₦airaland Forum

Malix: its eutelsat 7w or atlantic bird7,but it carries aljazeera packages and mbc's meant for easy access in west africa

Malix
The only MBC channels i know on that satellite(Eutelsat w7 or Atlantic Bird 7) that are also easily available in West Africa on 90cm dishes is the MBC HD channels which are encrypted. These channels are there with the Aljazeera packages on the maghreb beam. There is also the MBC SD channels that are free but are not easily nailed here in the south of countries Like Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin etc. unless you have a bigger dish. These MBC SD(fta) channels and are on the MENA beam.

If you are telling me(or the forum) now that the MBC SD(fta)channels are now on the maghreb beam and are available on 1m dishes, then that will be very interesting news. It will also mean i have been away from the forum for far too long which is most unlikely.

On the other hand too, if the transmit power for the MENA beam has been increased and the MBC channels are now available on 1m dishes in the south(Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Benin etc). Then that still is good news.

Any which way, i need an accurate confirmation of either of the above two cases with reference to the working beam(MENA or MAGHREB) so as to know whether we have to all get back to the drawing board or wait for something good to happen on Badr 5.

Malix: those in ghana ve been enjoyin it since last year on 90cm and 1m dishes.90cm for northern and 1m southern ghana .firing in 9ja too

@ Malix,

Do you mean the MBC packages on the MENA beam of Atlantic Bird 7W is now available in Accra and it's surroundings on 1m dishes?..........or you meant to say, the MBC freeview SD packages have been moved to the MAGHREB beam and you've been receiving it for about a year now?

Kindly clarify

twinskenny: wy dont u negotiate fully with him? or better still u can purchase the materials yourself and let him bill you for installation... you shouldnt have brought those figure here.

mind you, some installer wil not even charge u well on installation becos they believe they will make some gain from the materials, 3,500 is not enough to me as per the installation so i believe the guy will make some little little change from the materials which is fair enough

@ twinskenny

I agree with you totally. It is business and if negotiations go on well, every party goes home satisfied and that is what he should have done.

@ Seyilome

Some installers will even not do the work well so they can have you in their pockets all the time but if he is worth his work and you believe he will deliver, talk to him and come to a general consensus where both of you will be happy. That is the way to go.

NB: Checking for market prices of materials is a good thing but questioning the value of his work in this manner is what we believe was not done in good taste.

Seyilome: Olenyi,Omoakin5,Naijaobi and Sulieman,I say thank u all. I told him to come on the 24 of july. And he bill me: Str4922A #13000, dish 90cm #5000, dish 60 cm #4000,3 lnb #3000,1 bundle of cable #1000, diceq #500(I have forgotten the spellings) and workmanship #3500. and he said I should pay #29000 in total of everything.so pls my boss I think his bill is high. Am thinking of given him #26000.so what do u think? .NOTE : my location Osogbo. Peace.

This should be an off forum question. I won't want to work for you. High or Low it is his business. You should respect that and not keep it open like this. That is bad business

petfun4u: I live in Abuja. The MBC I am talking about is that of 7w on this tp: 11938 v 27500

Channels are:
1. Al Arabiya
2. MBC 1
3. MBC 4
4. MBC 2
5. MBC 3
6. Citruss TV
7. Hawas TV
8. MBC Drama
9. Wanasah
10. Abu Dhabi Drama
11. Zee Aflam
12. MBC Action
13. MBC Max
14. Al Aan TV
15. in cluding one TEST transmission (this I opened using Biss key from google search).

Remain blessed.

@ All,
Has anyone else in South Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana etc been able to confirm the MBC's freeview SD channels on a 90cm dish on Atlantic Bird 7W? Kindly let the house know. Thanks.

Ikiriye: hi all,
sample pictures of my 4.5m detachable fibre motorized dish fully installed.more pictures coming soon and situation report from portharcourt cheers

@ Ikiriye,
That's a great feat there. To have been able to acquire a dish of that size. From my personal view it looks like the manufacturer of this dish is the same one that made George_D's dish. It's very very neat and professionally made. What i want to know is how much did it cost and if possible the manufacturer's details. Thanks!

uchechuwku: That's all?
Like really?
Just subtraction?
Tot d angles wld be converted to distance and den subtracted from each oda
Besides subtracting the two stiLl gives d answer in degrees

@ Uchechuwku,

lololololololololololololol........

I never answer questions like this but in your case i really think you need the help. First of all, even though you have a 60cm dish, it does not mean it is standard for all 60cm dishes that they will all have the same focal point. Each manufacturer has a different f/d ratio and hence a different depth which ultimately affects the focal point of the dish. If you really want to know where to "drill" as you say, then you must first install the dish, see where the satellite you want to receive is giving you the highest signal, then you can "drill" wherever you want. You can't just be calculating stuff like that. It's not basic mathematics. I can tell you that for a fact.

Obnelly my brother, let's be patient with him. Maybe he is on to something new.

PS: Uchechuwku, you can post a picture of your LNB holder, maybe we can add something to it or take something away from it that will make better.

Jackobite: @ Swordswifter am look 4 harddrive,after that i give the outcome welldon dude!!!

