Posts Tagged ‘AB IPBox’

Software AB IPBox Receiver

October 17th, 2009 zou

Enigma Alternative Firmware for AB IPBox HD
Why would someone consider installing an alternative firm are to a satellite receiver now a days? If we take a look in the past, some 10 or 15 years ago it really made sence. When mass public conference call service providers satellite television started to appear in Europe, satellite DXers and enthusiasts who wanted to see “almost everything”, had not much choice in receivers. Being seriously limited with its original firmware,a receiver fully unlock edits potential only after being upgraded with an alternative image file.Although its interface couldn’t be called user friendly, alternative firmware in the old days made possible the SCPC reception, PID entering and much more. It was a real revolution back then.

But enough nostalgia, we live in the 21st century now. Not just digital satellite television, but also HDTV made its way into all parts of the world. There are lots and lots of different receivers available, which would perfectly fit the needs of almost any user already with its original firmware.So does it make sense to “think alternative” today?

Especially if we are talking about powerful Linux-based HD PVR receiver. ABCom, one of the market leaders in this segment, even with the original firmware could reach such flexibility,that hardly any thing was left to be desired. And once we learned that even ABCom itself is releasing an alternative firmware for its IPBox HD receiver family, we decided to have a look and find out,what made them do so. We decided to carry out the tests on AB IPBox 910HD, although, Enigma1 is already available also for 91HD, 900HD and 9000HD as well.

Installation
The most comfortable and worry free way could be an Online Update, which normally would allow us to download the image right into the box’s memory from the Internet, however, we didn’t findEnigma1 in the list of available updates. So we had to download the image from http://download.abcom.sk and upload it via USB. To do so, first you need a USB stick,which should be formatted in FAT or FAT32 just before the image file is transferred to it. Next step is to rename the image file to usb_update.img,and“safely” remove the USB stick from your PC, stopping it in the OS you use. Now plug it into your IPBox receiver, and for some time put the remote control away now all the operations need to be done with the buttons on the front panel.

Simultaneously press “Standby” and “OK” buttons to reboot your box, then hold “Standby” and “Up” for a few seconds, releasing firstthe“Standby”,then the “Up” button. The front display should clearly read “USB Upgrade” now, and if the receiver finds the usb_update.img file on the USB stick and no extra files were left there by the user, the process should start. In some cases it might say “ER 10”, nothing is wrong, it could happen sometimes with earlier versions of boot loaders. Just try it couple of more times, and soon you’ll have the job done. Upgrading this way is safe enough, just make sure that the power is not shut off until the new image file success fully lands in the box’s memory and it’s front display says “Done”.

Following an upgrade, you’ll first see “Booting”, then “Loading”, then “Load Enigma HD”. Then just a black screen.

Strange, in case of an official firmware a nice wizard would greet us here, offer-ing to select various options. Enigma also has it, but in the current version it only appears after a “Factory Reset”. Don’t worry, just press “Menu” on the remote control, then choose “Setup” – “Expert Setup” “Factory Reset”, and you can configure the new firmware from zero right the way you’d like it. First the receiver asks you about the TV system (PAL, PAL60, Multinorm and NTSC are offered), then you can select the preferred OSD language (the on-screen menus are currently available in English, Czech, Danish, German, Greek, Spanish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Croatian, Hun-garian, Icelandic, Italian, Dutch, Nor-wegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Serbian, Swedish and Turkish). Third step is the time zone, with lots of sample cities to select from the dropdown box. Next menu brings three icons to the screen, which pretty much speak for themselves – “No DiSEqC”, “Simple” and “Complex”. Yes, it’s the right time to select the options of your multi-satellite system. And once you’re done with it, nothing prevents you from starting the most interesting procedure at this point the Channel Search.

Again, three options are offered here, “Automatic Transponder Scan”, “Automatic Multisat Scan” and “Manual Scan”. Unfortunately, the current beta version of Enigma1 is behind the official one here. Automatic Scan on a 100-transponder satellite position kept the receiver busy for a long 19 minutes and 30 seconds, storing 1052 TV and Radio channels.

Some work is surely still to be done here, as well as with adding new satellites and transponders to the Enigma’s database.

The built-in list of satellites is more or less up-to-date for Europe, but if, for example, you plan to receive some Asian bird, like ABS-1 at 0750, the only way now to do this is to download the satellite / transponder list from the receiver to your PC and manually edit it. The OSD allows adding new satellites and transponders, but, unfortunately, once you exit the menu, even pressing “Save”,all entered information is “forgotten”.And since the official PC Editor does not support Enigma (as it’s clearly stated in its readme file),the only choice is to use some text editor that would not ruin the Linux CR/LF in the downloaded file.Most of IPBox HD users have their receivers connected to the Internet and know the box’s IP number, if not, it’s easy to find it out go to Setup Expert Setup Communication Setup menu and make note of it, since, most likely, the receiver already automatically configured the connection.If for whatever reason it didn’t happen, all the connection parameters can be entered manually in the same menu.

Open your favorite FTP client, then enter the IP address of your IPBox HD. Once prompted for username and pass-word, enter root and ipbox respectively. Go to /var/etc directory and download satellites.xml file.First make a backup copy of it in case something goes wrong, then copy one of the existing satellites, changing the name, position and transponders to the ones you need. Note that all the frequency values are in Hz and all the symbol rates are in sps, which means three extra zeros compared to values available in SatcoDX satellite chart. Once all the changes are made, make sure there are no extra spaces, returns or letters, then save and upload the fileright to where you got the original from. If you go to Setup Service Searching – now, the new satellite becomes fully visible and available.

Probably this is the biggest problem with Enigma currently, which should be relatively easy to fix.And most European users would hardly notice it since their favorite birds are already there with quite-up-to-date transponder lists.

Enigma1 also has an Internet update function, which can be reached by accessing Setup  Expert Setup  Software Update Internet Update menu. The updating process is as easy as with official firmware,and once the new image sees the light, it can be in the memory of your box within minutes, fixing old problems and bringing new features.

While we’re still at the Installation stage, it’s worth noticing that even Enigma itself can look totally different after just a few clicks. You can swtich between several “skins”, the menu i self can appear like a “wheel” which can be moved left and right by the cursor keys, or can be easily switched back to a more traditional look. Even the buttons on the remote control can be used for different purposes by selecting a different “Remote style”. However, not to get too lost at first we would advise to stick to “Ipbox (Relook)” style at first,which copies almost all remote functions of the original firmware.

Everyday Use
If you’ve selected the above mentioned “Ipbox” remote control style in the menu, press “OK” to open the classic Enigma channel list. If you already had a chance to try out the Enigma firmware one arlier SD models of ABCom receivers, you would know that coloured buttons of the remote control play the key role here. For example, red button brings up all channels from all satellites in one list, green one first shows satellites as directories, you can open them one by one to find the channel you’d like to watch tonight. Yellow one forms the directories by providers, and the blue button opens the “Bouquets” mode, which actually means the favorite lists here. Differently from original firmware,channel list editing here could be reached by going to Setup – Service Organizing menu. And actually editing here only means the favorite lists, unfortunately, it’s not possible to delete, move or rename channels in the main list. However, maintaining the favorite lists is absolutely easy just select the “Add Services to bouquet” submenu, mark the needed channels with “OK” button and voila! You always have the needed channels in one place, without the need to endlessly browse through one of the main lists.

