rato
International Administrator
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2005
- Messages
- 1,429
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 38
- Age
- 54
- My Satellite Setup
-
DM800; Nokia 9800s; Nokia 9902S w/T-Rex 3.66
w/ Inverto IDLP-40TL +
Technisat 33 dish; Pace DS430N + Humax HDCI-2000 w/
Gibertini OP 1.25m dish w/Inverto 0.3dB. & Invacom 0.2dB. w/ Spaun SAR 411;
CAS 3;FUN7; SkyStar2; AltDVB;
- My Location
- Setubal, Portugal
The Tv Cabo package is the first and the oldest of the two DTH via satellite packages in Portugal. Owned by PT Multimedia, a subsidary of Portugal Telecom, The have been on Hispasat 30ºW since late 1998.
Dish sizes in Portugal go from 40cm to 60cm but the Technisat 33cm dish will give you a great signal if you are in the 52 to 54 dbW EIRP footprint. Signal is strong and easy to receive all over Europe.
They started off with around 15 Nagravision 1 encrypted channels, and now are with 50+ channels in Nagravision 2(rom 110), which includes the famous Sport TV1 & 2 for transmitting the Portuguese football league. The Lusomundo Cinema channels and 4 Video-on-Demand channels. In terms of channel diversity goes from Eurosport to Fox and even three different Discovery channels.
Channel Frequencies and listings per transponder:
11577 V SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Discovery Turbo; Discovery Civilization; Discovery Sience; MTV Music; MTV Base U.K.; MTV Two; VH1 Europe; Nickelodeon Portugal; TCM Europe; Canal Parlamento; Porto Canal; Al Jazeera Channel
11617 V SR 27500 FEC 5/6
Sailing Channel; Travel Channel U.K.; ESPN Classic Europe; Baby TV; Zone Reality Europe; Bloomberg TV Europe; Funtastic Life Channel(Promo Tv Cabo)
11731 H SR 28126 FEC 5/6
Fox; Fox Life; Disney Channel Portugal
11771 H SR 27500
Canal Historia; VOD Estreias1 & 2; VOD Êxitos 1 & 2; The Biography Channel Portugal & Spain; VH1 Classic Europe; Mezzo; Sky New International; MCM Top; BBC Prime Europe; Infinito Latino; XXL(22h30 to 03h00)
11811 H SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Canal Acolhimento(TV Cabo); Canal Panda; SIC Radical; SIC Notícias; RTPN; RTP1; 2: ; SIC; TVI; Millennium BCP TV(For the Portuguese BCP Bank branches, not available for home viewing)
11851 H SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Discovery Channel Iberia; Canal Hollywood; Odisseia; Fashon TV; MTV Portugal; Playboy TV Iberia, CNN International; M6; Lusomundo Action; Sport TV1; Lusomundo Gallery, Lusomundo Premium
11891 H SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Canal Progamação(TV Cabo); TVE International Europe; RTL Deutschland; TV5 Monde Europe; CNBC Europe; Arte Français; Eurosport News; RAI Uno; RTP Memória; RTP Madeira(for Madeira Islands only); TV de Galicia Europa; Lusomundo Happy; Lusomundo Premium +1; Lusomundo Gallery +1
12012 V SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Euronews; Sic Mulher; People + Arts; Canal Parlamento(Portugal); National Geographic Channel Portugal; AXN; RTP Africa; Cartoon Network U.K.; Extreme Sports Channel; BBC World(FTA); France 24 English(FTA); VH1 Europe A; Sport TV2; Venus Argentina
Curiosities:
Known for there bad image quality, to save bandwidth, most of the channels are reduced to the resolution of 480 x 576 (ex.: RTP1, 2: , SIC, TVI), others at 540 x 576 (ex.: SIC Noticias)and just a very few are at the regular PAL norm of 720 x 576 (ex: Fox, Disney), not to mention the number of channels per transponders. None of the Lusomundo Channels have the option of Dolby Digital and are also reduced in terms of image quality. The Video On Demand shows a "streched to fit screen"type of image, but the bad image quality is there( no Dolby Digital option either). At least Portugal is one of the few countries in Europe that has subtitles in every program or movie that's not in Portuguese, so the only language choice in the language menu is Portuguese, but you get to hear the original soundtrack.
