Amiko A3 short review

[eastof111]

Received the A3 and it arrived in a two day priority USPS box in very good condition. Unpacked it and everything was intact without any USPS remodeling. But as usual, USPS dumped the package at the front door without ringing the bell.

The receiver is shipped with the usual amenities, RC with battery, hdmi flat cable, external power supply, etc.

Prior to using the RC, when turned on it indicated a charged unit, but I plugged it in to my PC usb port for an additional charge just in case. The RC has a rechargeable battery via any usb port. Proceeded to connect the hdmi port to my tv and the external power source to the A3 receiver and it booted up in NSTC mode. The receiver is pre-programmed
with the American version software and current sat list.

I inserted an 8gb usb 3.0 stick in the rear usb 2.0 port and it recognized it. Before doing anything else I made a back of the system files to the usb stick.

I wanted to see what the blind scan was like so I added the diseqc settings for Galaxy 19 - 97º Ku. It blind scanned roughly 277 tv and 123 radio channels. I say roughly because it is a two step process and one does not have time to see the final total channel display as it scrolls. It scanned in the Ku sat in 2:30 minutes and finalized the read out of the number of channels found in the second process and ended at 3:23 at the confirm (ok) button.

Well, so far this receiver is an improvement over the Hypercube hybrid, so when I finish testing, I will pass judgement on this receiver. So far the SD video quality seems quite soft, but will see how HD displays once I finish setting it up. Need to play with the Android capabilities next and also finish setting the other sats for scanning.

It definitely is a different operating format vs. your typical sat receiver. It takes a little time getting the hang of it.

Here are some pixs and I'll post more as I test.

[mountaineer]

East,

Nice review. i bought a vigica c60s. It is android and S2 as well. The android side works very well...dnla, netflix etc. The sat side needs work...and that is where my question comes from...on the A3 are those all custom apps dealing with the sat stuff...ie. sats, settings, channe list etc? ...I can find no way to get to my sat list. I tried filezilla and cant find a list anywhere. There is no backup app to save to usb or anything. If those apps on the screen are available anywhere please let me know. I like this box but it needs some work. This one cost about 77 shipped.
Please continue to update your review...looking forward to it.

[el bandido]

Are there any Fcc markings or any documentation that says the receiver is Fcc compliant?

For a test on Android, try loading Subway Surfers and Hay Day games. Try to run them and maybe play them a little bit. Doing this will give you an idea of how well the Android works because these two games have lots of graphics. I would like to know if these two games work.

The blind scan times do not surprise me, and I would expect the A3 to be neither good nor bad for fta. Android was designed as an operating system for smart phones and tablets. IMO, The only reason Android is in a fta receiver is so they would have something new to sell us. I have yet to see any Android fta receiver that did anything special for satellite reception.

Start a thread on the vigica c60s and post a firmware file or any other software tools for it in the thread. We will see what is available for it if you like. EB

[77ta]

i bought a vigica c60s. It is android and S2 as well. The android side works very well...dnla, netflix etc. The sat side needs work.

Mountaineer,

My mom is wanting a receiver that will do netflix, hulu, and satellite. She is using a stationary dish on 99W c band. She watches the regular channels, no feed hunting. Do you think the sat side of the vigica c60s would work well enough for that?

[eastof111]

East,

Nice review. i bought a vigica c60s. It is android and S2 as well. The android side works very well...dnla, netflix etc. The sat side needs work...and that is where my question comes from...on the A3 are those all custom apps dealing with the sat stuff...ie. sats, settings, channe list etc? ...I can find no way to get to my sat list. I tried filezilla and cant find a list anywhere. There is no backup app to save to usb or anything. If those apps on the screen are available anywhere please let me know. I like this box but it needs some work. This one cost about 77 shipped.
Please continue to update your review...looking forward to it.

From what I've seen so far, the sat side seems to be custom apps for America. It seems to have the capability to add/edit/delete sats and info from the menu, but I haven't had time to explore the options. The apps are loaded to each specific receiver, if you don't backup and intentionally do a factory reset or do so by accident, you have to send the receiver back for a reload.

That's a good price you paid for yours, especially if the Android portion works and produces good video.

[eastof111]

"Are there any Fcc markings or any documentation that says the receiver is Fcc compliant?Are there any Fcc markings or any documentation that says the receiver is Fcc compliant?"

Smooth and clean as a black billiard ball, no.