@ Jackobite and Permie
Thanks guys. It's such a thrill when you own something and really understand whatever goes on under it's hood. You might not have produced it, but you are getting closer to understanding it's underlying principles. That's just my motivation. Hope we can all discover something new and share amongst ourselves. My the way jackobite, if you have replied my mail then i still haven't gotten it yet. BR e.mens

@ All
INSTALLING A 1TB HARDDRIVE INSIDE AN SRT 4910 HD DECODER
Caution: Read everything to the end before you decide to commence this modification on your receiver.

This is just the second phase of a project which was begun some weeks back. The things you'll require are;
* Soldering iron
* Soldering Lead(quality type for neat soldering)
* cleaning brush or sucker(for elctronics; not really needed if all goes well)
* An Original Nokia usb cable (CA-101)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426689_10200674745863672_1438769485_n.jpg
* Screw driver
* 1TB Seagate Expansion harddrive( Usb 3.0v because of it's size. Also note the exact size of the drive space when you
connect it to your computer)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/487307_10200675016870447_927382494_n.jpg
* 3 pieces of plastic strips( depending on the size of the drive, only 2 might be needed)
* Some white glue

Disassembling the srt 4910 HD receiver
There are 5 screws holding the outer casing together. A screw at each side of the box and three more at the rear end of the receiver. First unscrew this and take the cover off. Now unscrew the two screws holding the front panel usb connector from the front panel casing and unplug it's cable from the mother board.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/401777_10200674944108628_922231320_n.jpg
Now turn over the PCB of the USB connector. The base of this board is where the installing work is going to be done.

Preparation
External Hardrives
Harddrives by default are in NTFS format. For the Srt 4910 HD to be able to read it, it has to be reformatted to FAT 16 or FAT 32. Preferably, formatting to FAT 32 is ideal because of the speed of data transfer. Windows can only format to sizes up to 32GB traditionally. To format drives larger than that, you need to use 3rd party software. Here is where the danger comes in. The popular tool used in formatting harddrives of over 32GB is Swissknife. The version i used for my 500GB harddrive is the Compu App SwissKnife V3. However this app cannot format drives that are over 500GB. Did that and i lost 500GB of drive space on my 1TB harddrive. The software that got my drive space back was Acronis Seagate Disk Wizard. Can be downloaded for free from the official website and also works for Samsung harddrives. Click on ADD NEW DISC. At the (disc selection) column, just select the harddrive that you just attached to your PC/Laptop. If you select the primary harddrive, you might wipe off everything that is on your PC and/or crush it. Select the one you just connected to your PC/Laptop. If you are unclear, check computer from the Start button in windows to know which exact drive you are about to work on/format. After you have selected the right drive, click on the NEXT button. A warning will appear on your screen. Just click OK and move on to the next stage. The next stage is the (initialization options). Select the MBR Layout and click on the NEXT button. The next stage is the (partition creation) stage. Select the drive and click on Create New Partition. Make sure the full drive space has been selected(It should be picked automatically but if it's not, you can input the drive size manually). Then change the FILE SYSTEM to FAT 32. Leave the Partition Letter part as it is and Label the drive as you want under the Partition Label part. Select the Type of Partition as Primary and click on ACCEPT. Now wait for it to be fully formatted into FAT 32.

Nokia CA-101
Cut a length of the cable equal to the width of the receiver (ie. from the front to the back).
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/296059_10200674896827446_1537204709_n.jpg
Make sure you twist the edges of the wires and apply a small amount of lead on the edges.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/935610_10200674924988150_130131768_n.jpg
You do this so you don't apply unnecessary amounts of Lead on the PCB of the front Usb connector later on in the cause of your installation. In the Nokia CA-101 cable there are 4 wires. I chose this cable because there is less guess work as you know exactly which cable goes where(It is a standard usb cable with the right colour coding scheme unlike the chinese ones that might have one cable colour for all the inner wires). The normal usb 1.0 pinout is;

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/USB.svg/220px-USB.svg.png
USB 1.x/2.0 standard pinout Pin
Name ---Cable---color-------------------Description
1-------VBUS----Red (or Orange)--------+5 V
2-------D(−)----White (or Gold)----------Data −
3-------D(+)----Green-------------------Data +
4-------GND-----Black (or Blue)----------Ground
This is the exact pinout configuration and colours you will notice in the Nokia CA-101 cable with and extra line for shielding. You can decide to attach that or not, the setup will still work if configured well.

Installation
From the image below
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/7839_10200690083527104_1089196672_n.jpg
Start soldering the wires at the base of the front Usb connector's PCB with the red wire being the first, followed by the white, the green and then the black for the ground. You can also attach the mesh used for shielding the cable to the last point to make the connection complete(ie. if you want). Make sure non of the terminals are connected together in anyway. You should have something like this(after you have installed it back into the front panel anyway)
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/942204_10200675028070727_2095925953_n.jpg

Now connect your usb(B) side of your nokia cable to the harddrive and plug in the cable for the front usb panel connection back onto the main mother board of the Srt 4910 HD as in the image below and turn on your receiver.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/484743_10200675026270682_1808673354_n.jpg
Test all the PVR functions on your receiver to check if everything works perfectly. If you have an extra USB pendrive, check the back/rear USB port too to see if the receiver can recognize that too. After successful testing, turn off your receiver, unplug the external harddisk.

