FreeKeys FTA Satellite

More Personal Video Recording storage!

The personal video recording (PVR) or DVR (digital video recorder) is no longer a nice-to-have gadget. It is here to stay, so out with the VHS recorder! Landfills are cringing and moaning at the thought.  

For those that do not know what a PVR is; it is a set top box that has a built in hard drive. The hard drive is designed to store television programming so that you may watch it at a later date. DVR’s can pause, rewind live tv, and then can also skip the commercials! The standard DVR holds about 80 - 300 hours of television programming. This depends on the quality of the recording. High definition (HD) programming gobbles up much more space than standard programming. The inherent problem with early PVR models is that there is no way to export your saved programming to an external device for backup. The only solution is to manually delete shows and movies.

Offloading your saved movies and tv shows to a dvd, or a computer for the most part is not readily available. The hardware simply has not come to market YET. Many DVR manufacturers include firewire and usb ports to allow future options for storage and backup, however most are shipped with these options disabled. Quite useless and many of are still scratching our heads as to why they would even bother.

Some DVR manufacturers have released firmware updates which could enable those features that are disabled. The problem is most of us have no idea how to use these firmware updates. So cable and satellite tv providers simply upgrade customer to a newer model PVR.

No matter the features and options your pvr has, you will inevitably run out of storage space. Thankfully, products coming to market are designed for this exact purpose.

First out of the gates for the 2007 holiday season, is Western Digital with their MyDVR Expander product. Essentially, a 500Gb eSATA portable hard drive that connects to your PVR, thus expanding your storage capabilities.

The MyDVR expander can instantly add up to 60 hours of high-definition TV, or up to 300 hours of standard-definition TV to your eSATA-enabled DVR. Not all DVR’s are eSATA compatible, so verify your model’s compatibility first. Here is a short list of some models that this will work with:

Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300, 8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR

TiVo®, TiVo Series3, TiVo HD

Key Features

- Connects to your DVR via external SATA (eSATA)
- No-fan passive cooling system and special hard drive ensures low noise operation

- Designed with a soft amber LED indicator, ideal for the living room or bedroom

The MyDVR is ideal for adding more recording hours to your Digital Video Recorder

It should be noted that ths MyDVR is not intended to be an archival or portable storage device. The DVR Expander is designed to expand the recording capacity of a single DVR

Additional information is available online through westerndigital.com

The MSRP is $199 USD and is available at most US retailers.

If you are considering a high definition fta receiver purchase, you need to know the facts. Many HD TFA receivers still lack critical support for broadcast formats, including a very important protocol called PSK. (Phase Shift Keying)

Dish network supports 8PSK, while Bell ExpressVu and most other HD providers support QPSK. Currently, most, if not all FTA HD receivers only support HD channels using QPSK. Dish uses 8psk for all their HD channels.

The question we have to ask; can 8PSK support be added to HD receivers? The new VS-9000 will be capable of supporting 8PSK with a addon adapter module.
Here is some more in depth info which sheds more light on the difference between 8PSK and QPSK..

In the meantime, the following graphic offers a side by side receiver comparison. No information about 8psk support is included at this time. You will need to verify from the manufacturers website.

 CW-600S FTA Receiver Premium Review
 

The Captive Works Premium will make a definite impact of the FTA market. This unit has all the features that you need. It contains all the extras you enjoy and the biggest surprise is the price.
Let us take a look at some of the features…..
EPG
The electronic programming guide is probably one of the most important features of any STB. The EPG provides the ease of allowing you to scroll and view channels without just flipping blindly. The Captive Works premium has a fully functional guide. A new added feature is the ability to add an icon file for each individual channel. The EPG on this unit is larger than normal. Although I could not find out how to advance to the next day of programming without scrolling the entire day, the guide has all of the standard features.

Audio/Picture Quality
The CW-600s premium will shock you. The picture quality is unbelievable. Before connecting my premium, I have my SV-1000 connected and on. There is no comparison to the difference in picture quality. The CW-600s premium really outshines the SV-1000. I connected my digital audio out cable to the unit. The audio quality was excellent. This unit has great sound and audio. My only complaint was losing the ability to control the sound from the CW remote. I have to use my Home Audio Receiver remote for volume control. With the SV-1000, I was able to use the remote for regular channels and when digital audio was active on a channel, I then used the remote for the Home Audio Receiver.

Software/Features
Captive Works spared nothing when loading this unit with everything it could. As mentioned earlier you can load an icon file into the CW-600 premium to allow channel icon images. This unit also allows the ability to add you own background image. This feature allows you to personalize your own unit. This unit is fully customizable. You can choose between long and short channel names and you can even turn the channel icons on and off. One of the most attractive feature of this unit it the ability to allow it to configure itself. Use the East Tuning and Fast Tuning options and sit back and let the unit do it for you. How many unit s can do this? Another great feature is the ability to search by program name or name. Search for “Dog”. You should get everything program from Dog the Bounty Hunter to the Eukanuba Dog Show. This is a time saver in itself for channel surfers. This unit still has the standard search by themes (Movies, Sports, Etc…)
Go ahead and throw away Channel Master. This unit has the ability to save a Channel List as your own and even reload it after a Factory Reset. This is stored directly onto the unit itself. This unit has the best parental control options that I have seen yet. All you have to do is say yes, or no to the rating.

Although you can set the time, the time can taken from the Sat, so it is always correct. The 7 day EPG is loaded in standby mode.

Hardware
The main processor of this unit is a CX24142 running at 160MHz, with 32MB of SDRAM.
Standard Features:
- MPEG-2 Digital and Fully DVB-S Compliant
- SCPC/MCPC Receivable from C/KU band Satellite
- User Friendly OSD Menu with Full Function
- Installation by Easy Setup Guide
- 100 Satellites, 6000 Channels and 5000 transponders
- Brilliant On Screen Graphic
- Small Picture in Graphic and Zoom Function
- 8 Favorite Groups and Parent Lock Function
- EPG, including 7 days data fast download and timer
- Supports DiSEqC 1.0/1.2/1.3(USALS) and 22KHz Tone

Upon the inception of FTA, there were 2 units that paved the way for the rest. These units were the Pansat 2500A and the Fortec Lifetime Ultra. These units were feature packed and very affordable. Today these units are on their last legs. The CW-600S Premium has arrived at the right time to receive the torch from the Pansat 2500A and the Fortec Lifetime Ultra. The CW-600S Premium has a very affordable price of around $100, yet it is fully packed with features galore. This unit is a must for any new FTA tester.