[eastof111]

"The blind scan times do not surprise me, and I would expect the A3 to be neither good nor bad for fta"

As I mentioned earlier, I was not expecting much on the FTA side and was mostly interested in how the Android portion performs. Hopefully, will spend more time this weekend with it. It is a different gui to get used to for operational purposes. So far, to be honest, for the time I've spent with it, I much prefer the Enigma gui and flexibility of the bouquets. The A3 channel list is too cumbersome for me. But, I am sure there will be some aspects of the receiver that will stand out and score points.

[solrackm]

[QUOTE=eastof111;74659]From what I've seen so far, the sat side seems to be custom apps for America. It seems to have the capability to add/edit/delete sats and info from the menu, but I haven't had time to explore the options. The apps are loaded to each specific receiver, if you don't backup and intentionally do a factory reset or do so by accident, you have to send the receiver back for a reload.

unfortunately that's what happened to me last night while I was downloading the dev 2.55 rom and a powersurge hit my electronics and the receiver was stuck on boot. I did the recover rom but did not see downloader app for the america sats.

[el bandido]

Setting a fta receiver up like that reminds me of putting lipstick on a pig!
It is obvious the A3 is made more for hacking American, Canadian, and European Providers than Free to Air satellite reception in North America.

[ViP3R]

[QUOTE=eastof111;74659]From what I've seen so far, the sat side seems to be custom apps for America. It seems to have the capability to add/edit/delete sats and info from the menu, but I haven't had time to explore the options. The apps are loaded to each specific receiver, if you don't backup and intentionally do a factory reset or do so by accident, you have to send the receiver back for a reload.

unfortunately that's what happened to me last night while I was downloading the dev 2.55 rom and a powersurge hit my electronics and the receiver was stuck on boot. I did the recover rom but did not see downloader app for the america sats.

Unfortunately Amiko a3 is not designed for the USA market, it's made only for EU market ,No US adapter and the customized Software for U.S Satellites which is done manually and after you make a factory default everything will be erased to Europe satellites. Not an ideal situation for a product supposedly geared for the USA.. I would think it would be impossible to obtain the FCC approval under these circumstances.

I have never seen a box that you can't factory reset, then having to send it back to a distributor to have it reloaded..:smiley9:

I do hope you get it back up and running because they seem pretty expensive and people work hard for their money..

[solrackm]

at a later time they said there will be a app created to get back the north american sat files, don't know how long I am willing to wait. probably will return it.

[el bandido]

IMO, you should have never had to pay much for it because it is a beta receiver. This explains why they were not for sale in the UK.
The regular production receivers will look slightly different on the outside, and may/may not have the same software problems. Can't help but wonder what happened to all the testing that supposedly went into the A3 for North America along with the claim of A3 having a working 4:2:2 video?

[solrackm]

you're right, the a3 should have been priced maybe between 125.00-160.00, being that the blind scan is software based and actually is not that bad considering, but it does miss some transponders like on 116w c band.

[eastof111]

you're right, the a3 should have been priced maybe between 125.00-160.00, being that the blind scan is software based and actually is not that bad considering, but it does miss some transponders like on 116w c band.

Sorry to hear you had a surge solrackm.... I would just send it back and let them handle the reload for free or they can keep it. I have all my units and PC's on UPS's (universal power supply) that automatically kick in when ever the power goes off and filters any brown outs or power spikes. Learned the hard way too when I lost electronics due to a 2 second outage.

I agree on the price structure you mentioned and it is over priced even though the Android section has tons of apps which I haven't even explored yet. I tried hooking up a usb hub and it was not recognized, tried three others and found one that worked. So, now I don't have to keep plugging the usb sticks in the back port. I was going to get a 2.5 drive for it, but I think I'll wait to see how much use I get from the receiver.

Hope you get yours resolved soon.

[eastof111]

Just tuned in PBS News Hour on HD01 - 125º and can honestly say the HD image is way too soft and lacks detail compared to other receivers I have tested.

[el bandido]

They may solve the soft image with a firmware update.

Please check the action apps I mentioned earlier when you have time. Thanks.

[77ta]

I see there is a VLC player for android. I wonder if it could play 4:2:2 video on the A3?

[el bandido]

Most of my enigma2 receivers have the option for VLC plugin. You cannot use VLC to make the receiver decode the 4:2:2 video Unless the chipset in the receiver can decode 4:2:2. This video mode will turn out to be an opium pipe dream for the A3.

[solrackm]

Just tuned in PBS News Hour on HD01 - 125º and can honestly say the HD image is way too soft and lacks detail compared to other receivers I have tested.