Space in the receiver is a bit scarce so carefully but gently remove the harddrive from it's casing. I found a place just between the RF outputs and the card reader on my receiver. Apply a little glue at the base of the harddrive and attach a piece of plastic to it as in the image below.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/379730_10200675030550789_540780330_n.jpg
You do this because the drive will be sitting directly on a heat sink and you wouldn't want it to get in direct contact which the metal casing of your harddrive. See below for clarification
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/252351_10200675029190755_2136859382_n.jpg
Wait for the glue to dry. Then place it in the area as indicated in the in the image below. Make sure you place a piece of that thin plastic at the side that will come into contact with the RF Outputs of the receiver as those two also generate a lot of heat.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/947326_10200675031910823_526381237_n.jpg

Now you can now start fixing everything back in the way and manner in which you took it out in reverse.

Results of Testing
*The receiver works smoothly in terms of PVR functions with harddrives than with pendrives. Don't actually know why
*Heat conditions of the receiver is normal as checked after a 24hr runtime (It's been 3 days or so now since it done and
everything is working perfectly.

Advantages
*Skip annoying adverts TimeShift mode
*In Heavy rains, you always have saved up entertainment to recall from harddrive and watch. No (No or Bad Signals) on
your screen
*Pause live TV and continue exactly where you left off
*Set receiver to record your favourite shows when you are even not around
*Rewind and Fast-forward any programs you want or watch a slow motion of that very crucial goal or that referee's
decision.
*Save your important stb files like you server acc, channel lists and firmwares right on your receiver.
(Just had another idea, with the right software the internal processor of the srt 4910 can use space on this internal drive as a virtual memory to allow it to perform extra functions beyond the capabilities of it's current in built memory allocation. Anyway that is just a thought)

CAUTION
There are only two micro-controllers responsible for usb functionality in the Srt 4910 HD. One controls the front port and the other the rear port. Since the front port has been split leaving an extra front external usb connection port and another for your internal harddrive, you should not connect both at the same time (ie. do not connect a pendrive or an external harddrive to the external usb port whiles the internal one is also connected). If this warning is ignored, you will end up damaging or corrupting the chip meant to control your front usb connection and might even translate to the chip/board that controls the front Vacuum Fluorescent Display(VFD) of the receiver and the remote control functions. If you want to use both ports, you will most like be required to install a two-port usb controller between the main srt 4910 hd PCB and the two connectors for you internal harddrive and what will appear in the generic front panel of the receiver. That will be a whole different story. Only one usb devices can be connected to either of the ports at a time.

You can also watch the video of the testing phase here

http://youtu.be/IYr3Xm5BDNk

Jackobite: hi goodmorning happy new wk,Resend the mail Bro!

It's not in yet. But i'd check later. For the mean time i think i have to prepare the write-up on the harddisk installation. Will post it soon.

Jackobite: @Swordswifter goodmorning it will be a wonderful new month 4u and Good fella out here!E-mail jackobite02@yahoo.com keep waving the possibilities @ ur finger tip let the doughting thomas keep screaming/wondering how it is done.@ Adex70 how things you must be on sabatical leave by now! God bless you ALL.FTA VIVA

@ Jackobite,
You've got mail.

Jackobite: @ swordswifter the testing on srt 4910hd has enter it 2nd week of 5hrs a day test runs with inplug cooling system
and it perform greatly,it can also handled infinity package frequency of symbol rate of 45000......@ swordswifter drop ur number in my mails to further info on this revive project of yours. thanks

@ Jackobite,
That's good news my brother. Post me your email here and i will get in touch with you. I will reply you as soon as i get your message. There are some other tricks i will let you know when we communicate. There is another version(i think)of the last software that was received for this receiver that i'm testing now. I will send it to you when i'm done. As for symbol rates, the srt4910 hd can handle any at all so long as there is a signal on it. It's just that it's blindscan can sometimes misbehave on some satellites but input the frequency manually and you are good to go. I'm also happy to say the second phase of my modification is complete. The receiver is now a full PVR HD decoder with a 1TB harddisk installed in it. That is about 500hrs of recording time whiles the highest offered by similar factory models is only 125hrs recording time. Work was completed 12am yesternight and i'm so far happy with the results. Details will follow soon.

For those asking about the srt4930L, it's Strong's first generation Linux receiver. The fact that it's linux gives you so much freedom to experiment with it. However just like all first generation products, you can't have everything running so perfectly like all the other linux receivers that have been on the market for so long. On the other hand if you are cool with custom applications from factory, you should be ok with it since they test the softwares day in and day out. It is 3rd party applications you should be careful about.
But,......
Just like the beginnings of everything, it takes time to grow in strength. Personally if i want to go for a linux receiver, i will actually be looking forward to their second generation linux receivers. That way most complains, if there are any would have been sorted at the production line. As it is, i've not tested it too but i hope this helps.

umassor: oga swordswifter and jackobite pls would the same problem occur on 4902hd?cos am planning to buy dat receiver...pls i need ur advice b4 i go for it...thank u...

@ umassor,

Honestly i can't tell you much about that receiver. Looking at the data specifications, the srt4910 HD is higher than the srt4902 HD but the processor on the srt4902 is said to clock about 450MHz. This should mean something as to system stability and adaptability to new software applications but i can't say for certain how it performs in real-world situations (as i haven't tested one myself yet). It is still receiving updates though so it must be a bit stable to an extent however i still can't confirm that. The issues on the srt4910 is what we the users have seen and currently we are working together with them so the next sister combo receivers will not give us that much trouble. For the mean time, if it's not much of a problem, buy the new srt4922A in town and use it for a while till the next range of fully tested receivers come out then sell the old one. I have tested the srt4922A and so far it is stable and will give you what you need, at a price that's moderate for your own piece of mind.

