Octagon SF8008 Supreme

Thanks Arlo.
SF8008 and SF8008 Supreme use the same driver files. Sf8008 Drivers were updated in recent months to include the SF8008 Supreme. Nothing more than that.

OE Alliance meta-Octagon commits (OpenATV, OpenVix, OpenEhight...etc):
https://github.com/oe-alliance/oe-alliance-core/commits/5.4/meta-brands/meta-octagon

OpenPli meta-Octagon commits:
https://github.com/OpenPLi-meta/meta-octagon/commits/01196f38e0cdce7bc9541567b6f67c0bd1ecf376/

If anything happens with drivers, it will show up in one or both of those links.
 
Here is a partial result of a blindscan of 89w c band that returns transponders with little to no signal(UnLocked):
89w-tp-channel-scan.webp

89w-C band is a feed satellite, and currently does not have a full time 24 hour transponder that I can find. It would be nice to have some sort of idea as to how strong the satellite signal is before a blindscan is done, so these scanned transponders shown above were installed in the satellites.xml for 89w-c band location.

Here is what the result is in the blindscan plugin:
89w-blindscan-to-id.webp


The c band satellite dish is 12 foot by ruler, but the signals are so strong on 91w that they are still readable at 89w! All of the transponders shown in the first screenshot belong to 89w even though they are being found in a blindscan of 89w.

Here is 91w in the blindscan plugin:
91w-blindscan-tp-id.webp


Having signal below lock active takes some a bit of time to understand. Turn signal below lock Off and you will not see a signal for these 89w transponders in the blindscan plugin, but they are still found in a blindscan of 89w --even with signal below lock set to off.
 
The scan results are a bit different when comparing the SF8008 and the SF8008 Supreme. The SF8008 can lock transponder signals with low symbol rates in the 200-300 range, or maybe lower if a person has the correct equipment. The SF8008 does not find transponders much lower than a 800 symbol rate for me in blindscan. Blindscanning for low symbol rates takes time. The SF8008 has a slow blindscan when compared to some other receiver combinations, so whoever was working on the SF8008 blindscan probably did not want to make it any slower by looking for transponders with a symbol rate below 800.

Satellite blindscan in general is a bit more defined, Or it just works better when the AVL6261C is involved. A couple of blindscan examples were made today between the SF8008 and the SF8008 Supreme. Comparisons with these two receivers have been done before, but the exact same antenna coax or feed was used. Today's blindscans were done with the two Sf8008's sitting where they normally stay, and are being fed into the same satellite dish using a multiswitch. The blindscans were started at almost the exact same time.

SF8008 and SF8008 Supreme 117w Blindscan:
SF8008-117w.webp<-------------------->SF8008-Supreme-117w.webp


SF8008 and SF8008 Supreme 61w Blindscan:
61w-SF8008-Blindscan-end.webp<-------------------->61w-Supreme-Blindscan-end.webp


Things are a bit different here. The SF8008 Supreme finds more tv channels on 117w and takes less time to complete the scan process when compared to the SF8008. The SF8008 Did find the transponder with the 833 symbol rate and also found the radio channels on this transponder.


A blindscan of 61w is different than the 117w scan and shows the slowness of the SF8008. 61 West is a very "Noisy" location for satellite signals and this is easily seen on a spectrum analyzer. The SF8008 Supreme finds several transponders in the extended band above 4200 MHz while the SF8008 does not find anything above 4200 MHz. The logs show Both receivers were set to 3625-4800 MHz in the blindscan plugin so they both should have equal chance with the transponders above 4200 MHz.

Complete blindscan logs for these 4 scans are attached.
 

Attachments

To be fair, The producer of the box set the tuner information. The Uclan and the SF8008 Supreme display the exact same tuner information as shown below. I don't believe Octagon owns Uclan and GigaBlue.

Supreme-tuner-info.webp


Sort of reminds me of the lnb thing where the noise figures were advertised as .8 then they dropped all the way down to an impossible .1NF. Consumer FTA products can have anything and everything written on it. No laboratory tests are made for compliance.

To be fair again, Uclan Did Not write symbol rates that are fiction in their advertisements...Least not any that I saw. Uclan showed a touch of class when compared to Octagon.
 
EB... HEVC on 133 c band. I guess I will need to tweak or upgrade the old lnbf in order to lock in HEVC channels. How's your reception on this one?

1_0_1_71_1_1_8DD8FDC_0_0_0_20240411141547.webp

screenshot_20240411142321.webp
 
The transponder seems to be 16APSK with 2/3 FEC. HEVC Is not a problem with the Supreme. What you don't see is the errors in bit rate. or other errors in making the picture. Your receiver shows to have plenty of signal. Could 5G be the problem?

Maybe check the dish alignment in Positioner setup? The auto focus feature in Positioner setup makes a log file. The log file shows signal lock and signal in db for every move. It may be nothing more than an alignment problem. The slate channel plays here with roughly the same signal. Check alignment first IMO as it does not cost anything.

133w.webp


133w-1.webp

A positionersetup log for this satellite is attached if you want to look at it. If everything is OK, then both sides will read almost identical for a given position east and west. The best signal should be on a bit of a plateau for an equal number of position counts in each direction. Then the numbers start falling. Everything should be pretty much even on both sides till lock is lost.
 

Attachments

Ricks has a post of possible AAC issues that a chinabox handles well. Any insight on this and other formats?
Click to expand...

I have no clue.

