Preface
Although Amiko Alien is the most advanced STB to ever hit North America (think AZbox but half the price with more features), I actually recommend that you DO NOT buy this product right now….

Quote:We have also evaluated Karmacom’s Optibox line. While they are very nice units with hardware blindscan and other features, they lack most of the advanced features of Alien and are more expensive. Basically AZbox price range with similar capabilities, no 4:2:2. Not really suitable for North America, and no point with AZbox basically doing the same or more.

We have been in talks with the manufacturer Karmacom and have been testing an Alien sample unit since early December. The guy that discovered it, Matrix74, has been “bugging” me about it for much longer, since it was released in Europe a year ago. Alien is certainly the most complete STB out there but unfortunately lacks one key feature that is almost a must in the North American market: blindscan. After much research on both sides of the pond, Karmacom has determined that it cannot be added to the current Aliens. This is what delayed our initial 1/1/2012 North American Alien release.

However, I have been constantly bugged by a certain person to release Alien anyway, since other than no blindscan is truly a revolution for the North American True FTA community. After previewing it to FridgeVIPs and getting some demand, I contacted the manufacturer. They are express shipping us a limited number of Alien on Monday February 6, and they will be here Tuesday or Wednesday.

A very limited number will be available outside of the FridgeVIP group at very low pricing. If you are interested, you will need to contact the store at http://store.fridgefta.info/?page_id=299 for more information. These are mainly for Linux/Enigma 2 geeks that want to play with these and contribute to development.

Since I am the one that made the decision to delay Alien, my recommendation for most people is to wait until we have a blindscan option. I cannot go into details due to confidentiality, but if you purchase an Alien now, it will NOT be able to blindscan in the future.

I also do not recommend purchasing an Alien on fleabay or anywhere else. Adapting Alien for North America was not as simple as flashing a new channel/sat list, and you need much more skill than the average idiot stealing or changing an OpenBox file with Ali editor since some critical settings for us are hard coded. There is no end user North America support from Spark, in the editors or from the manufacturer outside of what is provided to us for N.A. development. I’ve already spent dozens of hours properly modifying the images for North America and changing code, but this will only be available to the limited number of Alien available from us now and for the future product release.

99% of this information will apply to our future release.

As we had no intention of releasing this Alien as a regular store item at this time, a “formal” review and advertising materials have not been done. The following is compiled from testing photos, information released to FridgeVIPs, internal discussions and discussions with the manufacturer. It is more of a “first look”. Feel free to ask questions, I’m happy to answer them!

Enough said, let’s look at the thing…
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Alien is a STB unlike anything here. Other than the one problem (no blindscan) it is totally killer. Think AZbox at half the price, none of the problems, more features and 100x easier to use.

Here is what it does, in a nutshell. To go over everything it does would take forever:

True Linux, can tamper with everything ~ Duel boot, runs its own easy to use Linux, plus Enigma 2 on separate partition ~ Actual usable streaming/internet. Has tons of “apps” like YOUPORN ~ Opera Mini web browser/HTML5. Its actually fast and usable ~ Cinitrailer ~ music apps (one has a bunch of live concerts, cool) ~ SHOUTCAST RADIO ~ Picasa ~ Google Talk ~ GAMES ~Awesome Youtube, not cruddy like AZ ~ Kartina TV (I enabled the test channels) ~ WikiTV ~ youtube video rippper ~ many more

Flash file support ~ Plays just about every file format known ~ Pause live recordings, it cuts out commercials! ~ NETWORK RECORDING, play and record satellite directly to your computers ~ very easy to use ~ It actually puts up a scrolling ticker to tell you there is an update, click and it installs for you ~ Weather forecaster (not a pirate device, it does real weather) ~ Wired or wireless ~ USB hub support ~ 1080p ~ auto resolution & easy to change so no stuck in PAL ~ available wireless mini keyboard & integrated trackmouse (very nice) ~ HTML server (this not yet enabled but with what little I know of linux I found it and was able to pull it up. Will allow control of EVERYTHING via your web browser locally or across the world) ~ Super awesome motor & LNB controls (once I made them work for NA. Very speedy and can select 13/18 or 14/19 for example) ~ Just about endless LNB configurations, some not supported/configurable in any other STB ~ manual PID ~ polarity scanning ~ full FTP support of course. ~ advanced data, shows you just about everything with the stream, even bitrates!

Did I mention free YOUPORN???

There is a ton more, this is what is off the top of my head. The supporter of the spark O/S is constantly adding things, plus you can put different Enigma 2 on there, it is duel boot, so you can run both O/S. Linux guys can do a TON more, I did quite a bit barely knowing Linux. Nothing is really locked down from what I see.