Channel list can be displayed in three different modes channel names would come in one column, in three columns, or, in case of “bouquets”, the left column becomes outlined, displaying the “directories”, while the rest of the screen is filled with channel names.This way,reminding some popular file managers,channels from several different favorite lists can be quickly accessed, without the need to endlessly change screens and select different lists. Pretty convinient ! Three channel list modes can be selected by repeatedly pressing the “check” (“v”) button on the remote control.

Satellite DXers would really enjoy the extended channel information screen, available at Information – Stream info menu. Channel name, provider, Video, Audio, PCR, PMT, Teletext PIDs, video format, Transponder Stream ID, Original Network ID, Service ID, Encryption systems, as well as transponder parameters are displayed here. Audio and video bitrates are available from the Bitrate Viewer plugin, accessible by clicking the Yellow button and selecting “Bitrate viewer”. Pretty helpful to find out if the channel is really HD or just pretending to be one.

Double-click on the EPG button makes the “EPG Style” menu appear, with three options – Channel EPG, Multi EPG and EPG Search. The first one displays the EPG only for the currently selected channel, line-by-line. Multi EPG brings to the screen a grid with the current and neighbouring channels. The selection that you make (Channel EPG/Multi EPG) is remembered, and next time you single-click the EPG button, the chosen EPG type would be displayed. EPG search allows looking for a specific program either in the EPG of selected channel, or on all available channels, even “Genre” can be selected here. Another serious improvement! Although, it would be nice to make the text typing a bit more user-friendly, not just by pressing “up” or “down” in the typing field,butal so in the SMS style,using the numerical buttons to enter letters, for example.

Unfortunately, at the moment it’s not possible to select specific programs for recording right in the EPG, this was mentioned in the release notes. However, manual recording timer programming is there, in the “Timer” menu. Start/stop times can easily be selected, and there IS a link to EPG here that would help you to get the proper values for beginning/end of the show you’d like to record.

PVR
Our tests were carried out on AB IPBox 910HD with a built-in HDD. The file systems of original and Enigma1 firmware are not compatible with each other, so make sure you’ve backed up all the valuable recordings before switching to the new OS. Once the Setup System Settings Harddisk Setup menu is accessed, the receiver will offer you to format the HDD so it becomes accessible from Enigma. The process doesn’t take too long and the experimenting spirit has no chance to disappear until it’s completed.

Surely the good old red circle button starts the recording right away, and the files are stored properly,regardless if SD or HD channel is recorded. Fast for-warding/pausing still needs some work to be done, but the regular playback rises no questions. The recordings are easily accessed from the wonderful “File Mode” (Menu – File Mode), which might look simple, but from the usability view-point leaves the original firmware far behind. Indeed it looks like a computer’s file system with different directories for photos, MP3s, PVR recordings and so on. Everything is so logically organized that you’ll find the needed file within seconds. But the really hot thing here is the Internet streaming radio,which was also introduced in the latest original firmware versions. In case of Enigma1, there is no need to endlessly look around and edit endless files,just get them 3u file from your favorite station, and upload it via FTP to /media/mp3.Voila, the station immediately appears in the File Mode menu. Getting access to Internet music outside of your PC has never been so easy!

Description of the glorious “File Mode” would not be complete without mentioning the “Playlist”, which stores all lately accessed recordings, files or Internet radio stations.That’s right, the receivers are no longer storing just the list of lately accessed channels, but also of all other accessed multimedia. Since we are no longer talking about just a satellite receiver, but about a really powerful computer-like device – it’s just a matter of installing the right firmware.

Web Interface
This is also something Enigma1 can be proud of. Open your favorite web browser and type in the same IP address you’ve used earlier to access the box via FTP. Being prompted for User ID/password, use root/ipbox again. Almost all receiver features can be addressed from here, even a virtual remote control can be brought to the PC’s screen. Are your kids too busy watching cartoons instead of doing their homework? You can send a “message” to the IPBox that will appear right on their TV set! Extended stream, channel, EPG and teletext information is also available via Enigma1 Web Interface in one or two mouse clicks. PVR  recording and playback can also be controlled, up-to-date information about remaining disk space is provided in the upper right part of the screen.

Conclusion
Although it’s clear that the first beta version can’t be perfect from all sides, Enigma1 is really a promising project. Computer geeks at heart and hardcore DXers would be absolutely happy with it, since it really erases the borders between a PC and a satellite receiver, unlocking the full power of the Linux-based box. And now we are not talking about some amateur project, but about the one fully supported by the manufacturer. It’s definitely worth trying out, and hopefully easy-to-install updates will follow soon, making it even more flexible,powerful and reliable.

search Keyword:

Posted in Satellite Receiver Tags: , Comments Off

HD Satellite Receiver AB IPBox 91HD PVR

August 18th, 2009 zou

AB IPBox 91HD Modern powerful Linux-based HD PVR doesn’t have to be expensive.We are living in hard times. It just happened that worldwide economic crisis hit us right in the middle of HDTV boom. Everybody starts to save on all possible things. HDTV might seem luxury under such circumstances. Would it mean that the bird that flew so high lately would have its wings cut? Not at all! ABCom,the Slovakian expertin Linux-based receiver manufacturing, offers a great anti-crisis solution. Just because the income now is less than it used to be, picture quality is something that doesn’t have to suffer. We got a chance to test their latest add-on to the HD receiver conference call line, the AB IPBox 91HD. Having pleasant memories about ABCom top receiver models, we were excited to see what the budget member of the family is going to be like.

After opening the package that arrived to our test lab we first thought is there a mistake? We already tested ABCom’s 250 and 350 Prime, and the new box’s front panel looked exactly the same. But after a more careful look the curious eye is caught by HD and HDMI abbrevations on the receiver, meaning that we have something brand new in our hands!

Front panel really gives a dejavu feeling with its seven buttons in the middle of it (Menu, Exit, OK, Left, Right, Up and Down), as well as a horseshoe-shaped Standby button on the left side. The smartcard reader on the right is there to make the pay-tv fans happy. And last but not least the four-symbol segment display in case you would be interested in the channel number currently on or other conference call service providers information.

Rear panel might seem a little ascetic at first.But what do we actually need nowdays for HDTV reception? An HDMI output? You got it. S/PDIF audio output for a perfect sound? Here it is. Of course, the whole thing would not work with-out a satellite signal, so we have here an LNB input with a loop-through output. Multimedia features and Optic PVR ? USB interface is right where you expect it to be. Oh, you still wouldn’t like to completely forget about Standard Resolution SDTV? Ok, there is a single SCART output, rather for backwards compatibility. But don’t forget to connect the thing to your home network, since AB IPBox 91HD is a Linux-based receiver, and you would miss a lot of fun if you don’t. Because of its power, 91HD needs to be adequately cooled, that’s why we again have here a cooling fan. Luckily much more quiet then in our previously tested 910HD sample, but, unfortunately, still clearly audible.

With the remote control almost all features of the box can be easily addressed with, but it would have been nice to keep the possibility to control a TV-set with it (as in all previously tested ABCom models), as well as the button giving direct one-click access to PVR recordings. Except for that it can be positively characterized: it became lighter and all its buttons are easily reach-able with just one finger.91HD’s user manual keeps up with good traditions. You can hardly wish for a more detailed explanation of all receiver’s basic features. There are some interest-ing tips there as well, if you would like to go beyond simple satellite reception. Even a newbie would hardly get lost. The package also contains a CD with a lot of goodies for your receiver, including programs for a software upgrade, channel editing and so on. It’s no longer a need to hunt for them on various websites.

