TELE-satellite-1207

TELE
The World’s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine
since 1981
3DTV
HDTV
IP/Web
satellite
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
B 9318 E

06-07-082012
Company Report Company Report
GOOSAT TSREADER
Mike Miao Greatly Rod Hewitt Leads the
Increases Production World Market in Testing
Capacity in New Factory Digital Streams

Company Report Company Report
SVEC DVBCN
Wang Duo Puts High Anna Xie Created the
Investment in High Quality Largest Digital TV Online
Community in China

Test Report Test Report
SPAUN AMIKO ALIEN2
BluBox 2nd Generation Receiver
with 3 Tuners and IP/Web-TV
HeadEnd
The Best in
Reliability for
Cable Systems

Battle
of the Big
Boxes
Best Systems for Digital
TV Cable Distribution
Test Report
GLOBALINVACOM
Fibre Optic DTT System
Ready for the Future in Optical Distribution 06-07-08/2012

www.TELE-satellite.com

TELE-satellite
International
t
The World’s Larges
zine
Dig ital TV Trade Maga

since 1981

Alexander Wiese
Publisher

.com
alex@TELE-satellite
y
HQ in Munich, German

Dear Readers,
In addition to the newest top receivers and future-oriented to be visually appealing; it just needs to be functional. It’s not
headends, we are also introducing to you in this issue of TELE- a critical component of daily use. And if it isn’t important for
satellite something that at first glance doesn’t seem all too the user, then the value of the receiver is also reduced. The
impressive: a display (a small monitor) that can be connected receiver simply becomes a part of everyday life. It’s not all too
to a receiver. The display can be configured in such a way that exciting to switch channels with the remote control.
it shows the logo of the currently received TV channel. Now you A large display that can permanently show the more relevant
could argue that there isn’t much that could be less exciting; data, such as, channel logo, abbreviated EPG and the time, turns
most channels already blend in their channel logo into the the receiver into a real control center. Can you imagine how
video, in fact, most every receiver shows the channel name much more fun it would be to enjoy an evening of TV with one
on its display. So, what purpose does it serve to prominently of these “pimped up” receivers? Pushing a button on the remote
display the logo yet again? control now takes on a completely new meaning now that you
If you’re asking this question, you’re overlooking one aspect can do more with it instead of just switching the channels on the
in today’s digital receivers that is being provided less and less: monitor. Now the information on the display changes along with
that control center feeling. The integrated display is in most the actual channel – the effect of the remote control is much
receivers simply an alphanumeric display that in almost every more exciting.
case only has a limited number of character places such that Every manufacturer is amazed with a company like Apple that
most channel names can’t be fully displayed. The channel name can take products and turn them into something special. It’s
is either cut off or the display scrolls through the channel name. actually something that any manufacturer could do. Even digital
With some channels this is not the case; a channel such as TV receivers can be made into something special if they are
The Entertainment Channel “E!” fits in every receiver display. turned into a true TV channel control center. I’m waiting for
But I have yet to come across a display that can completely fit the day when receivers will come with a lavish display rather
channel names like “The History Channel”. than an alphanumeric display (a technology that stems from
The argument is this: the display on a receiver really only serves the earlier days of electronics from the last century). I want
as an emergency function that lets you set up a receiver even to see receivers that give the user the feeling of being actively
without a monitor. The on-screen menu provides everything involved in the programming control center of their living room.
your heart desires and in most cases shows the channel name Then, instead of typical everyday receivers, you’ll have an
in its entirety. So why should manufacturers include a large exciting and emotional TV device that meaningfully speaks to
display in their receivers? the user – and this is exactly what makes a manufacturer like
But there is another motive to think about here regarding the Apple so successful.
subject of receiver displays. On the one hand the user only
sees the wonderful on-screen receiver menu during installation
and then again in an abbreviated form (channel display when
switching between channels) for one or two seconds. Hmm,
what’s the use of a menu that will hardly be used by the user
in everyday use?
My take on this is that the whole approach is wrong. A receiver Alexander Wiese
menu that is only visible during the installation doesn’t have Editor-in-Chief TELE-satellite International

TELE
satellite
Address
TELE-satellite International, PO Box 1234, 85766 Munich-Ufg, GERMANY/EUROPE
Editor-in-Chief
Alexander Wiese, alex@TELE-satellite.com
Published by
TELE-satellite Medien GmbH, Aschheimer Weg 19, 85774 Unterfoehring, GERMANY/EUROPE
Design
Németi Barna Attila
Advertising
www.TELE-satellite.com/ads/
Hard Copy Subscription
www.tele-satellite.com/subscription/
Copyright © 2012 by TELE-satellite ISSN 1435-7003
TELE-satellite was established in 1981 and today is the oldest, largest and most-read digital tv trade
magazine in the world. TELE-satellite is seen by more than 350,000 digital tv professionals around the
world and is available both in printed form and online.
www.TELE-satellite.com

CONTENT

GLOBALINVACOM
Fibre IRS DTT
Processor
Filtering and Ampli- ...154 ...174

fying Terrestrial
Signals.............. 16

SPAUN
BluBox-16
Satellite
Headend............ 24

Panodic HDT-127A ...184 ...210

Small DVB-T HD PVR Receiver...... 34

Amiko Alien 2
Triple Tuner
PVR HDTV Receiver.................... 44

...230 ...256
Skyworth HT21
Miniature DVB-T HDTV Receiver... 62

Feature:
The Wonderful World of Spark
Part 3: Spark Apps.............................. 74

