Best satellite box for 70cms

[lenm1dpe]

what is the best satellite box to get for 70cms atv without having to do mods on as my eyes are not to good for
soldering . len




Moderation: Thread title edited to be more meaningful.

[biker_bob]

I'm unable to answer your questions directly as I use 23cm analogue for uplink and 3.4gig down from the local repeater.
What I can say is that you might want to avoid the Goodmans FreeSat box. I found that if it need to be tuned for 'normal' satellite TV befroe you can custom tune it for ATV. As I don;t have satellite TV this caused me some issues as I needed to find someone with a normal TV dish all set up to get started.

[G4EWJ]

I use a Labgear HDSR300. This is quite old now, so there are probably better ones.

Make sure you get one that will work down to 1M symbols/second - some only work down to 2M symbols. We are starting to use DVB-S2 now, so make sure it can receive that mode. Early satellite boxes only receive DVB-S. If it says HD, that usually implies DVB-S2, but do check.

Note that this receiver will not receive reduced bandwidth transmissions (RBTV) below 1M symbols. The best option for RBTV is the MiniTiouner, but that requires construction.

Brian

[lenm1dpe]

Hi Brian thanks for reply I have a Amstrad srd 400 here .len

[G4EWJ]

I forgot to mention that you would need a converter to go from 70cm to 23cm, as most satellite boxes don't tune below 950MHz.

The SRD400 is a vintage analogue receiver, so no use for 70cm, even with a converter. It seems to be channelised with restricted coverage, so not very flexible even for analogue transmissions on 23cm and higher frequencies.

DATV transmissions on 70cm are digital these days, although I believe that the French also use AM.

Brian

[lenm1dpe]

Ok Brian what about the zgemma star with dvb-2 twin tuner to start with I just want to see what I can receive from my qth in Grays Essex. Len

[lenm1dpe]

Ok Bob I am now looking at 23cms but not sure what I would receive on it from grays Essex. len

[G4EWJ]

I can't see what the minimum symbol rate of that receiver is, but that's the sort if thing. There are probably cheaper, simpler ones available.

There are no repeater outputs on 70cm. There are some with 70cm inputs and simplex contacts of course.

On 23cm, GB3EN in North London seems to be the closest repeater to you, but it's analogue. The nearest 23cm digital repeater seems to be Hastings. Someone in your area will have a better idea of what you could receive.

Brian

[lenm1dpe]

ok Brian thanks for your help. len