Sport Tv1 & 2 must have the most audiences on the weekend, due to the fact that they have contract with certain football clubs and the rights for F1 season. The sport commentators are in Portuguese and are very annoying(sorta' like watching a Chelsea vs. Man. Utd. game with a golf commentatorO-zzz!). When an F1 race is on, you get more commercials than any Shop TV channel or Ringtone ads and most of the races, they cut the transmission off right after the finish:-Nooo! Since RTP which is the public tv channel lost the F1 rights, a lot of Portuguese started putting up 1,00m dishes pointing to 28,2ºE and prefer to watch it on ITV(like me).Image quality on Sport Tv gets so bad that sometimes there are blackouts for half a second!!! They redirect so many signals back & forth that when it gets directed to transmit on Hispasat, the signal that gets to the Powerbox(which isn't any better either with signals), it's seems that the football field is a mixed green blob of ...well, you know what I meanO-no. Forget about the English Premiere League, only a few games are shown and some of them are not live, so scrap the idea of getting a TV Cabo card for watching as an alternative to Sky!
One of the most complained companys to consumers rights organizations in Portugal, the lack of customer service, awful & rude customer support via phone(saying to the customer that they"..... well will order to reinforce the sat signal"), or at the Tv Cabo shops, low quality STB boxes(Octal TV) a.k.a. "Powerbox", sometimes the installer changes up to three brand new STB that fail on installation, the term kaka(Portuguese for crap), has been used as a nickname on online forums. A par from having a 12V transformer, the Powerbox has a tendency to think it's a toaster, so don't even think of putting anything on top or in a cramped place! From so much heat, I've seen some cards in the Powerbox even change color! If you are thinking of getting the TV Cabo package abroad, be sure that who gets you it with an address in Portugal can then give you the support! Believe me that they are prone to fail! Mostly the transformer will die on you after about a year, but that you can get anywhere. If it's the Powerbox that faulty, that's a headache. You can't just take a Powerbox to the TV Cabo shop and say"I'm having a problem with my Powerbox!". They don't even touch it! They'll just say that someone must be sent to the address that the Powerbox is registered and pay the technician just for going to the address, plus hours:madbelieve me, I've had the experience with my dad's Powerbox!)(-red). So be prepared, if your living out of Portugal and that "toaster" dies on you, forget it. Get a new one.
Any signal below the 55% quality mark is scratch so it's a good idea to get a bigger dish or a LNB with a lower dB factor. The Powerboxes don't get along well with Invacom's. They like Inverto's though but not the twin ones. If you leave a Powerbox off for a long time(ex. that villa home you have down in the Algarve), it will take a while for it to "warm up" and start showing you the image(sorta' like your grandad's old tube tvO-Ha) So don't call up TV Cabo support number, unless you like waiting on the phone for more than half an hour, the call being billed & when you get an assitant on the line, the Powerbox is now working!:-comp!
The EPG only shows what's on and what's next. Info is very limited and repeated on th EPG. Don't expect British punctuality here with show timing, they tend to be a little off(except for news at 20h). The interactive menus only works on the Powerboxes. Interactive menus are basic to crude, only showing multiviews choices when there are football matches(UEFA; Champions league). For selecting a Video On Demand movie, you can use the interactive menu which takes over a half a minute to download from the sat!
The Nagravision encryption system has been know for it's security faults, and is one of the most sought out package for software in STB boxes and CAM's. Tv Cabo has upgraded from Nagra 1 to Nagra 2 two years ago, making a massive card change to all of there customers(sat & cable), but after two months, Nagra 2 was cracked.This summer they have changed again all of there customer cards to a more upgraded version of Nagravision(ROM142), and this begining of Sept. 2007, a switch to the new version.
The card is "married" with the STB, which gives no chance in using it in a CAM and in another reciever. When lauched in 1998, a CAM+card option was available, and you could either get a Sagem or a Humax NA-FOX STB, but that luxury of options ended in the first month's of 2000. It was the arrival of the famous Octal micro DVB. I was fortunate enough to still purchase CAM + card when I bought my Nokia 9800 in 2000. When they changed the cards to Nagra2 and said it would not support the CAM anymore and had to exchange for a Powerbox, I cancelled my contract.
My only advice is if you REALLY like Portuguese football, you can always watch a game or two on Al Jazeera 1 at Nilesat 7ºW or on Santana Sports(even DigtalAlb has Portuguese football with better image quality & with English language option). Otherwise if you want just the Portuguese channels, you could bet on the new sat provider TV Tel which at least is more cheaper(7,95 Euros a month for 20 Conax coded channels). Sure the Techotrend STB is a clone of the Powerbox, but at least you can use the Conax card with a compatible CAM in you favorite receiver. Taking out the Fox & AXN channels(which you can get the same programs on Four & Five), it's not a good investment. The Lusomundo movies have no image quality on a plasma or LCd screen above 32 inches, no Dolby Digital option, and what they show has been available at you local DVD rental shop for at leat a year(with better video quality & soundtrack of course), and have been already shown on the Digital +Taquilas 6 months earlier with way better image quality and you can choose the movies you want. Some of the Video On Demand movies are shown on Film Four!!