I had to do a TON to make this work here. The current editor doesn’t allow certain changes needed to make the N.A. birds work, and there were no NA bird. Had to get into the code to make that happen, took forever. The complexity probably approaches the recoding vendig has to do for remapping/retiling the 4DTV stuff. But now that its done, works well. I also re-coded it to use our private browsing setup/server instead of the default EU one with a bunch of junk we don’t want/use. Reset a bunch of other stuff for our market.

Oh…picture…noticeably better than AZ or OpenBox.

Retail pricepoint was to be $190 – $200 shipped

Here is what stopped me: no blindscan. It is coming, but if you buy the current Alien STB you won’t be able to get it. I think the guys that use an OpenBox to blindscan and then an AZ to watch are hokey. I had to do this, sure it works but is a pain. Anyway, worked a ton with the manufactuer and I guess it just cant be done with current alien. I therefore had to hand enter all the active C-band and Ku band transponders. Once done it is a super fast scanner, way faster than any of our other STBs. Just not a feedhunter.

To correct one other misconception, it does NOT do 4:2:2. I’ve got AZ and Prof that do it and haven’t had anything decent 4:2:2 to get me to hook them up in many months.

I absolutely cannot understate how much different and awesome this box is compared to any other….except for the blindscan! Total night and day compared to OpenBox, much better with more features than AZ at half the price. Really makes OpenBox look Kmart and AZ look more difficult than it already is.

Main satellite screen with our N.A. database.

One of the available games/apps on the Portal.

Google Talk app. Live IM & more right on your TV. Super awesome with the wireless keyboard/trackpad.

Iconcerts app. Watched Black Eyed Peas, Korn & Johnny Cash for testing.

CineTrailer App. Watch full trailers for stuff on DVD, in theaters, and upcoming films. FYI all the “apps” are FREE.

Browsing thru the App Store on the Portal.

Initiating an online firmware update.

Background/booting one of the Enigma 2 images I tested on the duel boot.

Testing my ancient USB HDD. Alien will give you a good idea of the speeds you should be able to record & playback at.

Retail/giftbox for the wireless keyboard/trackpad. This makes browsing the web using the Opera Browser and much of the portal operation much easier, about like browsing on a computer….with a 47” screen!

Very easy to use and stable Youtube browser. You can also “rip” youtube videos to your HDD or network drive with a couple pushes on the remote. I also enabled HTML5 for Youtube in our image, so you can use Opera Browser on much of the main Youtube site.

FridgeFTA Forums on the Opera Browser. This was from earlier firmware, the “FreeDBS counter” java runs properly on the current version. I also did some re-coding and fixed a few minor bugs on my own and built a North American Opera Portal. The EU/Amiko was of little use to us here.

YOUPORN! You know you want it LOL. Clips and movies in every category imaginable. Has parental controls (pre-set in our image) and you can hide it on the portal list entirely if you want.

Easy access to many online features including Shoutcast radio. This is from the original test firmware, current has the “portal” on this list as well.

Wired and wireless N is very easy and quick to setup. Other than my security key I didn’t need to know anything, Alien set everything for me.

Main Menu. Quick access to everything from here. Newest firmware also lists the portal.

Audio/video setup, very easy. Alien also features “auto” mode that finds the best NTSC or PAL mode for your TV. There is a VFORMAT button that actually works and shows you resolution settings on the Alien LCD should you ever get stuck.

Notification and download settings. When set like this the engineers sent out a “merry xmas and new firmware available notice that showed up like a scrolling news ticker when I was watching TV.

The Alien internals are extremely high quality, unlike OpenBox or most others on the N.A. market. Most internals are designed/manufactured my Funai, and the Alien is built in Hungary. Sharp tuner, STi processor @ 450MHz I believe, 2×128Mb SDRAM.

Manual switches and cardslot are hidden behind the very nice front panel which is hinged at the bottom, magnetically secured at the top. When closed, Alien has a very minimalistic yet slick appearance.

Back panel options are HDMI at up to 1080p, SCART (EU), composite/analog/CVBS up to 576i, RCA audio and coaxial/digital audio out. 1-USB (hub compatable), 1-serial and 1-ethernet port. Wireless N is a thumb size module for approximately +$10USD.

Automatic scrolling firmware update available notification. This can be turned off in the options.

