Skybox F3

[Costactc]

Just received my new Skybox F3 receiver today and it's not quite like the s12 at all. First it's black and not white like my s12. It's also much larger- 9" x 6" whereas the s12 is 6" x 4". On the front panel we have a power button, menu, ok, usb, card slot and cursor. On the rear we have rs232, component and composite cable slots, ethernet and hdmi. Included with the receiver was an hdmi cable and the power cord is suited for North America so I don't have to buy an adapter like I had to with the s12 and s9. I'm going to attach this receiver first to my ku setup and then c band, I'll post anything that comes up. Finally, I plan on doing this with the virgin file that is on the receiver- I haven't plugged it in yet but if I don't have a North American channel list then I will input all that info manually:


14957149581495914960

[TurboPirate]

Awesome STB, it looks it's gonna be fun, can't wait to see the results of this test, happy testing my good friend Costa.

[caretaker69]

man cos is there a box u dont have.lol always good to c ur findings keep it up.

[Costactc]

Awesome STB, it looks it's gonna be fun, can't wait to see the results of this test, happy testing my good friend Costa.

Thanks bud.


man cos is there a box u dont have.lol always good to c ur findings keep it up.

Now that my dish setups are complete only thing to play around with are new receivers, openbox s16 should be arriving next week.

[homer_™]

I was checking this thing out on alibaba. According to the specs it seems to have card sharing options right out of the box.

Is this the same unit?


http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/568773188/Skybox_F3_HD_PVR_Satellite_Receiver.html?s=p

[Costactc]

I was checking this thing out on alibaba. According to the specs it seems to have card sharing options right out of the box.

Is this the same unit?


http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/568773188/Skybox_F3_HD_PVR_Satellite_Receiver.html?s=p


One and the same- fastest blind scanning fta receiver I've ever tested and at $48 you can't go wrong.

[long stranger]

$48 plus $32 for shipping from China. mine lasted 3 days before it died. not a good buy.

[jvvh5897]

Well, if it died and you are not going to send it back, you should pop the cover and take pics of what is inside and post them. In general if it blows that soon, you can get some sort of replacement from supplier. But it likely is just a power supply problem--they have the most stress put on them so most likely to fail.

[Costactc]

I agree, how about some pics. I have had no issues with my unit.

[long stranger]

I'm not a technician but it looks to me like L2, L4 and L5 are bulged out; especially L4. I don't know what these parts are so for all I know this could be their normal state.

The problem happened when I finished a blind scan. The receiver froze up so I did areboot and the thing never came back up; it just died.
15362

[Tlarson]

The "L" refers to being a coil NOT a capacitor and that is a correct look for a coil.

[jvvh5897]

Oh no, rebooting a box if it was in the middle of erasing and writing to flash tend to leave you with corrupted flash. You likely need to re-load good program to the box now and I'm guessing that there is no method to let you do that for the box. Sometimes there are debug messages that are sent out the serial port, so try hooking up a serial cable to PC and see if anything is comming out--try 115.2K baud 8,N,1 settings and whatever the manual for the box tells you is good for serial use--might be null, could be straight.

[Costactc]

My F3 has frozen up on a blind scan as well several times. Simple reboot has always worked on my box.

[starmike]

stop blind scanning and put on a glasses , i am sure i will work ,because it will see what it's scanning.:yes:. and not bump into a overload !!!:tehe::tehe: or just put a fan on the ps area .. see it will help.. the heat problem, a pc box fan will work 12volts and less than one amp..

[Costactc]

stop blind scanning and put on a glasses , i am sure i will work ,because it will see what it's scanning.:yes:. and not bump into a overload !!!:tehe::tehe: or just put a fan on the ps area .. see it will help.. the heat problem, a pc box fan will work 12volts and less than one amp..

I have never had heat issues on my F3 and I've also mentioned previously that my box has frozen after a blind scan as well but a simple hard boot always works.

[tonyo]

Hello Costactc, I leave in quebec, gatineau and I just bought this receiver but can't find the software to update it. Can you direct me to it please? you seem to have a lot of experience!

[Gold]

It should come with the latest firmware right out of the box. There is no need to update it

[Costactc]

Hello Costactc, I leave in quebec, gatineau and I just bought this receiver but can't find the software to update it. Can you direct me to it please? you seem to have a lot of experience!

Are you using this receiver for true fta, if so then you don't need to update anything.

[velocity9421]

does this skybox have an epg?

[Costactc]

Only several true fta channels have a working epg.

[Gold]

So how do you like this box Cos?
I have been going to buy another for some time, as you probably know.
Since my dad passed away I have actually been busier...(If that makes any sense)

I still have the old Coolsat 6000 hooked up & get lots of channels but they are slipping away or going to S2

[Costactc]

I like the f3 my friend but I'm testing the eyebox/openbox x5 at the moment and would highly recommend it- fastest blind scan I've ever seen and multi media to boot.

[caretaker69]

hear good things about AMIKO ALIEN2 but abit pricey

[djrm54]

I just purchased a skybox f3 and I was wondering if it has north American sats already in it or do I have to have a file.after purchasing I see someone says not good for north America is that true

[djrm54]

I forgot to ask is it any good for c band

[Costactc]

I have used my skybox f3 almost exclusively on c band and it's excellent for North American sats. Mine also came with a Euro/Asian sat list which I deleted and set up my own manually.

[djrm54]

thanks a bunch .does it have north American sats in it out of box or need file.

[Gold]

Well this thread is almost a year old & I am thinking of a new box.
I've benn using an openbox, but ready for an upgrade. Are you still using this Cos? Got one better?

This dish I want to use is just for FTA & box will be used for blind scan mainly 72 - 125

[Terryl]

I like my new OpenBox X5, now that I have gotten use to it, good blind scan, and has a network connection built in.

See my trials an tribulations about it in my "I dood it" post before you go and get one..

[Costactc]

Well this thread is almost a year old & I am thinking of a new box.
I've benn using an openbox, but ready for an upgrade. Are you still using this Cos? Got one better?

This dish I want to use is just for FTA & box will be used for blind scan mainly 72 - 125


I am still using the F3 on my ku band feed and the X5 on my c band setup as well. I would recommend a minor investment into an X2 Premium, fastest blind scan I have ever tested, extremely sensitive tuner and great support. Just send me a pm Gold and I'll tell you where to get one real quick- I have 2 of them by the way.

[Gold]

Nothing like digging up an old thread:tehe:

[Terryl]

Nothing like digging up an old thread:tehe:


Not as bad as when we dig aroung here, sometimes we dig up old Indians, that stops the project in it's tracks until someone shows up to move the bones, one highway project sat around for 3 years while they decided what to do with them.

[Gold]

I couldn't find your Dood it thread on the receivers...
Maybe I looked right at it, but never saw the thread. You have a link for this old indian

[Terryl]

OK here yah go, http://www.satfix.net/showthread.php?134478-I-Doood-it#post963122 it's always hiding right under your nose.

[dukas1]

Can you provide help on setting up north america sats for the satbox f3? Or maybe point me in the right direction for info.

thanks

[hondoharry]

Can you provide help on setting up north america sats for the satbox f3? Or maybe point me in the right direction for info.

thanks

As stated in this thread, it comes with Euro/Asian sats. There is no file with the western sats so you have to delete all sats and add the ones you want and blind scan. Get sat setup info at lyngsat dot com.