First week with the Raptor

[Pixl]

I've had the Raptor a little over a week now. Although not new to many of you, here are my early observations.
With my complex dish system and about 64 existing sat positions to key in has been a challenge. But I have gotten much help from EB to get these thru an editor and on to the receiver. I've got to appreciate the menu structure after living with ALi boxes for some time.
Gone is having to select the sat you are setting up every time you change menus. The set up flows nicely into the scan menu, then on to watching tv. I like the one button "delete all TPs" on a sat. Instant transfer of files in or out thru the network is a breeze.
I'm going to focus with the satellite part of the receiver for now, then mess with the internet later.
At the top on my list of possible FW improvements would be more sat positions, say 99 to match the capacity of most positioners. Also user assignable position Id's would make it easier to bring this receiver into a existing system. I think this box will keep me adequately challenged for some time.

[Pixl]

Been a month or so now, getting to mess with the IP and internet connections a little.
I tried my first timed recording. It did not change sats or move the dish when the time came along. Can the Raptor do this or do I have to pre-set sat, ch, and sat position?

[SatelliteGuy]

I don't have the Raptor, but I do have the Anaconda and recordings work perfectly when recorded channels are on stationary dishes. I recently noticed that changing satellites on the motorized dish doesn't always work correctly. I then go into the menu under "dish settings" and the dish moves and the signal appears. I haven't tested to see if this problem always existed or if it's only in the latest firmware versions.

[el bandido]

You are doing something wrong.
The Raptor will move the dish and change to the correct satellite channel when it is time to record. The Raptor does not time out like a lot of the other receivers either. If there is not a signal on the channel when it is time to record, then the Raptor waits until a signal is present then it starts recording.

[Pixl]

Hmmnn... maybe something in the recorder settings?
I'll look them over again.

[el bandido]

I hope so. Either something is wrong or the Raptor does not like your antenna setup! One of the two...JMO.

[Pixl]

Looking thru all the settings for Recording Option and Timer Settings all look ok. Maybe tuner selection? It was set to the default "auto" The receiver had been parked on 101w MeTv, next morning recording was set for ABC-HD 2 on 99w just one sat away, both on tuner 2 C band.

[el bandido]

Scanning will mess up the timer settings, so check your timers after scanning.

[Pixl]

The two timers I have set up were un-changed even though some scanning was done.
I had a recording coming up at 6pm this evening on 119w. I re-set the timer tuner setting to tuner 2 instead of all. Then changed to another sat (both USALS). At 6pm sat moved, channels changed, and the recording started ok! Nice! I'll see what ABC good morning does on the repeating timer tomorrow on DiSEqC 1.2 C band.

[el bandido]

I have had my timers change after scanning. Not after every scan, but I have had the channels change on my timers after scanning. EB

[apsattv]

I've had timer settings dissapear after box lockups in the Internettv+ menu

[Pixl]

Recording ABC Good Morning America went fine today. Moved dish, changed sat and channel, and recorded.
I think specifying the tuner in the timer set up rather than "auto" made the difference.

[satcrazy]

Hi guys, happy thanksgiving. I got an optibox raptor yesterday. I preformed a blindscan, it found all the transponders with the low symbol rate that my anaconda could not find, but when it started scanning the channels, it could not lock on any of the low symbol rate channels. whereas my anaconda was able to lock on them easily . I also noticed that the signal on the raptor is weaker than the anaconda, and on some channels, it takes a long while for it lock. I have the latest software installed. Does the raptor have a weaker tuner than the anaconda, or is there something wrong with this box?

I also disconnected the disequc switch and i had the same result.

[ViP3R]

The Anaconda and Raptor to me have the same tuner sensitivity in my experience, did you buy the extra tuner with your Raptor? you could switch over to the other tuner and see if there is a difference if so.

[satcrazy]

Hi vip3R,

Yes I have the additional tuner installed. I switched them, with the same result. I even converted the optibox to other recievers using the plugin, and had the same results.

[ViP3R]

The chances of having 2 tuners that are bad are pretty slim I would think. Different boxes will show different levels connected to the same system, what kind of level differences are we talking about. and wondering if you can lock on theses tps manually..

[satcrazy]

Ok, for example: Hipspasat, "cubavision" comes at 86% level on the anaconda with perfect reception. On the Raptor it fluctuates between 42-74% and the picture keeps breaking up. There is a channel with a low symbol rate " telemovel" with the frequency of 12183 V 1110 . The Anaconda locks on it manually instantly , while the Raptor doesn't lock on it at all. And that's the case with both tuners of the Raptor.

I even removed one tuner, thinking there's a conflict, but had the same result.

[ViP3R]

That is odd, both tuners cannot be at fault.. It could be a main board problem or power supply possibly..I would ask for a replacement ..It sounds to me like you have covered everything possible in a logical and correct manner. fluctuations like that can be signs of the dish being off, but since the Anaconda is steady at 86% I would tend to rule that out.

[satcrazy]

That's what I was thinking.