Where is a SF8008 Supreme thread at Rick's saying the SF8008 Supreme has (ANY) issues? About the only thing posted at Rick's is feeds. Almost everything else either gets deleted or edited.

You can't check or test something without knowing what you are looking for.
 
The SF8008 Is Not Identical to the SF8008 Supreme. Your linked thread is about SF8008.

To go a bit further:
105w has over 1000 radio listings and at times has had 2-3 thousand radio listings. Some of these radio listings are active 24/7, but most are not. Actually, most of these listings are audio feeds. The audio channels are in more than one format and include AAC.

Most FTA receivers made in the past ten years have AAC audio capability. For some reason, someone decided the channels that should play on 105w, but would not play were all AAC audio. So it was decided the problem was AAC. NONE of this is True!

Some of the audio channels on 105w were examined years ago by a developer when work was being done on Edision receivers. It was concluded that AAC was not the problem because some other types of audio Besides AAC would not play. Some fta receivers that would not play the AAC audio on 105w could play AAC audio on other satellites/transponders.

The real problem on 105w with the radio channels is the way they are presented to the receiver. Some fta receivers can play the radio channels on 105w and some can't. A solution on how to fix it was not found by the developer that checked it.

Octagon seems to be nothing but a distributor. They buy fta receivers in bulk and resell them. I don't think Octagon has any "In House" developers because every time something has been broken in the past, someone else besides Octagon fixed it. The low symbol rate thingy in the SF8008 Supreme is a perfect example of Octagon not being able to fix something. If/when the low symbol rate problem is fixed, I expect you will also magically see it fixed in other similar receiver brands too.

Anyway, there is a White Sox game tonight. We will see if the feed in your linked thread becomes active.
 
105W-4170-4074-Vertical-APID-5413 Is active.
Service Name = Chicago White Sox
The receivers I have checked to see if this audio channel will play are:
Octagon SF8008 = Yes
Octagon SF8008 Supreme = Yes
Edision MIO 4K = Yes.


No worries though. Octagon will be asked to fix something that works! ( They weren't going to do anything about it anyway. )
Hi Jim,

Thanks for pulling out the thread Photoman76!

I'll ask Octagon about it again.

Rick
Click to expand...

To be fair, The White Sox audio channel may not play in the Octagon using Define image. And to be fair again, SF8008 drivers were updated to include the Supreme in the first month of 2024. Still though, someone should check to see if the SF8008 worked. Rick seems more interested in selling receivers than getting them to work properly. Can't really blame him. $$$
 
Would it have to do with the term ACM/VCM?
Where other receivers back when the mio4k was released could not receive the radio channels. The mio did it with flying colors.
How was the game?
 
ACM and VCM are modes (Read Link)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVB-S2

The audio channels on 105w c band and also the audio of some of the ku satellites has been a problem in some fta receivers for years. Both MPEG and AAC audios have given problems on 105w c band. There has always been something that could not be received or would not play on a given fta receiver.

Dunno about the game as I did not listen to it or watch it. But the White Sox audio definitely works on the Sf8008 Supreme and SF8008 using TNAP5.1 images.
 
Octagon has their own image or firmware or operating system called Define. Define in simple terms seems to be an antique enigma2 image that has been updated somewhat. Regardless of what it is, Define is a stripped version for a FTA receiver and cannot handle more than one satellite tuner. This means the Supreme can only use One tuner when running the Define operating system.

Octagon's Define does have some Plugins or apps that may be useful to someone. For my uses though Define is a junk system only worthy of a passing glance. My personal preference is a FTA receiver to be a FTA receiver, and Not some half-baked media box alongside a poor performing FTA system which to me is what Define is.

Here are some Define Menus:
1.webp

2.webp

3.webp

4.webp
 
I have been examining FTA operating systems, firmware's, images, or whatever else you want to call them for over 20 years. I find it interesting as to how things are put together both in software and hardware. So it is a given that this Define operating system would be examined.

The file structure for Define is similar to TNAP5.1 enigma2 or really any current enigma2 image. Except the Define operating system is stripped with many things missing or set to run automatically. Part of the user data, or some things we would expect to find in /etc/enigma2 is shown here:

vlcsnap-2024-04-17-23h39m36s765.webp


And of course Dual satellite.xml files
vlcsnap-2024-04-17-23h39m55s998.webp


The Octagon Define has pretty much everything you would find in a cheap fta satellite box. The satellites.xml has not been updated in years as can be seen by looking at the c band transponder frequencies. No surprises here.
 
Digging a little deeper, we find the Octagon Define is a hacker system, complete with key files!

5.webp

6.webp

7.webp


Keys....Keys....Keys... I wonder what Mr. Rick Caylor has been doing with those keys???? Hmmm...

In all fairness, this Supreme FTA receiver did not come from Rick Caylor, but this Define system was loaded from recovery menu in the receiver. So what he sells can have the same thing if it is not installed already.

I am always amazed at what can be found when digging through FTA satellite System files.

This completes my tour of the Octagon Define ---eh Whatever you want to call it. The Define slot 3 will be emptied as I have no need for such a system. Dual tuners, but Define only allows one...etc...etc. Comical stuff though.
 
What images are pre installed?
The file system of an E2 receiver can be fun to ponder. Looking through the Python files and making occasional changes to pee around. Learning that a new one is created after doing so.
With a full backup of a working and stable system. No harm, no foul.
Discovering bells and whistles here and there. Kind of diversifies watching people circling a rock and monotonic book readers mumbling stuff you'll never understand nor desire to. Right!
 
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