Installation
Once 91HD is powered up for the very first time,theuser lands in an Installation Wizard that doesn’t differ much from the one in top ABCom HD models. Actually, its software is as good as with its older brothers, but first let’s set the preferred languages on the welcome screen.

On-screen menu can be displayed in English, Russian, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Danish, Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Greek, Turkish, Korean, Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Finnish or Ukrainian. The same choice you get here for the preferred audio conference call language as well as teletext character set. Next step lets you select your time zone, daylight savings options and if you would like to set the current time manually or rather let the receiver update it automatically from the satellite stream.

Third step brings us closer to the satellite-related stuff. First you have to add receive-able satellites by pressing the red button. LOF frequen-cies can be freely entered, as well as endless DiSEqC options selected, since the receiver supports all versions of this protocol, from 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 to USALS. Once all work here is done, you’re only one yellow-button-click away from channel search.

Actually, ABCom prepared some surprises for us here. For example, you can now select from Default Scan, Smart Scan and Reset Scan. They might not be significant during the installation process, but might save you a lot of headaches later on. The firs tone justs cans the satellite, adding new channels in the end of the main list. Smart Scan completely resets the main list, keep-ing the favorite one, scans the satellite, then updates your favorite list with actual channel parameters. Pretty convinient! And the last one, Reset Scan, just removes all the channel data from all lists, and initiates the search.

Hardcore DXers would be happy with 91HD’s DVB-S/S2 tuner sensitivity, and also by its SCPC performance. Our SCPC test channel of the day – Jamawar from EUROBIRD 2, with SR of just 1780, was processed flawlessly!

But while we are still at the installation stage, it would rather make sense to decide how fast you’d like to see the first picture on your TV screen. If you would rather prefer a more up-to-date channel list, run the regular channel search, which, for an 86-transponder satellite position in our test, was completed in 5 minutes com46 seconds (significantly faster then before!), resulting in 1188 TV and 217 Radio channels. However, if you find even that too long,press the green button for a “Quick Load”. Live picture and sound would hit your screen within seconds !

Everyday use
The menu system and end-user functionality of 91HD is almost equal to 900HD or 910HD, just set aside a bit by some minor hardware limitations. The channel list is still feature-loaded, allow-ing one-click sorting by alphabet, FTA/encrypted, provider or satellite. If the alphabet sorting is on, it’s easy to select the first letter of the channel you’re interested in, just select it on the remote in a way you would do on your mobile phone when typing an SMS.

Pressing the yellow button allows you to jump right to the next letter if some-thing went wrong. Pressing “i” and entering the password (0000 by default) gives access to deleting,hiding, locking, renaming and moving the channels, as well as to our all-time fave – adjusting the default audio volume for channels. Press-ing the “FAV” button toggles to favorite-list mode, the same “Sports”, “Drama”, “News”, “Movie” and “Music” default groups are pre-programmed, the user is free to add as many new ones as he wishes.

Adding new channels to favorite lists takes place in a convinient window with two panels, just copy the needed ones from left to right and voila, you have all the channels you like in one place, without the need to search for them again and again in the main list. And remember, if you choose “Smart Scan” next time you’d like to search for new channels, your favorite lists will not be lost!

If you press the same “i” button once outside of the channel list, it will bring the good old infobar, showing channel number, name, satellite, current time, avail-ability of teletext, broadcasting format as well as SD/HD resolution. Bottom right corner contains information about the transponder frequency and SR. Second click brings up a bigger window, with a provider name, used encryption systems list and a possibility to set recording “bookmarks”, in case the channel is being recorded by PVR or if you have the time shifting mode turned on.

In case of 91HD, we can only connect the hard disk to the USB port on the rear panel of the receiver. At first this raised questions here in the test lab if it would be sufficient for HD recording, however, numerous tests didn’t raise any further concerns. The perfect HD picture we had during the regular reception was re-played from the HDD without any dropouts or glitches.

It’s easy to start recording, easy to stop it, but, unfortunately, not as easy to get back to it when it’s needed. The user first has to go to the main menu, choose “Multimedia”, then “Recorded Files”. In two previous models of ABCom HD receivers this window could be reached by pressing one single button on the remote control. Except for this inconvinience, PVR is as good as before. Recording can be either started by clicking the “red circle” button on the remote control, either by selecting the needed show in EPG, either by accessing a special “Recording Schedule” submenu. No matter if it’s in SD or in HD, the main match of the year will no longer be missed, even if you have lots of urgent work to do!

EPG in 91HD is also realized in good old two-variant way. Pressing “EPG” button once brings up a list of the upcoming events for the currently selected channel, second click opens a real program guide – you will see a big grid with event titles from current and neighbouring channels. The schedule can be zoomed in and out, and is only limited by amount of information the broad-caster is willing to share.

If it just happens that you Optic can’t pick a show fittingforyour current mood, probably it’s the right time to discover the rich amount of good-ies 91HD has, that are not directly connected with satellite reception. Since this is a Linux-based system, various plug-ins can be installed, allowing you to play tetris, sudoku or pingpong, check e-mails or weather forecasts. Remember we advised you to use the wonderful LAN socket and connect the receiver to your home network or directly to Internet? Here it really starts to make sense, because if the broadcaster was not accurate enough to properly add the information to the EPG, a special plug-in would look for the needed schedules on the Internet.

Or, what was really great to discover, now it’s possible to listen to Internet shout-cast radio stations right on the receiver! Forget about remaining in silence if the bad weather made satellite reception impossible for some time! And these are just the ones included in the offical firmware,there are lots and lots of other plugins,it’s just enough to google around, and your receiver’s functionality will go beyond your imagination!

Multimedia features
Even if Internet international conference call is inaccessible from the receiver, you can still view photos, play MP3s or movies from your HDD. While testing the 910HD we noticed that sometimes audio and video were not perfectly synchronized; this problem was solved quite elegantly in latest firmware versions, also for 91HD.

If you start playing your favorite film and notice the lack of synchronization , just press “Channel Up” or “Channel Down” arrows to make the audio appear ear-lier or later. The step is 100 ms, so after a few click you would get a perfect match. The only drawback is that if you pause or fast-forward the video, the selection is lost, and you would have to set it again. This hopefully should be easy to fix for the manufacturer.

Firmware upgrade
We can also underline some serious improvements here. The convinient Internet update is up and running again and is offering the most actual version (9341 at the moment this report was written). If for whatever reason you prefer not to use the direct Internet update, the USB one also became much more convinient. No more endless rebooting, just go to Main Menu – Advanced Setup USB Mode, plug in the USB stick with a firmware file you’d like to use, and voila within seconds it will be copied to receiver’s memory and installed.