[chewie]

Hello Gents
Regarding satcrazy issue, I wonder if a corrupted channel list or sat list can cause this problem, i remember EB wrote that if you have 2 tuners and after you scan a sat a message comes on asking about relating the scan to both tuners or something like that, he said no to select yes, just exit out of it.
maybe is something to look into, Satcrazy are you familiar with this message?
let us know.
Regards.
Chewie

[eastof111]

I have always had problems with some low SR. Example, KFTL on 72 ku 11968 H 1666. Starts off with 0%, then letting it sit there, it will lock in with in 10 seconds or upto 2 minutes later. Depending on what day it is, whether I coughed, did ten push ups, or sneezed. LOL. Then, it magically pops up and locks in with a 76 to 78% signal on the meter.

I think Chewie is correct about the list also. It's cured many a problem on my box just by starting with a fresh list that I have always kept as a default backup just for testing purposes. Supposedly, there aren't any under the hood coding differences between firmwares, but in the Openbox version there isn't a pop menu after scanning that asks to save to tuner 1 or 2. Reason being it recognizes the fact that you selected earlier in your dish setting tuner section to save to tuner 1 or 2 for that particular sat just scanned.

One other thing I've noticed is that there is a difference in video quality between firmwares and it does show up on a big screen. Mine has been rock solid except for the low SR problem even with both tuners. Sometimes this problem improves with firmware updates and sometimes it goes back to being an annoyance after updating. As long as the picture locks, I am a happy camper.

[satcrazy]

Yes, i did start from scratch. I did not load my original channel list. When it asked me to copy the result to tuner 2 i choose no.
Also i took out one of the tuners, so the box only recognized one, and i still have the same results.
Estof111 is right, this box has problems mostly with low symbol rates.

[apsattv]

Ok, for example: Hipspasat, "cubavision" comes at 86% level on the anaconda with perfect reception. On the Raptor it fluctuates between 42-74% and the picture keeps breaking up. There is a channel with a low symbol rate " telemovel" with the frequency of 12183 V 1110 . The Anaconda locks on it manually instantly , while the Raptor doesn't lock on it at all. And that's the case with both tuners of the Raptor.

I even removed one tuner, thinking there's a conflict, but had the same result.

What you have said is perfectly normal as the tuner never shows signal numbers between %41-%68 its a quirk the receiver has always had. If you have signal reading %40 then give it the tiniest nudge it will jump to %69

its just an oddball issue don't know why they never fixed it.

and yes same for the blindscan on low sr stuff. Normal behaviour it might load manually.

[el bandido]

Ok, for example: Hipspasat, "cubavision" comes at 86% level on the anaconda with perfect reception. On the Raptor it fluctuates between 42-74% and the picture keeps breaking up. There is a channel with a low symbol rate " telemovel" with the frequency of 12183 V 1110 . The Anaconda locks on it manually instantly , while the Raptor doesn't lock on it at all. And that's the case with both tuners of the Raptor.

I even removed one tuner, thinking there's a conflict, but had the same result.

Cubavision comes in fine on my Raptor. I have a good signal on this channel using a 1.2 meter dish.

Telemovil 5 is another story. My Raptor will find the transponder for this channel, but it will not scan the channel in or show any signal strength for the 12183V transponder.
I manually entered the 12183V into the GM TripleX receiver and got the same results, so this transponder is tough to get on some receivers. Enigma2 firmware will find this channel. I switched the TripleX over to E2, added the tp and the receiver scanned it in. I would expect the Raptor E2 to get it as well.

The Raptor has some issues that need to be fixed. We were promised support for this receiver at the first of 2012. We have yet to see anything significant fixed to date. EB

[satcrazy]

That's exactly what I have been getting. Ok, so it looks like there's nothing wrong with this box, it's just some issues that need to be fixed. I feel much better now. Thank you guys sooooooooo much !!!!

[apsattv]

another minor little annoyance the Symbolrate like 7199 27499 etc!! perhaps they could round them off..

[Sublime]

another minor little annoyance the Symbolrate like 7199 27499 etc!! perhaps they could round them off..My ALi-based receivers do this, too--very annoying!

My Raptor seems to have similar issues with low symbol rate channels. Also, there are muxes such as the ones on Anik F1/F2 C-Band with SR=30000, DVB-S2, H.264 video/AC3 audio that show 0% quality when on my other receiver (ALi chipset) comes in with 83% quality and plays perfectly. If I leave it for a few minutes, I get a very pixellated picture with audio hits, but the quality remains at 0%. Then there is the signal dropout on certain SD channels. What is weird is that a lot of the channels other people have problems with on other receivers, this Raptor plays perfectly! Everything is the same with both tuners and with E2 and Fortis firmwares.

I'm hoping some combination of tuner/LNB is the issue, but I may just get another ALi receiver for the problem channels and use the Raptor for what the other receiver doesn't work on. (Yeah EB, still procrastinating on that one! ;) )

BTW, I'm getting the Cuban mux perfectly with my 3ft offset--always have with the Raptor. Not a peep of signal on Telemovil. I guess the old YMMV applies...

[apsattv]

Low SR issue has been passed on to the Russian forum they seem to have direct line of contact with manufacturer and get fixes done.