I forgot to mention the picture quality, it is way to soft.

[eastof111]

Mountaineer......
"There is no backup app to save to usb or anything."

Have you tried a loading any backup programs from the Google app store to see if they are compatible?

[eastof111]

They may solve the soft image with a firmware update.

Please check the action apps I mentioned earlier when you have time. Thanks.

I'll check this weekend.... playing with the wifi vs. lan speed tests currently, plus more scanning.

[eastof111]

Played around further adjusting the screen size, ntp time, adding free programs, more Ku scanning, playing with the RC which also works as a mouse you can point at the screen. Still can't login with Filezilla though, working on it.

Found another bug that needs correcting with the lan and wifi. I get better speeds with wifi than I do with the lan connection. With the same lan line connected to the Duo² I get downloads in the high 90's. With the A3 I get anywhere from 6 to 9 Mbps, no matter what time of day or server.

Once they get some of the bugs fixed, this receiver could be a very nice addition if they would lower the price.

[eastof111]

Ok, figured out the problem with FTP. It doesn't work with the lan connection nor will it allow an FTP server to be setup. Weird, so I downloaded ES Explorer and tried to setup the FTP server and it was error not found. Figured I'd try the remote manager with ES and it did try to connect but not on the lan. Had to shut off the lan and start up the wifi and now Filezilla sees the directories.

Here are some samples.

[chewie]

Hello east
there is some apps you can down load from F-DROID, one is File manager and another is Android Assistant try them out.
Regards.
Chewie

[eastof111]

Thanks Chewie, yeah I have both on my Nexus and they work well.

How's your receiver working? Any hiccups?

[chewie]

hello East
so far so good, just learning this thing, there is some guides on how to do things not sure if you have them.
Regards.
Chewie

[eastof111]

Good to hear Chewie. It's a fairly easy receiver to play with, just cumbersome menus. As usual, I will probably read them if I bust something. LOL

[eastof111]

EB....

Downloaded Hay Day and it installed very quickly considering the warning of it being a large file. Plays fine, good graphics including audio.

I think I am going to order a wireless keyboard and mouse to play with.

[el bandido]

Very Good!
IMO, Hay Day is a very good way to test any Android device because it really tests the graphics capability.
Subway surfers is another good test due to the amount of speed and action.

[eastof111]

Last night while testing, found another nice feature to the receiver. The RC has a port for earphones. Plug earphones in and a headset logo appears on the screen and shuts off the speakers and turns on the earphones. Keeps the wife happy.

[eastof111]

Just hooked up a Logitech MK750 solar/light powered wireless keyboard to the receiver and it was recognized. To test the keyboard out, I download MS Office Suite (free version) and played with it and I am quite surprised at the flexibility this allows the user. Absolutely no problems with this keyboard. One can use the Logitech mouse (but it uses batteries, claiming 36 month cycle) or the RC air mouse. Quite impressed with how far this Android version has matured.

Still have to test my bud and my motorized hot dish. So far, I've only tested an 8x1 with 22k switches connected to small ku dishes.

[ViP3R]

Just hooked up a Logitech MK750 solar/light powered wireless keyboard to the receiver and it was recognized. To test the keyboard out, I download MS Office Suite (free version) and played with it and I am quite surprised at the flexibility this allows the user. Absolutely no problems with this keyboard. One can use the Logitech mouse (but it uses batteries, claiming 36 month cycle) or the RC air mouse. Quite impressed with how far this Android version has matured.

Still have to test my bud and my motorized hot dish. So far, I've only tested an 8x1 with 22k switches connected to small ku dishes.

Something is very wrong with this!



I don't see any Beer money on the Personal Budget...:lolsign:

[eastof111]

Working on it....!

[eastof111]

Just played around with loading and looking at the xml files with the Spark editor. After enjoying Dreamboxedit, it's like the dark ages with the spark editor. I think I will leave well enough alone for a while until I get acclimated with the files.

[el bandido]

What I see so far is a decent Android box tied to a low end fta receiver. I can buy a decent Android box for about $80.00 or less, so why should I pay 3 times that price for the A3?

[eastof111]

It all boils down to support.... if the current and future support and development is real and is maintained, I am willing to pay the price.

[eastof111]

While playing around with the remote, found out it has a built-in microphone which one can use to send voice commands to the receiver. This saves many steps of having to push buttons on the RC.