Feature: Company Report:
AZBox ME Receiver Software Receiver and TV Manufacturer DXer Report:
Part 2: Multimedia............................... 84 GOOSAT, China ................................ 154 Satellite DXer
DX-Ralf, Germany.............................. 246
AWARD Winning: Company Report:
Digital Receivers of 21st Century........... 92 Online Dealer Antenaomega, Brazil...... 174 Company Report:
Wireless Internet Provider
AWARD Winning: Company Report: Pignet, São Paulo, Brazil..................... 256
HDTV PC Cards of 21st Century........... 104 Professional Dish Manufacturer
SVEC, China..................................... 184 Satellite DXer Overview:
AWARD Winning: Hall of Fame of Satellite
Signal Analyzers of 21st Century......... 110 Company Report: Enthusiasts of the World..................... 262
Software Programmer
AWARD Winning: Rod Hewitt, USA................................ 200 Technical Service:
IPTV/WebTV Receivers Digital TV Transponder Streams
of 21st Century.............................. 122 Company Report: around the World............................... 270
Digital TV Website
Vitor’s Workshop: DVBCN.com, China............................ 210 DTT of the World............................ 304
Digital Picture Frame
for the AZBox ME.............................. 126 Company Overview: TELE-satellite History:
Best Digital TV Companies TELE-satellite in 1982..................... 310
Feature: of the World................................... 218
H-8PSK Hierarchical Modulation........... 134 TELE-satellite History:
Company Report: TELE-satellite in 1992..................... 312
Feature: TV Station TV Bandeirantes,
Motorised Antennas Campinas, SP, Brazil.......................... 230 TELE-satellite History:
for Satellite Reception........................ 140 TELE-satellite in 2002..................... 314
Uplink Overview:
Digital Technology: TELE-satellite’s Best Satellite Global Readership of
New Developments............................ 148 Uplink Earth Stations...................... 240 TELE-satellite Magazine.................. 320

8 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 06-07-08/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com

ADVERTISER‘S INDEX

8DTEK..................................... China......................... 77 JONSA..................................... Taiwan......................217
ALUOSAT................................. China..........103, 109, 121 KARMACOM............................. Hungary....................... 9
AMIKO..................................... Hungary....................... 9 LEXIUM................................... USA...........................259
ANTIFERENCE......................... UK.............................237 MFC......................................... USA...........................213
APPLIED INSTRUMENTS......... USA...........................249 MICO....................................... China........................... 2
AZBOX..................................... Portugal....................323 MOTECK.................................. Taiwan......................255
AZURESHINE........................... Taiwan....................... 69 NABSHOW2013....................... USA...........................181
BEIJINGTOPREAL.................... China........................207 OIPF........................................ Sweden.....................269
BOIINGSAT............................. China........................153 OPENSAT................................. Portugal....................323
BSD......................................... Brazil........................253 PANODIC................................. China........................... 2
BT........................................... UK.............................245 PREVAIL.................................. China.....................22-23
CASTOR................................... Netherlands..............243 SAPRO..................................... Czech........................217
CES2013.................................. USA...........................203
SATBEAMS............................... Belgium....................253
CHINABROADCASTING........... China........................255
SATCATCHER........................... UK.............................. 51
CHINASATELLITE2012............ China........................187
SATELLITEGUYS...................... USA...........................237
CNBROADCASTING................. China........................255
SATSON................................... Belgium..................... 37
COMMUNICASIA2012.............. Singapore.................197
SBTVD..................................... Brazil........................269
CSTB2013................................ Russia.......................177
SCATINDIA2012...................... India.........................195
DEVISER................................. China......................... 27
SEN5....................................... China......................... 77
DEKTEC................................... Netherlands..............167
SICHUANJIUZHOU.................. China........................324
DIGITALTELEMEDIA................ China........................324
SICHUANVIDEOELECTRONIC.... China........................143
DISHPOINTER......................... UK.............................259
SKYWORTH............................. China......................... 11
DOEBIS................................... Germany................ 14-15
DOEBIS-THOMSON.................. Germany...................157 SMARTWI................................ Denmark...................161
DVBCN.................................... China........................249 SOWELL.................................. China......................... 33
FULANELECTRONICS............... China........................... 5 SPAUN.........................................Germany.... 47,213,233,239
GECEN..................................... China.................... 41, 81 STRONG.................................. Austria....................... 89
GLOBALINVACOM.................... UK.............................. 55 SVEC....................................... China........................143
GOOSAT.................................. China......................... 19 TEHNICB................................. Romania.................. 239
GOLDENMEDIA........................ Germany.................... 65 TENOW.................................... China........................131
HANGZHOUPREVAIL............... China.....................22-23 TEVII...................................... Taiwan......................233
HORIZON................................ UK.............................137 TOPREAL................................. China........................207
IBC2012.................................. UK..................... 173, 229 TRIMAX................................... China........................129
ICECRYPT................................ UK...........................4, 73 TURBOSAT............................... UK...........................4, 73
JIUZHOU................................. China........................324 WSINTERNATIONAL................ USA...........................259


02-03/2012
AZBox ME
Today‘s absolute
best Linux Receiver

www.TELE-satellite.com/12/03/azbox-me

10-1
1/201
1
Tenow TBS6984
Made for TV addicts who can never
watch and record enough channels.

