SatKing DVBS2-800CA

SatKing Tv receiver , piece of rubbish – Sold as the best on the market , far from the truth. Let’s look at the positives: when it works it does as expected, shows TV channels and you’ll soon be very confident in rebooting this unit as you’ll be doing it several times a week. Negatives: rebooting this unit several times a week. Do not buy these units , waste of money. Show details

The machine does not function – The makers of this machine should purchase a Humax, take it apart and figure out how they managed to make a machine that works. The SatKing's main problem is that it reboots itself nearly every time you touch the remote. Often the only way to get the machine to come back on again is to turn the power off at the wall. It refuses to tape a… Read more

scheduled program on Sundays, just in case you like watching the AFL Sunday games. It splits taped programs into two or three segments when ever it feels like it, even if you ask it to stop doing that. The EPG taping function is unreliable. It tapes strange programs and often does not tape the scheduled selection. If you just want to watch TV, you may be happy. If you want the machine to do anything else you are depending on prayers and good luck. There is no way I would ever buy another one of these. I threaten to throw it out the window every other day, and probably will eventually do so and wear the loss. Never once had a problem of any kind with a Humax.

Great little Box – Purchased a Van with Sat King Orbit system Previous owner did not know much about it.After much research I called Satking in Moorabbin. All questions answered quickly by a very knowledgeable lady....5 stars Show details

Failed Satking – I think the company SATKING could do better with customer service, I called we a problem with my receiver, and because out of warrantee , I got a basic answer the the problem could not be fixed, which I thought strange, anyway I do honestly think the unit has overheated as it was housed in an overhead cupboard in my caravan, maybe the unit should have an internal cooling fan and or an overheat safety feature. Show details

Crap product – The channel list is mostly non functional.You want to choose a program and just when you want to hit the enter button the list moves up or down. Very annoying problem.I have rang the company and they told me it was a software problem that they are aware of. No help. Not good enough! Show details

Good product, sensational service – Whilst in Karumba (FNQ) back in 2015, we had Russ Brown install a Satking tv satellite system into our caravan. (Russ spends 6 months in Karumba and 6 months in the Gold Coast). His product and his experience we found second to none and were very happy with our decision. Years on, and forgetting a few operational procedures, Russ is still… Read more

readily available to assist with any issues, unbelievable after 5 years from purchase. Definitely 5 stars out of 5 for Russ, and no hesitation in recommending both he and his product. Google SatKing installers QLD to find his contact details.

There are a few very negative comments here, but perhaps it is the seller/installer, not the product that is the problem.

Awesome, never had any issues – I am very impressed with the product, mainly because it’s easy to use and install. I am using this from last 2 years. Recording quality is great and it’s worth to every penny. Show details

SatKing DVBS2-980CA – Had one of these for a few weeks, professionally installed with fixed dish on roof. Picture quality etc is fine, but seems to have firmware problems (particularly with the record functions from the EPG). Also, every once in a while for no obvious reason it just reboots. Setting up to record programs from the EPG is buggy - sometimes it… Read more

simply refuses to schedule a recording event, other times it works OK. Bit of a problem when one of its supposed "features" is the PVR functionality.

Emails to SatKing support have (so far) not been replied to.

PS: Also got a USB WiFi dongle with the unit. Needs further investigation, but seems to creating connectivity problems with other WiFi devices in the house (even if it's just sitting there with no traffic). As soon as I remove it other devices come good. The problem is definitely not with my router (Draytek Vigor2862). All devices quite close to the router, so signal strength is not the issue.

Excellent Unit, especially for a caravan. Makes finding a satellite very easy – I have a Satking 800CA and am looking at upgrading to the 980CA that has just been released. The 800CA is mainly used in the caravan, and I find it excellent. It has a brilliant EPG and makes finding the satellite extremely easy. It gives a clear picture and works very well. I think though (after a lot of research) the new Altech box is better… Read more

than the 980CA made by Satking. It has a digital tuner, so when you are watching a channel and recording another, the signal strength isn't reduced like it is on the Satking box. If you like your VAST TV, I would certainly recommend the 800CA if you didn't want to go for the new upgraded model.

