The GS 8306 satellite TV tuner appeared in the summer of 2012, becoming one of the most compact Tricolor TV devices. The model allows viewing the package of high definition TV channels “Maximum HD”.
Appearance
There is no digital display, which reduced the power consumption of the receiver. The power source removed from the case lowered the heating temperature of the device, which, according to user reviews, increased its service life. A power supply failure is the main cause of satellite tuner failures, and now, if necessary, it can be easily replaced with another.
The tuner “Tricolor” GS 8306 is produced in a small silver metallic case. The sides of the top cover are rounded, which visually reduces the height of the receiver and gives it a modern look. The top, chassis and rear panel are made of metal, and the front panel is made of plastic. Above and below are ventilation holes. The front panel is bypassed by a minimum of control buttons. There is a button for switching the operating mode, channels and volume control on it.
The mode indicator is combined with the backlight of the Standby button. Its white-blue color, according to user reviews, is poorly distinguishable against the background of the front panel. On the side of the case there is a slot for a conditional access card.
The back panel contains:
- input and output antenna connectors LNB IN and LNB OUT;
- composite RCA output connector;
- RCA-out connectors of the right and left sound channels;
- USB port
- HDMI connector
- power supply connector 12 V.
Filling
The Neotion NP6 + central processor is designed for low-cost MPEG 4 devices of standard resolution (SD) and high definition (HD) and supports the use of secure data exchange technology. The microcircuit does not require an additional radiator, since its heating does not exceed 45 ° C. The receiver's motherboard holds two 512 MB DDR2 RAM slots. ROM - based on flash memory with a capacity of 16 MB. The data exchange speed is supported up to 35 Mb / s. There is an 8 KB EEprom memory chip 24C08RP used to store important system parameters. In the receiver path of the presented receiver, the DVB-S / S2 unit of the Serit SP2230 MVb tuner was used. The tuner chip Montage Technology M88TS2022 is used in the input part of the unit. The demodulator is built on the Montage Technology M88DS3103 chip.
Distinctive features of the tuner unit:
- loop RF output;
- automatic determination of broadcast parameters;
- blind search and hibernation features .
The HDMI interface controller is made on an Analog Device ADV7520 chip that supports HDTV video format, with an integrated HDCP encryption module. The card reader is placed on a separate board and has additional plastic guides.
The LNB power is controlled by the Allegro A8293 regulator, which generates up to 8 voltage levels with a tone of 22 kHz and controls the load consumption.
The controller is controlled via the I2C bus. The board has a place for connecting an SD card slot and a front panel display, reserved for the following receiver models. The receiver is powered by a DC adapter with a voltage of 12 V and a current of 2 A. There is also a 2 A fuse on the board.
Contents of delivery
The GS 8306 has the same remote control as other Tricolor TV satellite tuners. According to users, it is easy and convenient, because the control buttons are concentrated in the center. There are buttons for calling information and other functions of the provider: “TV Mail”, “TV Chat”, “Order a movie”. “Signal In” is used to switch the signal between the HDMI and CVBS interfaces. The remote control is powered by 2 AAA batteries.
The kit also includes a Tricolor TV brochure and an instruction manual.
Connection
To indicate the operating mode of the GS 8306, the backlight is used, which is created by 2 LEDs. The indicator mode is determined by the sequence of their inclusion. These modes are as follows:
- There is no glow - the tuner is off. However, the receiver has a standby sleep mode in which there is no indication. Entrance and exit to it is made by the Standby button.
- Continuous light - the receiver is loading after switching on or exiting standby mode. If the tuner GS 8306 does not turn on, the indicator is on, then most likely it is in boot mode.
- Blinking indicator - standby mode. The transition to the viewing state occurs by pressing the button for switching the channels of the front panel.
- The lower part of the indicator lights up - the operating mode, a signal is being fed to the HDMI interface.
- The upper part of the indicator lights up - operating mode, the signal goes to the CVBS connector.
- Simultaneous signal input to the HDMI interface and the CVBS connector is not possible. When the receiver is turned on for the first time, the video signal is fed to the RCA / CVBS connector according to the 576i standard.
The audio signal is output to the RCA outputs regardless of the interface.
Resetting the GS 8306 receiver will not affect the video output mode. There is no resolution control at the HDMI output - only 1080i is supplied. This can complicate the use of the tuner with TVs operating in 720 p mode.
If the connected device sets the resolution automatically, then there may be a situation where the image resolution setting by the external device is not perceived. Tricolor TV receivers reboot and the HDMI interface turns off.