Other tidbits from discussions

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In addition to modding the linux and adding stuff, the “plugs” are simple linux based. The guide is like only a page long! If you can compile simple linux, you just made a plugin.
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Build quality is as good as AZ. Actually, it is the same case as S10 but the guts are quality rather than cheap. I think S10 uses the cheapest case version of this.

It runs cool, no problems at all with motor. It moves it super fast just using the 13/18 instead of 14/19 setting. Quality/warranty would be the last thing I would worry about with Alien.

The manufacturer proposed kinda what you are saying as a blindscan alternative. They offered to give me access to the spark download thing so I could post lists. 2 problems: our wildfeeds here come and go faster than I could input them, burn a file and update it, plus I of course wouldn’t release the Americanized code since none of the other idiots know how to re-code the USALS to work in NA.

If we went with this I would probably do what we do with SatHero, make a regular update file available on our Alien FTP.

For feeds, I can send our wildfeeds VIA the RSS feature, in the private browser or just get them here at fridge or ricks. Still have to manual input the TP and scan it though.
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It is a sharp tuner. Unscientifically speaking my observations put it in the same sensitivity range as OpenBox.
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Quote:Couple questions – any idea if it will stream from places like Amazon video on demand, netflix, and the network sites (nbc.com, etc)?

Any parental controls? I appreciate the broad range of apps, but would want to hide some of them from my kid.

Not Amazon or netflix at this time, but I see it either coming, or the flash implementation improving to where the linux guys might be able to “hack” it in there. For now, answer is no for netflix.

Youporn has parental controls pre-set in our image and can be hidden from the list entirely.
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Boot time is about 1 minute, vs forever on AZ. Box runs fast. Not duel core AMD HTPC, but fast for a STB doing all it does.

Real time software based 4:2:2 transcode and display? Agree, while it might work in software it would be beyond the processing power of any STB.
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Quote: I’m (ass)uming you can play a recording while recording a different program.

yes it has that feature, not sure how many at once. Different Enigma2’s can record like a billion and watch another I guess LOL. Update: Spark O/S can record 1 while watching any other on the TP, tested and works great!
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Here is one of the advanced info screens. Highlights include realtime info on bitrate, resolution, service ID, provider and CAS. It detects CAS systems that none of our NA or the other EU/Asia boxes I’ve seen can do such as PowerVu.

Alien automatically identifies HD channels. This was a quick “show me the HD channels” Otherwise if you pull up all, a single satellite pr favorite list, “HD” appears next to the HD ones.

This is what I have in there at the moment for SES-2 Ku transponders. For each transponder there is a S2 setting. It will only lock S2 when set to S2 and puts the little S2 icon next to the appropriate transponders, Positive way to ID S2. No cumbersome Qpsk/8psk or pilot settings, that is all automatic. FEC can be auto (the way I set all in the file) or you can manual do the FEC rate.

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1. USB port does everything. USB HDD, upgrade, wireless module, wireless keyboard and whatever else. I got a cheap $10 unpowered 4-port hub hooked to the test unit here.

2. It has 2×128Mb internal memory. I’ve dumped files on and off the internal using FTP/telnet. Might be a way for the linux guys to tell it there is a phoney HDD there, but that is not what the internal memory is for.

3. Red/white is RCA analog audio out, yellow is composite analog, just like any other STB except this should support 576i and 480i on there. Also coaxial digitial audio out on one of those RCA’s. Never tried it dont have anything to hook it to.

Yes, you can take the analog crap and hook to VCR or DVD recorder. But that defeats the whole purpose of this thing. Record on network drive (to your computer) and burn off your DVD burner in digital quality.

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Thanks for the reminder, testing out same USB DVD player as I used with AZ for testing….

In spark it wouldnt recognize it as a drive that I could see. I did remember that E2/Dreambox supports DVD players. Booted it in E2, went to the DVD explorer or whatever it is. Detected drive, showed 2 drives (I assume player + disc). Couldnt get to play. Could be me, could be drive. Also was too dumb to figure out how to back out of the DVD explorer, I am really E2 dumb. Did find that E2 would play from internal memory though like you asked about. Presented me the entire linux structure to look thru and find files to play.

For the Spark O/S assuming it just dont like this player I would think that they will have DVD player support in there soon since it is a big in demand feature for EU.
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Quote:I’m a crackhead when it comes to blind scan. Gotta have my blind scan. Hope that gets worked out because I like what I see … just gotta have my blindscan. Don’t EU birds have wildfeeds?

You wont get any argument out of me there. That’s why this wasn’t released on 1/1/2012.