If your budget is tight during crisis, it doesn’t mean that you have to forget about HD reception and all the wonderful features brought by Linux-based receivers. ABCom introduced its 91HD just in time, it’s offered at almost unbeatable price for picture quality and range of options it delivers. DVB-S, DVB-S2, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 are perfectly received and recorded, your own media files are easily played back,even listening to Inter-net shoutcast stations no longer requires a computer. The firmware is frequently updated with new goodies, and there are hundreds of addons available for you to install. Looks like 91HD is worth every penny paid for it.

search Keyword:

Posted in Satellite Receiver Tags: , Comments Off

HD Receiver Ab ipbox Firmware

May 14th, 2009 zou

9000HD_Images
AB_9000HD_r9341_300409_usb_all_noboot.zip

1. Added automatical services moving when PMT PID is changed on channel. 2. Fixed Greek Teletext bug on ERT World Hotbird 13, tp 11642. 3. Fixed the bugs that doen’t display TTXT on the specific page. The 777page of TTXT on Hotbird 8 (13.0E) – 11919.00 V 4. Update trick speed in File play and live banner Original : X2, X3, X4, X5 and (X1/5), (X1/4), (X1/3), (X1/2) Advanced : X2, X4, X8, X16 and (X1/16), (X1/8), (X1/4), (X1/2) 5. ADD Proportional jump function in File play If you press the numerical button in File play, it works as below. – Press “1” : Jump to 10% of the recorded file – Press “2” : Jump to 20% of the recorded file – Press “3” : Jump to 30% of the recorded file – Press “0” : Jump to beginning of the recorded file 6. Updated Russian language. 7. DB upgrade to version 9274. You can upload settings from older versions with PC Editor 1.2.50 and later. Files “…r9341DRE..” supported only DRE Cam´s . If you don´t use Dre Cam module, don´t use this image version !!!

PC Editor

PCEditor_1.2.51.exe NEW!

- New: Create new database R9274 – New: Reboot receiver from toolbar – Fixed: Several problems hiding/resizing channel list columns – Fixed: Sorting the channel by several columns list was not possible – Fixed: Problem searching channel names for database revision 8118 and later – Updated: Polish language file plus a few more minor fixes

Video Tool

kmp player_2.9.3.1428.zip

Flash Tool

FlashTools_v1.0.2.zip

User Manual

9000HDrel2_ENw.pdf

Channel_master

Channel_master_1_15_00.zip

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

AB Ipbox 900HD Firmware

AB_900HD_r9341DRE_300409_usb_all_noboot.zip

1. Added automatical services moving when PMT PID is changed on channel. 2. Fixed Greek Teletext bug on ERT World Hotbird 13, tp 11642. 3. Fixed the bugs that doen’t display TTXT on the specific page. The 777page of TTXT on Hotbird 8 (13.0E) – 11919.00 V 4. Update trick speed in File play and live banner Original : X2, X3, X4, X5 and (X1/5), (X1/4), (X1/3), (X1/2) Advanced : X2, X4, X8, X16 and (X1/16), (X1/8), (X1/4), (X1/2) 5. ADD Proportional jump function in File play If you press the numerical button in File play, it works as below. – Press “1” : Jump to 10% of the recorded file – Press “2” : Jump to 20% of the recorded file – Press “3” : Jump to 30% of the recorded file – Press “0” : Jump to beginning of the recorded file 6. Updated Russian language. 7. DB upgrade to version 9274. You can upload settings from older versions with PC Editor 1.2.50 and later. Files “…r9341DRE..” supported only DRE Cam´s . If you don´t use Dre Cam module, don´t use this image version .

2. AB_900HD_r9341_120509_usb_all_noboot.zip NEW
Fixed model identification.

PC Editor

PCEditor_1.2.51.exe NEW!

Video Tool

kmp player_2.9.3.1428.zip

Flash Tool

FlashTools_v1.0.2.zip

Channel_master

Channel_master_1_15_00.zip

User Manual

900HD_manual_ENw.pdf

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Firmware Ab Ipbox 910 HD

AB_910HD_r9341_300409_usb_all_noboot.zip

1. Added automatical services moving when PMT PID is changed on channel. 2. Fixed Greek Teletext bug on ERT World Hotbird 13, tp 11642. 3. Fixed the bugs that doen’t display TTXT on the specific page. The 777page of TTXT on Hotbird 8 (13.0E) – 11919.00 V 4. Update trick speed in File play and live banner Original : X2, X3, X4, X5 and (X1/5), (X1/4), (X1/3), (X1/2) Advanced : X2, X4, X8, X16 and (X1/16), (X1/8), (X1/4), (X1/2) 5. ADD Proportional jump function in File play If you press the numerical button in File play, it works as below. – Press “1” : Jump to 10% of the recorded file – Press “2” : Jump to 20% of the recorded file – Press “3” : Jump to 30% of the recorded file – Press “0” : Jump to beginning of the recorded file 6. Updated Russian language. 7. DB upgrade to version 9274. You can upload settings from older versions with PC Editor 1.2.50 and later. Files “…r9341DRE..” supported only DRE Cam´s . If you don´t use Dre Cam module, don´t use this image version.

PC Editor

PCEditor_1.2.51.exe NEW!

Video Tool

kmp player_2.9.3.1428.zip

Flash Tool

FlashTools_v1.0.2.zip

Channel_master

Channel_master_1_15_00.zip

User Manual

91HD_manual_ENw.pdf

search Keyword:

Posted in Satellite Receiver Tags: , , , Comments Off

HD Satellite PVR AB IPBox 910HD

April 22nd, 2009 zou

The progress in HD receiver manufacturing is simply amazing! Could we have thought several years ago, when we endlessly struggled with analogue receivers, that a similarily looking box would not just only give us a fantastically coloured and un believe ably clear picture, but also would allow playing audio conference calling and video conference calls files, sending emails,playing games?The border between computers and HDTV receivers is disappearing, giving birth to family friendly devices with a huge potential for more advanced users.

And ABCom, famous for it’s powerful Linux-based receivers is certainly helping to make this happen. They are decently doing their home work, constantly upgrading hardware and software. It’s especially pleasant to see that several drawbacks of their previous model are already fixed.Today we had a chance to test AB IPBox 910HD, a close twin to 900HD, that we’ve examined a couple of issues ago (TELE-satellite 08-09/2008).

The newer model kept all advantages of the previous one. Both high and standard definition channel reception,both in DVB-S and DVB-S2, both in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. You would rather prefer to help your grandma continue watching soap operas on terrestrial tv, when the analogue broadcasts were shut off? 910HD would help you there too. Replacing DVB-S tuner with DVB-T is a matter of minutes. Same is true for a DVB-C cable tuner.

From a distance you would hardly notice any visible difference between 900HD and 910HD. But the little things is something that counts here. Front panel kept the elegance of 900HD, that would make it fit even for exlusive interiors.Besides the 2 CI slots, which are located behind a magnet-held flap,a bright and easy-to-read VFX-display is to be found here, together with 8 buttons, which let you operate almost all basic functions of the receiver.

Rear panel is also as good as before, but something also went further here.If the DVB-S tuner is installed,as in our test model,in the left corner you would find an LNB input with a corresponding Loop Through output.All the computer and network stuff is dealt via USB-port, RS-232 and Ethernet connectors. HDMI,S/PDIF and Y/Pb/Pr outputs are responsible for the crystal clear picture and sound. One Scart and three RCA connectors are there rather for back-wards compatibility, since they would hardly let you appreci-ate all the benefits of HDTV.E-SATA port and a power supply output for an external harddisk are there,although 910HD lets you install a SATA HDD also inside the box! It will be started when the receiver is started, no more hassle with endless cables and connectors. But now you have a choice, if you want your recordings on the go, an external HDD can still be used.

Next to the main power switch there is a ventilator fan that protects the powerful electronics of the receiver from overheating.A really smart add on! However, most delicate users might find it a bit loud. However, it’s no problem going to a  computer store and selecting a more quiet one.

Remote control is an exact copy of the one shipped with Broadband a previous model. Actually, this even caused some con-fusion at first here in our test lab since we still used the 900HD. Operating signals are the same, however, the remote of 900HD/910HD can also be programmed for controlling previous IP Boxes, should you have one. It’s also easy to program it to operate your TV set as well, there are hundreds of models to choose from on the last pages of the user’s manual. As for it’s design, we don’t regret the words said in the test report of 900HD, it’s loaded with buttons, but they are so logically organized, that you get used to it very fast. And with a special button for many of receiver’s functions, it’s easy not to get lost.