www.TELE-satellite.com/11/11/tenow


MAGAZINE

08-09/2009
Global Invacom Optical LNB
The first worldwide optical satellite
reception and transmission system

www.TELE-satellite.com/09/09/globalinvacom

06-07-08/2012
AMIKO ALIEN 2
Unbeatable combination of features and
function – for excellent viewing pleasure!

www.TELE-satellite.com/12/07/amiko

www.TELE-satellite.com — 06-07-08/2012 — TELE-satellite International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志 13

TEST REPORT Fibre Optic System for DTT


FibreIRS DTT
Processor
of Global
Invacom

• excellent device to filter out any unwanted signals
• very simple device settings
• increases C/N parameters at the output
• useful for both coaxial cable systems and for the
new fibre optic systems


TEST REPORT Fibre Optic System for DTT

A Set of Brick 06-07-08/2012

Wall Filters
FibreIRS DTT Processor
Delivery perfectly clean DTT signals for any
distribution system
www.TELE-satellite.com/12/07/globalinvacom

and Signal
Amplifiers
GlobalInvacom is a leading
company in introducing fiber
optics to satellite tv recep-
tion and TV distribution net-
works. Now they introduced
another very useful piece of
distribution system that can
be very beneficial not only
for fiber optics based sys-
tems but also for classical
coaxial cable systems.
GlobalInvacom’s DTT Pro-
cessor is a device installed
between a terrestrial anten-
na and the remaining part
of a distribution system.
Its most important function
is filtering the signal your
antenna picks up. Filter-
ing means passing through
the desired part of the fre-
quency spectrum where
the signals of interests are
transmitted while blocking
everything else from reach-
ing the output.
Why is this that impor- cal currents into light will be
tant? Thanks to the filtering, covered in our next test re-
the signal that finally comes port. Such converter if fed
to the input of your DVB-T or with very a noisy input sig- one. That’s because DVB-T
DAB receiver contains much nal might have a problem in TV operates in the 470-862
less noise. The probability generating well modulated MHz range while DAB in the
of picture pixelation, video/ light. Typically, the rule is: 217-230 MHz range. So it is DAB band is treated as one
audio glitches or complete garbage in = garbage out. possible to combine them in 13 MHz wide channel.
loss of reception is greatly If the signal quality is low one RF output. We are used nowadays
reduced. Starting with a at the input, it will become The basic version of the that one needs to connect
clean signal is even more even worse at the output. DTT Processor enables you a notebook PC to configure
important in a distribution Fortunately, filtering can be to select up to six different a professional system unit.
system based on fiber optic used to break this rule. TV channels. You can buy It is convenient when the
components. That’s because The FibreIRS DTT Pro- additional plug-in modules settings we need to do are
we need to convert the elec- cessor of GlobalInvacom and extend its functional- complex. But in the case of a
trical RF signal existing in accepts signals from two ity to eight DVB-T channels. DTT processor, the settings
the initial stages of such terrestrial antennas: one re- Each channel is 8 MHz wide are quite simple: the num-
system to modulated light. ceiving terrestrial TV signals in accordance with a typical ber of a channel you want
GlobalInvacom’s converter and the other digital audio terrestrial DVB-T-TV chan- to be passed through and
capable of changing electri- (DAB) signals. The output is nel plan. Consequently, the its signal gain. So it is really


1

good that GlobalInvacom’s 60 dBµV for DVB-T and not
processor does not require more than 65 dBµV for DAB.
you to connect to a PC. The output of every channel
GlobalInvacom’s FibreIRS should be adjusted optimal-
DTT Processor not only ly to 70 dBµV if you connect
passes through the desired the GlobalInvacom ODU32
TV channels and blocks the RF-to-light converter to the
rest of the spectrum but processor. If your antenna
also amplifies their signal. has a built in amplifier – no
The unit is enclosed in a problem. The DTT Processor
metal case designed to be generates 12 V to power the
mounted on a wall on two amplifier.
screws. It has an external We started our test with a
2
AC/DC plug type adapter. real world signal. In our test
After unscrewing two screws location in Western Poland,
and removing the cover, you two DVB-T multiplexes are
get access to the interior of available. They are trans-
the processor. Every mod- mitted on channels E41 and
ule has an eight position DIP E45. The signal level was
switch you use to set the de- slightly above 66 dBµV – ex-
sired channel number (from actly as needed. As you can
21 through 69) and to turn see on the attached screen
a module on or off. A piece shots, the input signal con-
of foiled paper is attached to tained some undesired sig-
the internal surface of the nals too. These were some
cover. It’s a short list of op- analog TV channels which
erating instructions, as how are still transmitted as well
to turn the module on/off as some spurious signals
and how to set the channel produced mainly in the an-
3 number. A few clicks with a tenna amplifier. But the
small screwdriver is enough output of the DTT Proces-
to do all that setting. A sor was completely free of
green LEDs mounted on the them. Only the two digital
top of each module signals channels were left. We ad-
which one is turned on. justed the output of every
Except for that, every unit channel to 70 dbµV without
has its own red knob for ad- any problem.
justing channel gain. The But that’s not all. The car-
nominal adjustment range rier-to-noise (C/N) param-
is 30 dB. There is also one eter measured at the output
slide switch enabling you to was better than that at the
additionally boost the out- input by 12 dB! For example
put by about 20 dB (18 dB in for E45 channel, it rose from
the specs). It adds this extra 31.1 dB to 43.7 dB. We were
gain to all passed through really astonished because
4 channels. It may be very we had not expected such
useful when you deal with significant improvement in
very extended or complex signal quality.
cable networks in which you We checked the gain ad-
expect significant attenua- justment range for every
tion. channel. We got 26 dB ad-
For best performance, the justment range for E41 and
input signal should be above 24.5 dB for E45. A little

1. The original input signal picked up by a terrestrial antenna.
There are 2 DVB-T signals at 634 and 666 MHz (channel 41 and 45)
and a lot of unwanted noise.
2. After passing FibreIRS DTT Processor, only the desired DVB-T
signals remain.
3. A test with a white noise generator proves excellent adjacent
channels rejection.
4.Sharp roll-off and flat pass band - splendid frequency characteri-
stics of one of the FibreIRS DTT Processor channel filters.


