Digicrystal SDS-01 FTA receiver

[ptada]

Does anyone out there know what the Digicrystal SDS-01 FTA receiver is like? A few up on e-bay going cheap and they have me curious.

Justin

[bassett]

All I can find is there not Chinese Clones, but they only list the SDT series, which is the terrestial set top box version,, here's a couple of links, that might be of use.
http://www.digicrystal.com.au http://users.bigpond.net.au/PCPro/transferguide.htm

But if you want info, it might be an idea to supply the E-bay address [give a link]

[ptada]

Here is the link. The specs are OK, just wondered if anyone knows enough about these boxes to make a comment about them. I have put a bid on one anyway, as these appear on e-bay all the time and the final price ends up $40-70 for them plus $19 postage. Cannot lose too much on the deal. I know someone who who has an unused fox dish on their new rental property wants BVN TV on the cheap who told me to look out for a cheap box under $100, so I may have some extra good news for them soon. Actually I may have some good news for my Christian friend too who wants the holy channels, and yes another who wants Greek TV. Bugger it, I might bid on the lot!

Justin

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BRAND-NEW-FREE-TO-AIR-SATELLITE-DIGITAL-SET-TOP-BOX_W0QQitemZ5862006771QQcategoryZ109897QQrdZ1QQcm dZViewItem

[ptada]

Update to this thread!

I have bought the receiver for $67 plus postage of $19.

Not a bad little recevier and it actually blind scans!!!
Gets everything equally as good as my Manhattan and picks up all TPs in a blind scan, although you cannot set how you want it to blind scan.

The only signal problems I seemed to have with it (STILL!) is with Optus B3 on 12525v and 12658v, which still glitch a fair bit where the Manhattan doesn't. ??? Weird it is only those two frequencies that are a problem out of all of the C and KU band sats I can get, and it was the very reason I wanted to get the receivers, so I could set up a few people I know with BVN! So I will not use this receiver for that purpose it seems :(

Anyway, overall good blind scan receiver.

Bargain!!!

[jgarg]

Try it on cband in particular videoland see if it pixelates.Food test for a tuner

[Yalickit]

Update to this thread!

Anyway, overall good blind scan receiver.

Bargain!!!

If you delete all the transponders what does it pick up?

[ptada]

I tried the Videoland mux on PAS8, and it does not break up.I tried the BYU mux on NSS5 that is only 4 - 6% quality and it is fine! Oh and for good measure the abc muxes on B1, and it was fine. So why is the only problem with 12525v on B3? 12658v is all OK now, so it seems there must be something still a bit wrong with the B3 satellite on 12525v with some receivers. Blind scannning, it returns all the signals my Manhattan picks up on. Takes longer, but with this box you cannot set the start and stop frequencies or symbol rate, it just does a simple blind scan. So for the price it think is is a bloody top unit, taking away the one and only problem with it on optus B3 12525v.
Hmm... anyway.

[viewer]

. Blind scannning, it returns all the signals my Manhattan picks up on. Takes longer, but with this box you cannot set the start and stop frequencies or symbol rate, it just does a simple blind scan. So for the price it think is is a bloody top unit, taking away the one and only problem with it on optus B3 12525v.
Hmm... anyway.


Does it have a menu similar to this...

Thanks

oz

[ptada]

No

[newcroft]

I went and bought one of these Digicrystal receivers as a present for a friend and thought I'd try it out myself first and post some thoughts:

First, it doesn't do a true blind scan. In the on-screen menu it says blind scan but that is misleading. What it seems to do is search through the pre-entered transponder list. Only problem is, some of the info stored on the TP list is incorrect / out of date so it can't find all programs. I wasn't disappointed about this though, really didn't believe the blind scan claim would be true for this price.

Nonetheless, entering transponder info as listed on Lyngsat is easily done to find FTA programs.

Signal quality is OK. I especially compared 'viewability' on a Fortec Lifetime to the Digicrystal on a weak uplink feed. Both pics had about the same level of pixelation. The Fortec was a bit better, but not that much. The Digicrystal had a slightly higher 'Q', but I don't think that means anything.

The remote control is OK. Much more powerful than the slow, sticky Fortec remote.

But, the lip sync is out. Incredibly annoying. This was on channels with good signal quality. I'll test again later for the lip sync problems. If it wasn't for that I'd be quite happy with it.

I was planning on doing a comprehensive review, but not really worth the trouble if the lip sync problems continue. I'll test again later. At least I didn't do too much dough, $48 plus $19 postage.

