Bestellen Sie diesen Satelliten- Newsletter! - TELE-satellite ...

Two in One
If you think you have seen this receiver
before, you are right. In fact, it is not really
a new receiver. It is already in use in France
by one of the pay-TV providers. Kathrein’s
UFD 501 has been modified to meet the
demands of the European FTA digital and
analogue market. Easy to operate and preprogrammed
with the most common channels.
A receiver for family use.
This UFD 501 comes in an unobtrusive
classic design with metal housing and a large
four-digit display on the front. Three LEDs
indicate the status of the box: standby, radio
mode and IR reception. Up to 600 channels
can be stored. Of course, three buttons are
present to be used whenever the remote
control is lost or out of batteries. No real surprises
at the back of the receiver. One thing
we would like to mention is the LNB output.
It can be used to loop the signal through to
another satellite receiver. Unfortunately, no
RF-modulator is built-in. For a lot of countries,
this may be of no problem. In countries
where there are a lot of old television sets still
in use, this may cause problems in connecting
the receiver to the TV.
Two phono jacks supply your stereo with
the audio output of the receiver. For those
of you with a S-VHS VCR or a television set
with a Y/C input, the UFD 501 features this
output, which offers a better picture quality.
http://www.TELE-satellite.com
Of course, there are two Scart (Peritel) connectors;
a third one (which would commonly
be used for an external decoder) is missing.
But after all, this is supposed to be a free-toair
receiver. A serial interface (RS232) is in
place to be able to update your receiver or its
settings by using a PC. For on-screen display,
you can choose from several languages. The
UFD 501 is not very choosy when it comes
to the operating voltage. Anything between
90 and 245 VAC will make this box perform
its act. It comes with a large remote control,
which is still very easy to understand. Even
when your fingers are just a little bit thicker,
you can still use it without having the trouble
of pressing all buttons at once.
A trend we have seen developing over
the last years is the use of a circular menu
button layout. The UFD 501’s remote uses
that, too.
IN PRACTICE
First of all, you have to choose the language
in which the UFD 501 will talk to you.
You can choose between English, German,
French, Spanish and Italian. Using a universal
LNB means that the box is really Plug-and-
Play and that you can start enjoying your
favourite shows immediately. All common
channels on various satellites are already
pre-programmed for your convenience. To
do a finer alignment of your dish, you can
use the semi-professional measuring facility
of the UFD 501. It not only shows the signal
strength in a bar chart but also the signal/
noise ratio. Every signal less than 4.8dB can
be forgotten. There is no way you will ever
get a picture out of that. Best value for this
figure is 10.5 dB.
Of course, you are not left out in the cold
if you don’t plan to use a universal LNB. The
UFD 501 supports almost any LNB, C-band
included. So just change the parameters of
the LOF within the UFD 501 and in conjunction
with the built-in DiSEqC control you an
even connect more than one LNB/dish. Just
connect the proper DiSEqC switch to control
the whole bunch of LNBs and dishes.
What to do after your receiver is working
fine and the first stations have appeared on
your television screen? Right, search for new
channels. So we did. The Autofind feature
of the UFD 501 will only search for signals
operating with a symbol rate of 27.5 or
22Msym/s. You can manually add a third
symbol rate, which can even be a SCPC
symbol rate below 15Msym/s.
Despite the fact that the Autosearch feature
isn’t too fast, it is nevertheless really
thorough. PowerVu signals are not found,
however.
As soon as you are acquainted with all
those settings of digital channels, you can of
75