SatcoDX - TELE-satellite International Magazine

PRACTICE TIP
Topfield Software
Topfield TAPs – Little Helpers
for Your Topfield Receiver
Software developers don’t always have it as easy as you might think
they do. While one user wants to have very specific functions, the others
sit there with puzzled expressions; while the professionals are always
looking for more exotic uses for their equipment, the entire system
must still remain easy to use for the beginner. This problem was solved
decades ago in PC’s in that on one side there are the operating system
manufacturers and then on the other side you have hundreds of thousands
of other smaller companies that have developed supplementary
programs based on the basic operating system.
Up until recently, these types
of developments were unknown
in the DVB-S, DVB-C or DVB-T
receiver world, and these boxes
from all the different manufacturers
come with only the exact features
that were foreseen during
their design stages.
For the aspiring South Korean
manufacturer Topfield, this was
simply not good enough. They
came up with a plan to actively
include the end users of their set
top boxes in the developmental
process. This was made possible
by a unique programming
interface, called TAP (Topfield
Application Program), that the
manufacturer made available at
no cost to all users and included
precise documentation of the possibilities
and the proper approach
to take. It didn’t take long for
dozens of hobbyists to surface
that wanted to improve the capabilities
of their Topfield receivers.
Thanks to the Internet, these
small supplemental programs
quickly spread to others allowing
Topfield receiver owners to
choose from a variety of TAPs in
order to upgrade their box with a
specific useful function. A few of
the better TAPs we would like to
introduce to you here along with
a download link so that you can
take these TAPs for a test drive in
your receiver.
Unless otherwise mentioned,
most of the TAPs are compatible
with Topfield’s 5000 and 6000 PVR
series and are easily uploaded into
the receivers via the USB port or
the network interface using the
freely-available Altair program
(downloadable from www.i-topfield.com).
The TAPs are placed
into the “Program Files” folder.
This folder also contains the “Auto
Start” subfolder. Any TAPs placed
in this folder will automatically
be executed when the receiver
is turned on; any others would
be activated by accessing the
PVR menu and clicking on the