■TELE-satellite Test Editor Jacek Pawlowski at
work. The FibreIRS DTT Processor is connected
to a professional signal anaylzer. the analyzer‘s
video output is fed into the laptop to generate the
screenshots for this report.

Expert Opinion
Very good adjacent channel separation
Flat pass band
+ Wide range of signal gain adjustment
Very easy setup requiring no PC but just a
screwdriver

less than specified (30 dB) the passband is very flat – – none
Jacek Pawlowski
TELE-satellite
Test Center
but still quite a lot. The ad- another desired feature of a Poland
ditional output boost that good filter.
could be turned on with a We did not have an op- TECHNICAL
switch was 18.4 dB and 17.2 portunity to check the DAB DATA
dB respectively. Almost ex- band but after such impres- Manufacturer Global Invacom Ltd., Great Britain

actly in line with the speci- sive results with TV chan- Web www.gloablinvacom.com

fication (20 dB). Of course, nels, we have no doubt that E-mail sales@globalinvacom.com

we had absolutely perfect also this band is processed Phone +44-1621-743440

video when we connected a equally well. For DAB, Glo- Fax +44-1621-743676

DTT receiver to the proces- balInvacom uses a Low Pass Model FibreIRS DTT Processor

sor output. Filter. Function Filtering and amplifying terrestrial signal

Finally, we fed the pro- To sum it up – the proces- DVB-T

cessor with a white noise sor delivers what its specifi- Frequency range 470-862 MHz

generator signal to exam- cation promises. The output Number of channels 6 (expandable to 9)

ine the frequency response. signal is exceptionally clean Broadcast standard 8 MHz

As our screen shots clearly and its C/N improves more Gain 20 dB

show, the performance of than anybody could expect. Channel flatness < 2.5 dB

the filters was awesome. We can heartily recommend Adjacent channel rejection > 45 dB

We sometimes use the term using GlobalInvacom Fi- DAB

“brick wall’ for a filter with breIRS DTT Processor not Frequency range 217-230 MHz

extremely steep roll-offs. only for any fiber optic sys- Insertion loss < 2 dB

That’s the term you can tem but also for the usual DC power

certainly use for GlobalIn- coax cable distribution net- Input voltage 20 V

vacom’s FibreIRS DTT Pro- works. We are sure that the Current consumption 1A

cessor. Its SAW filters do a end users will be completely Physical
very good job. You can see satisfied with the quality of Size 182 x 205 x 122 mm
it in the other screen shots terrestrial signals delivered Weight 3.7 kg
shown in this report. Also to their outlets. Operating temperature 0 to +50º C


TEST REPORT Satellite Headend


SPAUN
BluBox 16

• excellent technical quality due
to specially designed hardware
ICs
• automatically detects faulty
settings
• extremely easy to use
• each unit contains a full tuner
and QAM modulator
• adjacent channel allocation
possible


TEST REPORT Satellite Headend

16 Satellite Tuners And
16 QAM Modulators in One Unit
Headend equipment usu- gress in commercial satellite box is blue (the standard S2) and four for cable TV
ally comes in 19” units to receivers and now the same color for SPAUN) and has signals (DVB-C QAM). There
be fitted in a standard 19” happens with headends. very clear labels and a ta- are also 2 RJ45 Ethernet
rack. And we expect a sat- SPAUN’s BluBox 16, when ble with basic parameters connectors and 24 status
ellite headend to consist of compared to a traditional printed on the front panel LEDs on the front panel.
several devices: a profes- head end equipment, is not (what is also very typical A power socket is placed
sional satellite receiver with just a technological step, it for SPAUN). BluBox 8 and on the bottom side of the
a transport stream output, is a giant leap forward. BluBox 16 come in the same box, which leads to two
a re-multiplexer and a QAM The BluBox16 is not de- enclosure but the latter has power supply units inside
modulator. Imagine our sur- signed for a 19” standard greater possibilities. the box. Yes, that’s right,
prise when SPAUN’s new rack. It is housed in a quite BluBox 8 has one signal SPAUN added redundancy
BluBox arrived at our lab; we small metal enclosure - 32 module and BluBox16 (such here: even if the main power
had to revise our thinking x 24 x 22 cm (about 13.5” unit was in our test) has two supply breaks, the BluBox
about how a headend sys- x 9.5” x 8.5”) and it is sup- signal modules. BluBox16 keeps working with the
tem has to look like. We are posed to be installed on the has 8 signal connectors: 4 spare power supply. This is
often impressed by the pro- wall with four screws. The for satellite signals (DVB-S/ what true professionalism is

06-07-08/2012
SPAUN BluBox 16
Great leap forward in
headend technology
www.TELE -satellite.com/12/07/s
paun


