Solo2 Expansion Options & Duo 2 Consideration Help Needed!

[Bazzy]

Hi All,

I have a Solo2 at the moment & am wondering what the expansion capabilities might be an option with this unit? I currently have two feeds going into it but commonly experience recording clashes which is annoying. I also have a spare satellite cable feed & terrestrial feed that I would like to use in order to expand the capabilities.

I understand that there is this Vu+ Turbo Tuner add on box but that only allows for terrestrial reception - is there a version from anyone that works with the Solo2 that also offers a satellite version? How about a twin version - one terrestrial & the other satellite - that would be ideal. What would be the best way for me to expand on the Solo 2 with the feeds I have?

My other option is to consider getting a Duo 2 which I understand might allow for 6 inputs/feeds at the back as I see three "removable plates" - is that correct? The only issue I have is that this is a really costly option as I believe they come with only a twin tuner as standard so I would have to fork out for a much more expensive Duo2 and then the additional tuners?

The final option I thought of was to get another Solo 2 on the classifieds but am concerned that this might cause issues with remote control commands and/or just general usage conflicts etc that as a novice, I might be unaware of & unable to understand/rectify.

I would really appreciate any help & advice and the best options to consider - please forgive any naivety on my part as I am just not that tech savvy on these matters!

Many Thanks!

 

[Bangord30]

The duo2 has the shell of another box but actually only 2 tuner bays inside on the board

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

 

[Bazzy]

The duo2 has the shell of another box but actually only 2 tuner bays inside on the board

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

Hi,

Thank for replying - just want to be sure as I am a novice - I found a pic on the web & posted it below. Are you saying that the Duo 2 has two tuner bays inside (Tuner A & Tuner B) but a 3rd one cannot be added to the removable plate there which I have marked as "C"? If so, what is the purpose of this removable plate & what can be added there? I am assuming they must have put it there for some kind of expansion reason surely otherwise why do it?

Many Thanks!

 

[Bangord30]

Yes that's what I'm saying the motherboard on a duo2 only has 2 slots. The top is off another model

Sent from my HUAWEI VNS-L31 using Tapatalk

 

[Larry-G]

The Duo2 uses the same shell as the original Ultimo which had three tuner slots hence why you see a extra blanking plate on the rear of the box. The Duo2 can however use a twin tuner in one of it's slots making it a triple tuner receiver, if memory serves.

 

[Bazzy]

The Duo2 uses the same shell as the original Ultimo which had three tuner slots hence why you see a extra blanking plate on the rear of the box. The Duo2 can however use a twin tuner in one of it's slots making it a triple tuner receiver, if memory serves.

Hi,

Thanks for the input! Just so I understand again, are you saying that the Duo 2 can have a maximum of 3 tuners only in its two slots? That would, I assume be a Dual DVB-S2 Tuner so two in one slot & just a Single DVB-S2 in the other?

Is it not possible to have a Dual DVB-S2 Tuner in each of the slots so one would have 4 tuners? How about a Dual DVB-S2 in one slot & a combined DVB-S2 + DVB-T tuner in the other one - is that possible?

May I ask, what would you do and/or recommend in my situation as my knowledge & understanding is quite limited!

Many Thanks!

 

[Larry-G]

Hi,

Thanks for the input! Just so I understand again, are you saying that the Duo 2 can have a maximum of 3 tuners only in its two slots? That would, I assume be a Dual DVB-S2 Tuner so two in one slot & just a Single DVB-S2 in the other?

Is it not possible to have a Dual DVB-S2 Tuner in each of the slots so one would have 4 tuners? How about a Dual DVB-S2 in one slot & a combined DVB-S2 + DVB-T tuner in the other one - is that possible?

May I ask, what would you do and/or recommend in my situation as my knowledge & understanding is quite limited!

Many Thanks!

Im not 100 percent sure as I don't have a duo2 and I have been out of the sat scene for a long time. But from memory the duo 2 can use one twin tuner but both slots can use a dual or combo tuner. Again I may be wrong but that's how I remember it. Unless some one else wants to chime in with their input.