Frustrated sat user – Very poor service. Don't bother go with another brand. Stay away from these unhelpful gitts. Have install another brand. When you do get through to them the double Dutch and the way they treat you as a stupid person is unacceptable. I can hardly wait for the next caravan and camping show when the salesman is trying to talk somebody into the product. I will walk up and tell him don't  Show details

Satking 22" VDH TV – The back up service is terrible. The warranty is only 1 year. The contact number and person at the other end is VERY hard to understand, VERY unhelpful and quite frankly I would strongly recommend staying away from this product and brand. We have 2 of the TVs in the caravan and will now replace them with another brand. UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE … Read more

19th July 2017

Since posting this review the distributor (Phoenix Technology in Melbourne) has agreed to review this and accepted the TV back. Their workshop tested the TV and found an issue with the software which has been rectified and updated. While I accept there has been a good result, a little PR in beginning for something that was less that 2 years old would have avoided all this. But credit to them - they did come to the party and did something about the issue.

Thanks!

Happiness comes when the Sat set box works – This new addition to our TV is giving me huge joy. The helps and guides - all easy to follow. I was able to install it myself and being an octogenarian this is quite an achievement. Our previous one was loaded with challenges. This box presents an excellent picture and I'm confident we'll get maximum trouble free enjoyment in the future. Their attention to detail is brilliant. We are very satisfied customers..  Show details

Service they are not interested in customer after you buy their product – Sent numerous emails no reply gave up and bought altech great service from them. Both my set top boxes failed same day. I was told mother boards were fried funnily both transformers still work. Sat king refuses to talk to me. I only wanted them to advise me on what to do to fix them. malcolm coe  Show details

Clandulla – Won't allow me to watch live while recording despite instructions saying I can Don't wish to write any more.  Show details

Three box failures under warranty one failure out of warranty!! – My experience with Satking's DVBS2-800CA decoder box has unfortunately not been very good. My fourth unit in just 3 years has just failed. We don't use it that often but the failure rate is astonishing. The most recent box (#4) I had to purchase new because box#3 failed just out of warranty and Satking refused to cover it???? I'm pretty… Read more

annoyed by the inconvenience of postage and returning these boxes back to Satking, they always break when we are traveling!! I wish they made a more lasting unit because the features and functions appear to be really good.

The Jury is still out with me – I undertook some new modifications to the In Caravan TV network, and purchased a new Satking DVBS2-800CA. the whole things was professionally installed by a reputable TV technician. I used it for about three weeks and then left it. Yesterday, I recharged the vast card, Optus C1 on the Dish, and the SatKing won't come off Scan. so three weeks… Read more

of use and its RS. I have gone through the Net to SatKing for advice, yet they haven't come back to me. I will wait and see.

Really good box - small fits in my caravan perfect and easy to use – The box has a really nice satellite finder feature i use for my caravan. Interface has really nice EPG for what is on. I use a 32gb record stick. Works great compared to the old model which was bigger. Recording quality is good. Is the unit reliable - yes hasnt missed a beat

So much worse than the Altech offering – Had an Altech UEC for 4 years then changed to this Satking and 1/ The EPG past one day shows mostly no events so unable to schedule any recordings 2/ If I did add recordings manually the programing schedule is lost when the box reboots?!! which it does by itself some times. 3/ Resuming watching a recording won't start at the last place you… Read more

stopped it like the Altech did

4/ Awkard menu compared to the Altech which I'm now considering buying again even though it did only last 4 years.

Four weeks use and dead – On 12th August 2014, bought a new Satking DVBS2-800CA decoder. Used it approx. FOUR WEEKS in the bedroom when visitors were here. It was placed in the bedroom cupboard after the four weeks. Recently, early February 2016, I decided to pull it out and boot it up for any possible updates. Boots up OK but it cannot find a signal. The 1.2m dish is OK… Read more

as I have a UEC running on same antenna (not at the same time) with 78% signal quality. All parameters are OK and was confirmed with Satking. The decoder was reset at factory defaults as well. I was told by them very quickly that they cannot help me any further as the decoder is out of warranty. Antenna socket is OK and has 18 volts at the LNB. Seems like new U.E.C. decoder on the shopping list.