Jackobite: jackobite; Srt 4910HD board with cooling fan

@ Jackobite,

That's impressive. There are many equations on a circuit board that can give you the same nominal values so it still adds up to the same thing. Very nice twist to your setup by the way. Keep on exploring and searching for new ways of achieving our goals. Thumbs up

twinskenny: @swordswifter


Great work... i had that box before but then i have to discard it becos of the numerous issues... kudos to u bro

@ twinskenny

Thanks bro. I'm planning on pushing it to it's limits. That receiver is not dead at all. I've contacted the necessary stakeholders to also confirm what i had been enjoying all this while. Hopefully we should all start receiving updates soon when they confirm my findings.

Just By the way:
I also found out today someone in Nigeria had told his boss he had installed a small fan on the same kind of receiver(SRT 4910 HD) and that the freezing had stopped. Please ooo, the fan will just keep the CPU cool but it will not stop the freezing so please read my posts again and remember to tell your boss you read it here on Nairaland.

Jackobite: @ sword'ster u real made a good african man of urself kudos to you Bro!as i open my own that started malfunction for a longtime ago although i open the panel in january clean it with petrol and replaced it work perfectly but precisely week ago it started malfuntion again in the
presence of my inlaw i had to off it to stop further embarassement but 2nite i tested with the cover on it malfunction again but after removed the casin i.e cover it work perfectly.@ all if sokoshokcod does not appreciate Sword-swt then the answer is becos HE SOKOPION HAD NEVER BUT A STD worth #30,000 naira so it wouldn't appriciate the wayout of saving instead to waste what he had!

Really?!
Then you bought yours quite recently. Back then it was 45000 Naira from Sobis Communications and the Courier who got it in for me took 10000 Naira which included boarder charges and transportation. The Fan aspect of this whole thing is for when you are planning to install a harddisk inside. That is when the Fan becomes so much important. Don't get me wrong, it is important even if you don't want to install a harddisk inside the receiver cause then if the receiver was made by the manufacturer to just last for 5yrs, installing the fan increases the general lifespan of the components in the receiver so it will last quite longer than it was specifically designed to. But, if you really want to stop the freezing, you have to insulate the outer casings from each other on the inside and all you need is an electrical PVC tape, the black type. Sometimes you'll have ABRO written on them and whiles doing the insulation, concentrate on the points where the screws are used to fasten the outer casings. Double, triple or quadruple the PVC tapes there. Just make sure it's enough that when you start screwing, the tape will enter the screw hole and insulate from the inside of the hole too and do not fasten the casing too much. It should be just enough. Just to hold it in place. Nothing more. Then just leave the receiver.
Boot it up and just enjoy a problem free viewing. You will not regret it. All that i want is everyone with this receiver who had given up one it tries it and gives us his feedback. That is all. We will just be happy if it benefits you.

Note: When your receiver is already in the process of freezing, re-booting, blinking, or signal fluctuating "No or Bad Signal" on your screen. It just means the accumulation of excess charges on the board has reached it's peak. You can just switch it off and allow it to discharge on it's own or you can put it on any terrestrial channel, switch it off, open the cover and remove the front panel connector and switch it back on for about 30mins leaving it on that terrestrial channel. The charges will discharge. Switch it back off, apply the PVC sellotape, close the casing as i have direct and switch it back on. You can now enjoy your receiver to the fullest. As simple as that. Will be looking forward to good news from all around the world where anyone is facing these same issues.

freshp: @swodswifter
If You ever require a classroom of students for any course on STBs etc...i am your number 1 student...keep it up bro..
This goes out to all the engineers who perhaps are finding it difficult to experiment due to work schedule or otherwise...Dont give up.
i am in particular researching on how to write,modify and customize .stb files....let us just put our hands together to beat the monopoly of knowledge by the so called asians and the like.
VIVA FTA.

@ Freshp
Simply Brilliant! The words of a wise son of Africa. Left to some people alone they will prey on the ignorance of Africans to enrich their lives. I could have decided not to post what i have just posted but i did anyway. Basically as a form of record keeping and also for people won't accept to be enslaved by someone's so called technology. I come here to find out if some of the industrious sons of Africa are breaking new bounds and also to contribute when i can. I never post when i have nothing to offer.

@ Those who are happy with backward technology and those who don't know their latest technology might have happened 15yrs ago

If you want to buy buy and buy "latests" receivers which infact are the same old designs revamped with tweaked softwares and you think that makes you better than me, fine. That is your own case. I know the capacity of that SRT 4910 HD and i know it was never a waste of money. Unlike the current range of strongs on the market the srt 4910 HD was built ahead of it's time and if given the proper attention it can handle all or most of the latest gimicks these Chinese receivers on the market these days are offering. That being said it is also because of things like this that i only associate myself with people who want to learn and move forward so don't be surprised if i decide to ignore you and your comments. You are not as important as you think you are.