Initial Setup
It might seem that official firmware from ABCom didn’t change much, at least in the first steps.The same wizard guides you first through the Language Selection screen (OSD can be displayed in English, Russian, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Danish, Czech, Slovakian, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Greek, Turkish, Korean, Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Finnish, preferred languages can be also selected for audio, subtitles and teletext), then to Local Time Settings screen. Again, a wide range of choices either to set the time manually or to let the receiver get it automatically from the stream; time mode and daylight saving time options are also there.

On the next step you would already need your antenna connected. In case of a satellite tuner,first press the red button to add step by step all satellites you’re planning to watch.Each can be programmed with own freely selectable LOFs on the same screen. All DiSEqC versions are supported (1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3), which can make AB IPBox 910HD the heart of your multi satellite conference call systems.Once all needed satellites are found,press “Exit” to return to the wizard screen.

Press “yellow” button for the next step that takes you right to channel searching. The screen that appears has two tabs,Automatic and Manual. Names pretty much explain their function. The firs tone simply goes for the preprogrammed or found-in-NIT frequencies for channels, while the latter one allows you to enter all the parameters manually.Of course, Modulation and special FECs for the DVB-S2 are not forgotten.

Regular automatic or manual channel searching is not something that Schumacher would enjoy,but still fast enough for our regular viewer. It took us 9 minutes to scan a satellite position with 105 transponders. For the un patient ones who simply can’t wait to have the first picture on the screen there is a “Quick load” function, which simply loads the pre-stored channel list.So if you would rather get a more actual channel list, it pays to be patient.

All further options can be logically found in the main menu, which also leaves a deja vu feeling at first.But we know that the programmers were busy, so there should be something new! Ok, here we can select all the screen parameters, like aspect ratio,Dish TV system, Dolby, Scart, HDMI and S/PDIF output formats. Here’s a sub menu where we can connect our 910HD to the local network and/or Internet, check parameters of the harddisks or make a factory reset. Aha! There’s also a DivX video player now, but the entire multimedia part deserves some special words, so stay tuned!

Where were we? Ah, it’s a satellite receiver after all. So before we go crazy experimenting with Linux,Telnet and FTP, let’s grab the remote and have a look at its basic functions,receiving  digital channels that is.

Everyday use
Channel list looks identical to the one in 900HD, all the useful goodies are there.Various sorting options, you can have the channels organized alphabetically,FTA/encrypted,by satellite or provider. Pressing yellow button activates the jump  function, which is helpful in case you have thousands of channels sorted from your multi satellite system,for example,it goes to the next letter, if you’ve selected the alphabet sorting.However,to organ-ize things even better,don’t forget about the FAV button that lets you quickly access the favorite channels.There are 5 predefined favorite groups Sports, Drama,News,Movie and Music.Pressing the i button allows to create as many new ones as you wish,or delete,rename,move,edit or lock existing ones.

Pressing i in the main channel list gives access to similar editing options,including our 900HD favorite editing the default audio volume for each channel. An elegant solution to an old problem how many times while zapping around the next appearing channel rocked your room with unexpectedly loud sound? Now it’s enough to simply adjust it’s volume in the channel list and voila! Nobody will complain anymore that your TV set is way too loud!

Talking about zapping, 910HD will not make the zap-ping maniacs happy, but 1 second between channels is perfectly well for the regu-lar viewers. It can be faster within the same transponder, or a bit more between DVB-S and DVB-S2, between SDTV and HDTV. But at least you can be sure that almost no channel will get out of your sight! Even such hardcore SCPC broadcasts as Calabria Channel on HELLAS SAT 2, with SR of just 1425! A spe-cial bitrate plug-in would help you check if the picture and sound of the channel is really as good as the broadcaster promised.

PIP is also as good as it used to be. Two channels from the same transponder can be displayed in identically sized windows, the second one can be shown in a smaller window behind the main one, channels then can be toggled between. Since the remote control is identical to 900HD, it’s the same second top row of buttons on it.

Nice and user-friendly two mode EPG is also here in all its glory. One click of EPG button lists upcoming events for the selected channel, press it the second time and you have a real program guide, with all neighbouring channels showing their EPG information, as long as it’s available from the broadcaster. Just one single click of the button with a red circle on the remote,and your favorite show is marked for recording.

This is where the wonderful PVR comes into sight. 910HD doesn’t just let you connect an external HDD to USB or E-SATA port, it already has one inside. Our test model was shipped with a 500 GB HDD, which is quite large to handle not just the PVR recording, but also DivX movies and MP3 music storage. But while we focus on the PVR, it’s worth noticing the “Envelope” button, which lets you access all the records in a couple of clicks, and the wonderful Time shift option. Activate it in Advanced Setup  HDD setup menu, and you can feel the power of magic pause the live broadcast in any moment, take care of any urgent problems that all of a sudden disturb you from your favorite movie, and then resume exactly from the same place you left it! It’s also easy to rewind the broadcast to a special moment that you want to see again. And you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to get used to all this, everything is a matter of 1-2 clicks!

Multimedia options
Since the firmware of 900HD/910HD is being constantly developed, both boxes now offer possibility to play both audio and video files,as well as display photos, stored either on an external HDD or USB memory stick, or on the internal HDD in 910HD, where such file scan be uploaded over FTP (take the receiver’s IP from Advanced Setup  IP setup  menu, use  root  as a UserID, and  ipbox  as password) to media  directory.

Multimedia sub menu also has some PVR functions included, these are Recorded files for the stored PVR recordings,and Recording Schedule  for the old fashioned recording timer programming. Remaining three options are solely for the above mentioned outside  files.Photos can be viewed either individually,by double-clicking their names with OK  button,or as a slide show, which can be programmed by press-ing the yellow button. MP3 player greets the user with a bit more advanced screen, showing the regular music player operating buttons, as well as the currently played track time and its bitrate.

And while no bad words can be said about these two, Video/DivX player still needs some work to be done. In a test movie, which played perfectly on our PC, 910HD didn’t have the audio and video synchronized. Video was 1-2 sec-onds behind.Nevertheless, it works, and the synchronization issue will be adressed in upcoming updates.

Broadband Updating
the firmware For such powerful and truly universal receiver it’s important to keep the internal software up-to-date, because it’s enormous potential is still not fully uncovered. ABCom attempted to simplify it, by adding the possibility to download and install the firmware right from the box, without any external devices needed. But, unfortunately, something went seriously wrong. The 910HD we got had a firmware version 8340, while according the manufacturers website, the most actual one is 8360. The most obvious way was to go to Advanced Setup Network Update menu. And what have we here? Two totally outdated firmware releases! This issue definitely needs to be taken care of by the manufacturer. We had to select another way to update the receiver’s firmware by using the USB memory stick.

