Need some answers before I Take The Plunge

[janzy]

I'm very close to buying a FTA system and would like a better understanding of things.
First, what is meant by the term "blind scan"?
I would like to buy a Coolsat 8000HD because I have all HD equipment at home, but if the blind scan feature isn't available on this receiver, is this a big problem.
One other problem I have is I have a laptop with no serial port. Will the usb to serial cable work on the FTA receivers for software updates?
Thanks

 

[jayelem]

Well as a first FTA receiver , no blind scan would stink , you would rely on Lyngsat for Frequencies and Symbol rates to enter manually , I would think the CS 8000HD would have some preset frequencies to scan , but HD feeds can pop up at any moment without notice and blind scan would definitely help.

The WUT area is alot of help for the last minute info provided my members , but even I have missed some good feeds while I'm away from the forum.

Another option is getting a basic economy priced Blind Scan receiver , like a Traxis or Fortec , even Coolsat prices have dropped , Sadoun has a New Fortec model listed in Ebay auction that's worth looking at , you can then blind scan and when you find an HD feed re-enter the info into a Coolsat 8000 HD.

I highly recommend Blind Scan - it's a standard that all newer STB's should have.

 

[updatelee]

the WUT forum is offlimits unless your allready a member, if your not, too bad there is no option of joining anymore. so basically for anyone new (as the poster sugested) he's sol for the WUT forum.

if you have a second ird like a coolsat 5000 you can probably transfer the channel list from that ird to the 8000, but if your 8000 is your only ird your going to have a hard time finding those freq as they arent well posted anywhere.

the discussion of publicly posting wildfeeds is a whole nother debate.

 

[jayelem]

the WUT forum is offlimits unless your allready a member, if your not, too bad there is no option of joining anymore. so basically for anyone new (as the poster sugested) he's sol for the WUT forum.

the discussion of publicly posting wildfeeds is a whole nother debate.

I opened a can of worms , sorry.

It hasn't been brought up for a long time.

 

[Mr Tony]

if you have a second ird like a coolsat 5000 you can probably transfer the channel list from that ird to the 8000, but if your 8000 is your only ird your going to have a hard time finding those freq as they arent well posted anywhere.

I dont think you can transfer the channel list from the 5000 to the 8000. I havent tried it but the 8000 is totally different than the 4000/5000/6000

 

[updatelee]

thats to bad, I liked my 5000 for its channel master support, worked well for transferring scans to my dreambox. hopefully channel master will pickup 8000 support.

 

[Anole]

choose wisely

The use for an 8000 for FTA is mostly to get PBS....
...unless you're looking for USA-based sports feeds.
For instance, international Formula 1 racing won't be on it.
Pretty much, if it's not sports, it's not going to be on a "feed"..
...and if we're talking hi def sports feeds, someone like Iceberg would have the last word, but there might be what??? a few a week?

My point is, if you're looking for any other use of the hi def besides what's listed above, you're going to be sadly disappointed.

...so... if you decide you don't need hi def, then something like a Coolsat 5000 (that all the guys seem to like) might be a good first-receiver choice.
It's got blind scan, should you need it.

Kinda depends on what you really want to watch, I'd say.
Getting hi def and not using it, would be a waste of money, and a big disappointment.
What is your taste in TV ?

 

[SatinKzo]

Just to help the OP and others like myselft as I have a hard time with it at times, but I don't have an 8000 so I am not able to try anything

I know with the 8000, many people who have it use another box to blind scan for HD stuff, but what do you look for when scanning that tips you off it's an HD feed?

As for the WUT forum and to the OP, yes the WUT is closed now to new members (I am not a member, I was late to the station), but if you take your time and look around, there are some other good sites out there (you must join them and again ask for permission for the feeds area) that are pretty good for what I can only assume is in the WUT forum.

 

[Mr Tony]

I know with the 8000, many people who have it use another box to blind scan for HD stuff, but what do you look for when scanning that tips you off it's an HD feed?

most HD feeds are in the 26000-30000 symbol rate area and you will see a green screen when its HD so that's how I know.

 

[Mr Tony]

The use for an 8000 for FTA is mostly to get PBS....

unless you have C-Band then you can get a few network HD channels and some others.

...unless you're looking for USA-based sports feeds.
For instance, international Formula 1 racing won't be on it.
Pretty much, if it's not sports, it's not going to be on a "feed"..
...and if we're talking hi def sports feeds, someone like Iceberg would have the last word, but there might be what??? a few a week?

depends on the week. I've seen up to a dozen games a week and some weeks 1 or 2.

My point is, if you're looking for any other use of the hi def besides what's listed above, you're going to be sadly disappointed.

...so... if you decide you don't need hi def, then something like a Coolsat 5000 (that all the guys seem to like) might be a good first-receiver choice.
It's got blind scan, should you need it.

Kinda depends on what you really want to watch, I'd say.
Getting hi def and not using it, would be a waste of money, and a big disappointment.
What is your taste in TV ?

the Coolsat 5000 is an awesome reciever if you want SD programming