1

the very top connector is al- giant leap forward in head-
ways just a satellite IF input, end technology.
its lower companion can be The BluBox 16 design is
configured as an input num- based on special integrated
ber 2 or a looped through circuits called FPGA (Filed
output of input 1. Programmable Gate Ar-
To do this and all other ray). To put it simply, they
configuration settings, you are a kind of digital signal
need to connect the BluBox processors in which many
to your computer network. features are implemented
After hooking up an Ethernet in the very complex hard-
2
cable to the RJ45 connector ware rather than software.
on the front panel, you can Thanks to that, they are sig-
run an Internet browser on nificantly faster than tradi-
any computer connected to tional processors relying on
the same computer network programs. But that’s not all.
and enter its IP address: This sophisticated hardware
192.168.1.250. In a second made it possible to achieve
or so, you can see a web such a clear output signal
page generated by BluBox that you can simply connect
and you can set everything QAM outputs in series with-
on the sub pages. All pages out any filtering. SPAUN’s
are available either in Ger- user guide gives an example
3 man or in English. of connecting the outputs of
Just below the Ethernet three BluBoxes 16 and gen-
connector in every module, erating 48 QAM channels
you can see two connectors in total (approx. 350 SD/
dedicated for DVB-C QAM HD programs of high qual-
signals. The very bottom ity). And all this without any
one is just the output where combiner or filter – just 3
the digital cable TV signal is BluBox 16 units and a few
generated and can be fur- pieces of coaxial cable with
ther fed to your cable net- F connectors on both ends.
work. The connector above The BluBox 16 is accom-
is an input where you can panied by a single page in-
insert a signal from another struction explaining how to
4 BluBox unit. In such simple connect it to the PC network
way, you can sum up the and download a full operat-
outputs of two modules of ing manual. We followed the
BluBox 16. In the same way, instructions and in a minute
you can sum up signals from we were looking at the
separate BluBoxes units. web page generated by the
And now, the most ex- BluBox 16. We downloaded
citing information about the operating manual and
SPAUN BluBox 16. Every found out that it was very
signal module of the Blue- comprehensive and detailed
Box 16 can convert not few- but at the same time organ-
er but 8 different satellite ized in a logical manner. It
transponders to 8 fully con- was really easy to follow
1. 8 QAM chanels generated by one BluBox module
2. 16 QAM channels generated by two BluBox modules figurable DVB-C QAM chan- it and lots of screen shots
3. Excellent output signal quality nels. In other words, one made the reading and un-
4. Individual QAM channel level can be adjusted BluBox 16 is able to convert derstanding even easier.
16 transponders to 16 QAM We skimmed the manual
all about: to be save against Satellite IF signals are channels! We could not be- but as soon as we realized
failure. What else is worse in connected to the F connec- lieve it. But, yes, BluBox 16 how logical and intuitive
a tv distribution system than tors located in the upper has in fact 16 independent everything was arranged,
subscribers loosing their sig- part of every module. You satellite tuners and 16 inde- we put it aside and started
nals. The second power sup- can connect signals either pendent QAM modulators! setting up the box with the
ply gives the SPAUN BluBox from individual LNBs or from And everything is fully con- wizard that pops up at the
an outstanding feature in different outputs of a twin/ figurable. Can you imagine beginning and helps in ini-
high reliability and up-time.. quad/quattro LNB. While that? That’s why we call it a tial installation. Later, we


played with various con- East) but you are able to add
figuration settings avail- additional ones by yourself. Setup windows
able in the sub pages of After selecting the satellite
the 192.168.1.250. By the transponder (either directly
way, even this IP address or by choosing the TV chan-
at which BluBox is normally nel from that transponder),
available can be changed by you select the frequency of
the user. So if you expect the QAM channel that is sup-
you may need frequent con- posed to carry the content
figuration changes of sever- of the satellite transponder.
al BluBox modules, you may You simply pick it from the
give them individual ad- list which contains QAM
dresses (like 192.168.1.249, channel numbers and corre-
192.168.1.248,...) and con- sponding frequencies.
nect them permanently to By default, the box as-
your computer network. If sumes 256QAM and 6.9 Ms/
you think that you will only sec. However, after switch-
occasionally need to correct ing the user interface from
the settings, you may leave basic to expert mode, you
the address unchanged and are free to change it to any
connect to your network QAM order and any symbol
only one module at a time to rate. However, we advise
edit and save the settings. to keep 6.9 Ms/sec as this
That’s how we did it during matches the 8 MHz channel
our test. bandwidth normally used in
If you have one BluBox cable TV.
16 and want to insert satel- If you do everything like
lite TV and radio channels we described above, you
from a Ku-band satellite into should notice that all 10
your cable network, prob- status LEDs of the mod-
ably the best idea is to use ule located above the RJ45
a quad LNB and configure connector turn from amber
all four satellite inputs/out- to green. This means that
puts of the BluBox as the the BluBox 16 locked to all
ordinary inputs. Then, you programmed satellite tran-
connect each LNB output to sponders and generated
the BluBox 16 satellite input.
In this way, you will have a
guarantee that you will be
able to select any combina-
tion of transponders from
the Ku-band satellite, no
matter low/high band or H/V
polarization. Of course, you
can do the same with quat-
tro LNB.
The configuration process
is simplified by the SPAUN
software to the maximum.
While you can do it by se-
lecting a satellite tran-
sponder from the list (by
its frequency), you can do
that also by selecting a TV
channel name from the list
(like FTV, CNN,...). Present-
ly, BluBox 16 has the most
popular European satellites
stored in its memory (AS-
TRA 19.2° East, HOTBIRD
13° East and EUROBIRD 9°