From the hardware point of view AB IPBox 910HD hardly leaves anything to be desired. All needed connectors, possibility to switch tuners as plug-and-play, ability to receive DVB-S and DVB-S2, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, HDTV and SDTV. You can even copy all your favorite films,music files and photos to its harddisk. Play games or check the weather forecast. Easily install hundreds of available software addons. Or turn the receiver into something totally new by installing one of the alternative firmwares.ABCom keeps doing its homework, and while the majority of basic things are perfectly working in 910HD, it’s a good, future-proof choice !

search Keyword:

Posted in Satellite Receiver Tags: , , No Comments »

HD Satellite AB IPBOX 9000 HD Plus

April 9th, 2009 zou

HDTV Satellite Receiver AB ipbox Recent developments and product launches follow a clear trend PVR are becoming the norm for HDTV Receiver as well and while the pioneers of Dish TV PVR equipped their products with a single tuner at the beginning, these days two integrated tuners have become standard so that at least two simultaneous recordings are now possible. Most manufacturers conference call service providers have such offerings in their range and ABCom is no exception. However, their new AB IPBOX 9000 HD Plus has a few astonishing extra goodies in store as well, as you will see shortly.

ABCom offers their latest box in silver or black, which will please customers who prefer electronic gadgets to fit in smoothly with the rest of their existing equipment. So if your flat screen TV and Freesat receiver is black, simply go for the black  AB IPBOX as well. The receiver’s front panel comes with the standard standby button, an easy to read alphanumeric VFD display and  stylishly hidden behind a flap  eight buttons to control the box whenever the remote is not at hand or out of battery.

The same flap also hides two CI slots for all standard Conditional Access modules such as Irdeto, Seca, Viaccess, Nagravision,Conax or Cryptoworks. The level of workmanship is high and the box is pleasing to the eye as well.

Turning around the HDTV Satellite Receiver IPBOX 9000 HD Plus reveals a perfectly equipped back panel. What strikes right away is the fact that the two tuners are not permanently integrated but rather only plugged in as modules. So if you would like to not only receive DVB-S and DVB-S2 signals, but rather also DVB-T or DVB-C, all you have to do is open the receiver and exchange one tuner (or both) for a different one.

By the way, the only difference between the IPBOX 9000 HD and the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus is that the Plus model comes with two DVB-S2 tuners as standard.

The great thing is you don’t have to be a scientist to be able to exchange tuner modules and even with no technical back-ground at all it should be feasible. Each tuner always comes with a loop-through output so that an additional receiver can be connected or the input signal can be forwarded from tuner 1 to tuner 2.

Right next to the slots for the two tuners two scart euro connectors are available to connect a CRT TV or a conventional VCR.If you’re lucky enough to own a beamer there are three RCA sockets for providing a YUV signal, three more RCA sockets put out composite video and stereo audio. Of course there’s also an optical output for digital audio and HDMI for loss less digital video and audio conference call transmission to an LCD or plasma TV.

In addition, you’ll find an S-video connector, a telephone jack, a USB 2.0 host interface and USB 1.0 client interface, a 10/100 Mbit Ethernet port as well as an RS-232 serial inter-face. There’s even a mechanical power switch to disconnect the receiver from the mains.

The remote control that comes with the package sits nicely in your hand, boasts clearly labelled buttons and given the enormous range of features offered by this box  is not filled to the brim with keys and buttons.
If we really have to identify a downside it’s the rather small size of the RC buttons, so you’d better factor in some extra time and training until you get really used to working with the remote.

Initial setup
When turned on for the first time an installation wizard pops up on screen and asks for the preferred on-screen, audio and subtitle language. As it turns out the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus is a genuine globetrotter, with available languages including English, Russian, French, Dutch, Italian, German, Danish, Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Greek, Turkish, Korean, Croat, Bosnian and Serbian.

Next, the receiver wants to know the local time difference to GMT and whether the clock should be synced via satellite or set manually by the user.
The third segment of the installation wizard takes care of configuring the reception system that is used with the receivers.

By default the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus comes with a list of 161 currently active satellites which apart from all relevant European positions includes Asian and American birds as well. By and large the transponder lists seem to be up to date, even though we detected some weak spot for a few satellites, such as NILESAT 7° West, for example.

What really thrilled us were the countless detailed options for satellite configuration. First and foremost all DiSEqC protocols (1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3/USALS) are implemented in an exemplary way and various other settings make sure the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus will fit perfectly into any existing reception equipment, no matter how out of the ordinary. The LOF can of course also be set manually so that all varieties of LNBs are supported. Control signals such as 22 kHz can be manually activated or you can let the receiver arrange all settings automatically.

This brilliant overall impression is further enhanced by the intelligent way in which signals are distributed to both tuners. Either both tuners are provided with signals or one of them becomes master while the second becomes slave and is hooked to the first with a short connecting cable so that it can receive its signal from the first tuner.

Finally, the installation wizard prompts the user to initiate a signal scan. You can choose whether this should be done for tuner 1 only or for both tuners, and you can select whether all set satellites should be scanned or whether you’d like to limit the search to individual positions. Convenient features like network scan or  FTA only are available and in case you’re looking for signals on a particular transponder only the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus even lets you even finish the installation wizard with a manual search by defining a valid frequency with correct polarization and FEC values.

Either way, the installation will not finish before one search mode is selected and completed and this is actually a good thing because what’s the point of HDTV satellite receivers with no channels on its list? By the way, here’s an important message to all DXers out there: Of course the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus allows manual input of PID values instead of performing a search, so it’s the perfect gadget for feed hunting as well.

Thanks to the automatic signal scan the channel memory fills up quickly. Its capacity for 10,000 channels is impressive and means that the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus can be the perfect companion for rotary antennas and will easily accommodate all the channels that become available.

Where there’s so much light, there has to be some shadow as well, as we were not really happy about the time it took to scan a 110-transponder satellite. More than seven minutes definitely is too long for a receiver that is supposed to be state of the art.

Once the scan is completed you’re all set to actually use the box for watching and listening. Before that, however, it’s a good idea to flick through the main menu and familiar yourself with all the features that are available. One of them is the extremely convenient transponder editor that allows adding new transponders to the satellite list in a breeze. Alter natively, you can also edit or delete existing entries.

As we’re talking about a DVB-S2 receiver here both QPSK and 8PSK modulation is supported with FEC values of 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 , 3/5, 4/5, 5/6, 6/7, 7/8, 8/9 and 9/10. The same menu even includes DVB-T channels for EU countries and Australia, which can also be edited and extended.
Video is provided to the “Dish Television” either as YUV, S-video, CVBS or RGB in analog format, or digitally via HDMI in 520p for PAL and NTSC or 720p and 1080i at 50 or 60 Hz. Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is available as PCM or bit stream via a fibre-optical cable or can be deactivated in case it is not needed.

Once you open extended settings menu you realise what the receiver has on offer. Its Ethernet port cries out for connecting it to a DHCP compatible router so that the receivers is automatically assigned an IP address and all required parameters such as standard gateway address and DNS server can be obtained from the router. If you prefer to set all parameters manually you’re welcome to do it that way as well and the AB IPBOX can even automatically establish a DSL network connection using either the PPoE or PPP protocols.

In case you’re still waiting for more out of the ordinary features have a look at the hard disk manager for the built-in 500 GB hard disk. Rarely before have we tested a PVR with so many individual settings options, which include extending the time shift buffer to up to eight hours and the option to save the complete buffer content with a single click on the RECORD button.

You can also automatically add a pre-defined amount of time before and after each timer recording or you can activate a temperature sensitive fan control system. If you encounter problems with your hard disk it can be formatted or checked the next time the system starts up. Similar to a PC the receiver then detects and repairs any problems in the file structure so that you can rest assured that all your recordings are stored reliably.

As the AB IPBOX 9000 HD Plus is based on the Linux operating system it can access all available and enabled drives and directories in a local network security thanks to its Ethernet port. To that end mount points for NFS and CIFS are available. This way individual directories or complete hard disks for example with MP3 audio conference calls files or image files can been a bled and accessed with the receiver.