 

[stick50jr]

I have a Duo2 with two twin tuners in slots A & B and also two twin tuners connected via USB. Thus I have eight tuners. (See my signature for details). This is the maximum number of tuners supported by the VU kernel (ie 9 multiplexers allows eight tuners/transponders plus one extra for separate playback). A greater number of programs/channels can be supported because there are often multiple programs/channels for each transponder/tuner.

The Duo2 (and the Solo2) are quite powerful boxes and with the right storage (HDD etc) can record many simultaneous programs/channels. Even my USB tuners do not seem to be handicapped by being on USB rather than on the internal bus.

You may note that I am in Australia, so DVB-T is fine. In the UK you probably need to look for DVB-T2 tuners if you're interested in terrestrial.

 

[Larry-G]

I have a Duo2 with two twin tuners in slots A & B and also two twin tuners connected via USB. Thus I have eight tuners. (See my signature for details). This is the maximum number of tuners supported by the VU kernel (ie 9 multiplexers allows eight tuners/transponders plus one extra for separate playback). A greater number of programs/channels can be supported because there are often multiple programs/channels for each transponder/tuner.

The Duo2 (and the Solo2) are quite powerful boxes and with the right storage (HDD etc) can record many simultaneous programs/channels. Even my USB tuners do not seem to be handicapped by being on USB rather than on the internal bus.

You may note that I am in Australia, so DVB-T is fine. In the UK you probably need to look for DVB-T2 tuners if you're interested in terrestrial.

thanks for the confirmation stick.

 

[Bazzy]

I have a Duo2 with two twin tuners in slots A & B and also two twin tuners connected via USB. Thus I have eight tuners. (See my signature for details). This is the maximum number of tuners supported by the VU kernel (ie 9 multiplexers allows eight tuners/transponders plus one extra for separate playback). A greater number of programs/channels can be supported because there are often multiple programs/channels for each transponder/tuner.

The Duo2 (and the Solo2) are quite powerful boxes and with the right storage (HDD etc) can record many simultaneous programs/channels. Even my USB tuners do not seem to be handicapped by being on USB rather than on the internal bus.

You may note that I am in Australia, so DVB-T is fine. In the UK you probably need to look for DVB-T2 tuners if you're interested in terrestrial.

Hi!

Thanks for reply - very interesting info you have posted & much appreciated! Firstly, good to know that one can run 2 x Twin Sat Tuners on the Duo 2! The fact that you have been able to expand it to 8 is just awesome!

May I ask, what exactly are the external tuners you are using via USB? I ask as the only one I can find from Vu+ is the Turbo Tuner which only allows for a cable or terrestrial option but not satellite called the "Vu+ Turbo Tuner". Do you know if they are available in the UK & what they might cost?

Since you stated that both the Duo 2 & Solo2 are powerful boxes that can both record many simultaneous channels (up to 8) - even if via external USB Tuners, do you know if I can use these external tuners with my Solo 2? If so, this would be an awesome option for me as it would mean I do not have to fork out the heavy expense of a Duo 2 plus a new set of tuners etc & just expand on my current Solo2.

Just to let you know, I currently have an internal 2.5" Samsung Spinpoint 2TB Hard Drive inside - since you stated "with the right HDD/Storage" - is this good enough to allow multiple recordings of say 4 or more recordings at the same time?

Many Kind Thanks!

 

[stick50jr]

Hi!

Thanks for reply - very interesting info you have posted & much appreciated! Firstly, good to know that one can run 2 x Twin Sat Tuners on the Duo 2! The fact that you have been able to expand it to 8 is just awesome!

May I ask, what exactly are the external tuners you are using via USB? I ask as the only one I can find from Vu+ is the Turbo Tuner which only allows for a cable or terrestrial option but not satellite called the "Vu+ Turbo Tuner". Do you know if they are available in the UK & what they might cost?

Since you stated that both the Duo 2 & Solo2 are powerful boxes that can both record many simultaneous channels (up to 8) - even if via external USB Tuners, do you know if I can use these external tuners with my Solo 2? If so, this would be an awesome option for me as it would mean I do not have to fork out the heavy expense of a Duo 2 plus a new set of tuners etc & just expand on my current Solo2.