@ All
INSTALLING A 12v FAN ON THE PCB OF AN SRT 4910 HD DECODER
This is just to help improve the cooling system of the receiver and to help you increase the longevity of the components. It will in no way guarantee the freezing and or unnecessary rebooting of the receiver when the leaking current accumulates back onto the circuit board. Use the method i posted in my earlier post to solve that problem. The things you'll require are;
* Soldering iron
* Soldering Lead(quality type for neat soldering)
* cleaning brush(for elctronics)
* PVC sellotape
* Screw driver
* 12v cooling Fan(Got a specialized fin type on a microprocessor of a PC graphics card)
* 2 pieces of wire strips
* Some white glue

Disassembling the srt 4910 HD receiver
The are 5 screws holding the outer casing together. A screw at each side of the box and three more at the rear end of the receiver. First unscrew this and take the cover off. Now unscrew the two screws holding the front panel of the receiver and gently but carefully remove the power connector, the front panel connector and the cam/card reader module connectors. Then remove the front panel usb connector and slide the front panel forward to release it from the lower case. *Remember what you take from where and keep the set of screws you remove from each slot together. Now turn the back of the receiver. You have five screws here. Unscrew all the five screws and keep them safe. Two of these screws are threaded differently. One is on the digital optical out interface and the other is inbetween the RF-In and RF-Out connectors. Be careful you don't mix these two screws. When screwing them back and you face a bit of a challenge, stop and check the threading of these two screws so that you don't damage their slots. Still at the rear, there are four more auxiliary screws you need to take of the receiver. Two of these screws are like knots on a bolt and are placed on the LNB input and the Loopout connectors at the back of the receiver. Unscrew these two and take off their washers too. Now unscrew the other two screws that hold the RS 232 connector at the back of the receiver. Now move on to the main PCB and unscrew the four screws left on the board. There are also two tiny screws that holds the cam module in place on the lower casing of the receiver. Use the appropriate screw driver (a small headed star screw driver) to get these screws out and now you can easily take of the PCB to start your installation.

Preparation
Make sure you twist the edges of the two pairs of wires and apply a small amount of lead on the edges. You do this so you don't apply unnecessary amounts of Lead on the PCB in the cause of your installation. After this, clean the tip of your soldering iron and attach the two pieces of wire to the terminal at the base of the socket of your fan connector. It is important you get a fan with it's own socket. This will enable you easily replace it in the future when it becomes weak or gets damaged.

Installation

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/306872_10200605814700436_586971526_n.jpg

The area circled in the first image is where the power connector is connected. If you look closely you will see the power values written besides each terminal. Turn over the PCB and shift the board so that the bottom terminals are now placed at the top left-hand side of the board as indicated in the second image.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/419635_10200605818340527_2101749637_n.jpg

We are looking for a 12v power source so look for the terminal that is indicated GND and another that is indicated 12v and where they appear at the base of the PCB. Note these points and heat up your soldering iron. (For my board counting from the right of the lower pins at the base of the PCB, GND falls on the 6th terminal whiles 12v falls on the 8th terminal). There are different versions of this receiver (Australia, Middle-east and Africa). I haven't seen those boards yet though i hope they are the same so always confirm where your GND and 12v terminals are before you start any soldering. Do not apply extra lead if possible. Just heat the one on your wires and the base terminals till they bond together. Clean the tip of your soldering iron and do the same for the other terminals. Now turn over the PCB and connect the power connectors, the front panel connector and the connectors for the cam/card reader on the mother board. Make absolutely sure you haven't soldered any too terminals together or any loose hot lead has fallen anywhere on the motherboard. If you are sweating too make sure non of the sweat has fallen on the PCB. Now connect your fan into it's socket and conduct your initial test.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/217367_10200605821900616_1826896104_n.jpg

Switch on the mains from behind the receive and check the direction of flow from the fan. It is advisable the air blows out of the PCB rather than into the PCB. If that is not the case, you can swap the wires for the GND and the 12v at the base to reverse the polarity and change the flow of the rotation of the blades of the fan.

After that is done, turn off the receiver from behind, remove the fan connector and layout the wire at the PCB as shown in the fourth image.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/947196_10200605826660735_328974023_n.jpg

Fasten the wires in place with pieces of PVC sellotape and fit the fan socket connector close to the edge of the PCB with some white glue. Connect the sockets for the fans and apply a medium but generous portion of the white glue on the bottom of the fan and place it on the cooling fins on top of the CPU of the SRT 4910 HD.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/264481_10200605832060870_571982026_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/548298_10200605835980968_1608163516_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/934020_10200605842341127_1011599386_n.jpg

You are now done with the installation.

You can now start fixing everything back in the reverse manner in which you took it out.

NB: If you don't want the messy method of fixing the leaking voltage on the SRT 4910 HD as i had posted some days earlier, you can fold up some PVC sellotape on the screw holes on which the PCB rests and fasten your screws through it. This should most definately serve the same purpose of insulating the outer casings. the only draw back is that you'll have to take the decoder apart to get there.

You can also watch the video of the testing phase here

http://youtu.be/E8mN9h8m9fc

sokopion: You are right .they push that bomb for him at expensive pries
so he think he have gold in hand but not knowing it is a shit

@swordswifter you need to make your own box and make money and stop this shit
dont download other same manufacture software for diffrent company and tell as you are doing it if that happing i will simple let all no the source we are not kings here bro.
i know much more a bought STB than you .
if you shot of knowledge lets help you

@ Sokopion,

Let's just say for a minute you are as good as you say you are. My question to you is that who on this forum has your "vast knowledge" in satellite TV technology helped?
If the answer is NO then please my friend, i think you are lost. You don't belong here on Nairaland. Cause you have kept all that "knowledge" to yourself and haven't helped anyone here. Kindly keep your selfish rantings to yourself. I don't have time for your kind.

