Is it worth owning a Dreambox in Australia?

[Joe T]

I have spent the last 2 days trying to find a Satellite on it with something worth watching.

We got a little DM500 and it works brilliant, all flashed up etc with Hydra and a few Softcams. But despite our best efforts with a fixed dish we cant seem to find any Satellite with anything much on!!

We have tried
PAS 1 Poor Signal
PAS 2 Poor Signal
Optus B1
Optus C1
Optus B3
Intelsat 701 No Signal Lock

Are there some we are missing?

Even if I am trying to find some decent Free to air channels down in Australia

I have looked at http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/Australia.html

Is this really it?

I seem to remember some DM7000 images for this part of the world, Ned Kelly, but I am assuming as the DM500 is quite new this is a no go.

Are we wasting our time with a Dreambox Down here?

Any help would be appreciated, PM me if you prefer.

Thanks

Joe

[boxhead]

There is no such satellite as PAS 1 , PAS 2 and PAS 8 are the only PanAm sats with a beam in to Australia ( apart from PAS10 which is near impossible to get on the East Coast of Australia )

Optus C1 transmits the bulk of Australian Pay TV services. It also beams the Irdeto 1 enctypted Optus Aurora channels to remote Australia.

Optus B3 should have a number of free to air channels , though a lot are now going encrypted.

You havent mentioned where you are and what size dish you are using. Australia is a vast country with a small population , if you are looking for te ton of channels that are available in Europe you will be disappointed.

With a 90 cm dish on a moteck motorised mount in Southern Victoria , I can easily lock on to and scan :

Pas 2
Pas 8
Optus B1
Optus B3
Optus C1
NSS 6

Intelsat 701 should also be accesible.

As to your question , " Is it worth owning a Dreambox in Australia? " , if all you want to do is watch TV , you might as well use any receiver , it doesnt really matter.

If you question is a thinly veiled " can I pirate pay tv services " , our major Pay comapny Foxtel runs Videoguard ( NDS ) encryption for which there is no known softcam for let alone keys.

[Joe T]

Thanks for that, we are in Victoria level with Melbourne along the coast. We have 70 cm dish. (probably too small)

Mean't PAS8 not PAS1 apologies.

I really was interested in whats up there, just to provide a bit more than the standard 5 channels on Arial.
The DM500 is so cheap we thought it worth a try.

We have tried Intelsat 701 but without much success on the signal front.
I just recognised some of the TPS channels on i701 from Europe and wondered whether the DM500 worked with any of the Via*** Or Media*** channels.

From your response it seems that any FTA receiver will do as there is no advantage to having a dreambox for watching TV down here.

I appreciate that if you like Linux the dreambox is a good choice but we only want it to watch TV on.

Thanks for your help

Cheers

Joe

[boxhead]

Dish is probably too small for 701 and most of B1.

Pirate " gold cards " from Foxtel's previous Irdeto 1 service should unlock the following Irdeto 1 encrypted services on Optus B3 :

GWN
Imparja
Seven Central
Win
ABC
SBS

[Joe T]

Can you get I701 on your 90cm dish?

I think its time to go and invest in a bigger dish and better LNB.
Can you advise a stockist, we are in Lakes Entrance, Victoria

Thanks

Joe

[boxhead]

Most people should be able to get 701 on a 90cm , however I am unable to , presumably due to limitations with my motorised mount ( I have to lose quality on some to get others ).

Sorry , I dont know any sat dealers in Lakes Entrance , you might have to check the Yellow pages directory for that one.