Visionsat IV-200 - support request

[Anole]

Visionsat IV 200, is an FTA satellite receiver that is becoming popular.
By attaching an external USB hard drive, the user can record TV programming.

The file type is marked as .TS, and by exercising "ignore transport stream maps" the samples I've uploaded, can be viewed and edited.
My test videos are very small, but if I recall, large files loaded okay without the change to mapping.
Doesn't really matter.

So, it's perfectly easy to make edited mpeg files for use on your computer or for changing into DivX.
I made a 6-hour miniseries into a DVD just yesterday.

The problem will arise that people will want to edit and upload commercial-free videos to their PVRs hard drive.
Personally, I find it silly, but that's what folks want.
When I tried, the edited file did not show up in the selection menu on the receiver.
...edited for clarity...
I think there is a header, with info about the show.
Original video files show Info in a window for each file. (see samples)
Edited .TS files uploaded to the HD, just don't exist as far as the receiver is concerned.
Is there any existing mode (or a chance to add a mode) that could preserve the header when writing an edited file back as a .TS ?

There is an additional brand (I think from the same factory) which would benefit from this fix, too.

See VRD FTP server @ : /Anole_Visionsat_IV200/

An email has been sent to support with a link to this thread.

[phd]

Are there published specs about the file and the header info?

[Anole]

Are there published specs about the file and the header info?
That would certainly make the process painless, wouldn't it? :)
I'll look into it!


Can you off-load a video, delete it from the PVR, and then reload it back to the PVR from your PC. This is without editing? Just want to make sure that the basic mechanism is there.

Good point.
I took the three little test files, changed their names, and re-wrote them back onto the external USB drive, using my laptop.
The drive was then plugged back into the receiver.
(I may have used the words upload or download before, but this is the only way to access video: plug the USB drive into your computer and copy it).

When powered up, the Visionsat recognized and played all the new files.
It also showed their Info data, when asked.
The NASA file has no Info, same as the original.



Finally, what types of copy protection issue do you have with the PVR? Does it encrypt stuff?

Regards, Dan
None.
No.

This is a Free To Air or FTA receiver, capable of receiving and recording hundreds of channels from dozens of birds.
All programming received in unencrypted, and all recordings are unencrypted.

Here is a short example of what you can find on Ku band: FTA List (http://ftalist.com/channels.htm).
That's just what you might get from anywhere in North America.
This same receiver, when used in Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia, or other parts of the world, should be capable of receiving all their unencrypted satellites, too.
A similar model is sold under another name in North America.
Since it's equipped for PAL reception, I'm pretty sure it's sold around the world, as well.

Some people may modify similar receivers for the reception of encrypted pay-TV, but that is not FTA, nor the purpose of this discussion.

[phd]

Just curious, but what is there to watch?

Are there any good shows?

[Anole]

Did you look at the FTA List above?

If you have family members who speak any other language than English, this is a good place to look for programming in your mother tongue.
I can't find any Japanese, only one Vietnamese, and only one religious Filipino channel, but for many other languages, there's quite a bit.

Just going through some of the stuff broadcast in English (http://ftalist.com/english.htm), we find:
- a number of Christian of family-value channel (kid-safe)
- news as reported in middle east, Afghanistan, China, Nigeria, Ohio :rolleyes:, Russia, Pentagon, Saudi Arabia, and NASA.
- shopping channels
- White Springs runs old movies and cartoons
- multiple stations carrying the MyNetwork programming (time zone choices)
- PBS
- ABC
- Fashion channel
- and numerous independent stations across the country.

If you live near a large city, you may have many of the above choices available through your local broadcasters.
I do , here near LA.

Once you're into the hobby, another thing that many users do, is hunt for feeds of sporting events.
Those are often carried in-the-clear between a sporting event and the network where it is broadcast.
For the sports addicts who don't subscribe to big cable or satellite packages, this is the best place to get your fix.

Big breaking news stories are just like sports feeds.
Any time, for any reason, you might see what is really going on at the site of the next major disaster.

Join us over on SatelliteGuys.US forum , in the FTA section, and read what the guys are doing.
Your questions will be welcome there, too.
Just don't ask about decrypting pay-tv programming , as that's the quickest way to be shown the door. :cool:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/
most stuff requires a 36" dish, and a linear LNB (not that circular LNB you have for Dish or DirecTV)
.

[Anole]

Okay, someone with a lot more clout than me has contacted the company to see about documentation.

And, I have ordered a second unit to experiment with.

[Anole]

Well, after requesting header-info twice, and getting no response, I've given up on making the edited video writable back to the receiver's hard drive.

Is it possible to determine how long the header is and deal with it a little more surgically?
I have not had good experience with the receiver starting to record on time, and don't know if it's a timer problem or one of VideoReDo not reading the first of the recorded video.
I know VRD reads through garbage 'till it finds the start of video, and was just wondering how well it handled these .ts files?
(maybe it's not a VRD problem, in which case it's problem setting the timer)

At any rate, TVsuite does a fine job of making up DVDs from these files, as mentioned in previous posts.

[Larry]

I have had issues with Beta 522 in files recorded off of a DVB-S card. (you have probably guessed these were the RTN channels off of G10R) I can edit the files to get the start and end points of a show, save them back to the hard disk. Once I have 4 or 5 files ready for DVD, then I have created a non-standard DVD (i.e. accept non-standard parameters) with 5 titles. The first 3 titles played fine, but title 4 and 5 started about 17min into the half hour program. All the files used to create the DVD show as complete if I load them individually back into VideoRedo, it was only when burning them to dvd and usuing the menu to select the titles that show 4 and 5 was truncated. Show 4 did play fine when it was left to play the complete DVD from the start, (did not leave it long enough to see about show 5) it was only if I choose show 4 or 5 from the menu that the show was truncated. This behaviour occured playing the DVD on 2 different branded DVD players. (LG and Philips)
So, the receiver not starting on time may not be a IRD problem, but a VideoReDo Problem. Check to see if the shows show as complete if loaded into the editor before they are passed to the DVD creater.
Do you have any experiance with Tivo? I was looking at one last night and wanted to know more about how to transfer the files off of it. I do not know if it needs patched software loaded or if it can be done right out of the box with the eithernet connection? or USB connection?

[phd]

Try 553 available here:
http://www.videoredo.net/msgBoard/showthread.php?t=5363

[Anole]

I was out tiptoeing through some other forums, and ran across a discussion about how the VRD guys solved this problem . . . :rolleyes:
Many thanks to the VRD team for the fix. - :D

Apparently, you pull the .ts file into VRD, edit it, save it as .ts, but manually change the sound type to .mpg
I had been using the settings to not change the sound format, and getting nowhere.

A few experiments on some files seem to indicate success.
The file names now show up in the Visionsat file manager with the .ts extension, and there is no longer any info about the show.
Also, when played, the progress bar displayed at the top of the screen is now in percent only, and not in minutes.

All in all, a satisfactory solution to the problem, I'd say.

And just to be sure, I took a 544x480 file that I'd made into a DVD, loaded the .VOBs into VRD 551, did a Save as .TS, changed the sound format, and wrote the file.
Loaded it onto a thumb drive and it played fine in the Visionsat.

I believe there is a similar (almost identical) Coolsat model, and this will probably work for it, too.

If any users try this solution, please report your results.