Either they don’t have as many ITC or not as many people interested or both. Remember, every FTA receiver there is also a subscription receiver, plus they have hundreds of full time True FTA channels. Not crap Globecast ones either! That is their big market. All those transponders, satellites and services were pre-programmed into Alien or any other non-blindscan receiver, plus Spark Online has constantly updated downloadable lists for EU.

E2’s that I have tried even have the service channels in the image. Basically insert your CAM or card, tune the channel with one of these. Many of their STB’s like dreambox and AZbox take cable tuners and DVB-T (their OTA) as well.

Remember the hobby market here is very tiny. Same with EU, probably way less.

Many of the exchanges with the manufacturer involved explaining how our pay satellite market is so different than theirs and how our customers/users are all hobbyists aiming for feeds that come, go and change all the time.
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weather forecaster, set for my area:

Can bring up weather and other things 1-touch while watching tv. Notice the city name is cut off? Nope. EVERYTHING that is longer than a display area (channel name, file name, option ect) actively scrolls!

On the fly recording….except it is record-paused. Used to cut out commercials or anything else. Push record key again, instantly starts recording to the same file! Also played a bit with recording on RT, changing to Al Jazeera (same TP), messing around in menus, IP features. Many options work including Shoutcast Radio and Kartina IPTV while it is recording satellite.

Push the recall button. It don’t go back to the last channel, it shows you the last 10 you tuned to. I love it

Live streaming of Kartina TV (IPTV) on my 47″ screen. This is MTV Russia. They actually play Music Vids unlike MTV USA. It’s English videos right now. Alien is still recording RT off the satellite while playing with this.

Kartina TV test setup.

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Quote:Does the clock work right on this thing?

If you mean like the clocks in other FTA boxes….HELL NO!

I left Alien plugged in for over 2 weeks straight running on internal/manual set time. Total drift was maybe 2 minutes over the whole 2 weeks. Now which one drifted, my cheap alarm clock for reference or the Alien? LOL

OpenBox S10 drifts 2 minutes a day on a good day. I’ve seen Fortecs and Pansats lose 10 minutes a day, so with Alien losing 2 minutes in 2 weeks I’d say it has an awesome internal clock.
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As I said this certainly wasn’t a formal review. It’s a summary and clips from various questions and discussions. I’ve got more material I will add, and we will be doing Forum sections for Alien, E2, Linux development and more. I’ll put up some stuff there too, as well as our private Alien FTP for the guys getting the early Aliens.

Other than getting one, probably the best way to learn more is to ask questions in this thread. Ask away…..

Quite a few questions have came up about PLL and DRO LNB/LNBFs. There has even been some criticism from certain people in the industry. Many people don’t understand DRO or PLL. This FAQ should address most questions concerning DRO v PLL and explain what each will and will not do.

Q. What part of a LNB/LNBF does DRO or PLL refer to?

A. Every LNB/LNBF needs to generate a frequency known as the L.O. (Local Oscillator) frequency. This is used to mix with the satellite signal and to output a lower frequency that your satellite receiver can tune to. This is commonly called the “LNB frequency” in your STB settings. Examples are 10600, 10750 and 11250. DRO and PLL are two different L.O. types and methods used to generate the LNB frequency.

Q. What is the difference between DRO and PLL oscillators?

A. DRO (Dielectric Resonator Oscillator) is a simple device usually consisting of a ceramic disc that resonates at a desired frequency. DRO’s are usually inexpensive, fluctuate greatly with temperature changes, and are typically not very stable. High stability DRO’s do exist and are very expensive. DRO’s used in cheap LNB/LNBFs are of the inexpensive, less stable design, with a typical stability of +/- 1MHz to 3MHz.

PLL (Phase Locked Loop) oscillators, simply put, use a more accurate reference clock and a circuit that repeatedly feeds back the output signal and adjusts its output to be accurate and stable. PLLs are typically more expensive, especially for higher frequencies and are used in devices where a high degree of accuracy is required. PLLs do not suffer nearly as much from temperature/frequency variations. PLL’s in commercial grade expensive LNB/LNBFs have stabilities from +/- 500kHz all the way down to 25kHz or better.

Q. Who uses DRO LNB/LNBFs?

A. DRO’s are typically used in cheaper LNB/LNBFs by end users that do not require a high degree of accuracy for signal conversion and reception. They work sufficiently to lock large bandwidth or “fat” signals such as most DVB-S MPEG-2 carriers that do not require sophisticated equipment or accuracy to receive. Manufacturers use DRO’s for end user products because of ease of manufacture and super low cost. A good example of where a DRO performs “adequately” would be most of the religious and ethnic programming on 97W/Galaxy 19. These powerful and out of date DVB-S MPEG-2 signals do not require stability and accuracy for decent reception. Almost any brand low quality LNB/LNBF will work for these type of signals.