Power consumption
Current consumption at 12 volts:
- sleep mode - 100 mA;
- Standby mode - 450 mA;
- viewing at standard resolution - 650 mA;
- high definition viewing - 750 mA.
In sleep mode, the loopback output is disabled. The GS 8306 is updated via the USB interface of the tuner.
First steps
When you turn on the receiver for the first time or when resetting, the “First Installation Wizard” is launched. The setup is simple and consists of the following steps:
1. Setting the menu language from three possible (English, Ukrainian, Russian).
2. Set the region from the list downloaded from the satellite. If you select “Main”, then the channels that are broadcast throughout the “Tricolor TV” zone will be found. Selecting another region leads to the addition of channels.
3. Search for TV and radio channels "Tricolor TV". This mode starts after selecting a region. During setup, the display shows the settings indicators (level and quality) and a progress indicator. The latter lasts less than a minute, then the receiver enters viewing mode.
4. Repeated quick tuning is possible using the “Search for Tricolor TV” channels function from the main setup menu. There are no other search modes. There is no need to configure antenna parameters. The GS 8306 receiver is intended for use in the standard Tricolor TV subscription kit, and there is no corresponding menu.
Settings menu
The settings menu allows you to set:
- Primary and secondary audio and subtitle languages.
- Clock synchronization mode - automatic by satellite and manual.
- Display format (no change, Letter Box, PanScan, Combined).
- Parameters of analog video (PAL standard is accepted by default). The image quality, judging by the reviews, is decent. Switching to SECAM mode increases brightness and leads to loss of contrast.
- 4-digit access PIN. As users noted, the lack of protection on the setup menu makes the code installation pointless, since you can reset the settings and PIN code to the factory settings.
View
The maximum number of television and radio channels that can be in the device’s memory does not exceed 1000. Their location differs from the usual scanning of the Tricolor TV package. Numbering starts from scratch. You can choose how to display the list (in 1 or 3 columns), sort alphabetically and in reverse order. There is no list editing function. There are no viewing restrictions by age. The channel cannot be moved, deleted, renamed, blocked with a PIN code, assigned to one of 5 lists, which can include both television and radio channels. Favorite channels can be selected using filters. They can already be edited and repositioned in the list.
The transition of the tuner to sleep leads to the loss of information about the last viewing. When you turn it on again, the Tricolor TV receivers switch to the “zero” number viewing mode of the last selected list.
Broadcasts "Tricolor TV" are encoded by the DRE Crypt conditional access system. A subscriber buying a GS 8306 receiver receives a smart card with a 14-digit DRE ID. Subscription status can be viewed in the "Subscriptions" menu. Switching takes 3 days for SD and 4 for HD mode. It is done through a list called up on the screen or in turn. It is possible to quickly switch the list pages.
Service functions
The firmware of the GS 8306 receiver supports the following service functions.
- Program schedule for the week, including data on the genre of programs and their description. EPG loads fast. The TV guide window displays the broadcast data of 8 favorite channels. There is a timer for viewing programs.
- Teletext.
- Subtitles
- Alternative soundtracks.
- Cinema hall. The window displays a list of available films, time before viewing, genre, description of announcements and films. The My Sessions service allows you to create your own broadcast schedule. TV mail. The service displays messages and attached images sent from the TV Mail Tricolor website on the screen.
- TV chat. The service makes it possible to display text messages from a cell phone. Messages are displayed in a window in viewing mode.
- Banners displayed when switching between channels. Advertise the goods and services of a provider or other companies.
Firmware change
To update the tuner software using the USB connector, do the following:
- in the root folder of the USB drive you need to write the downloaded file;
- insert the drive into the connector;
- turn off and on the power;
- after some time (about 30 s) a message should appear on the screen indicating that the program started to load;
- when the download is complete, a message appears;
- remove the drive;
- turn off and on the power.
It should be noted that after the update, the receiver settings are reset to the factory settings.
According to users, the GS 8306 receiver is not without drawbacks, but is suitable for viewing Tricolor TV channels in standard resolution and HD mode. The receiver allows you to receive all the packages that the Tricolor TV operator provides: Cinema Hall, Night, Maximum HD, Super Optimum, Optimum. The tuner supports the HDTV image format, MPEG2, MPEG4 encoding. Despite the fact that the operator’s software does not allow viewing channels of other satellites and operators, the number and variety of frequencies provided by Tricolor TV, according to subscribers, eliminates this need.