The first pix displays a microphone logo on the screen after muttering "METV" into the RC. Then one can select the appropriate TV channel with the up/down arrows keys.

The second pix displays anything with "RUSSIA TODAY".

If one is searching for an app, the third pix displays an app called "SPEED TEST" which it found right away too.

The fourth pix shows the RC being used as a game controller after activating the "GAME" button. The yellow buttons are used for control.

The RC can be programmed in various foreign languages through the menu settings. I have not tried to reprogram the RC to find "CERVEZA" yet.

After scanning some of the sats with the bud this evening, I was able to assign them to various named favorites channels. Using the keyboard, I was able to rename or edit them on the fly without having to transfer files to the PC and load them to the spark editor. Much easier this way and saves a lot of time.

Still have a lot more to learn of the capabilities this receiver has to offer.

[eastof111]

Had some time today to play with the Hotdish and SG motor. Did a backup first in case anything went south. Shut down the unit and connected the Hotdish cable and set up the lat. & long. in the menu setting. Then using USALS, I selected my southern sat and the A3 moved the dish to the correct location. Checked a few other sats and it moved the dish appropriately and picked up the channels I had previously scanned with my smaller fixed ku dishes a few days ago.

Checking out diseqc 1.2, I went to a ku sat and changed the setting to 1.2 from the prior Usals. Selected the sat to test by pushing the east or west button (depending on where I was previously), the dish then moved and it would automatically stop when the sat was found displaying a popup as seen in pix two, requesting a confirmation to save the sat location.

I also check LPB Baton Rouge at 11804 H 1250 8psk 87º and it came in tonight with the Lotto results.

[eastof111]

Had some time to quickly reconnect the bud to the A3 to scan AMC 8 - 139º to see how it did with the audio on the radio channels. It scanned in at 2:48. Some were scrambled and the ones in the clear played fine. Have to play some more with it to see how it sorts the radio channels, but have to upgrade the firmware, which I haven't done yet.

[el bandido]

How many radio channels did it scan? What is the total count for this satellite?
Have you verified that it is receiving AAC audio on these channels?

I noticed the price has came down already for the A3. I can get one for about $200.00 now. Probably in another month or two the A3 will be around $150-$200.00.
I would rather have the European version of the A3 instead of the American version with the factory default disappearing firmware. The Euro price is better and the features are the same.

[eastof111]

How many radio channels did it scan? What is the total count for this satellite?
Have you verified that it is receiving AAC audio on these channels?

Heck if I know.... they are all in one big radio channel list and not sorted by sat. The new firmware is supposed to have solved the sorting problem, but I haven't upgraded yet.

[eastof111]

I noticed the price has came down already for the A3. I can get one for about $200.00 now. Probably in another month or two the A3 will be around $150-$200.00.
I would rather have the European version of the A3 instead of the American version with the factory default disappearing firmware. The Euro price is better and the features are the same.

For $150, go for it. The more I use it the more I am liking it.

[eastof111]

Upgraded to the latest stable firmware version and they revised and improved the menu system plus other bug fixes. The SD picture quality has been upgraded and looks very good. The radio by sat sort is not available yet except in the beta versions. I think I will wait till the stable version is released for this feature.

[eastof111]

Upgraded to the latest stable firmware last night. Now one can sort the radio channels by satellite. I rescanned 139º and it showed 919 radio channels. It also showed good signals on three transponders, 3743 V 2955, 4131 V 5654 and 4159 V 2955 but it scanned in zero channels

There's a new beta release which supposedly fixes the video and other bug fixes. Will wait till they release it in their stable version.

[el bandido]

It looks like you are getting about half the radio stations.

[chifut]

If you are pointed at Astra ,there are couple thousends free tv and radio chnls ..,but only for Europa ..

[eastof111]

It looks like you are getting about half the radio stations.

Yup, will try scanning again with the next release.

[eastof111]

If you are pointed at Astra ,there are couple thousends free tv and radio chnls ..,but only for Europa ..

I wish I could go that far east but I would need a worm hole. LOL

[Jim S.]

I'm curious as to whether the A3 fixes these longstanding A1/A2 bugs:

1) Timer recordings fail if the dish isn't already parked on the satellite to be recorded.
2) Radio channels cannot be streamed from the web interface (locks up when trying).
3) Android remote-access app doesn't even offer access to radio stations.
4) Box sometimes fails with nothing but an "ERROR" message when channel-surfing a long channel list, requiring a complete powerdown to receive any signal thereafter.

