This is quite a complex question that straddles media device power requirement and the consequent options of kit and really so I'll break it down into questions. In my Burstner T680 I currently have Magicsat Auto Dish System feeding into Avtex 18.5"1366x768 TV via Humax Freesat 1100s Box. Burstner E-Box, 1Kw Inverter, 175w Solar Panel. I've knackered the 2x105 Ah batteries with over discharging so just about to upgrade to 100 Ah Li-Gen with a Victron DC/DC Charger.
Although I have the satellite system which of course enables us to watch 'live' broadcasts the fact is our viewing is almost exclusively 'time shifted' output. At home we have 2Tb SkyQ with a huge store of material which I've tried to set up in the MoHo but so far I haven't got to play. Therefore I'm building an alternative library of material on the Humax hard drive while at home but this doesn't have quite the same depth of access to programmes we like to watch at home and moreover can't download back catalogues.
We have Sky Mobile with some 150gb of stored data in our Piggy Bank (thanks to lockdown!) which we use for streaming and probably will have enough rebuild up over the winter to replenish for the summer. I've set up a Heiwei Router and MiFi booster for the mobile signal but choked down all the devices so they don'y think they are on WiFi and start refreshing/updating and gobbling up the data!
So that's the background and now for the questions:
Q1. The Humax box consumes 48w and the TV 23w. I've reverted to powering both from the 12v circuit rather than the 240v inverter in the belief that this might slightly reduce the overall consumption but is there an alternative 'set top box' that will be less power hungry? (I've have read 12v doesn't actually make a power consumption difference, but it would mean the inverter can be shut down thus saving some power)
Q2. If there is a recommended lower power box presumably without a hard drive is there a way of recording programmes on to a flashdrive/external hardrive at home to take away that I can plug in?
Q3. Presumably a Firestick Lite would be good enough for the 1366x768 Display TV but how hungry is a Firestick for data? Can this be combined with a device in anyway for playing stored videos?
Q4. Has anyone got their Q Box to work in the MoHo, either from the dish or recorded programmes off the hard drive?
Q5. I anticipate some suggestions will be, forget the satellite and just go for the data streaming. If so what recommendations for a low cost data network provider? (I am aware of NOW being the Sky Streaming option)
As you will gather I'm trying to maximise TV viewing whilst keeping wattage and mobile data consumption as low as possible. I'm reasonably technically savvy and that which I don't understand I will Google around for an explanation but for those who feel they can help please keep jargon expressions and abbreviations to the absolute minimum and treat me as if I don't know anything at all because I probably don't! I really am of a very simple mind that needs to have things spelt out clearly in words of one syllable!
Thank you all in advance for reading this and hopefully providing me with some useful straightforward advice and recommendations.
Trevor
Although I have the satellite system which of course enables us to watch 'live' broadcasts the fact is our viewing is almost exclusively 'time shifted' output. At home we have 2Tb SkyQ with a huge store of material which I've tried to set up in the MoHo but so far I haven't got to play. Therefore I'm building an alternative library of material on the Humax hard drive while at home but this doesn't have quite the same depth of access to programmes we like to watch at home and moreover can't download back catalogues.
We have Sky Mobile with some 150gb of stored data in our Piggy Bank (thanks to lockdown!) which we use for streaming and probably will have enough rebuild up over the winter to replenish for the summer. I've set up a Heiwei Router and MiFi booster for the mobile signal but choked down all the devices so they don'y think they are on WiFi and start refreshing/updating and gobbling up the data!
So that's the background and now for the questions:
Q1. The Humax box consumes 48w and the TV 23w. I've reverted to powering both from the 12v circuit rather than the 240v inverter in the belief that this might slightly reduce the overall consumption but is there an alternative 'set top box' that will be less power hungry? (I've have read 12v doesn't actually make a power consumption difference, but it would mean the inverter can be shut down thus saving some power)
Q2. If there is a recommended lower power box presumably without a hard drive is there a way of recording programmes on to a flashdrive/external hardrive at home to take away that I can plug in?
Q3. Presumably a Firestick Lite would be good enough for the 1366x768 Display TV but how hungry is a Firestick for data? Can this be combined with a device in anyway for playing stored videos?
Q4. Has anyone got their Q Box to work in the MoHo, either from the dish or recorded programmes off the hard drive?
Q5. I anticipate some suggestions will be, forget the satellite and just go for the data streaming. If so what recommendations for a low cost data network provider? (I am aware of NOW being the Sky Streaming option)
As you will gather I'm trying to maximise TV viewing whilst keeping wattage and mobile data consumption as low as possible. I'm reasonably technically savvy and that which I don't understand I will Google around for an explanation but for those who feel they can help please keep jargon expressions and abbreviations to the absolute minimum and treat me as if I don't know anything at all because I probably don't! I really am of a very simple mind that needs to have things spelt out clearly in words of one syllable!
Thank you all in advance for reading this and hopefully providing me with some useful straightforward advice and recommendations.
Trevor