George_D: @swordswifter,
When adding pictures, use the 'browse' botton and not the image icon at the top.

We're expecting your pictures.

Cheers!

@ George,

Got it. I'm preparing the documents now.

zomzom: HEHEHEHEEEE wahala man,you will never learn until your hand is got cut off use your money to buy a receiver and now look at all this yagayaga you are going truth
now you are are thinking of IPTV wile we are enjoying it without waiting or opening any case .everything is here today and you are thinking of getting it tomorrow ,1921 car owner he will always be in mechanics to repire the old stuff but he will still call it a strong one. .

bro you have to learn know how to use this new box with good stuff in it ,your problem is when you see every one have it on the roof top you think that is the best.

you have bean on this forum for a very long time
educate your self in satellite tv or call the gurus here for help if you dont know where to go.

i love you as a broda dont wast your time we have everything today don't wait tomorrow

Gentleman or Lady,
*If i may ask, are you even serious?!
*Those so-called latest receivers you are using, tell me, do you even know how each component works?
*Do you even know that most products are not explored to their full capabilities before manufacturer's make new ones?!

The irony is that they just give them different names and virtually the same circuit designs just for someone somewhere to write a simple application on it and then sell it to you as "NEW TECHNOLOGY" - (Then people like you are happy to spend their hard earned currency just to throw out their so called old but good stuff).

If only you had taken your time to search, you will know what else you can do with your boxes before you even think of buying new ones. Forgive me for being blunt but It really saddens me when people rejoice in their own ignorance. There was a time products were built to last a very long time and to take care of future technologies. Expansion was nothing new and consumers had the option of upgrading their electronic equipment anytime by just adding simple components. Now the order of the day is profit profit profit so in order to keep you buying, they keep masking products that they are latest technologies and since some of us want to be deceived, we keep buying them. At first it took a company 10yrs to release a new product. Now every year something else has to come out. Technology is moving fast but let's face it, who are they selling it to?! People like you of course.

You have iPhone 1 and in less than 4 years, 5 releases are out. You Have Galaxy s1. I know by now you know the rest. SRT 4922 has no rf out. The we have SRT 4922A with rf out, yet they are both the same receiver. I will not continue wasting my time on tomorrow when your tomorrow even happened years back. I don't even think you know when IPTV was first discovered. If you have money to spend on Chinese toys, that is your own business but let us find ways of making things better in our own ways, little by little, so we will find ways to make things that will be for Africa and cater for our own needs.

George_D: @swordswifter,

Its quite an interesting journey you've been through with your SRT 4910HD. And to think that I nearly
fell for that reciever when it newly came out then! Now looking back in hindsight, I am glad I didn't
make the move to buy.

Kindly post pictures of your modifications so that others can get a first hand example of how to go about
fixing thiers. Also I think the pictures will reduce too many questions from members who want to do this
on their own.

VIVA FTA!

Hi George,

This was the first modification i did. It was a bit crude and cheap but it did the job for me for all those years. It was selfish of me to keep it to myself but I've realized that this particular instability problem with the SRT 4910 HD is one of the reasons why updates don't come for that particular receiver. I have sent a report on it yesterday to strong-technologies hoping they will fix that for the newer ones being made and hopefully we can all start getting updates for it. My aim actually is to me able to write the software and test them myself. I will post pictures of the old modification in the evening. The new modification is quite neat and an improvement from the old one. I did that just yesterday at 1am when most of Africa was fast asleep.

Recently we were faced with some power instability which took out one of the 1500uF 10V capacitors on the SMPS Voltage supply on the receiver. The receiver still worked but it took a very long time at bootup before the receiver could startup. So on Friday 17/05/2013 I took the opportunity to replace both of the capacitors and the receiver started booting up normally. However, the change in the voltage and current supplies to the board caused it to start it old stuff. After leaving it on and a couple of automatic self reboots the system readjusted to the new power supply and the circuit normalized. That was when i decided to do the new modifications.

The first one was that i wanted to install a 1TB external drive on the board but to do that i have to consider the heat factor(The CPU produces a lot of heat as it is). One other thing was that the usb cable layout i haven't investigated yet so this step of the modification i left for later. However i had all the materials to tackle the heat problem that may arise when i finally install the harddisk directly on the PCB inside the receiver. That is what i want to arrange neatly and post here. It will come very soon

BY the way, when inserting pictures, do you use the insert image icon on the top of the page close to the smiles or the BROWSE option for adding attachments to the post? The last time i used the insert image icon at the top, the image did not appear. Only the link to the image appeared.

Hi Everyone,
A have good news for everyone with an srt 4910 HD decoder from strong-technologies. When i bought my receiver 5yrs ago i wasn't planning on scavenging for any new receivers until a period of 10yrs had passed before i would even consider changing it. I believed it was built ahead of it's time and had so many capabilities even not yet explored. I believed it can be programmed to read all video files, wifi via usb port was just child's play. The processor on it can hand IPTV and a good programmer could just softmod the receiver to run linux as easily as flashing a phone. All these now possibilities lied with the software developers to bring this to light but unfortunately, it had some very grave hardware problems that caused many enthusiasts of this state of the art product to loose faith in it. Amongst these were the many Strong users in Africa and other parts of the world. For the fact that i wasn't going to spend money on a new receiver, i decided to investigate why the receiver freezes abnormally, reboots when it's not supposed to, heats up when you have only turned it up for a few hours and sometimes keeps blinking at startup without booting up.

