Got the VAST box.....

[gordon_s1942]

I rang the 1800-20-10-13 and this is how I understand what is CURRENTLY happening.
For the phony address in the current authorised Aurora area as per the ACMA map which comes under the Remote Central and Eastern Australia, the date to get the VAST stb operating is the 15th of December 2010 as MTV said.
For MY real address, not so good so far.
Even though I am listed as a NO Transmitter and NO predicted coverage , the first half of 2012 is the whole area switchover date including me, and also is to include those 'Black Spot' Aurora users who currently reside in this area.
I did make the comment that the website is rather vague and to me implies VAST is available NOW and this needs to be changed to avoid this annoying confusion.

[briand]

Wouldn't it be Dec 15th for the phony Aurora address and the time anologue is switched off in that area for real address....UNLESS you have Aurora card for blackspot for real address...correct me if i am wrong mtv please

The website says applications for access can be made 6 months before switch off in a particular area. It's not clear whether the service will be made available on approval of the application or whether we have to wait until the switch off date.
It seems to imply the latter. I have emailed MySatTv for clarification and will post the response when I get it.

[pc9]

Yup checked that.

I'm starting to wonder if the yellow on the MySat map are for place-marks only and don't in fact designate "yellow area"?

Mate - thats my take as well. The yellows appear to be place markers. There doesn't appear to be a facility to zoom in like in the Mildura area. Interested to know if Nhulunbuy is slated for re-transmission of digital services as the cost of 5 separate digital transmitters, even on relatively low power for each provider (ie Imarja, SCTV, 10, ABC, SBS) would, in a place like Nhulunbuy be prohibitive. Then there's the question of Yirrkala, Ski Beach etc. A lot of techncially challenging issues to deal with as well as the cost of maintenance.

What I have heard from industry people operating in the NT is that for all but the major centres, ie Darwin and Alice and possibly Katherine and Tennant, there will be an individual dish arrangement for householders, ie VAST. My mobile no is 0418981523.

[gordon_s1942]

The website says applications for access can be made 6 months before switch off in a particular area. It's not clear whether the service will be made available on approval of the application or whether we have to wait until the switch off date.
It seems to imply the latter. I have emailed MySatTv for clarification and will post the response when I get it.

What Briand has posted conforms with what I was told today by the 1800 number and you can apply 6 months BEFORE the shown Analog switch off date for your area and presumably your STB will be activated, HOWEVER, NO APPLICATIONS will be accepted BEFORE December the 15th for anything.(Exclude all of SA and Mildura/Sunraysia)
MTV posted an Analog closure date in Rural Victoria of MARCH 2011, so based on that, those eligable can start applying from Dec 15 and others once they are 6 months away from the advertised closure in their area.

[mtv]

MTV posted an Analog closure date in Rural Victoria of MARCH 2011, so based on that, those eligable can start applying from Dec 15 and others once they are 6 months away from the advertised closure in their area.

Close.. the regional Vic analogue shutoff date is May 15, 2011.

Regional being all areas outside the Melbourne licence area.

December 15, 2010 is the opening date for VAST applications/activations.

[husky61]

Close.. the regional Vic analogue shutoff date is May 15, 2011.

Regional being all areas outside the Melbourne licence area.

December 15, 2010 is the opening date for VAST applications/activations.

close mtv...should be 5th of May not the 15th

[mtv]

close mtv...should be 5th of May not the 15th

We got there eventually... yes, it is the 5th May

[briand]

Just got this reply to my question as to whether applicants from areas without terrestrial coverage would get access on approval, or would have to wait until the switch off date in their area. This seems to be at odds with the info from the MySwitch tool (There is no predicted digital TV coverage at this location. You can convert to the VAST Satellite Service to view free-to-air digital TV). One hand not knowing what the other is doing?

Hi Brian, There is still no decision yet on the people in blackspot areas that have had prior approval and currently receive the AURORA service, the people in the TV1 Remote & Eastern Australia Licence area will be able to connect to the VAST Service from the 15/12/10. Keep looking on the and and as soon as the information becomes available they will put it on the websites.

[gordon_s1942]

My apologies for misquoting MTV's May Date but when you look at that, 15 Dec to 5 May is in spitting distance of the 6 Month application date.
When I rang I pointed out the annomoly of living on one side of a Road used as the 'Border' between Authorised and Black Spot for VAST or Aurora and it is a ridiculous situation.
But at least my actual area is FINALY listed rather than the very vague location on the previous maps.

[briand]

Anyone know whether the VAST box will upscale SD signals? Thanks.

