I think it would be a good idea to include the manufacturer information with the satilite tuner so that people in the remote areas could also easily use it to receive FTA television broadcasts also

Othernet Hardware
#1

I know one member mentioned already in another thread ready. There are a lot of free channels on Galaxy 19. All of the pbs some news, old TV shows and excreta. The pbs would give those in remote areas to news broadcasts, entertainment, and lots of learning / culture that would certainly add value to the package. It would be cost prohibitive for outernet to broadcast the same video that pbs sends out for free everyday.

If someone is already doing the I would be interested in hearing how it is going and any problems they encountered. It might be a good idea to include the remote for the tuner if it will work with the board as a purchasing option when customers place orders.

#2

The receiver listed on the Outernet store:
http://store.outernet.is/products/outernet-tuner-for-raspberry-pi
Is a Geniatech HDStar. The store page actually links to the original product here:
http://www.geniatech.com/pa/hdstar.asp
You should be able to install the HDStar software on a computer and receive TV if you want.

The Lighthouse receiver, listed here:
http://store.outernet.is/products/lighthouse-by-outernet-satellite-data-receiver
Is, as far as I know, custom built and cannot receive TV.

Is this what you were looking for?

#3

Do you know if the receiver software will run on the same raspberry pi as the outernet software? It would be nice if either program could be ran from the same startup screen. I have just recently learned about the raspberry pi computer and don’t know if it is possible. If so, it would be even better if it could run both at the same time.

If so it would without a doubt multiply the value of the system fo someone of limited means. I am sure some remote locations don’t have any access to broadcast television or their television is heavily censored.

#4

Actually, Lighthouse, apart from not having a remote, is based on a WetekPlay STB, and is 100% compatible with their software. With a bit of research, you can flash their firmware and use it as a TV box as well. You can use a normal mouse and keyboard to navigate the interface or maybe an Android-compatible bluetooth remote.

We also have an experimental Live SD card that allows you to use Lighthouse firmware on a Wetek STB without flashing (it boots Lighthouse software as long as SD card is in the slot, and when you pop out the SD card, it goes back to booting the Wetek software).

Our software is probably not going to be able to coexist with resource-heavy media software on Raspberry Pi. But it’s just a matter of swapping the SD cards. Also, keep in mind that the Outernet receiver cannot receive files while you’re tuned into another channel to watch TV, so there’s no point in running both at the same time. For Raspberry Pi, you have things like OSMC that can turn it into a TV box.

As far as HDStar goes, our kernel uses a custom patch which is not merged into mainline kernel (and we don’t know if it will be merged any time soon) so it won’t work with most distros. You would need an alternative tuner such as PCTV 461e, and several others that were mentioned in our forums.

EDIT: We used to have some files that made HDStar work on Raspbian, but I doubt they would work nowadays, and we don’t intend to maintain separate drivers for distros we don’t use ourselves. Patches are public, if you want to compile the drivers yourself, though.

1 Like
#5

Very interesting. I look forward to playing with system and seeing what I can get it to do. I will be placing my initial equipment order tomorrow.

I have lived all over the world outside the United States for 25 years. At one time was cut off from any English language television broadcasts completely for 3 years; during another 6 year period only had access to one channel of television at certain times of the day.

Because of this experience I can easily relate to economicly disadvantaged person’s living in a remote areas where there are no broadcasts available locally. Outernet can only fill this gap in a very limited extent due to the limited bandwith and copyright limitations.

I presently live off grid in the panhandle of Florida. My excuse for investing in this system is to provide a safe internet type experience for my 10 year old daughter to enjoy at home and a personal intranet / media player system for our family.

Since we are off grid we are mostly limited to a 12 volt DC electrical system with limited availability of 110 volts AC with use of an inverter which are energy hungry devises. We do have 3 generators that provide both 110 and 220 volt power as needed on a limited basis.

Hopefully I can offer some solutions to various discussions here and help improve the lives of those less fortunate.

#6

Another option (discussed in more detail here FTA TV and Outernet using same dish) is to use a dual LNB to feed both an Outernet device and a (separate) TV receiver. Yes, it is one more piece of hardware, and an additional cost, but receivers can be had very inexpensively, and at least you are sharing the dish and LNB while having the freedom to watch any TV program (as long as it is on the same satellite) without interrupting the collection of Outernet data. I do this and am very pleased with the simplicity and functionality.

#7

Thanks Mike,

I was actually thinking about the same thing myself about getting a separate receiver for the TV portion of the problem but I hadn’t thought about the dual lab.