Dish sizes in Portugal go from 40cm to 60cm but the Technisat 33cm dish will give you a great signal if you are in the 52 to 54 dbW EIRP footprint. Signal is strong and easy to receive all over Europe.
They started off with around 15 Nagravision 1 encrypted channels, and now are with 50+ channels in Nagravision 2(rom 110), which includes the famous Sport TV1 & 2 for transmitting the Portuguese football league. The Lusomundo Cinema channels and 4 Video-on-Demand channels. In terms of channel diversity goes from Eurosport to Fox and even three different Discovery channels.
Channel Frequencies and listings per transponder:
11577 V SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Discovery Turbo; Discovery Civilization; Discovery Sience; MTV Music; MTV Base U.K.; MTV Two; VH1 Europe; Nickelodeon Portugal; TCM Europe; Canal Parlamento; Porto Canal; Al Jazeera Channel
11617 V SR 27500 FEC 5/6
Sailing Channel; Travel Channel U.K.; ESPN Classic Europe; Baby TV; Zone Reality Europe; Bloomberg TV Europe; Funtastic Life Channel(Promo Tv Cabo)
11731 H SR 28126 FEC 5/6
Fox; Fox Life; Disney Channel Portugal
11771 H SR 27500
Canal Historia; VOD Estreias1 & 2; VOD Êxitos 1 & 2; The Biography Channel Portugal & Spain; VH1 Classic Europe; Mezzo; Sky New International; MCM Top; BBC Prime Europe; Infinito Latino; XXL(22h30 to 03h00)
11811 H SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Canal Acolhimento(TV Cabo); Canal Panda; SIC Radical; SIC Notícias; RTPN; RTP1; 2: ; SIC; TVI; Millennium BCP TV(For the Portuguese BCP Bank branches, not available for home viewing)
11851 H SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Discovery Channel Iberia; Canal Hollywood; Odisseia; Fashon TV; MTV Portugal; Playboy TV Iberia, CNN International; M6; Lusomundo Action; Sport TV1; Lusomundo Gallery, Lusomundo Premium
11891 H SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Canal Progamação(TV Cabo); TVE International Europe; RTL Deutschland; TV5 Monde Europe; CNBC Europe; Arte Français; Eurosport News; RAI Uno; RTP Memória; RTP Madeira(for Madeira Islands only); TV de Galicia Europa; Lusomundo Happy; Lusomundo Premium +1; Lusomundo Gallery +1
12012 V SR 27500 FEC 3/4
Euronews; Sic Mulher; People + Arts; Canal Parlamento(Portugal); National Geographic Channel Portugal; AXN; RTP Africa; Cartoon Network U.K.; Extreme Sports Channel; BBC World(FTA); France 24 English(FTA); VH1 Europe A; Sport TV2; Venus Argentina
Curiosities:
Known for there bad image quality, to save bandwidth, most of the channels are reduced to the resolution of 480 x 576 (ex.: RTP1, 2: , SIC, TVI), others at 540 x 576 (ex.: SIC Noticias)and just a very few are at the regular PAL norm of 720 x 576 (ex: Fox, Disney), not to mention the number of channels per transponders. None of the Lusomundo Channels have the option of Dolby Digital and are also reduced in terms of image quality. The Video On Demand shows a "streched to fit screen"type of image, but the bad image quality is there( no Dolby Digital option either). At least Portugal is one of the few countries in Europe that has subtitles in every program or movie that's not in Portuguese, so the only language choice in the language menu is Portuguese, but you get to hear the original soundtrack.
Sport Tv1 & 2 must have the most audiences on the weekend, due to the fact that they have contract with certain football clubs and the rights for F1 season. The sport commentators are in Portuguese and are very annoying(sorta' like watching a Chelsea vs. Man. Utd. game with a golf commentatorO-zzz!). When an F1 race is on, you get more commercials than any Shop TV channel or Ringtone ads and most of the races, they cut the transmission off right after the finish:-Nooo! Since RTP which is the public tv channel lost the F1 rights, a lot of Portuguese started putting up 1,00m dishes pointing to 28,2ºE and prefer to watch it on ITV(like me).Image quality on Sport Tv gets so bad that sometimes there are blackouts for half a second!!! They redirect so many signals back & forth that when it gets directed to transmit on Hispasat, the signal that gets to the Powerbox(which isn't any better either with signals), it's seems that the football field is a mixed green blob of ...well, you know what I meanO-no. Forget about the English Premiere League, only a few games are shown and some of them are not live, so scrap the idea of getting a TV Cabo card for watching as an alternative to Sky!
