Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite
Date:         Mon, 14 Sep 1992 09:39:25 -0400
From:         "(Mike Gingell)" <aurs01!aurw6b!gingell@CONCERT.NET>
Subject:      Re: Considering the UST-4800

Gary Bourgois, WB8EOH, The Birdwatcher, flash@lopez.marquette.mi.us writes:

Well I have been reviewing IRD's for purchase consideration.
     If you have a UST 4800,

>     1.  Have you experienced any technical problems?
No
>     2.  The 4800 does not have Favorite Channel Memory, but uses SUPERGUIDE
>         instead.  How complex is it to pop over to a favorite audio channel?
See below
>     3.  Does SUPERGUIDE's schedule include CBC, and other ITC channels?
Yes (it does not give audio schedules however)
>     4.  Would it be possible for me to get from you any tech info, and
>         perhaps a copy of the instructive video tape?  I will pay for
>         tape or postage.
Yes
>     5.  What frequency is the I.F. Loop on the unit?
140 MHz

I bought a 4800 about 3 months ago and can say something about it,
specially from the point of view of customizing it beyond what is
offered by Superguide.  I bought it to use as a second receiver with
a second dish.

So far I have not signed up for Superguide as the dish it is on has a
treetop between it and F4. Also it is positioned to look Eastward over
the Atlantic and as far west as E1.  However I do plan to cut the top off
that tree and sign up for Superguide - assuming they don't move it far
to the west when they move all those other channels off F4.

What I can tell you is how the receiver is as far as what you can do
in the way of customization and experimentation without Superguide.
Compared to my Sierra III it has some drawbacks - for one thing it has
only one video bandwidth.  It is very much oriented to the consumer
I would say it is the "VCR+" of IRDs.  Its great if you use the Superguide
features but very awkward for anything else.  You can do most things
manually but you may have to go through 4 levels of menus to get there.

There are two models - the original 4800 and the current production version
which is called the 4800 S.  The S or super has an essential feature
which is the customization feature, it also has the spectrum analysis
capability.  You can customize a *limited* number of channels, until memory
runs out, with you own choice of default audio and other parameters.  I
have not seen a spec for how many you can customize but I would guess its
about 10-15 before you get the "no room" message.

The spectrum analysis is nice, it displays a graph of audio energy across
the band from 5-8 MHz but it suffers from a lack of selectivity so multiple
narrow band carriers tend to run together.

Satellite memory is limited to 33 - which is not enough in my book.
Satellite scanning is tedious. There is no way from the remote to go
to the next satellite. You must select a menu and enter its keyname
directly. i.e. there is no sat up/down key.

The video mouse is neat. You can set up a timed recording, with or
without Superguide, and it will start and stop a VCR for you.  You can
choose from a menu of all the well known brands.  For some strange
reason they have record, stop, play, fast forward and rewind functions.
What use the last 3 are and why they did not include a VCR power on/off
function I don't know.  Its strange. You must leave the VCR turned on,
or use a timed remote to turn it on and off.

To sum up, it has a weird mixture of great features which could have
been better. You can use it without Superguide but it is tedious.  It
is NOT an optimum receiver for the satellite hacker.  By the way, it
uses a 68008 processor with 2 by 1meg and 1 by 512k EPROMs. So, if
you really want to hack - who's for dissasembly?.

Mike Gingell, Alcatel, Raleigh, NC USA  (919) 850-6444
UUCP:       ...!mcnc!aurgate!aurfs1!gingell
Internet:   gingell%aurfs1%aurgate@mcnc.org
Newsgroups: rec.video.satellite