Q. Who uses PLL LNB/LNBFs?

A. Until recently PLLs have been used almost exclusively by commercial customers that require a high degree of accuracy, stability, and the ability to lock low bandwidth and/or weak satellite signals. Some well off hardcore hobbyists run similar equipment to commercial setups, typically costing $300 – $1000+ for the individual feed and LNBs.

Q. Will a PLL LNB/LNBF outperform a typical DRO?

A. Normally yes, but not always. It depends on the type of signal. The before mentioned “fat” and powerful DVB-S MPEG-2 signals on 97W/Galaxy 19 already come in super strong and perform well on outdated equipment. A PLL is not needed nor will it help much under these conditions. In fact, if you have a fixed, dedicated dish and a middle of the road LNBF optimized for that dish you might be able to achieve slightly better levels than a PLL on the same setup. If you happen to be one of the very few people that only receives religious or ethnic programming for 97W with a dedicated MPEG-2 only system a DRO will work just fine. For the remaining 99.999% of the market a PLL will almost always outperform any of the cheap DRO’s on the market.

I do see some gain on 97W with a PLL, but nothing dramatic and nothing compared to PLL performance on more difficult signals.

-A PLL will almost always significantly outperform DRO on weak signals.
-A PLL will almost always significantly outperform DRO on DVB-S2 signals.
-A PLL will almost always significantly outperform DRO on high FEC signals.
-A PLL will lock and bring in signals that even a good DRO cannot.

Q. Why does a PLL perform better on difficult signals?

A. A simple analogy would be threading a needle. Someone with shaky hands (a less stable DRO) will probably be able to thread a big needle (fat, strong signal) successfully. A steady handed person (high stability PLL) can thread the same needle with the same results. Now take a fine needle with a very small head (narrow bandwidth DVB-S2 signal). The shaky hands (less stable DRO) either cannot do it at all or will be very slow and poor performing at the task. The non-shaking hands (PLL with stable signal) is able to thread the small needle without much difficulty.

Q. If a PLL is so much better and more expensive, how does DMS suddenly have them at a low price?

A. A manufacturer recently developed a whole PLL oscillator on a single IC for Ku band applications. The IC is manufactured in great quantities (30,000pc minimum order) allowing prices to come down compared to other PLL LNBs. The technology advancement along with the manufacturing quantity has dropped the cost to build a PLL LNB/LNBF significantly.

Q. Why doesn’t anyone else have an inexpensive PLL yet?

A. They will eventually. None of the American distributors have the money or influence to buy the 30,000pc minimum of the new IC. They will have to wait for a company in China to do it, and then buy smaller quantities of an “off the shelf” with a private label on it. DMS is partnered with the Taiwan company that manufactures the new Ku PLL.

Strangely enough, one of the other USA satellite distributors that is highly critical of PLLs attempted to buy the PLL from the Taiwan company and became critical of the PLL and company only after being turned down!

Q. Who are the main critics of the new Ku PLL, and PLL’s in general?

A. Distributors and dealers with warehouses full of outdated DRO’s that are not selling. Guys that have a narrow range of customers that only aim at 97W/Galaxy 19. Guys that have not tested it for themselves.

Q. Do I really need to buy a PLL?

A. Depends.

If all you receive is “fat” DVB-S MPEG-2 like 97W/Galaxy 19 and you don’t have signal issues or missing channels, what you have will work just fine.

If you are a typical FTA hobbyist, you will benefit from a PLL. You will get higher signal strengths (quality) on most signals, higher rain fade resistance, higher stability. You will almost certainly be able to bring in more channels and stabilize weaker and borderline feeds. PLL will help stabilize troublesome DVB-S2 signals. If you have problems with Montana PBS, NBC S2, FSTV or LPBS the PLL will likely help. If you feedhunt you should lock more wildfeeds and bring in many of the weaker ones.

Q. Will a PLL solve every issue?

A. No. There are always limits such as your other equipment, installation, or signals that are just out of reach. This will always be the case in the FTA hobby at any level. PLL will almost certainly significantly improve and stabilize your current hobby system and allow you to get the maximum out of your dish size and DVB-S2 STB.

A personal message from the owner/administrator of FridgeFTA, please read…

If you attempted to visit FridgeFTA Forums on January 18 you probably received the message below.

Please read this entire article to learn why FridgeFTA True FTA Forums joined in this protest and how SOPA/PIPA could affect YOU.