corresponding QAM chan- QAM channels appeared at
nels. the output of the module as
To find out how foolproof expected. As you can also
the unit is, we intentionally see it for yourself on the at-
changed the settings for one tached photos, there were
QAM channel. Instead of the no spurious signals visible in
default 256QAM constel- the spectrum but only eight
lation, we set 64QAM. Im- very clean modulated carri-
mediately, the front panel ers.
LED indicator assigned to After such promising be-
the channel as well as its ginning, we configured the
counterpart on the PC moni- second module in a similar
tor changed from green to fashion but selected differ-
amber. After clicking it on ent channel frequencies of
the PC monitor, a window course. After connecting the
popped up listing all the pa- output of the first module to
rameters of the channel and the QAM input of the sec-
the cause of the problem be- ond module we measured
came obvious. The total bit the signal at the output of
rate of all TV and radio chan- the second module where
nels from the selected satel- the summary signal of both
lite transponder was greater modules was expected. All
than what the QAM channel 16 QAM channels looked
modulated with 64QAM with brilliantly. See the picture.
6.9 Ms/sec symbol rate can We checked that we can
carry. see the videos of the TV
If you are a little bit fa- channels transmitted in the
miliar with digital TV, you QAM channel and took a
know what to do. You can few measurements. As we
either increase the sym- expected, the purity of the
bol rate (but normally, you signal was tremendous - al-
would not like to do that as most no noise at all. MER at
this would interfere with the 37.3 dB and BER < 0.9 E-9
adjacent channels), increase were at the end of our me-
the QAM to maybe 128QAM ter’s scale. The measured
(and if this is not enough, to signal power was match-
256QAM) or remove some ing the settings done in the
TV channels from the satel- BluBox 16 very well. We
lite content to be included in checked that indeed you are
the QAM channel. We did the able to set the output power
last thing and after blocking of all QAM channels in the
two TV channels the total bit range: 62...82 dBµV in 1
rate decreased enough to be dBµV increments as stated
handled by the 64QAM and in the specifications.
6.9 Ms/sec channel. All LEDs But you can do more than
were green again. that when setting signal lev-
We decided then that it els. The BluBox 16 lets you
was time to take a few meas- set individual deviation in
urements at the outputs of signal levels of various QAM
the BluBox 16. We config- channels from -6 through +3
ured 8 channels of one mod- dB in 0.5 dB steps. We did
ule of the unit in such a way the maximum increase for
that every second cable TV one channel and maximum
channel was occupied. We decrease for another chan-
did so for easy channel iden- nel and took the photo. Eve-
tification in a spectrum view rything worked as expected.
of a signal analyzer that we By adjusting the power of
connected to the output. Of individual QAM channels you
course, the BluBox hardware are able to compensate for
is good enough to generate the losses in a cable net-
adjacent cable channels. 8 work. Normally, you will


increase the power for the You can manually select possibility to rename the settings were stored in the
channels of higher frequen- the presence of the 22 kHz original TV and radio chan- BluBox memory safely and
cies and decrease for those waveform as well as the nel. Some expertise is re- did not disappear on power
at the lower end of the spec- LNB voltage (13/18 V). You quired when tinkering with cycling. After some period
trum. can edit, remove or add new theses settings especially in of operation, internal fans
The BluBox 16 had no transponders like in a regu- NIT processing. Fortunately, were automatically switched
problem in processing DVB- lar satellite TV receiver but everything is explained in on to keep internal tempera-
S and DVB-S2 signals. Of additionally you can label great detail in the operating ture low. They generated
course, the content of the every transponder, for ex- manual. Moreover, the de- some noise but this is nor-
transponder (MPEG-2 or ample with the name of the fault settings (without pro- mal in professional equip-
MPEG-4) does not matter as provider. cessing the tables at all) will ment like computer network
the BluBox does not decode Individual channel num- be perfect anyway for most servers. The output signal
and re-code video of the TV bers can be assigned to the customers. was stable and very clean
channels. If something is in TV and radio channels con- To sum up, setting up the spectrally. Also the C/N ra-
High Definition on a satellite tained in the generated QAM BluBox 16 was a piece of tio was excellent. SPAUN’s
transponder, it will be left in channels. And if the set-top- cake. Everything was intui- BluBox 16 did a great job in
HD in the cable network. boxes used in your cable tive and worked as expected. converting DVB-S/S2 satel-
SPAUN provides us with system are supporting LCN We encountered not a single lite transponders into DVB-C
quite a choice of different (Logical Channel Number) problem. Of course, all our cable channels.
settingsfor the satellite in- functionality, the channel
put and cable output. For order in their channel lists
example, you can set man- will be exactly as you want it Expert Opinion
to be. As mentioned before, Extremely compact
ually the LOFs of the LNB
Single unit converts large number of transpon-
as well as its changeover you can block some channels
ders to QAM channels (16)
frequency. Explanation for from appearing in the cable Very clean output signal
less advanced readers: the network simply by removing BluBox outputs can be cascaded to multiply
low-band and hi-band of Ku-
band overlap each other; so
ticks next to their names in
the appropriate menu (in the
+ the number of QAM channels in the system
output Jacek Pawlowski
TELE-satellite
Well designed application for setting up the
the central part of Ku-band expert mode). Test Center
instrument Poland
can be received either with The BluBox gives you also Installation wizard, basic mode and expert
lower LOF (9750 MHz) or some possibilities to ma- mode suits both less and more advanced users
higher LOF (10600). In a nipulate NIT, SDT and CAT BluBox includes two power supplies for extreme high up-time
normal set-top-boxes this tables. You can change IDs
not possible to descramble the channels of various satellite
decision is taken by the box of the network, service or
– PayTV providers and re-scramble them with a different CAS
manufacturer and the user conditional access system.
has no freedom to change it. If you wish, you can re-
DiSEqC 1.0 is supported. place the original network
You can select toneburst: name with your own net-
TECHNICAL
DATA
off/A/B or satellite A/B/C/D. work name but you have no
Manufacturer SPAUN electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Germany
Web www.spaun.com
E-mail contact@spaun.com
Phone +49-7731-8673-0
Fax +49-7731-8673-17
Model BluBox 16
Function / to Head End
Number of inputs 4 (cascadable)
Input frequency range 950 ... 2150 MHz
Allowable input signal power 64 ... 94 dBµV
Number of outputs 2 (cascadable)
Output frequency range 47 ... 862 MHz
Output signal power setting (general) 62 ... 82 dBµV
Individual QAM channel power adjustment -6 … + 3 dB
range
Number of transponder processed Up to 16
Number of QAM channels generated Up to 16
QAM standard / ITU-T J.83 Annex A (fixed)
QAM constellations 16QAM, 32QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM
and 256QAM
QAM symbol rate range 1.0 … 7.2 Ms/sec
Power supply 2 x 100 … 240 V, 47 … 63 Hz, 85 W
plus LNB


