Review of the AZ miniMe

[Pixl]

With a whole day off I spent quite a bit of time with the miniMe today. Having won this in a contest, I've been working with this receiver from time to time hoping to find it's better quality's, but it isn't there. The menus are almost impossible to "feel" your way thru. You have to ask, poke around, or stumble on the features that are easily found on most FTA boxes, then memorize that path. Even with extensive help from PwrSurge following his exact instructions I am unable to get the box to control my diesqc 1.2 motorized dish.
The same coax connected to my Raptor or the Manhattan works fine. The software has the same look and feel of a box loaded with E2. I tried E2 on my Raptor and had the same difficulties. People who are familiar with the E2 operating system will find their way around this receiver ok, but not for people over 60. The hardware works well when you find the right settings, blind scan was a bit slow but quite accurate. A nice graphic shows the progress of the scan much like the Coolsat boxes did. The best feature of the miniMe is the seamless 4:2:2 decoding which puts a great picture on your TV.
I am going to slave the miniMe to my Raptor C-band receiver and my Manhattan Ku setup. When a 4:2:2 feed comes along the miniMe will handle that.
I'd like to thank Dr. PwrSurge for the nice contest, and I will get good use of the prize.

 

[FaT Air]

The menus are almost impossible to "feel" your way thru. You have to ask, poke around, or stumble on the features that are easily found on most FTA boxes, then memorize that path.

Need (to make) a 'flow chart'? I find that need with Win8 .

 

[pwrsurge]

Even with extensive help from PwrSurge following his exact instructions I am unable to get the box to control my diesqc 1.2 motorized dish.

A few questions:

1. Did you configure and scan channels from at least 2 different satellites with a different DiSEqC 1.2 motor position assigned to each? As previously stated, motor commands will ONLY be sent out when you switch to a different satellite than the one you are viewing. If you only have a single motorized satellite configured, motor commands will NOT be issued.

2. When you tried to switch to a different satellite, was there a "Moving... " type message displayed after selecting a different satellite? If not, the motor commands were not being issued and you should review your antenna configuration and ensure you are selecting a different satellite than the one you are currently viewing. Unlike other receivers, the AzBox miniMe American edition does NOT issue motor move commands when selecting the same satellite that you are currently viewing. This is why at least two satellites must be configured motorized as per #1.

3. Please make sure DiSEqC mode is set to Advanced if you haven't done so already. This will ensure that both DiSEqC 1.1 switch and DiSEqC 1.2 motor commands get issued when moving to a different satellite.

4. How did you try to switch to a different satellite? You should be able to switch to a different satellite by any of the following ways:

* Using the yellow button on the remote to display your list of scanned satellites when viewing any channel and selecting your desired satellite.
* Selecting a satellite and then a transponder to scan in manual transponder scan and then selecting the scan command.
* Selecting one or more satellites to scan with automatic satellite scan and then selecting the scan command.
* Manually issuing the motor move command in advanced motor setup where you are also able to "nudge" the dish east or west and access other motor related features.

5. Please note that there is a known issue where you currently can't switch to a different satellite using the blindscan feature so this could explain why you were not able to move the dish. This will be resolved in an upcoming firmware update but for now, please select your desired satellite first using any of the above 4 methods then do a blindscan on the same satellite which should be already selected by default.

I am 100% confident that you just have a simple configuration issue that's being overlooked as I personally replicated your setup and have no issues over here controlling my C-band dish motorized with DiSEqC 1.2 along with a DiSEqC 1.1 switch on port #8.

In regards to the receiver's ease of use, we know that the amount of features available can be a bit overwhelming for some people. This is why we are working on a "simple mode" in our upcoming firmware release which will hide non-essential menu options in order to make it easier for people accustomed to receivers with less features available. The current menu options will remain available in "advanced mode"

We will also release our user manual shortly after this upcoming firmware release in order to explain all features and operation of the receiver in more detail including the new "simple mode" feature.

 

[Pixl]

I did have several sats with 1.2 motor setup and positions entered.
It could be I was caught by your known issue of trying to move from one sat to another between blind scans.
Using the miniMe as my main free standing receiver just isn't a good fit for me. I will give it a rest for now, use it for 4:2:2 feeds and look forward to your "simple mode" release.

 

[Pixl]

Need (to make) a 'flow chart'? I find that need with Win8 .

A nice quick fix for Win8 is Win7