Review of the Optibox Raptor FTA Receiver

Team Amiko said:
Raptor is compatible with normal keyboards and mini keyboards.
I will provide some more details later.
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Thanks for the information.
After you posted this, I purchased a full size wireless ONN keyboard from Walmart, and it works on WebZeal.
This keyboard does not have a mouse pad on it so I tried my wireless mouse on the Raptor and it works too!!!
 
Here is a demonstration of the Raptor's blind scan. This scan was done today under clear skies and windy conditions. The dish size is 7.5 ft. The dish needs to be adjusted a little bit. EB

 
Very Impressive! I have not seen any box personally that can compete with that..

Intelligent Blind Scan! you can say that again..
 
Press the info button on the remote twice and you will get an extended event information window. Most of our channels are not transmitting any information here, but extended channel information can be found at the bottom of this window. Resolution, Frame Rate, Aspect Ratio, Video Type, Audio Type, and more can be found at the bottom of the extended event information window. The channel information is normally displayed in two groups that change back and forth every few seconds. Two pictures are attached showing the two groups. EB
 
I like that info EB but would be nice to also know if it's H.264, s2/qpsk or s2/8psk.
 
I understand that kind of information(H.264, s2/qpsk or s2/8psk) is important when posting feeds, but I believe you can determine most of those by looking at what it does display.

I have noticed something on recording that I like very much.
Last night, I was watching METV before I turned the receiver Off with the remote. I have the receiver set to record PBS early in the morning before I wake up. The Raptor will turn itself On when it is time to record and then turn itself back Off when the recording is finished. I am used to this.
But when I woke up this morning and turned the Raptor On, METV was still playing. I checked the PBS recording that was supposed to take place while I was asleep and sure enough, it was there.
Apparently, the Raptor turned itself on, changed the METV channel and recorded on PBS what it was supposed to, returned to the METV channel I was originally watching, then turned itself Off! I think that is pretty neat. I will check this again and make sure I was not fooled. EB
 
The Raptor is strong enough to turn two ku motors at the same time.
Currently I have a ku motor and a c band dish on tuner 1, and I have a 1.2 meter Geosat and StabHH120 on tuner2. Switching between tuners with this setup can cause both ku motors to move at the same time, depending on what satellites are being called. My Sonicview 360 Elite would do this trick too. Ku motors do not normally use much power when they are moving. They may surge up to around 250-350 ma on start-up but this figure usually decreases quickly once the motor is moving. Each tuner is rated at 400 ma so moving two ku motors at once is a good test for the power supply.

I have had a couple of problems.
The first problem is some channels will freeze the receiver, causing nothing to work after a scan. I do not know what the content of these blank channels are, but I have had the receiver lock up after I have scanned and started going through the channels individually. The first problem may be related to the second problem.

The second problem would be a corrupted satellite file. I have made several changes that I think may have corrupted my satellite file to the point that I probably need to dump it and start all over.
I did not have any problems at all until after I added the second tuner. I added satellite tuner 2, removed it and added the terrestrial tuner(which did not work), then removed the terrestrial tuner and added back the satellite tuner 2. I did all of these changes using the same satellite file, and I think I screwed it up.
Part of the corruption is some satellites that I have scanned previously will not scan again. If I delete the transponders and rescan, I miss transponders and channels. I can move to a satellite name that I have never used before, scan the same satellite and get everything. This is one of the reasons I think I corrupted the satellite file. More on this problem later. Let's see if we can fix this.

Apparently there is only one satellite file in the Raptor. There was two satellite files in the Sonicview 360 Elite, 1 file for each tuner. I find it interesting that the Raptor seems to share the same sat file between the two tuners.
It is possible to scan the same satellite with both tuners. As an example, I can scan SES2 at 87W under tuner 1, then change it to tuner two in antenna setup and scan it again. Doing this causes the scanned channels and transponders for both tuners to show up when SES2 is selected. For this reason, I think the Raptor is sharing one satellite file between the two tuners. EB
 
The Raptor does not change back to the original channel channel after a recording is finished. I had the Raptor recording on tuner 2 while I was watching tuner 1. This led me to believe that the receiver was going back to the channel I was originally watching. But in reality, when you are recording on one tuner, it does not affect the other tuner.

Most other pvr receivers may drop a recording if there is no signal when it is time to record. For example, I have an old StabHH120 ku motor and it moves real slow. If I schedule to record something on 125W, the recording may fail if my motor is actually at 30W when the recording begins. My other receivers are not smart enough to know that you need to wait for a signal sometimes. In other words, give the slow ku motor time to move where it is supposed to be.
The Raptor waits and waits and waits. This receiver is intelligent enough to know that sometimes you do not have a signal. I have not lost any recordings on the Raptor because my motor took too long to move!