[griz]

hi you will find if you put it on a new sat with no tp in it it will blind scan ok.
I got one a few days ago blind scan 701 and it found all that the fortec did .It seems to lock better on nasa than the fortec .great CHEAP decoder to play with.
press the sat/tv button see what comes up:confused:

[ptada]

The only lip sync problem I seem to have in on the Globecast mux on 12658v and it STILL does not get 12525v without breaking up severely, where my Manhattan does not, although I note the signal quality on 12525 to go up and down from 35% to 60% with the Manhattan. EVERY OTHER CHANNEL IS FINE!!! Weird. BUt for a cheap box it it good, and it DOES do a blindscan. Delete all the pre-programmed TPs and do a blind scan. Finds everything my Manhattan does and a couple more. But I did get the box for a friend who was keen on getting Emirates FM to play in their belly dancing shop that already had an 65cm KU dish on the roof, and of course it is on B3 12525v. ARHHH!!!!!
Oh the other feature that does work well is that you can manually enter the pids ;)

[Apsattv]

Please post some screeshots of the software menus etc

[griz]

i will try later tonight have to get the tv card to work will post a pic

[griz]

test pic

[griz]

ok howdo i get a pic on here?? help

[griz]

http://www.vetrun.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3789&stc=1&d=1140976743 see if this works

[griz]

http://www.vetrun.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3790&stc=1&d=1140977092 no. 2

[comsatman]

I've just aqquired one of these boxes thru Ebay (looks like it was urs ptada?). Thanks mate.

Anyway, after having a play for 5 minutes i can assure you that it does Blind scan. I deleted all channels and transponder info and ran 'blind search'. I was on pas 8 cband and it showed all the channels incl a feed that was running at the time. No dramas with any mux that i could see on that sat. Although i havent had a chance to run it thru all its paces yet!

Origanaly from appearances i couldnt seem tell what this box was, however once i went to the Software menu, it gave a better indication. DVT-2000 d/g. A quick google search revealed its definately a "Divitone Box' as it looks identical to a couple of their models . Not the vbox!!
Ive placed a pic of it with the Divitone markings at the bottom of this reply.

Ive already emailed "Digicrystal" about new software etc, however they have responded that none currently exists but a new model is due out in April. A quick look on the Divitone site also shows no software for this unit.

Although this is a FTA box, if you press the Tv/Sat button up pops a UCAS menu. The case does have a card/cam slot etc although nothing is connected there, so one can only presume that perhaps the new model with have this feature.

Anyway, we will just have to wait and see but so far this box looks like great value for the money.

[newcroft]

Hi Comsatman & others,
Are you having any problems with the lip sync?

I have been flat out with work and didn't get to do much testing on it, but the lip sync was a real problem at the time. I've since given the box to a friend who is about to try it out.

Not sure if it was just this box or not?

[comsatman]

Im the same.. i only tested it for 5 minutes running C-Band blind scans on Pas 8, Pas2 and telstar 18. so far it hasnt missed anything. I did notice a very bad lip sync problem on Telstar 18 lottery channel but afterwards i attached my usual reciever and it was exactly the same.
I will let you know after i use it for some longer periods and actually watch TV for a change!!

[ptada]

Hi Comsatman

It is indeed my ex-Digicrystal. I was going to keep it as a back-up box after buying two of them for other people, but I sold both of them as I bought a Champion Box that has an embedded allcam slot which I will use for SelectTV when it kicks off next month, overall seems to be better than Fox for my daughter and I and at $30 a month I can afford it. As I already have the Manhattan 350 I did not really need a second blind scan receiver. The lip sync problem only occurs on Optus B3 on 12658v. For some unusual reason it hates 12525v. But I have thoroughly tested the unit and I found it to be a great unit for the price, and it works perfectly on every other TP I viewed. Storke of bad luck for me in a way, I bought 2 of them for other people, one who wanted Emirates FM (12525v glitchy) for their belly dancing shop, and the other for a guy who wanted BVN (12658v out of sync). BTW, I forgot to put the manual in the box, I will send it off to you this week.

CHeers
Justin

[comsatman]

Another interesting feature on this box is that you can either set up Diseqc positioning via normal methods or what they called "automatic". After checking this out you can actually pick what satellite you want or enter a new one, and then it asks for a Frequency. Now after clicking ok it will scan accross the arc until it finds that signal. VERY FAST and doesnt stop moving until it finds it or it reaches your Limits (that you should definately set before hand!) Great for these new Sats they are putting up and also the old ones they keep moving around!

PS PTADA: Still no sign of the manual here. Pm me if you need my address again.

[Colin 2905]

I bought one of these Digicrystal SDS-01's on eBay recently. I wanted a cheap blind scanning box, and the Star 2880A's seem to be going for quite a lot more than they used to.

Not unexpectedly, it has the same problems with those two Globecast transponders on B3 that others have mentioned. It doesn't seem to be due to a signal strength problem though, as if I deliberately de-tune the signal (via LNBF skew) on a "good" B3 transponder, I can take the quality level down to half that of the problem ones before the signal starts to break up. If anything, it's a little bit more sensitive than my XSAT 430.

Although it has an option of a universal LNBF, selecting that and then scanning seems to confuse the hell out of it. I got saner results by treating the high and low LO's as two separate satellites (only need to this for I701 really, and even then, who wants EWTN?)

I haven't tried to use it to control my DiSEqC motor yet. So far, I've just hung it off the second output of a twin output universal, and let it go along for the ride.


Its good points, compared to the Star, is that it blindscans a lot faster, and has S-Video output. The S-Video quality looks OK (unlike my SuperNet), but the colour looks a little undersaturated.