Pansat 4500 opinions? Good for newbie?

[awillcut]

What do you think about this box? Reliable? Fairly easy to use?

 

[awillcut]

Also, how's the tech support from Pansat?

 

[turbosat]

Haven't heard of anybody here mentioning that one yet, looked at the specs before. Standard definition receiver, don't know about their support but recently they did put out a bugfix for another one of their receivers after some complaints about the dolby sound. Pansat seems to have a good reputation here, several members have the 9200HD receiver.

 

[awillcut]

Thanks--I'm just getting into this, and Dolby and HD aren't in the picture for me yet. Just want to tune in to some FTA Ku band satellites and watch what the average person doesn't usually see.

 

[JAS]

I don't know anything about the 4500. But I do have a 3500S and a 9200HD. If support for the 4500 is anything like 9200HD then forget it. The 9200 HD is really buggy it freezes a lot, mostly during scanning. Pansats response to me about the freezing issue is "You need a strong signal to prevent freezing" I would think 95% Signal and 99% Quality levels would be enough. I have had no issues with the 3500 S but it has no HD or built in PVR.

 

[turbosat]

Starting out simple in this hobby makes lots of sense-there is lots of equipment available for future expansion, with more features like HD tuning, PVR functionality, etc. Haven't owned a Pansat yet, but have had several other brands. A good simple box to start out with is the Fortec Mercury II, name has changed to Fortec Dynamic but it's the same receiver. Traxis 3500 is also a good box for blind-scanning as the Fortec is, both will control a dish motor if you add a motor later. A standard def receiver shouldn't be much more than a hundred bucks if you buy brand new, the traxis is even less (and is one of the best at blind-scanning, very sensitive tuner). Used receivers on ebay or craigs list even less if you're up for a 'pig in the poke'.

 

[Mr Tony]

looks like the new SD model for Pansat. I've owned many pansat units and they all are pretty good. Owned a 1500,2500,3500,5000,6000,9200

1500...basic model
2500...has AC-3 and s-video
3500...component output
5000...dual tuner PVR
6000...new dual tuner PVR
9200...HD

 

[Speedy11]

I have Pansat 4500 and it does A very good job scanning but it does freeze if it stoops on some HD channels and you have to remove coax to get it off of channel.

 

[turbosat]

That's good info to know, sounds like my old traxis 3500. Hopefully Pansat can fix that issue, hope you sent them email about it.

 

[awillcut]

OK, warts and all, I'm going with the Pansat. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Mr Tony]

I have Pansat 4500 and it does A very good job scanning but it does freeze if it stoops on some HD channels and you have to remove coax to get it off of channel.

my old 1500 doesnt freeze on a HD channel. Just shows a garbled screen

It does seem to freeze when you scan a transponder that has a channel with "no name"....takes up to 3 minutes to log the channel as "TV2" or something like that

 

[satellitedxer]

I had one and it is a great box, except for what speedy said about the freezing on hd channels.

I had one for a week and it ended up being a clone......


That was the best week I have ever had scanning the skies as it had the fastest blind scan I have ever seen, I scanned most sats in 2-3 mins full fledge blind scanning and hit all tps!


The best one I have used yet other than the freezing! It does get annoying because you will come across alot of hd feeds and they dont always have a hd name, for instance I hit one that just plainly said SNG, not SNG HD, Of course I check the channel and then boom, have to turn off box and unhook coax, then turn back on after switching or deleting channel! Doing this once every 20-30 mins gets annoying!



I like the pvr so I can record the crazy feeds I come across! That and the fast scan makes this a great box. Pansat has always been my fave!

 

[awillcut]

OK, so I'm having trouble. I'm consistently getting about 45% on the signal and ~5% on the quality no matter which way I point the dish (Hotdish 90). Even with no LNB connected, same result.

In retrospect, I did do something not so smart--connected the LNB with power on. Did I fry the LNB?

 

[turbosat]

You may not have hurt the lnb but it is possible. If you have any diseqc switches in your setup it's more likely to have damaged the switch. Was your dish working with any other receiver, I take it you have this 4500 since you posted here?

 

[awillcut]

You may not have hurt the lnb but it is possible. If you have any diseqc switches in your setup it's more likely to have damaged the switch. Was your dish working with any other receiver, I take it you have this 4500 since you posted here?

I don't have a switch in my setup. It's straight to the dish (RG6 cable) from the 4500. This is my very first setup, so any number of possibilities exist, I suppose. What steps would you recommend for troubleshooting? I'm not ready to quit by a long shot.

 

[turbosat]

You don't mention a motor so I suppose its a fixed install. Need more info>did it ever work? What satellite are you aiming at? Cables and connectors good? Where are you located, I may be close enough to help you.

 

[Mr Tony]

in the dish setup (antenna setup) what is the info set as interms of LNB type, frequency etc

45 signal means either nothing hooked up or possibly wrong info put in