If you visited other popular websites such as Wikipedia and Craigslist you likely saw similar screens. FridgeFTA joined thousands of websites in protest of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) which are quickly making their way thru the USA House and Senate.

I have been unusually silent on SOPA and PIPA, mainly due to FridgeFTA being one of the few real True FTA sites out there. I didn’t want any misunderstanding or confusion with FridgeFTA standing against SOPA/PIPA and possibly being viewed as “pro-pirate”.

I also was not fully briefed on SOPA/PIPA. Contrary to what “they” want you to believe, SOPA/PIPA does not just affect foreign piracy sites. It can and will be used to attack legitimate USA and Canadian websites and businesses.

Tuesday evening I was convinced that FridgeFTA needed to stand against this legislation. The main site page was blacked out just after midnight Wednesday without warning, similar to what will happen under SOPA/PIPA. Hopefully this got your attention and will raise your awareness of what is happening.

I am going to illustrate 3 examples of how this legislation could be used against FridgeFTA. You can use similar examples to show how private companies, WITH NO JUDICIAL OVERSIGHT, could take down almost any USA site they don’t like.

Basically, any private company could claim a trademark, copyright or intellectual property infringement. They could go right to our host with a notice and have our sites shut down without notice to us. They could go to PayPal and have our accounts frozen, effectively shutting down the business end and our ability to pay for hosting, domain names and legal defense. They can even request and require that ISP’s and search engines block us. ALL THIS WITH NO WARRANT, SUBPOENA, COURT ORDER OR EVEN LAW ENFORCEMENT OVERSIGHT. Next they could sue. Lawsuits are normally not about right or wrong or the truth, they are about who has the bigger bankroll and higher buck attorneys.

A certain satellite provider does not like us or our criticism of them.
Said provider can go to our host and claim we are a piracy site. They can site a few examples of real satellite pirate sites and have us shut down and our accounts frozen. A web host won’t have a clue about FTA, True FTA or piracy, but the one sided demand from the satellite provider would certainly only brief them on the piracy side of FTA. Under SOPA/PIPA our host & PayPal would have to comply with the shutdown demand, just like as if it was a court order.

Let’s say we did a news story about said provider and used their logo or a picture of their dish in the story. This is perfectly legal under “fair use” as it is part of reporting on said provider. However, that provider could just claim an infringement and have us shut down. Under SOPA/PIPA it is shut down first, investigate (maybe) later, if you have the know-how and money to counter the claim.

A feed provider decides they don’t like us reporting on them or discussing their feeds
They could use the same or similar methods to the first example to have us shut down.

A member posts an article, hotlinks a picture from another site, or puts up a link (live or dead) to a “piracy” site or anywhere else that a company does not approve of.
FridgeFTA staff would be fully responsible, even if we were not aware of it, even if we don’t host the materials. A company could have us shut down for having the link, image, reference or whatever. Again, it doesn’t have to be proven that the suspect material is illegal or infringing, it only needs to look that way on the surface. Under SOPA/PIPA we basically would have to censor all offsite links, images, media and everything else. If we miss ONE, we can be sued!

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Under USA and international law there is already a system in place to deal with this sort of thing. I have personally used it against USA and EU sites that have stolen our materials and used them in store ads and/or for commercial gain. Under the DMCA and international copyright I send a notice to the infringer of the infringement, establish our right/ownership of the materials, and demand that it is removed. Normally this is enough and works well. If not, I send the same notice to the site host and they will either remove the material or shutdown the site. If the material is on a 3rd party site like Wordpress, ebay or craigslist the process is similar. The infringing site is informed right away and can remove the material without shutdown and can file a simple counterclaim if they believe they are entitled to the materials. It would then need to go to a court for shutdown/removal. Legal oversight is required.

Under SOPA/PIPA there is no notice to the site, and no judicial/legal oversight in the takedown process. If you are wrongly accused it is an instant legal battle you must instigate to get your site/materials back online…if you can.

If the infringing material is on ebay or craigslist, they can be sued and shutdown even though they did not post it or have notice to remove it.

As you can see by the above examples, SOPA/PIPA can easily be abused and used against legitimate websites. It is not benign legislation that will only affect foreign (or domestic) pirate sites.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

1. Go to http://americancensorship.org/

a. If you are in the USA, fill out the first form with name, address, email and submit. This will send the letter to the right to your local congress people and senators urging them to oppose SOPA/PIPA. Don’t worry, the address is used for the system to locate your representative, not to send you junk mail. THIS TAKES 30 SECONDS OF YOUR DAY.
b. If you are outside the USA you can still help. Scroll down that page, sign the petition for the state department.
c. If you use twitter, facebook or other social media, express your opposition to SOPA/PIPA. Post links to this article or to other sites with information on SOPA/PIPA.
d. If you run a website or blog, post about your opposition. Link to this article or to other sites/articles with information on SOPA/PIPA.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for taking action to oppose SOPA/PIPA.