We particularly liked the option to make a software update via the local network. The AB IPBOX 9000 HD Plus is pre configured to access the correct FTP server and this way can download current software from the Internet at any time and in next to no time.

This creates an added value for users as they can be certain to always run the latest software version without having to rely on Broadband updates via satellite which take much longer and are less reliable. In our test the operating system was updated flawlessly and ABCom even lets the user know beforehand which bugs will be fixed and which new features will be added with the updated software.

Everyday use
Once the initial setup is completed you can leave the main menu and let the receiver tune into the first channel on the list. Pressing the OK button prompts the clearly laid out channel list to appear on screen, with a small preview window in the right section of the screen showing the currently selected channel.

It’s quite common that more than 2,000 channels are stored in the channel list after a scan of one or two popular satellites, so the first job always is to neatly re arrange that list so that it becomes user friendly rather than overwhelming. Luckily, the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus offers a range of sorting option according to CAS/FTA, FTA/CAS, alphabet, provider and satellite.

Channels you watch on a regular basis can conveniently be moved into one of the favourites lists which are extremely powerful and versatile, so that each family member can create their personal list and never has to mess around with the end-less overall list. Thanks to a dedicated button on the remote control the favourites lists can be called up with the touch of a button.

Every time you switch to a new channel or press the INFO button on the remote control the HD TV receiver inserts a cleverly arranged info bar with icons indicating features like Dolby Digital audio, teletext, subtitles, broadcasting standard etc. In addition the bar informs viewers which tuner is in use and which satellite transmits the currently watched channel. Two coloured meters let you know the level of signal strength and quality.

To access the entire program details provided by the individual channels all you have to do is press the EPG button. With another touch of the same button you can conference call numbers up extended information about the selected event and with the digital Video Recorder button you can set a timer entry for recording that event.

Video and audio are of very good quality in everyday use and zapping between channels is reasonably fast. Even when switching from standard definition to high definition channels your patience is not put to test. Time shift is a feature you will never again want to do without as it allows freezing an event at any given time and then continuing from that very moment, in case the telephone rings or any disturbance happens while you’re watching TV.

In our test recording and playing back SD and HD contents took place flawlessly, and we also liked that playback always continued from where it was last stopped. The overall remarkable ease of use of this receiver is complemented by useful add-ons such as picture-in-picture, integrated teletext decoder and automatic detection of sub channels. Thanks to two built in tuners it is possible to simultaneously record two events without interference or interruption, no matter whether SDTV or HDTV.

One of the few negative aspects we noted is that it sometimes seems to take forever until the box reacts to commands sent by the remote control, and that in some cases we had to reboot the receiver by turning the main power switch off and on again to bring it back to life. However, we assume that the manufacturer will address these issues with one of the next software updates.

As mentioned above the  HDTV Satellite Receiver IPBOX 9000 HD Plus comes with a range of multimedia features, all of which are implemented with user friendliness in mind. Both the MP player and the picture viewer can be activated with dedicated buttons on the remote control, so that a single touch of a button is all that’s needed. However, we were only able to play back content that was stored on the internal hard disk as we did not manage to gain access to a digital camera connected to the USB host interface, a USB memory stick or an external hard disk.

No test is complete without pushing the receiver to the edge with weak signals, and the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus had to share the same destiny as any other box we evaluate. To that end we fed it with very weak signals from ASTRA2D at 28.2° East, BADR 26° East and the horizontal polarisation of NILE-SAT 7° West. All results were fairly average and we obtained flawless reception with a C/N value of approximately 5 dB and higher.

We did notice, however, that the signal quality bar of the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus seems to have a mind of its own as it showed 96% signal quality for a transponder that merely reached the threshold level. SCPC reception of the IPBOX 9000 HD Plus was OK with glitch-free reception of signals from TURKSAZ2A 42° East with 2 Ms/s.

The manufacturer is constantly working on improving the Linux-based software of this receiver and as a next step they are planning to implement      iptv providers. A simple software update via the local network will add that feature to a box that is right up there with the best even right now.

search Keyword:

Posted in Satellite Receiver Tags: , , Comments Off

HDTV Satellite AB IPBox 900HD

April 2nd, 2009 zou

ABCom has already positively surprised us with several brilliant AB IPBox recently. Such Linux-based Freesat receiver are especially valued by the satellite enthusiasts, who love to experiment.At the same time, ABCom designed its own firmware in a way,that it would be understandable to all family international conference call members. DXers always had a rich variety of alternative firmware variants to choose from.

But time doesn’t stand still, more and more attention is attracted by HDTV nowadays. Number of living rooms, where the prime position is taken by a plasma or LCD TV, is grow Managing ing dramatically.

Of course, hdtv satellite receiver also started to appear, but most of the early ones left the satellite enthusiasts unsatisfied.It took quite a while, before really powerful HDTV boxes could hit the market.

However, ABCom, which has a major experience in manufacturing Linux based receivers,succeeded to go even further. What about a box, that could handle it all? Both HDTV and SDTV, in DVB-S and DVB-S2.With a possibility to quickly replace the satellite tuner and make it receive cable and terrestrial transmissions.With a user friendly PVR, network connection and all other goodies that the penguin used to bring to the Linux-based receiver owners? This was the idea behind the two brothers IPBox 9000HD, that we presented in one of the previous issues of TELE-satellite, and 900HD, which gets a closer look in this article.

The younger brother, as we first thought,would be less impressive, then 9000HD. This started to prove wrong already from the moment we opened the box,delivered to our test lab. It looks much more compact,then 9000HD, but is also stylishly designed, and features an easy-to-read matrix VFD display in the middle of the front panel. With a help of seven buttons, located right under it, you access the menu, change channels,confirm selections,adjust the volume, all basic functions are perfectly covered, should something go wrong with the remote control.

The bottom left corner contains the standby button, while the right one – a magnet held flap,which covers two CI slots,providing access to encrypted transmissions. The rear panel is simply loaded with connectors.Let’s start with the main power switch. Since the box we got for testing was equipped with DVB-S/S2 tuner, there is an IF input and the loop through output, USB, RS-232 and Ethernet ports, one Scart connector, three RCA jacks for video and audio output, another three – for YUV video output. Since we are talking about a hdtv receiver , HDMI socket couldn’t have been left out. S/PDIF output is also useful, if you pay conference call service providers extra attention to the audio quality. As for the PVR part, we got here an E-SATA port, and even a 5V output to supply your external HDD with power. Now that’s what we call  caring about the user !

We had contradicting impressions about the remote control at first.Yes, it’s also packed with buttons, but some of them are located in places, where you wouldn’t expect them to be at first.But once actual tests started, we could get used to it amazingly fast. Actually, it was so logic to locate the Menu  and Next buttons to the left and right side of the cursor keys respectively!

Already after initial setup, your finger would intuitively search for them there, raising a question, why hardly anybody ever thought to organize the buttons so logically before. Each part of the remote control has buttons grouped for a special purpose – either for the PVR controlling, for the channel list organizing,for accessing the multimedia features etc. But the good part from the previous AB Boxes’ remote control remained – you can easily program it to control also your TV-set. Quite a large list with various Dish Television models can be found on the last 11 pages of the user manual.

Which, in its turn, also deserves some good words.Every single menu item of the official firmware is explained in details.With a step-by-step installation guide,you won’t get lost,even if it’s the first receiver you’re ever installing. Several connection variants are also clearly explained, and, in case you ordered a terrestrial or a tuner cable as well, full channel versus frequency charts are included,so you won’t have to google around for this information.