[el bandido]

Joe with all his famous Amiko connections could not fix those problems for you????
I guess you have noticed that there is no support for A1 and A2 now that the A3 is out. You can expect the same from Joe and his crew when something comes out to replace the A3.

[eastof111]

I'm curious as to whether the A3 fixes these longstanding A1/A2 bugs:

1) Timer recordings fail if the dish isn't already parked on the satellite to be recorded.
2) Radio channels cannot be streamed from the web interface (locks up when trying).
3) Android remote-access app doesn't even offer access to radio stations.
4) Box sometimes fails with nothing but an "ERROR" message when channel-surfing a long channel list, requiring a complete powerdown to receive any signal thereafter.

Haven't had too much time to test much more on this receiver. Waiting for a more stable release that fixes the blind scanning and other glitches before I spend more time with it. I was contemplating streaming to my Nexus, but just haven't gotten around to it. My one test was to take the Nexus to the library and use their wifi to test the streaming function. I still have plans to test XBMC and compare it to my PC speed wise and performance.

Haven't tried items 1 to 3 yet.
Haven't had any problems with item 4.

Maybe I was lucky, but the only one time reboot I've had with this receiver was with the original firmware. Considering it's a new receiver with beta software, I still like it very much and enjoy testing it whenever I have free time. If support continues, I think it could be a very enjoyable receiver to have in your stable. But as usual, at the end of the day, I always return to my Duo² to test.

[el bandido]

Anymore information on the A3? I notice the price has already dropped on it here, and A3 sales seem to be flat in Europe. Looks like 4:2:2 and ATSC never got added either. Some people will say anything when they are trying to sell you something.

[eastof111]

Haven't gotten around to loading the latest firmware yet. I haven't read too many more complaints in the U.S., especially for a beta receiver.

Seems people in Euro that bought the receiver haven't many complaints either. Sab has brought out their version for the Holland/Sweden/Norway market. The prices there haven't lowered as much as U.S.

[eastof111]

Fired up the A3 to upgrade the firmware. Since I hadn't used it for quite a while, I had to get acclimated with the gui again. After editing some channels using the keyboard and RC, I was able to feel comfortable with the gui.

Updated to the NA 67 ROM and everything went smoothly with the upgrade and then surfed the menus to see some of the changes. I then checked out XBMC using the wifi connection and I was able to watch i24 News without a hitch.

Rescanned Galaxy 19 at 97°W and it found the new mux at 3940 H 30000 without a problem. It also found the CBS feed at 4080 V 29856, but the video was digitized with a vertical bar and the audio had a loud hum. I scanned this same transponder with the Duo2 and it locked in the transponder but did not display any video or audio.

Did a backup with the new firmware and then tried restoring it. During the boot up process it got stuck and displayed Android... starting all applications with the progress circle frozen. Shut the a/c off and then rebooted and got stuck again. Shut off again and rebooted and everything seems to be working normally.

When I have more time, I will try re-scanning some more sats and play more with XBMC and the Android section.

[el bandido]

How good is the fta receiver? Does it blindscan all the radio channels on 139W and 103W Ku? How good would the A3 be if Android was not included?

[eastof111]

Had some free time today and did a scan of 11719 H 1085 at 103° and it found 258 channels. Moved the bud to 139° and it scanned in 2046 channels. See pixs.

My impression so far of the receiver is the following:

The gui can be initially very annoying for some users, while others may find it as a nice change or better than those of other stbs. The graphics are good, but could be improved. Picture quality display is very good and much improved over the old firmware. The menu layout and flow could and should be tweaked.

The webif needs work in regards to grabbing pictures and the ftp server needs auto start. The remote control will be a major plus for many people and a minus for others. I do like the feature of charging by usb. Access to a keyboard is another nice touch which facilitates channel and sat editing. With XBMC and wifi I can watch live streaming of i24 news with no hiccups. Haven't checked if they tweaked the lan connection.

Just be aware that the receiver is more like a computer and that may cause problems for some people if they don't read directions.

If buying just for fta go with the X2, but if you're buying to have fta and more versatility, i.e., media center, streaming center, server, dlna, xbmc, pvr, access to many, many android applications etc, buy it. But to me it is an all around fun receiver to test; similar to the enigma2 plugins and options. The more bugs that get ironed out with new firmware releases, the more I am enjoying the receiver. Is it perfect? No, but neither is anything else available out there.

[chifut]

Is the XBMC mean like IPTV??

[eastof111]

Very similar.