What happens if you lose the signal in the middle of a recording? The Raptor stops when the signal is lost and resumes recording when the signal returns.
As a test, I started a timed recording and let the receiver record for a few minutes. Then I placed a wet towel over the lnb causing the signal to disappear. The towel was left on for about 3 minutes and then removed. The recording was replayed, and the recording stopped when the signal disappeared, then resumed when the signal came back.
Most other pvr fta receivers do not know what to do when the signal disappears during a recording session, so they just stop recording. EB
 
Attached is a 4:2:2 clip. This is about 45 seconds of 4:2:2 video.

The Raptor originally plays this 4:2:2 station as a black screen with audio. This is the way it is recorded. But when you play it back on the Raptor, you can see the sparkles or pixelation that is common on receivers that cannot play the 4:2:2 video format
 
The 4:2:2 video clip has been sent to Optibox and I had a request for an American satellite file today. There is good evidence that Optibox is trying to give us an American file that boots in NTSC instead of Pal. EB
 
On further consideration, I wonder how it's playing anything back at all. If it plays back a recording with the pixellated look that you usually get from 4:2:2 on a non-compatible receiver, then I should be able to play the recording on my computer and see it normally. But not only do I get a black screen when I try to play it, but VLC also shows that there is no information whatsoever in the file, video or audio. It plays 4:2:2 recordings from my Openbox just fine.
 
Jim S. said:
On further consideration, I wonder how it's playing anything back at all. If it plays back a recording with the pixellated look that you usually get from 4:2:2 on a non-compatible receiver, then I should be able to play the recording on my computer and see it normally. But not only do I get a black screen when I try to play it, but VLC also shows that there is no information whatsoever in the file, video or audio. It plays 4:2:2 recordings from my Openbox just fine.
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Hi Jim,

4:2:2 has not been ruled out on the Raptor,Anaconda,Gekko ect... they are still looking into to this last I heard.. I don't believe this is a format used in Europe, so they would not have had a need for for it.
It's not a deal breaker for me, but would be a nice addition if possible.
 
Jim S. said:
On further consideration, I wonder how it's playing anything back at all. If it plays back a recording with the pixellated look that you usually get from 4:2:2 on a non-compatible receiver, then I should be able to play the recording on my computer and see it normally. But not only do I get a black screen when I try to play it, but VLC also shows that there is no information whatsoever in the file, video or audio. It plays 4:2:2 recordings from my Openbox just fine.
Click to expand...

I cannot get VLC to play anything I have recorded with the Raptor. Remember, this is a new receiver to our part of the world. What works on your Openbox may not work for the Optibox products.

I attached a codec pack that will allow you to see the 4:2:2 video that I recorded on the Raptor. This codec pack works for the Windows Media Player. If you have this player, download and install the attached file. Pay close attention when you install the codecs because it will try to install some other "Free" stuff if you let it. Click on Advanced when you install so you can delete the free stuff.
Restart your computer after installing these codecs. When you try to play the 4:2:2 file, the media player will say it can't do it but it will ask if you want to try anyway. Tell it yes and it will play the Raptor's 4:2:2 file for you. EB
 
I can't get it to work. Media Player just hangs on "Opening media...", it never says anything about not being able to play it. This is on Windows 7, I don't have any other versions to try.

Does the Optibox allow you to record as .mpg files instead of .ts?
 
ts is the only record format that I see.

Try the total video player. EXE file is attached.
Again, pay attention during the install or it will add some stuff for you.
 
buzz said:
I have to admit, this sounds like a outstanding STB, but for me the PAL boot screen is a potential deal breaker. The box has NTSC functionality, would it be possible to make a small change to the code for NA so that NTSC is always it's first (or only) boot option? PAL format is of no use to us. In my opinion this is a basic key feature that needs to be addressed if the box is going to be seriously marketed for North America.

This box is bringing alot to the table, and in my opinion has the potential to take NA by storm!

Buzz
Click to expand...

They did it Buzz!!!
I have a file that boots the Raptor in NTSC instead of Pal.
I did a factory default and noticed that an American satellite file was also included. This file has separate c/ku sat positions and it runs from 61.0W to 148W. I will make some changes to the sat file but I really appreciate them including it in the main firmware!
The Optibox Raptor is now designed for North America! I am told more changes for us are in the works. EB
 
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