Joe
FridgeFTA administrator/owner

Update, 14:54pm Eastern.

-3 co-sponsors of SOPA & PIPA have withdrawn their support for the bills due to the online protests! http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technolo…gress.html

-Called to speak to my senator, Al Franken (D-MN). Received a voicemail. The voicemail was full. As of this time Franken is a supporter of PIPA in the senate according to http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/

-Called to speak with my representative, John Kline (R-MN, USMC retired). Got to speak with someone right away, expressed my concerns. Was told that Mr. Kline released a statement a short while ago against SOPA due to the infringement upon Freedom of Speech. At the end of the call they requested my address, I assume to send me something. Felt like Mr. Kline’s office genuinely cared. Mr. Kline statement: http://kline.house.gov/index.cfm?section…temid=1979
“I am not a co-sponsor of this bill, and do not support the legislation because it fails to maintain the freedom of expression provided by the Constitution and infringes on our liberties.”

-Called to speak with my other senator, Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Was able to speak with someone and leave a rushed comment in opposition to PIPA. Asked Ms. Klobuchar’s position, was told she was a co-sponsor but has not announced how she would vote.

Update 17:26 Eastern
-I looked over the other major True FTA sites & suppliers and even some of the little ones…sad to say that other than FridgeFTA only Scott at Satelliteguys stood up and did anything to oppose SOPA/PIPA with his site today.

Please note that this does not apply to CANADA and US Territories.

Lately there have been some issues with international ordering and shipping, so we have to strictly enforce the following new terms which will be added to the International terms & conditions soon:

a. We will NOT accept international credit card payments or PayPal payments and ship to a USA or Canadian address unless the address is PayPal verified and is listed as the shipping address in PayPal and the order. Adding a different address to “notes/instructions” is unacceptable. Any such order will be voided. As we are charged higher fees for international payments, there will be a fee from us to you.

b. The website and the ordering dropdown for each product specifically lists the countries you can order from online, which are USA/PR/GUAM and CANADA. If you place an order from Mexico, Brasil, EU or elsewhere on the store site it will be automatically voided. You must CONTACT US for special order outside USA and CANADA.

c. If you wish to use a forwarder, the forwarder’s address must be PayPal verified and listed as the shipping address. Payment must be made with a USA PayPal account or credit card. This normally means you will need the forwarder to make the purchase for you.

d. We assume absolutely no liability for shipments outside the USA and CANADA. Duties, import fees, VAT, ect are the customer’s responsibility.

e. WE DO NOT WARRANTY ANY PRODUCTS FOR USE OUTSIDE OF THE USA/PR/GUAM and CANADA. If the manufacturer offers a warranty any issue must be handled thru them.

f. The following products are not exported outside of the USA/PR/GUAM and CANADA: OpenBox S10, SkyBox S12, AZbox, SatHero. They are specifically configured for our market only. We may make exceptions on a case by case basis for established customers.

g. WE DO NOT SHIP OR DO BUSINESS WITH THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES: IRAN, IRAQ, NORTH KOREA, CUBA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, PALESTINE, PAKISTAN, YEMEN, SAUDI ARABIA, LEBANON. We do not ship to Africa except for the following countries: Egypt, South Africa. Exceptions are only made for US State Department or Armed Forces orders.

h. All international orders are subject to a 5 business day or longer hold.

i. We reserve the right to make exceptions for established international customers.

Since we introduced the latest version S10 with Y/Pb/Pr video to North America it has been a struggle to keep up with demand. Most shipments pre-sold before arrival and any remaining stock would sell within hours.

We *finally* have sufficient units in stock and available now.

All of our S10’s are the latest model with component video and many other improvements covered here: http://www.openboxs10.info/?p=513

Each unit is individually tested and then flashed with our private North American private True FTA Firmware before shipping. Private 1-on-1 support and posting access in our OpenBox Forums is also included.

Get the new version S10 at either of our sites:
http://store.fridgefta.info/?page_id=1102
http://www.OpenBoxS10.info

Normally when I review and test something new I start out talking about the product, how I tested it, what makes it different and things like that. With the Avenger PLL321-S2 it is only fair to start out talking about other products.

