Amiko A3 short review

eastof111

BinThere
Administrator
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.
 

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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.
 
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
 
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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?
 
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.
 
"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.
 
"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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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..
 
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.
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
They may solve the soft image with a firmware update.

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