Just to let you know, I currently have an internal 2.5" Samsung Spinpoint 2TB Hard Drive inside - since you stated "with the right HDD/Storage" - is this good enough to allow multiple recordings of say 4 or more recordings at the same time?

Many Kind Thanks!

Well I referred you to my signature (at the bottom of my posts) which clearly identifies the tuners that I am using:

OpenVix:
VU+Duo2 -- 2 x Twin internal DVB-S2 & DVB-C/T2, 2 x USB dual DVB-T (Avermedia Twinstar [AF9035], Hauppauge Nova-TD [Dib0700]) = 8 tuners

So you see I have one twin sat tuner and one twin terrestrial tuner (4 internal tuners) all bought from the site sponsor

My usb tuners are both DVB-T which is fine for Australia but you'd need ones that support DVB-T2 for the UK irc.

I reckon your Solo2 + internal HDD would be able to cope with lots of simultaneous streams... try it and see (I don't have a Solo2).
The Duo2 has this description on the web site:

• Recording up to 16 channels DUO2 makes it impossible to miss any of your favorite channel. You can record up to 16 Live channels simultaneously. There may be moments when you had to miss one for the other channels due to the lack of recording ability of previous STB. However, with DUO2, it is literally impossible for you to leave out any LIVE channels. With HDD (3.5 inch) internally equipped, you can play the recorded files whenever you want from Archive.

In selecting usb tuners, the main issue is making sure you have compatible software drivers available. If the tuner is VU then it should be well supported. Driver support is often dependent on kernel version... so a newer kernel can be a problem and support may not be immediately available. My post was to let you know of these possibilities but I can't help with selecting tuners apart from the ones that work for me here in Australia. I think I've seen posts mentioning DVB-S2 and also DVB-T2 usb tuners somewhere on the forum (try searching).

Cheers

 

[Garglo]

DVB-T (Avermedia Twinstar [AF9035], Hauppauge Nova-TD [Dib0700]

Hi Sticky Jr Which of these do you consider has the best gain / best quality. What were the plugins you used as it depends on the chipset used in the device.
I had an Ezicap DVB-T USB Dongle and it worked on my Vu+Duo2 here in NZ on DVB-T with all of the FreeviewHD channels working even though some were HD but most SD. I have since sold it and now looking at using a DVB-T USB dongle on a Vu+Solo2. Also does anyone know if one purchases a DVB-T2 will that still work on SD Transmissions.

 

[stick50jr]

Hi Sticky Jr Which of these do you consider has the best gain / best quality. What were the plugins you used as it depends on the chipset used in the device.
I had an Ezicap DVB-T USB Dongle and it worked on my Vu+Duo2 here in NZ on DVB-T with all of the FreeviewHD channels working even though some were HD but most SD. I have since sold it and now looking at using a DVB-T USB dongle on a Vu+Solo2. Also does anyone know if one purchases a DVB-T2 will that still work on SD Transmissions.

The Hauppauge device has drivers that show signal strength and quality within the OpenVix (and other) images. The Avermedia device drivers (the ones in the OpenVix feeds at least) do not support meaningful signal strength or quality at this time. I have great signal strength and quality at my location, so its hard for me to say one works better than the other apart from the superior Hauppauge drivers. At least they are both supported on the current Duo2/Solo2 kernel...

The appropriate chipsets are dib0700 and af9035, drivers for which are in the plugin feeds.

Both these DVB-T usb devices work reliably here in Oz in both SD and HD. Here most of the SD channels are Mpeg2 and the HD channels are AVC.... there is one exception, being SBS HD which still uses Mpeg2. From my signature (at the bottom of my posts) you may also note that I use the VU+ DVB C/T2 dual internal pluggable tuner . This internal tuner works well with DVB-T (we don't have any DVB-T2 here). So the internal VU+ DVB-T2 tuner supports all the terrestrial channels in Oz (DVB-T) both HD & SD.