astra 19ºE would work fine unless you desire other satellites as well.

4) Motorised dishes are fitted on a polar mount, which, if correctly set up, take care of the elevation for any given azimuth position automagically.

Chris Muriel, Manchester

[andy_b]

Thanks for the info Chris:

1) I tried asking Neotion via their website but haven't heard anything back yet, although you're right that I could upload the updates via the RS-232 interface. However, it'd be nice to be able to set the box to record via SMS and I guess that'll need contact with the Infocast service - I'll continue to nag Neotion and the dealer I bought the box from, although the fact that www.infocastmail.com appears to be dead doesn't exactly inspire much hope.

2) That's a pity! It looks like I'll have to wait then until Channel 4 and Five move onto FTA, which is rumoured to be taking place at the back end of 2007 or start of 2008 when its agreement with Sky expires (http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/ar...0&in_page_id=2)

3) A second dish might be a problem since my other half already thinks the existing dish is an eyesore. But she'll probably not notice the difference if I fix a motor to it - would this be the way to go/are they reliable?

4) Ah, that'd explain it then!

Cheers,
Andy.

[Chris Muriel]

If motorising the existing dish (with a DiSEqC motor) gets management approval, then go for it; you'll have the advantage of being able to get channels from some other satellites too.

Chris Muriel, Manchester

[andy_b]

Sounds good! I'm thinking of getting a Moteck motor - my Neotion box claims to support DiSEqC 1.2 so I think this should work - and will have a go at installing it the weekend after next, so no doubt I'll be back if I get stuck!!

Thanks for all your help,
Andy.