Nokia 9600

B.W. Revision 80a/b? - Chrissy Martin looks at the latest offering from Bentley Walker.

To start with, as TESUG gets more and more letters on the subject, maybe we should return to basic for a minute.

As enthusiasts we all want to recieve, or at least try to, as many channels as possible without the need to add a viewing card. With this in mind we should concider that theres are many receivers already on the marcket and I know of people who spent the least amount of money ands recently suffered from a loss of channels after one broardcaster did some ECM-type changes. The annoying thing is that the upgrade market is very focused on the Nokia platform and as such those friends are left with very limited receivers

Point two is the recivers I jest mentioned suffer with a lack of flexibility. Getting to the news-feeds and SCPC channels needs a bit more than below average hardware. Thersfore, you do need to think carefully beore you buy.

Number three: The next annoyance of digital is that of loading all the PIDs SR and FECs. That can seem tiresome. However, it has been the case that we have had to make such data availble. I, for one, have craved for a receiver that works in a very similar fashion to that of my Palcom.

Number four: I hate carring lists of PIDs around just to surf the skies. I can cope with a transponder frequency and polarity, but after that I need to move my laptop to the front room just to scan for new channels.

Number five: Who ever designed the first wave of digital receivers must have been living o another planet. My analogue receiver stored more channels than the digital recivers. That was bizarre and in my opinion bad research, not to menchion cutting cost.

With those pointers i have to say I looked at the new BW modified 9600 and was really trying to find holes in it. Here, I should say I did get a few tips from Eric before starting and I'll share those with you as we go though to avoid you getting as lost as I could have done

Cuttin to hte chase, the new top of the range BW has TWIN CARD readers, RF output as well as all the other functions you would expect fromm a 9600. The box looks and feels very much like a 9600, but the read-out had me looking from the start.

When you first plug in the reciver it comes up with the revision sequence and the letter 'a'. Turn it off and back on again and the letter 'b' appears. Do make a note of this.

In short the receiver has two sets of software within it and as such it has double the storage capacity of previous models. However, the set-up menus are not universal. In other words, the 'a' software and the 'b' software are totally independent. Therefore, when you set up the local oscillator settings you need to mirror all the settings for both the 'a' and 'b' settings. That said it does become a fun toy after that point.

In keeping with Eric's' view, I have all the Anorak channels stored under 'a' and all the Broadcast multiplexes under 'b'. This does make for easy sorting of channels. Loading the channels is very simple. Although it works much quicker if you add all the PID, SR and FEC settings, you can, in most cases, just key in the frequency and polarity and let the deceiver do the rest. I did notice one or two times it didn't work, but it is very much in the minority. The speed of access is much better than before. However, it still suffers from 'hanging' at times. I mentioned this to the other half and he laughed, showing me how long it takes to name a channel on my trusty Palcom - OK point taken.

However it does seem slow at times.

In short, I can't fill up the memory of both sides to the point where it crashes like earlier models. Having only a 90cm antenna, London based, I don't enjoy as many channels as the list published in FP this month. However, I'm only missing a few and on clear days I am only a handful short. So I can get several hundred Ace channels and to prove the memory I also loaded all the encrypted channels. This amounted to nearing 1,000 stored services and still the receiver continued.

You may have noticed another tip From Eric in the form of NOT USING the SR and FEC setting for low SR channels. Although you cannot access them, I used this technique to load the very low SR-ed services on 16east. They include supermarket services. The good news is that the services loaded. So if you are unsure, just put in the frequency. I also found that the low SR channels would only load using this technique. Keying in the correct SR rate, sub 3000, often produced no channels - so a good tip there.

As we all continue to say, only buy upgradable equipment. Therefore, I should answer the following - can you upgrade all these features into an existing receiver and the answer is "yes". I did speak with Jane at B.W. about costs and I have to say she was a bit vague as they were still finalising all the component costs. AU she would say is that doubling the memory was going to be around GBP95-99 and that they would do their best on the twin card reader.

You must be getting bored with the comment 'It's the best yet', but I can only speak as I find. Therefore, it is the best MPEG box I've used to date. It clears up most of my complaints about MPEG and avoids the annoying crashing problems of earlier days. For the record I was using the 'a'/'b' box with a 9.75-10.75 LNB. No I don't want to swap! The receiver didn't suffer any problems, as far as I could see, not being connected to a universal, but I fear the day getting closer when it's going to happen.

To sum up re:

Q 1. Can I upgrade

A1. yes if you stick with receivers like the Nokia

Q2. Does this receiver get me to new feeds and SCPCs

A2. Yes.

Q3. Do I have to load SRs and FECs

A3. Well almost no - very close to perfect

Q4. Can I surf without PIDs

A4. I refer my honourable friend to answer 4

Q5. Is the storage OK

A5. Fine for me - I have ALL the free channels with no problems

Double Card reader Tip - on some occasionally a message will appear.

CHECK CARD

This can be a touch annoying at times. However, should this happen it is easily fixed. YOU SHOULD NOT DELETE CHANNELS. What you should do is to press all three front panel buttons together, release them and then press them again. This will remove the message and bring back pictures.

[Thanks Chrissy, Plain language and no punches pulled as always - Ed]. For more details call, in the UK, 01705 463943