DATA
TECHNIC
TELE-satellite & Broadband
— 06-07/2007
— www.TELE-satellite.com
Expert Opinion
+
The TechniSat DigiPlus STR1 is an ideal receiver
for every living room and every age group. It is very
easy to use and, thanks to the Installation Assistant
and the ISIPRO system, many of the setup difficulties
that might otherwise pop up with a standard receiver
are done away with. It also comes with quite a few set-
ting variations for the more ambitious user or the pro-
fessional. SCPC reception is very good and thanks
to the SFI system the user has access to a fully-featured electronic
program guide that other receivers cannot offer.
-
It would have been nice to see a main power switch, a satellite
looped-through IF output and modulator on the rear panel.
Thomas Haring
TELE-satellite
Test Center
Austria
Main Menu
Antenna Configuration
Manufacturer
TechniSat Digital GmbH,
54550 Daun, Germany
Tel
+49-6592-712-600
Fax
+49-6592-4910
http://www.technisat.com/en/kontakt.php
Model
DigiPlus STR1
Function
Digital CI Satellite Receiver with
two integrated card readers
Channel Memory
5000
Satellites
33
Symbolrates
1-45 Ms/sec.
SCPC Compatible
yes, starting at 1.142 Ms/sec. (test result)
USALS
no
DiSEqC
1.0 / 1.2
Scart Connectors
2
Audio/Video Outputs
3 x RCA
UHF Modulator
no
Programmable 0/12 Volt
no
Digital Audio Output
yes, optical and coaxial
EPG
yes
C/Ku-band Compatible
yes
Power Supply
180-250 VAC, 50 Hz
and there are no noticeable video
or audio distortions after switch-
ing channels.
Since we entered Austria as
our test location, all German lan-
guage channels including those
from Austria were loaded. Even
the large German PayTV provid-
ers were made available in the
channel list. If we had chosen
Switzerland as our location, all of
the corresponding German-lan-
guage channels would have been
placed at the head of the list.
Overall, this is a well thought out
and extremely practical feature.
It should also be noted that the
so-called option channels of vari-
ous PayTV providers were also
supported and displayed without
any problems.
To change channels, simply
press the OK button to display the
channel list. The current TV chan-
nel continues to be visible in a
smaller window in the upper right
corner of the screen. The chan-
nel list can also be sorted by pro-
vider and each channel can have
its EPG info displayed assum-
ing that this data is available. A
push of the SFI button opens the
editorially arranged EPG system
that can handle a large number
of channels. Various modes such
as an overview (what happens to
be playing on each channel) plus
a total and detailed overview of
all the channels can be accessed
in just seconds.
Pushing the red function button
provides access to the Timer set-
tings from which you can choose
between a video recorder timer
and a channel switching timer.
The channel switching timer lets
you switch to another channel
automatically at a specified time
while the video recorder timer
operates in a locked mode so that
no one can accidentally change
channels or turn the receiver
off while a program is being
recorded.
If you’ve never been too happy
with the quality of the Scart’s
CVBS signal, you can go into the
Settings menu and change the
output to RGB or S-Video plus
activate automatic 16:9 switch-
ing. TechniSat also did not forget
to include child protection set-
tings; in addition to a typical
PIN lock-out of the entire menu
system, individual TV and radio
channels can also be hidden from
the nosy kids.
As practical as the ISIPRO
system is, it could never cover
every desired channel. This is
reason enough for us to take a
closer look at the manual chan-
nel scan.
The Channel Scan menu
offers four different modes: an
automatic scan on all available
satellites, a scan of individual
satellites or transponders as well
as a manual scan with PID entry
for DXers. In all four modes, the
scan can be set for all or FTA-
only channels. A look at the pre-
programmed transponder data
reveals that they are for the most
part up-to-date. For our channel
scan test, the DigiPlus STR1 man-
aged to scan 80 transponders in
a little over eight minutes. All
things considered, not bad at all.
The picture was not so rosy
with the reception of very weak
signals. Only those signals
starting with a C/N of roughly
5dB could be processed by the
receiver and displayed distor-
tion-free. We were thus unable to
use our 1.2-meter antenna on the
relatively weak horizontal signals
from NILESAT at 7° west. Even
our test center in Berlin reported
little to no success on ASTRA2D
at 28.2° east with a 1.2-meter
dish.
These less than positive results
with its tuner sensitivity were
more than made up for with this
box’s SCPC capabilities. Our test
transponder with a symbolrate
of 1.142 Ms/sec. was processed
effortlessly and displayed with-
out any distortion.
Radio fans will be very happy
the first time they switch from TV
to radio mode. Even in this mode
the STR1 displays easy-to-read
channel names, not to mention
EPG data should it be available.
Now you no longer need to turn
the TV on in radio mode since
even the TV and radio channel
list is visible in reduced size on
the receiver’s display.
Channel Scan
SCPC Reception
Downloading the ISIPRO
Channel List