The next few paragraphs will be a detailed explanation why this happens and how i fixed mine.

At first, when i faced this problem, i used to just turn off the receiver for a while. Then after 10mins when i turned it back on, the receiver booted perfectly and then i got to enjoy it for a while. Then the problem would occur again. At first most users thought it was a software problem with the SRT 4910 HD so different patches were changed. Then it was that the memory of the SRT 4910 was insufficient to handle the tasks the receiver was to perform and this was why these problems were happening. A friend even had to send his receiver to Nigeria to change all the 4 memory chips on the receiver in hopes that this problem will be fixed but it kept on happening.

One time whiles watching a very important program the receiver started freezing. I went to hard reset it and i realized the casing of the receiver was unbelievably hot. I also felt a shock on the casing when my skin touched it. I first thought my earthing system was poor so i found a way of grounding the receiver but that didn't work well. Then at another time i just opened the casing of the receiver switched back on and to my surprise it didn't go off. Nothing freezed, nothing blinked, and it didn't reboot abnormally as it used to. I left it running in that state for 3hrs and it was running smoothly. As soon as i covered the receiver and rebooted it, the problem started occurring again. When i took off the casing and switched it on, the receiver worked normally again. The cooling fins on the CPU however was quite hot.

Anyway this brought me to the conclusion that there was a leaking current on the circuit board which was supposed to pass through the earth of the PCB of the SRT 4910 and then leave the system but it finds a way of getting back into the system. Accumulation of this was what was heating up the CPU and causing the receiver to freeze. With this in mind i got myself a simple PVC electrical tape and sellotaped every possible part of the inner parts of the upper and lower casings of the SRT 4910 HD receiver ( i.e. where there is or will be any form contact between the two casings). This was about 2 1/2 years ago and ever since then the receiver has never stopped, blinked or frozen whatsoever. I have personally fixed other receivers this same way and their issues also resolved.

* Did some other modifications on my receiver just today. I will send you the details as soon as i arrange the materials. Will post that later, after i get something to eat.

APART FROM BUYING LATEST RECEIVERS AND CHASING AFTER MULTI TV, WHAT ELSE ARE YOU LEARNING FELLOW NAIRALANDERS?
We are far far behind my friends. Far far behind.

odilibe: What i found out is that ..a Satellite receiver can be either open source referring to most linux boxes dreambox/technomate/amiko alien2 etc ... or closed source satellite receiver that is the strong boxes and the rest of other boxes..

Closed source means; A type of computer program source code development, with closed source software, the source code is not shared with the public for anyone to look @ or make changes to...as closed source is the opposite of open source..

Most companies who sell their software for money make it closed source to make it harder for people to change it or copy it for free...

Even some people and companies who give their software for free do not show the source code, because they think it looks bad, or that somebody will change the authors name to their own a kind of plagiarism without making the program better...

some programs called freeware are given for free, but they are not same as free software that anyone can do whatever they want with

Where open source refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use or modification from its original design.

ref: http://wikipedia.org/wiki/closed_source

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/closed_source

@ Odilibe,
The issue here is not about close source or open source softwares. The issue here is maintaining the longevity of a receiver's after sale support. That is my problem and point. I don't believe you will be particularly happy when after 2 or 3 months of buying a supposed "latest/high tech" receiver, you stop receiving updates for it. There has been numerous and numerous updates for all the other strong receivers. Even the discontinued models have received updates but not for the SRT 4910 HD which was actually overly expensive for almost 2 years 5months now. My research had even showed that the same programmer is writing the codes of Technomate TM6900 which is DVB-T2 meaning with the right guidelines, you can make the SRT 4910 receive GOtv signals without having to buy a different receiver for DVB-T2. It is a fact that no matter how good you think any device is, it's the software that makes it what it is.
That being said, i am not planning on putting my name on anything. I am willing to work directly with who ever writes these software so we can write and test the firmwares for the receivers we've come to love and use all these years. At least make the sofwares in a way we will enjoy using it. If they have decided not to work on the SRT 4910 receiver anymore, they can at least give as the tools so we can work on our own things ourselves. That's all.


Offbeat: There was on time i first noticed that the audio codec AAC was not available on the SRT 4910 HD whiles tuned to Daarsat on Intelsat 907k. This was somewhere 2008/2009 or something. I had to write several complains before months later it was fixed and then all the other Mpeg 4 receivers started getting patches. That to me is not acceptable at all. Especially looking at how many receiver Strong has sold in Africa. They should have had at least an official page where all complains on their receivers will be looked into.

D.lee:
@ Swordswift,
Back in the days, that reciever was so expensive. It drove alot of people crazy because of its funtionality. But I suggest you write to Wizkid from persiangig if he can help.