[pc9]

Anyone know whether the VAST box will upscale SD signals? Thanks.

Have ordered two VAST receivers (I currently have 2 legit Aurora cards) in time for 15 Dec. They should arrive on Monday so am happy to test them on the unencrypted ABC and SBS services and provide some feedback. Am not sure whether these boxes have a resolution setting but experience with other units, ie Octagon, Mediastar is that if you set the SD services to a 720p or 1080i output resolution it doesn't make a great deal of difference.

The best results in upscalling are usually achieved with a good quality AV receiver - am told the latest 1080p 3D compliant units with HDMI video upscalling/upconversion do a pretty good job in this area.

Am interested in the quality thing though with VAST receivers as the high def services are supposed to be streamed in MPEG 4 so should be a notch up on digital terrestrial services in terms of PQ (although that wouldn't be hard).

[hamguy2]

hi ps9, i have 1 here to my friend is trying to find out about jtagging 1 to unlock it fully. if it fully works it would make a good cband hd receiver we well ,i put cband freqs in it but so far it never recognized them it accepts them but wont load any cband hd service up .i also wonder if it would load hd traffic on other ku band satellites .thx hamguy2 nsw

[zacker]

hi ps9, i have 1 here to my friend is trying to find out about jtagging 1 to unlock it fully. if it fully works it would make a good cband hd receiver we well ,i put cband freqs in it but so far it never recognized them it accepts them but wont load any cband hd service up .i also wonder if it would load hd traffic on other ku band satellites .thx hamguy2 nsw

why would you bother? the receiver is a piece of shit. Why don't you use a strong 4910 or other customisable HD receivers for that?

[marty 17]

[QUOTE=zacker;343812]why would you bother? the receiver is a piece of shit.

Zacker
I have heard that the sensitivity of the receiver is ordinary also.
Can you clarify this please.
Thanks Marty

[zacker]

[quote=marty 17;343835]

why would you bother? the receiver is a piece of shit.

Zacker
I have heard that the sensitivity of the receiver is ordinary also.
Can you clarify this please.
Thanks Marty

absolutely clarified. The vast service is a massive improvement on aurora though!

[pc9]

[quote=zacker;343917]

absolutely clarified. The vast service is a massive improvement on aurora though!

Don't have any massive expectations regarding the userability of this box. The trick will be if we can someway get it to card share so we can is it as a client on the Occy/Dbox or if somebody can unlock the box to receive other services.

Agree that it's a big improvement on Aurora (although the bar is pretty low on that front). If you have been sitting in the sticks for a long time, the prospect of a widescreen and at least some legitimate HD content through One HD is very appealing. Its a real shame though that the FTA's are getting out of HD through some very deceptive channel and programming changes.

[ramcd]

You will be impressed pc9 with the image quality.

The new 50" plasma fronted yesterday (surprised Perkins Barges didn't wreck it) damn it's hard going back to the Aurora channels.

[pc9]

You will be impressed pc9 with the image quality.

The new 50" plasma fronted yesterday (surprised Perkins Barges didn't wreck it) damn it's hard going back to the Aurora channels.

Impecible timing mate. Got mine yesterday and spent last night (much to the annoyance of the missus) mucking around with it. Totally agree PQ is a definite improvement on comparible services. For example - had the ABC 1 sd Vic service lined up against the same service on D1 and it was definately a notch up. As for the rest of the box, its a load of crap. The remote is the worst I have seen (even worse than the clone dreamboxes) and I can envisage a lot of them packing it in after a short while. I couldn't manage to program the remote to a universal remote either. As for the menu functions, they are a bit of a joke; obviously designed to totally constrain any experimentation with other services etc.

Agree - its almost impossible watching Aurora on a big widescreen - the resolution collapses under the strain although a big plasma works better than a big LCD/LED. Result on a 55" LED appalling - 58 " samsung plasma does a better job in processing the 4:3 aspect ratio.

[marty 17]

Should I be able to scan in the vast channels without actually viewing them as they are encripted.
I do not seem to have any signal on12567 V 30000
Cheers marty

[OSIRUS]

Should I be able to scan in the vast channels without actually viewing them as they are encripted.
I do not seem to have any signal on12567 V 30000
Cheers marty

Have you got a DVB-S2 receiver (I think thats what it is?)

Like one of the HD mediastars that Leroy sells,

or a Strong 4910.....there are other STB that will do it too, like a DM800

The above STB's will scan the channels in, but I don't know if they will work with a vast card yet ?

(but a DM500s, or the old Strong 4658X will not do it.)