We have had reception problems but to there credit Phoenix Technology have gone out of there way – I purchased the pro max antenna some 2 years ago. We had reception problems up the W A coast line. Also across the nullabour. We live in Perth and travel these routs regularly. Phoenix Technology have been exceptional with there service trying to iron out the bugs in the new technology. They have shipped the antenna back to Melbourne twice now at… Read more

there expense. It now seems to be sorted out. The antenna has a big advantage with the wind and a smaller footprint on the caravan allowing more space for solar panels.

Works As Expected – Top little unit with fairly good build quality. Solid little remote control. Not too flimsy. Plugged the the 12volt power pack in, turned it on and it scanned the satellite for channels. All channels scanned and off I went. Interface is pretty easy to maneuver. Recording is click and select. It only can record to a usb stick and recordings are encrypted and can't be transferred to PC or another Sat Box for viewing which is really pointless.

Satking DVBS2-800CA Review – I purchased this unit after my UEC sat. decoder failed after only three years and I can make the following comparisons at least between those two units:: 1. The unit operates on 12V DC and an optional adapter (cigarette lighter) for camping is available. The net tells me the internal power supplies on the UEC models fail regularly, so this… Read more

external 240 VAC converter to 12 V DC has possibly gotten around any power problems. Besides, they do not cost $80 like the UEC ones and are plentiful. Running the Satking off a 12V battery is also possible and will deliver clean power, useful for people in the bush with solar/wind and generator power supplies.

2. Despite an 85 cm dish the Satking has the disadvantage of rebooting regularly, which is most annoying. This has never happened with the UEC. The UEC only failed during heavy rain and pixellated, which is to be expected. The rebooting occurs despite a strength indication of 84% and a quality of 64% forcing me to ask for it to be repaired and so far, no reply has been received from Satking. I hope they answer before the warranty runs out.

3, What is annoying is the inability of the software to record a stopped replay position and then to restart at the same spot. This means a 30x FF to get from the beginning to that spot again.

4. The Satking has the annoying habit of sometimes displaying "No event" in the EPG, something I cannot remember the UEC ever doing. So far I have not been game enough to record in that time slot and trusting the printed TV guide instead.

November 7th 2016 Update: Rebooting three times per evening

Bad part of this unit is the constant rebooting despite an even better signal strength of 89% and quality of 75%. Even the UEC I would never buy again as the power supply failed too soon. Both units have a single tuner only, which means you cannot record and view a different channel.

What I am suggesting is buying a unit with dual tuners.

Anyone can do it! – I live in an area classified as a digital TV blackspot, and am eligible for access to the VAST satellite freeview TV broadcasting service. I shopped around to find that installers wanted $700++ to set up and install a system, and the cost of the hardware (dish, bracket, LNB, set top box etc) was only about $400. After reading all the negative… Read more ·  1

reviews on the only available VAST certified set top box (Altech DSD) I started to get a bit nervous, especially as the asking price was about $300. After going for nearly a year without TV, I found that there are now other STB's available for the VAST network and ultimately settled on a SatKing for $279 delivered (with a LNB and HDMI cable included).

I jumped in and bought a dish as well and set it up myself the other day, and with the help of the STB built in signal finder function I had it working in about 30 minutes! The SatKing was pretty much just plug and play (once you make all the connections to the TV but it's no different to any other STB) - all I had to do was get online to register the Smartcard and by the time I got back to the lounge room, it had been accepted and had scanned in all the available TV and Radio stations. I didn't have to do any manual set up on the STB, does it all itself and anyway, the menus are pretty easy to follow if you do want to play with the settings. One of the best things is the size - 22 cm long, 18 cm wide and 4.6 cm high, and you can even get a remote sensor that allows you to have the STB out of sight but still able to get the remote control signal.

I've now got great TV reception and all for about $350, sweet. Compact, simple to use, australian designed. Nothing.