TEST REPORT DVB-T Mini Receiver

Panodic
HDT-127A


• very small receiver with HDTV
• with PVR
• very small remote control
• big plus: USB connection on the
front panel


TEST REPORT DVB-T Mini Receiver

06-07-08/2012
Panodic HDT-127A DVB-T
Perfectly equipped DVB-T
mini receiver
www.TELE-satellite.com/12/07/panodic

Space-saving and 0.63
Elegant DVB-T Receiver
The Panodic company slo- station or the time when in as well as three RCA jacks The level of workmanship
gan is ‘Digital World. Simple standby mode. In addition, for stereo audio and CVBS of the HDT-127A is rather
Life.’ and the HDT-127A lives an LED indicates the oper- video. A coax digital au- high, but we would not have
up to that promise. We’re ating mode of the receiver dio output for digital sound expected anything less from
talking about an elegant which can be changed with rounds off the connection Panodic.
DVB-T set-top box that is the On/Standby button that options. The only thing that Most receivers these
small yet easy to use and is located right next to it. is lacking is a mechanical days feature an installation
filled to the brim with useful During our test we came power switch to fully dis- wizard that guides users
features. to appreciate the USB 2.0 connect the box from the through the initial set-up
Measuring only 190 x 120 interface right on the front mains. routine, and the new Panod-
x 35 mm it will fit into any panel – this way it’s much The remote control that ic HDT-127A is no exception.
TV cabinet and blend in less hassle to connect and is shipped together with the What is new, however, is the
nicely thanks to its unob- disconnect a USB storage receiver comes with clearly user experience offered by
trusive overall appearance. medium. labelled buttons offering this box: While most manu-
But don’t be deceived by its If we now turn around the a very pleasant pressure facturers lead users to a
small size: With all the func- receiver to have a look at point. Like the receiver it- number of windows in which
tions it has in store it will the rear panel we can find self the remote is very small individual settings can be
please even the most dis- the RF input as well as loop- in size and it should be used adjusted, Panodic has ar-
cerning users. through output, HDMI for within a three metre radi- ranged the four most im-
A four-digit segment dis- high-definition video and us from the receiver if you portant sections (region,
play on the front panel shows audio output, a scart euro- want to make sure the box language, video resolution,
either the channel number connector for hooking up listens to all of your com- video aspect) in a single
of the currently selected standard-definition TV sets, mands. window.


1
Depending on the region channel management and
you select the receiver au- editing functions. It is pos-
tomatically suggests the sible to delete, move, re-
corresponding language for name or PIN-lock individual
the on-screen display, which entries or to mark channels
we found rather conveni- for skipping. With a total
ent. It goes without saying of eight favourites list all
that this selection is not members of your family are
set in stone and you may guaranteed their own per-
of course choose French sonalised channel line-up.
as your language of choice In case not all channels
even though you use the were found by the receiver
2 receiver in Germany, for ex- during the initial automat-
ample. ic search or new channels
In terms of video out- have become available, it is
put resolutions, the follow- possible at any time to ac-
ing options are available: cess the installation menu
576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i and and repeat the search – you
1080p, which makes HDT- may even choose whether
127A a perfect match for fu- or not to look for encrypted
ture transmissions with full channels as well.
HD resolution as well. If need be, a manual
Whenever you change the search is available too,
resolution you have 15 sec- which lets you enter either
onds to confirm the new res- the required frequency or
olution, and if you fail to do the channel number in the
3 so the box goes back to the VHF or UHF band.
previously set video format. There is even a dedicated
No more despair in front of menu item for antenna ad-
a black screen, caused by a justment, which calls up two
resolution that is not sup- signal bars (indicating qual-
ported by your TV panel. A ity and strength) in order to
small step in terms of tech- move the antenna until the
nology, a giant leap in terms two bars show the best pos-
of user-friendliness, so to sible values. Use this menu
speak. item to also select whether
In addition, you can set or not the coax cable should
the video output to either provide 5V current to the
4:3 (pan & scan or letter antenna, which is required
box), 16:9 or Auto, which for an active antenna.
4 means the receiver adjusts All remaining set-up op-
the aspect ratio automati- tions of the main menu con-
cally. sist of the usual parameters
Once all parameters in such as audio language,
the four sections are set by teletext, subtitles and digi-
the user the next step is an tal audio output in either the
automatic channel search BS or LPCM format.
across the entire VHF and The internal clock of the
UHF bands. In our case the HDT-127A can be set manu-
HDT-127A took slightly more ally, or the receiver can read
than 90 seconds and de- out the correct time from
tected all active DVB-T fre- the DVB-T data stream. To
quencies. As soon as that make sure the right time
process is completed the for your location is shown
5 receiver switches to the first it is not necessary to indi-
found channel. Now, let the cate the time difference to
viewing pleasure begin… GMT (as is the case with
Contrary to satellite TV many other manufactur-
reception with hundreds or ers) but only to select your
even thousands of channels region from a list. The re-
the DVB-T offering usually ceiver even shows a number
hovers around a dozen or of major cities in each time
so stations, with some re- zone, so that you couldn’t
gions boasting more variety possible get it wrong. Talk
than others. Nonetheless, about user-friendliness!
Panodic has chosen to im- The Panodic HDT-127A is a
plement the entire range of PVR receiver and that is why


