DVB-S2 45Msps Symbolrate supported card (1 Viewer)

[ta6ish]

Hi I want to buy a 45Msps DVB-S2 symbol rate supported card and not much impressed by the TBS 8921. Cinergy S2 PCI HD seems good but iam not sure about the maximum DVB-S2 symbol rate supported by this card, I want to receive 40700 DVB-S2 symbol-rate if any body knows please help.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi there

Tough question. Unfortunately in my experience you will find it very hard to get an answer from Terratec.

What I can say is:
1. The Terratec Cinergy S2 PCI HD is a clone of the Azurewave/Twinhan AD-SP400. Another clone of that same card is the Technisat Skystar HD2.
2. I cannot find definitive symbol rate information for any of those tuners on any website, except for here:

http://comtech.myweb.hinet.net/pdf/dvbs2-6899.pdf

That is (according to the Linux TV wiki) a tuner using the same chips used by the Cinergy. Assuming that the datasheet is correct, the Cinergy won't be able to do what you want because it can only go up to 30Ms/s (30MBauds) for 8PSK:

Maximum Symbol Rate
QPSK/LDPC/PCH : 20-30Mbps
8PSK/LDPC/BCH : 10-30Mbps
DVB : 2-45Mbps

(page 8)

 

[ta6ish]

Thanks : ), i inquired about Skystar HD2 & SkyStar S2 both from their website and they said

Both PCI-cards cannot receive a symbol rate of 40700.
Skystar HD2 - DVB S2 < 35000 SR
Skystar S2 - DVB S2 < 40000 SR

The skystar S2 would be the bettter choice but we cannot garantuee reception.

You are absolutely right, i did nt find any link for contacting Terratec on their website, i sent email to them but they did not reply.

And about Azurewave AD-SP400 i found this

Symbol Rate: 2~45 Msps
QPSK / 8PSK Support
FEC:
DVB-S 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 6/7, 7/8
DVB-S2 1/2, 3/5, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, 5/6, 8/9, 9/10

They just not mentioned that this symbol rate is for DVB-S or DVB-S2

My experience with Twinhan Vision DTV named DVB-S card was very bad, their tuners are not stable for weak signals, that's why i dont want to buy Twinhan again. And SkyStars have nice tuners they work perfectly even on weak signal. Unfortunately skystar is not upto the mark for my requirement so i have find a good alternate.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again ta6ish

My experience with Twinhan Vision DTV named DVB-S card was very bad, their tuners are not stable for weak signals, that's why i dont want to buy Twinhan again. And SkyStars have nice tuners they work perfectly even on weak signal. Unfortunately skystar is not upto the mark for my requirement so i have find a good alternate.

Yes, Skystar tuners do seem to be quite sensitive. My Technotrend S2 3200 (which is a Skystar HD clone - *not* HD2) works very well with signal levels that my other tuners (Pinnacle PCTV 7010ix) can't handle. I've got a Skystar HD2 on the way from Germany, however I don't have access to any DVB-S2 transponders with such high symbol rates so I can't tell you if that would work.

I noticed that you started another thread asking for comments about the stability of the TBS 8921. I hope you get some responses, but I'm curious as to why you already said you weren't very impressed with it. TBS support is excellent - I think it is possibly your best option. If you're still looking for other alternatives then I guess your options might include:

- Digital Devices CineS2
- Hauppauge HVR4400 or NOVA HD S2

I have no idea if they support high symbol rates with DVB-S2, but you can probably ask on the Hauppauge forum or email Digital Devices...

 

[ta6ish]

I recently contacted Technisat via their web about SkyStar USB HD regarding same symbol rate and they sent me 2 replies

1st

The maximum symbol rate for the Skystar USB HD is 38 Ms/s for 8PSK and 44 MS/s for QPSK.

2nd

New / Updated driver will further improve SR on 8PSK such that at ever FEC the
same SR will be possible to achieve.

Test Procedure:
Expected Outcome Result

Freq=1550MHz, signal level = -30dBm and no noise

DVB-S2, 8PSK, FEC=3/5, Pilots=ON/OFF
45.0MSps (78.3Mb/s)^^
PASS

DVB-S2, 8PSK, FEC=2/3, Pilots=ON/OFF
45.0MSps (87.1Mb/s)^^
PASS

DVB-S2, 8PSK, FEC=3/4, Pilots=ON/OFF
45.0MSps (98.0Mb/s)^^
PASS

DVB-S2, 8PSK, FEC=5/6, Pilots=ON/OFF
41.0 MSps (99.3Mb/s)^^^
PASS

DVB-S2, 8PSK, FEC=8/9, Pilots=ON/OFF
39.0 MSps (100.8Mb/s)^^^
PASS

DVB-S2, 8PSK, FEC=9/10, Pilots=ON/OFF
39.0 MSps (102.1Mb/s)^^^
PASS


Details:

^^ - limited by SFU maximum symbol rate 45.0MSps,

^^^ - limited by TS demod CLOCK because driver sets it to 12.5MHz
(12.5MHz*8bits=100Mbit/s)


New / Updated driver will further improve SR on 8PSK such that at ever FEC the same SR will be possible to achieve. We hope we could have been of help

Cine S2 sounds great but in comparison of mentioned cards its too costly, 149.00 € may be due to dual tuner.
Thanks for suggestion i'll try to find out because all cards as suggested by you are good indeed.
On the other hand i think SkyStar USB HD has solved the problem...what you think?

And TBS card hardware looks same like Twinhan, I mean look at its tuner, it seems a third class hardware and that yellow sticker on it makes it more crappy XD

 

[mm1352000]

Cine S2 sounds great but in comparison of mentioned cards its too costly, 149.00 € may be due to dual tuner.

Yeah it is expensive!

On the other hand i think SkyStar USB HD has solved the problem...what you think?

It certainly sounds good, but I guess it depends on the FEC rate of the transponders that you are trying to receive. Also, I have no idea about how good Technisat support is, so I'm not sure how long it would take for them to release those improved drivers...

And TBS card hardware looks same like Twinhan, I mean look at its tuner, it seems a third class hardware and that yellow sticker on it makes it more crappy XD

Perhaps you could rip the sticker off? Besides, it will be inside your case so unless you have a case window then you won't see it.

 

[ta6ish]

It certainly sounds good, but I guess it depends on the FEC rate of the transponders that you are trying to receive. Also, I have no idea about how good Technisat support is, so I'm not sure how long it would take for them to release those improved drivers...

I want to receive 2/3 FEC. Techinsat replied my every question well in time. I asked the same question to them lets c what they gonna say this time. But i wonder that why they limited the symbol rate via driver while their hardware was fully supported for it.

Perhaps you could rip the sticker off? Besides, it will be inside your case so unless you have a case window then you won't see it.

LOLz, well that's a psycho case but i don't think its a stable tuner for weak signals.

 

[ta6ish]

Just got the Technisat reply and they informed that 8PSK 40700 Symbol rate is receivable on SkyStar USB HD with the following drivers

SkyStar USB HD Driver Version 4.6.0.9999