@ D.lee
If i knew his backdoor contact details i would have done that a long time ago. I sent several emails to strong concerning this issue and all they tell me is that the receiver(SRT 4910) has not got enough memory to handle the new functions of the other softwares but this is a complete lie. They have not taken their time to correct the hardware issues that the receiver has and that is why they have decided not to make anymore softwares for this receiver. The software version 2.47p was the last known stable software so they have just decided to leave it as it is than to rather than find the actual cause of the instability in the softwares. I did several tests on my receiver. I even damaged the first motherboard in the receiver because i thought the issue was with the memories so i had to buy a new motherboard. After a while it also started misbehaving until i found the actual cause of the software being unstable. A leaking current from the circuit found a way of re-entering the board through the metal casing and after a while, it caused the software to freeze and sometimes prevented it from booting at all. All this being said, if you or anyone here knows the direct contact to Wizkid the person should inbox me here mens.eric@yahoo.com
I'm actually tired of sending the guys in dubai mails. We really need an update for this receiver.

Pidzo: @ALL
New software for SRT 4902 and 4930 is out. You can get it here: http://www.crosat.us/upload/index.php?direction=0&order=mod&directory=Strong%20Receivers/Strong%20WIZKID%20Files/Strong%204%20Middle%20East&ModPagespeed=noscript.

When i see updates for the low cost receivers and there are no updates for the SRT 4910 combo receiver then i get pissed off. This receiver was and still is the most expensive receiver on the market from strong-technologies. It was to be a state of the art equipment for professionals that could handle anything but now it has been reduced to just a mere white elephant. I have been doing some research for some time now. One was to either write my own codes or find a receiver whose software can work on the SRT4910 HD receiver. This led me to the Technomate receiver which has the same GUI as the strong receiver. Even the codes for strong receivers used for inputting the biss keys and other keys are the same as the one used on the Technomate receivers. I therefore searched for their patch firmware and just look at the image below

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/179099_10200562875586985_73329171_n.jpg

When you open the .stb files in notepad, the software codes look almost the same but that of the Technomate TM6900 combo HD is at 7.51p whiles that of the Strong SRT4910 HD is at 2.47p. I tried to open the SRT4910 firmware with Autodesk 2013 to see if i can cook up my own home-brewed software but that did not work since the file could not open even though it was a .stb file. I tried loading the file of the technomate TM6900 on my SRT4910 HD. That also didn't work. I tried copying the introduction codes of the SRT4910 receiver(software version 2.47p), paste it on a new notepad and then copy the operating codes of the technomate TM6900 onto this same notepad and then save the file as .stb extension. This too did not work as the text file could not convert to .stb format. The receiver indicated that it cannot load CS file. Now my question is;
* Why is that a receiver that has given so many people so many troubles for a very long time has not been given the needed attention by Strong-Technologies even though some of us didn't decide to take these machines back to them for our money?
* Why is it that over 2yrs 5months now not even a single update has been released for this receiver to take care of it's media player handicaps, it's inability to boot 3G usb modems directly from the usb ports and other network options that have been added on the lower receivers?
* Why have they decided in general to ignore everything about this receiver(SRT 4910) even though it has not been discontinued?

If anything at all, the tools for cooking software for strong decoders should be made available so that those that are interested will just compile their own codes to run on the receiver because now it's just too much. If any one from strong-technologies (Research and Development) is reading this, i want them you know that some of the reasons that made us champion strong products are no longer there anymore. It is too sad that the quality, durability and after market support that made strong what it is today is just dying off. Some of us are even considering switching to different manufacturers. Hope we start seeing updates for this receiver soon.

GH-ONE:
BOADU, so can't u c 'I Hacked' is April-fooling you? Nobody's been able to use 90cm to nail Irib channels in Nigeria & to talk of Ghana. For black mesh dish you can get in Ghana, but 1.8m&2.4m metal or pan(dish) ones, I doubt if any shop sells them here in Accra or Kumasi.

I just can't understand some people. If you haven't been successful in doing it why don't you ask the one who has done it to teach you instead of trying to discredit the person. So many pull-him-down(PHD) people on our continent and especially in West Africa that no one gets to learn anything new. Next time when you have nothing better to offer the wise thing to do is just to shut up so the right people will answer the question. I think anyone else fond of this behaviour should take a cue from this. Some of us have been here too long to be impressed by these things. If you want to be known and recognized, bring out something new that will benefit us all.

George_D: Segments already assembled.

@ George,
Looking at your dish I'm tempted to say it looks as if it was locally made. If so is the case then the person who did it really did it well. What i would like to know is who fabricated the dish(if locally made) and how much you had the dish for.

Adex70: @sword iam happy 2see u again on the forum. rdi realy fumble i guess they are jealous of the growing africa tread do u still hear 4rm kungu stay bless

@ Adex70,
I don't from him at all. The guy is now a ghost but was and is still a living legend. Whiles others were just using satellite for TV, he was streaming movies and radio on demand with free internet over satellite. It's over 2 yrs now since i last heard of him. Who knows what he might be doing now. Anyway, we still here and will keep searching.

D.lee:
Hello swordswifter,
the above transponder (11.087 H 4
999 belong to intelsat newdawn @ 33degrees east. Most active trasponder on that satellite are feeds or for data. Sometimes, Dstv usually use it as feed,though they use to mute the feed channels. Currently, ATN is using 11.014 H 30000 to run some channels (startv,TBC) as feed on that particular satellite.

@ D.lee,
That's nice. I'm currently doing further checks and have realized that the last TP i posted is actually on RASCOM QAF 1R at 2.9deg East(10.872(H)/19.627). The second TP is what i've not found out yet but by the close of the day i should know which satellite it is also on. Then i can turn my focus to the west and start running some tests there too. Let's keep exploring.

.