One of the most complained companys to consumers rights organizations in Portugal, the lack of customer service, awful & rude customer support via phone(saying to the customer that they"..... well will order to reinforce the sat signal"), or at the Tv Cabo shops, low quality STB boxes(Octal TV) a.k.a. "Powerbox", sometimes the installer changes up to three brand new STB that fail on installation, the term kaka(Portuguese for crap), has been used as a nickname on online forums. A par from having a 12V transformer, the Powerbox has a tendency to think it's a toaster, so don't even think of putting anything on top or in a cramped place! From so much heat, I've seen some cards in the Powerbox even change color! If you are thinking of getting the TV Cabo package abroad, be sure that who gets you it with an address in Portugal can then give you the support! Believe me that they are prone to fail! Mostly the transformer will die on you after about a year, but that you can get anywhere. If it's the Powerbox that faulty, that's a headache. You can't just take a Powerbox to the TV Cabo shop and say"I'm having a problem with my Powerbox!". They don't even touch it! They'll just say that someone must be sent to the address that the Powerbox is registered and pay the technician just for going to the address, plus hours:madbelieve me, I've had the experience with my dad's Powerbox!)(-red). So be prepared, if your living out of Portugal and that "toaster" dies on you, forget it. Get a new one.
Any signal below the 55% quality mark is scratch so it's a good idea to get a bigger dish or a LNB with a lower dB factor. The Powerboxes don't get along well with Invacom's. They like Inverto's though but not the twin ones. If you leave a Powerbox off for a long time(ex. that villa home you have down in the Algarve), it will take a while for it to "warm up" and start showing you the image(sorta' like your grandad's old tube tvO-Ha) So don't call up TV Cabo support number, unless you like waiting on the phone for more than half an hour, the call being billed & when you get an assitant on the line, the Powerbox is now working!:-comp!
The EPG only shows what's on and what's next. Info is very limited and repeated on th EPG. Don't expect British punctuality here with show timing, they tend to be a little off(except for news at 20h). The interactive menus only works on the Powerboxes. Interactive menus are basic to crude, only showing multiviews choices when there are football matches(UEFA; Champions league). For selecting a Video On Demand movie, you can use the interactive menu which takes over a half a minute to download from the sat!
The Nagravision encryption system has been know for it's security faults, and is one of the most sought out package for software in STB boxes and CAM's. Tv Cabo has upgraded from Nagra 1 to Nagra 2 two years ago, making a massive card change to all of there customers(sat & cable), but after two months, Nagra 2 was cracked.This summer they have changed again all of there customer cards to a more upgraded version of Nagravision(ROM142), and this begining of Sept. 2007, a switch to the new version.
The card is "married" with the STB, which gives no chance in using it in a CAM and in another reciever. When lauched in 1998, a CAM+card option was available, and you could either get a Sagem or a Humax NA-FOX STB, but that luxury of options ended in the first month's of 2000. It was the arrival of the famous Octal micro DVB. I was fortunate enough to still purchase CAM + card when I bought my Nokia 9800 in 2000. When they changed the cards to Nagra2 and said it would not support the CAM anymore and had to exchange for a Powerbox, I cancelled my contract.
My only advice is if you REALLY like Portuguese football, you can always watch a game or two on Al Jazeera 1 at Nilesat 7ºW or on Santana Sports(even DigtalAlb has Portuguese football with better image quality & with English language option). Otherwise if you want just the Portuguese channels, you could bet on the new sat provider TV Tel which at least is more cheaper(7,95 Euros a month for 20 Conax coded channels). Sure the Techotrend STB is a clone of the Powerbox, but at least you can use the Conax card with a compatible CAM in you favorite receiver. Taking out the Fox & AXN channels(which you can get the same programs on Four & Five), it's not a good investment. The Lusomundo movies have no image quality on a plasma or LCd screen above 32 inches, no Dolby Digital option, and what they show has been available at you local DVD rental shop for at leat a year(with better video quality & soundtrack of course), and have been already shown on the Digital +Taquilas 6 months earlier with way better image quality and you can choose the movies you want. Some of the Video On Demand movies are shown on Film Four!!