FridgeFTA did introductory pricing on the PLL321-S2 before testing to reward those with faith in DMS International and FridgeFTA. You made the right move and will NOT be disappointed.

Avenger PLL321-S2 surrounded by obsolete LNBFs.

Now that the other LNBFs are out of the way we can talk about the new Avenger PLL321-S2. Three things make the PLL321-S2 stand out.

1. High Stability PLL (Phase Locked Loop) Local Oscillator. Simply put, this is an expensive, higher tech way to generate the reference frequency for the LNB. The higher the stability, the easier you can lock weak, narrow and/or high FEC signals. Avenger PLL321-S2 has a stability of 300kHz, compared to other Ku LNBFs that are 1MHz if lucky to 3MHz or worse. PLLs are used in $200+ commercial grade LNBs and LNBFs.

2. Low noise figure. PLL321-S2 is a 0.1dB N.F. LNBF. Many commercial high stability LNB/LNBF generate more noise, partially offsetting the stability advantage. Not so with the PLL321-S2.

3. Price. The Avenger PLL321-S2 is priced at a hair fraction of commercial grade LNBs/LNBFs.

First Impressions
As usual, MrTim and DMSI introduce and deliver a product to me during a rainstorm, blizzard, tornado or other natural disaster. Today only started at 1F with constant high winds blowing across the field. A little less than ideal conditions to work outside in and test products.

First thing I did was to unbox a PLL and check it out. Smaller than Spitfire. Black. Then something fell out of the box: a black matching rubberized weatherboot. Cool!

Feed throat opening appears a bit bigger than other Ku LNBFs but not by much. The “neck” where the LNBF clamp attaches is also a bit longer than Spitfire, allowing more in/out adjustment to fine tune your focal point for maximum signal.

Testing
Testing was rather straightforward. An Avenger 322 has spend most of its time on the new version Hotdish90 out here. I picked out some of the low symbol rate, low data rate Ku DVB-S2 signals that I know are pesky, along with some others. I then used a SkyBox S12 to move to each, and read the SNR off the loopthru using a DC blocked SatHero with latest firmware/Nov standard update.

After doing so I went out in the freezing cold and quickly swapped in the PLL321-S2. I did not fine tune its position or tweek it on the meter, just slapped it in as fast as I could in the cold.

Next I flashed the universal november file to SH to match the PLL and switched the settings in S12 to match…..

First test transponder read almost +5dB SNR higher!!!!

Here are the test transponders and results.

72W AMC6
12048H (no channels) +4.65dB

83W AMC9
11735H (RTV/TUFF TV) +3.90dB

87W SES-2
11808H (LPBS) +1.95dB
12010H (KTEL) +0.30dB
12044V (FL CH) +3.6dB

105W AMC15
12136V (no channels) +0.45dB

121W EchoStar9
12089H (no channels) +0.0dB

123W G18
11772V (UWTV) +1.8dB
11838V (FSTV) +3.3dB
11965V (Peace TV) +0.0dB

125W AMC21
12106V (Montana PBS) +2.10dB
12114V (OKLA/OETA) +1.20dB

I had ASSumed before testing that a PLL LNBF wouldn’t do much good on “fat” DVB-S signals. The RTV results of +3.90dB SNR proved that conclusion dead wrong. I wish I had tested more DVB-S with the 322 before switching to the PLL.

I also didn’t think that there would be much difference on decent strength DVB-S2. Wrong again. Just about all the DVB-S2 I tested here was fairly strong. The weakest was 12048H on 72W which went from 7.35dB to 12.00dB, the highest gain observed in testing.

Average across all testing was +1.94dB SNR.

Aside from regular use and stabilizing pesky signals, I see a ton of applications for the PLL: Back of the 621 for C/Ku, multiple Ku LNBFs per dish and possibly excellent results with scalar sidecar come to mind.

Only disadvantages I observed is the well known DiseqC 1.2 fine tuning cutout on vertical transponders with ALi based STBs. Not the PLL’s fault at all, it is the way 22kHz reacts in the ALi boxes. Not much of a concern compared to the gains with the PLL321-S2.

The other thing was that SatHero was jumping around alot. This could be the increased sensitivity of the new firmware or the high winds that were buffeting my dish, or a combination of the two. I will investigate this further, but SH works fine with the PLL otherwise.

Conclusions
I started this article with them. Only other conclusion I have is the guys that got the introductory pricing got a heck of a steal. This is the “MUST HAVE” Ku LNBF. Get them now before FridgeFTA or DMS realizes we priced them too low!!!

Get the Avenger PLL321-S2 at http://store.fridgefta.info/?page_id=1490