Initial Setup

Once the mains plug of ab ipbox 900hd gets into the electricity socket in your home  for the very first time,you’ll land in an installation wizard, which will first try to clear the language issue, offering you to select preferred languages for the on screen menu, audio conference call, subtitles and teletext. There is a lot to choose from – English, Russian, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Danish, Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, Norwegian,Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Greek, Turkish, Korean, Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian.

Second step lets you set up the current date and time, and choose whether you’d like to have it automatically set in the future. Third screen finally gets you closer to channel reception, in case of a satellite tuner, this is the place where you have to enter the parameters of your system and program the satellites you plan to receive. Even an advanced system should be no problem, since all DiSEqC versions, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 (USALS) are supported. LOF can be freely changed for every satellite, so even an exotic LNB would work perfectly.

Once all the basic satellite data is stored, press the yellow button to proceed to the Channel Search menu. Here you have the two expected options Manual or Automatic search. The latter just asks you, whether you’d like to have only FTA, only Crypt channels, or both, and if a network search would make you more happy, by filling the list with as many channels as possible.
That’s all it takes here, just click  Search and have a best cup of coffee. Or not? Since ASTRA 19.2E position was fully scanned in 5 minutes, resulting in 1092 TV and 217 Radio channels. So if you just can’t wait to get that picture on the screen, you’d better stick around!

In case of the manual search, you’ve got all the options you need for locking to DVB-S and DVB-S2 transponders, with modulation (QPSK or 8PSK) and special FEC variants for the latter. Entering PID codes is possible in a special menu, and IPBox 900HD has no problem with SCPC reception,Calabria Channel from HELLAS SAT 2 at 39.0E with SR of just 1425, was locked in a flash!

The on-screen menu is logically organized, you can findany needed option in a couple of seconds. For example, the AV settings screen, where you can select the aspect ratio, TV system (SD-PAL, SD-NTSC, 720p-50 Hz, 720p-60 Hz, 1080i-50 Hz or 1080i-60 Hz), as well as the parameters of the Dolby Digital audio.

Installation of the AB Boxes that we know wouldn’t be complete without connecting it to your home owner conference call solutions or directly to Internet. In case you have a router, just connect the IPBox 900HD to it with an Ethernet cable, and you’re set.DHCP should take care about all the DNS IP address setting hassle etc, but if for whatever reason it doesn’t work, all the parameters can be set up manually.If you’re connecting directly to the Internet, ADSL user information take just seconds to be entered. At the moment it can mainly be used for the convenient software upgrade from www.abipbox.com. IPBox 900HD automatically logs in to the FTP server, offering you several firmware versions to choose from.

You can forget about all the trouble getting the latest software to your receiver via RS-232 or USB port, the needed files downloaded and installed earlier then you can realise it. And this makes sense, for example, in the latest firmware version,ABCom added the support of FAT32 file system for the MP3 files and images you have on your USB dongle, so an endless search for nfs/ext formatting and access utilities for your Windows-based PC is a nightmare to forget. The hard disk for recording transmissions still has to be formatted in ext, but this is something IPBox 900HD can perfectly take care of.

Everyday Use
Once the channel search is completed,IPBox 900HD attempts to get the picture from the last Freesat channel it succeeded to store. Should it be unavailable for whatever reason, just press OK  button to access a perfectly thought through channel list. It might seem a bit minimalistic at first,but try clicking a round, and you’ll discover that it’s quite feature loaded. Pressing the red button once or several times lets you sort the channel list in different ways – by alphabet, by package, by satellite,by provider, FTA/encrypted. FAV button toggles between the main list and favorite list display, by default there are five Sports,Drama, News, Movie and Music, but you can create as many new ones as you wish. However, to add channels to them, a special menu should be called, where the main list and the favorite group appear at the same time, so it’s not enough just to mark the needed channels in the main list. Returning to the channel list itself, pressing an “i” button allows you to delete, hide, lock, rename or move the selected channel, and, what we especially liked, adjust it’s default audio volume. It can be so annoying ,when zapping around you endlessly have to adjust the volume on your TV-set or the receiver, because the providers didn’t care to make it perfectly equal. With IPBox 900HD it’s a one time work to program it, and you would never have to worry about it again.

Talking about zapping, it might not be surprisingly fast, but still,channel changing time will not get disturbing. It ranges from 0.5 up to 1.5 seconds, depending the channel pair considered. It’s longer to go from one HDTV channel to another, located on a different transponder,and almost hardly noticeable between SDTV ones within the same transponder. Once the channel is chosen and IPBox 900HD locks to it, you can enjoy the perfect picture and sound, provided by this receiver. But when the broadcaster goes for a commercial break, you can play around a bit. Pay some attention to the buttons in the third top row of the remote control.Pressing the right one allows you to select another channel from the same transponder, and its live picture appears in a small window in the bottom right part of the screen. Two pictures can be made equally big by the leftmost button, the second left button can move the smaller picture around the screen, and with a second right button you can switch channels – the sub-channel becomes the main one, one more click and it goes viseversa. To exit the PiP mode, press the leftmost button again. It’s worth noticing, that besides watching two channels from one transponder in such a way, the third one can simultaneously be recorded.

PVR would also hardly disappoint you. You think there is just one Record button and that’s it? No way. Besides the most obvious path, you can select the programs to be recorded in the EPG, by manually entering the start/stop time, or you can preset the time shift buffer, first watch the show,and then decide, if you want its recording stored. Time shifting can also be helpful if, for example, you receive an important phone call, but don’t want to miss some exciting moments in the football match you’ve been watching. Just “pause” it, and once you’ve done talking, your favorite football players wait for you right where you left them. As for the other recordings, you can quickly access them, by just pressing the  Envelope button on the remote control.

EPG is available in two variants – the simplified list mode,andin the full satellite program guide mode. Click  EPG once or twice for each of them respectively. Make sure you’ve set the correct time in the Local Time Settings menu, and you can easily check what’s on tonight, or what your favorite movie channel is going to show on Saturday evening. The “list” mode actually lists the upcoming events for the selected channel, with a possibility to get extended information about each of them, by pressing the “i” button. The  program guide mode shows neigbouring channels as well, you can easily navigate between the programs, channels and days of the week, and even search for the program you’re interested in, by actually typing in its name.Pretty convinient , isn’t it? But, although, cyrillic and other special characters are perfectly displayed, the search function is restricted to latin only, which is somehow understandable.

As for the multimedia features that we’ve already mentioned, there are two special buttons on the remote control, clearly reading  Music and Photo. They provide quick and direct access to your media files,stored on a USB dongle,hard disk or at a specified network location. MP3 player might look simple, but it perfectly does its job. And, as also already mentioned, the latest version of firmware supports FAT32 for the USB sticks, so you no longer have to worry about formatting it in a less popular file system.

Upgrading the firmware to the most actual version also helped curing some hangs that we’ve experienced during the early stages of our tests. It clearly shows, that ABCom is busy working on improving it. But, the beauty of the whole thing is that it’s a Linux-based  satellite receiver! Alternative firmware is already starting to appear including even the legendary Enigma. A video of a first Enigma HD test version can be seen at their website www.abipbox.com. So although it’s more a family receiver at the moment, we can already expect its full potential to be uncovered soon.

search Keyword:

Posted in Satellite Receiver Tags: , No Comments »