6
a dedicated menu item is true-to-life colours, while
available for PVR functions. the coax digital audio output
Here you can permanently offered a flawless sound-
activate timeshift viewing, track to our DD 5.1 home
select a partition of the ex- theatre receiver.
ternal USB storage medium While the HDT-127A only
for recordings and request supports DVB-T and cannot
the receiver to automatical- process DVB-T2 signals, it
ly add the timeshift buffer is nonetheless capable of
to a recording that is start- dealing with HDTV broad-
ed manually. In our opinion, casts transmitted in MPEG4.
this is a particularly conven- Such signals are not avail-
7 ient feature as it makes sure able at our location, which is
you can save an entire pro- why we decided to convert
gram even though you only the signals of two satellite
initiate the recording some transponders to an MPEG4
time into the broadcast. DVB-T frequency so that we
Once all settings are tak- were able to check the box’s
en care of and the receiver worth in terms of HDTV
is hooked up to all existing functionality.
equipment it is finally time To that end we used His-
to do what that neat lit- panTV from EUTELSAT 7A 7°
tle DVB-T box is made for: East and the Saudi Sports
watch TV! transponder from BADR 26°
As usual, pressing the OK East. HispanTV uses MPEG4
button on the remote calls SD as transmission stand-
8 up the channel list. Not so ard, while Saudi Sports
usual is the fact that the channels come in MPEG4
left/right buttons can be HD. As expected, all chan-
used to access and switch nels were processed by the
between the favourites lists, HDT-127A smoothly and
a feature that we truly came without any glitches what-
to appreciate during our soever.
test. Picture this: You’re relax-
A cleverly designed and ing in front of the telly after
easy to read info bar pops a busy day at work only to
up every time a new chan- find out that your significant
nel is selected, showing the other has thrown away to-
title of the current and next day’s paper with the TV list-
events if this information is ings. Not a problem at all –
9 provided by the channel. simply press the EPG button
The HDT-127A takes ap- on the remote and let your
proximately one second receiver spell out every-
to switch between chan- thing that’s on TV tonight.
nels, which puts a lot of fun Detailed program informa-
into zapping. We were im- tion for up to five channels
pressed with the video and is displayed in a grid layout.
audio quality delivered by It is possible to jump back
this DVB-T receiver: If you and forth in steps of two
make use of the HDMI con- hours or one full day, up to
nection you’ll be spoilt with a maximum preview for sev-
crisp and sharp images and en days. If you’re aiming for

1. Installation wizard of the HDT-127A
10 2. A new resolution needs to be confirmed within 15 seconds,
otherwise the receiver will switch back to the last working
resolution
3. Automatic channel search
4. The channel list can be managed and edited in numerous ways
5. Entering the frequency number for a manual search
6. The Panodic HDT-127A can even assist with correct antenna
alignment
7. Language selection
8. Setting the correct time
9. Timer entries can be created for daily, weekly or monthly
recordings
10. A total of eight timer entries are available and can be assigned
individual names


11 16

12 17

13 18

14 19

15 11. Software updates make sure convenient features such as
the receiver stays up-to-date
creating timer entries right
12. MP3 jukebox
from the EPG and record-
13. Picture viewer
14. PVR options ing daily, weekly or monthly
15. Teletext decoder events, then you need not
16. The remaining recording look further.
capacity is shown every time a
new recording starts The PVR functions of the
17. Channel list HDT-127A are on a par with
18. EPG information for five the best on the market and
channels make sure you’ll never miss
19. Reception of Hispan TV in
MPEG-4 (SD) your favourite show again.
If you’re still not entirely


20 23

21 24

22 20. Saudi Sports 1 logo (HD)
21. Reception of Saudi Sports 2 (HD)
22. Technical parameters of the currently received
channel
23. Info bar
24. List of existing recordings


TELE-satellite-1207

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (8)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (10)

Ähnlich wie TELE-satellite-1207

Ähnlich wie TELE-satellite-1207 (20)

Mehr von TELE-audiovision eng

Mehr von TELE-audiovision eng (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

TELE-satellite-1207