A few questions about the Blade

Hi,

Having recently discovered this whole Blade box and c/s system, I am tempted to but a blade box.

The box itself looks fantastic for the price but I do have a few questions as I'm slightly anxious about buying (anything) from the internet.

1. Assuming I get a c/s subscription for Sly UK, will I get a full 7 day EPG for all channels just like I currently do with my normal Freesat from Sly Box?


2. How reliable are blades? Are there any known hardware problems with them? What if mine breaks down? - (I'm being over cautious now but it's good to be prepared right? ) Would I get a warranty off who I buy it from?


3. Using a blade box (whether it be just for freesat/sly cs etc), would I get interactive services? For example, when using my blade box, will I be able to receive BBC Red Button Services (e.g. flight information, weather on 402 or regional news on 1620 etc).

Another major concern is whether the blade will be able to display the red button streams on Sky Sports Interactive Services. Could I watch these using a blade in HD?

4. Last question for this post (you'll be pleased to know) is that I understand the blade requires internet connectivity for ccam etc to work. This means that if my internet stops working, the picture freezes.

Does this mean if the internet stops working, things such as Sky Sports will freeze but would FTA channels such as BBC1/ITV etc stop working if my internet stopped working?

Sorry for the long post but I would greatly appreciate it if you address my concerns and perhaps my questions may help another "newb" in the future.

Thanks

Answers in order

1. Yes with latest firmware and usb pen drive connected as this stores 7 day epg info.

2. Very reliable only heard of one person whom had power supply fault out of box so returned for new one

3. No No

4. No internet or no cardshare = no sub channels

Freeview chans will still be available with no internet access

Thank you very much for your swift response!

The lack of interactive services is a bit of an issue. When multiple matches are on, skigh often put the matches behind a red button service but there has to be a way.

(Apparently), you can watch the interactive services but they are just flagged as data streams so you have to change the channel type but those instructions are for dreamboxes.

There must be some kind of way to tune in these interative services on to the blade

Is it possible to extract the dreambox Sky Sports Active Video Streams (which are marked as data streams) from dreambox bouquets and insert them into a blade bouqeut so that I could watch the video streams of Sky Sports Interative (Match Choice)?

EDIT: I found this, hopefully, the instructions here (for dreamboxes) can be "translated" to do the blade box equivalent to get the sky sports interactive video streams working on the blade boxes

Code:

w**.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=68458290

replace w** with three w's

Blade does not use linux os

So answer is no

As to match streams (match choice)

Theres are available on some of the numbered (eg 6534) Just takes a bit of time to work out what is showing what.

match choice on the blade is around look for channel NAME 1471 on 28.2e(not channel number) on sly uk they are around there.

That's a huge worry off my shoulders - I can rest in peace now knowing that if (or rather when!) I get the blade box and cs subscription, I can access the match choice streams.

On the dreambox, the video streams are flagged as data streams rather than channels and to watch, they need to be changed.

On the blade, what is the procedure? Do I just scan 28.2E and the streams are automatically added on the list of channels? Will it be there and is it just a question of finding the right 'channel number' to key into the remote?

My penulitmate question for this post is does the blade allow you to set 'reminders' for shows?

Finally - what is this issue involving Netgear routers (I use one) and blade boxes? I've heard changing firmware resolves this.
Can I downgrade firmware on the blade safely to fix this issue? I ask this because on my phone, downgrading bricks it and I can't afford to do that on the blade. I can hardly take the blade to Currys or Comet to get it fixed.

Thanks once again for all your help to me - I hope other 'lurkers' find the information here of some help.

once you flash the blade press menu on the remote then chose blade online you will find an upto date channel list there(gets updated every month) just press ok on the sat list you want(astra 28.2 for the uk)this will install channel list and favourites no need to scan match choice will be there under channel name 1472 onwards .

you can downgrade/upgrade firmware with no problems just flash no worries(also you wont lose your csline info/channel list when you flash)

i use an old netgear router and its a pain in the ass with new firmware so i have dropped back to the 122p firmware,but if you do put the new firmware on it will not connect automatic with some netgear routers you have to press menu on the remote>ip settings>red button that sorts it but everytime you switch the blade off or standby you have to repeat ip settings but the 122p firmware is fine and without any issues.

and yes the blade has reminders and will change channel when the prog starts if you wish.

Brilliant! All my worries have been taken care of so I don't need to worry about anything for now. I look forward to getting a Blade and once again, thanks for all the help.

Sorry to pester you people with a constant barrage of questions but there is one questions which I would like to know.

If and when I were to scan Sly 28.2E for all the channels it finds and I set up my cline from a c/s dealer, what would the channel numbers be like?

Will the Blade have the same channel numbers as Sly? Sadly, the other users of the Blade box in the household are the kind that don't like change and would be insistent on retaining the $ky numbering system.

Could I download a cndf file that puts it in the order of the $ky channel numbering system? How would this work as BBC1 is 101 yet BBC Radio 1 is 0101 on $ky - can I mirror their channel numbering on the blade?

PS: Is the issue of poorly soldered NIC a prevalent, major issue across a 'dodgy batch' or was that down due to luck as I'm sure I've seen someone else mention a poorly soldered NIC on their Blade on a different forum.