JonC, bro .. have you watched ESPN HD? How was it?

As for me, I registered on Thursday and they called me on Friday and informed me that my ASTRO B-yond will be installed within 10 days.

Got a call from BLOCKED number earlier. Answered but no one on the other line. Might be them. Will have to wait maybe ..

Wow, I thought I have cleared the explanation on HBO years ago in an another one of ASTRO's thread.

Same movies playing all over again? Blame HBO not ASTRO. ASTRO is just only paying for their rights to broadcast it all over Malaysia. They don't have any control on which and what movies to be played and whatnot. Same goes to ESPN, Star Movies, Cinemax and others.

We/you can only blame ASTRO for its poor customer service and bad receptions whenever it pours. Well, maybe some of us need to read that with KU-band, we are prone to be having interrupted signals and whatnot. KU-band is more suitable to be broadcasted over countries which aren't having heavy rains. Try to google around.

I've been working for ASTRO in the past and now working for company which mingle around with satellite and receptions has helped me in understanding the nature of this type of technology.

I am not sure

But my office is working around with C-band. Hehe. Anyway .. ASTRO could improve their signals by transmitting with more power.

FTA channels eh? Some of them are available in KU and some with C. If you have dishes for both then .. voila! Woohoo!

But can KENA with MCMC lah ...

This post has been edited by boxsystem: Dec 20 2009, 06:24 PM

It is ...

My goodness! Care to elaborate on which channels that are repeating its programs?

Let me tell you what ASTRO does. They buy rights from content companies such as HBO and etc.

I used to complaint before, just as you do. It all changed when I started to work for them. I've learned what type of programmes they offered. Let me enlighten you.

There 2 types of channels. Pass thru and In house.

Pass thru :
HBO, Cinemax and etc. In other words, ALL OVERSEAS channels and other local TV stations.

In house ;
RIA, PRIMA, CERIA, HHD and etc.

The pass thru channels are nothing within ASTRO's control. They aren't responsible on what to be played or currently playing. What can they do is to replace the ads that came along with the channel. For an example, ESPN originally playing a lot of alcohol/beer ads but ASTRO change them with local ads such as Maxis and etc.

But they do have total control over in house channels. That, you can criticize them. Even so, for someone like me that often misses shows when showing for the first time, wouldn't mind to watch the replays.

p/s: ASTRO is NOT PAYING me to clear things up. I left the company long time ago. And I do hope this clears up some misunderstanding.

Thank you.

It is always like that with people. I've traveled around and yet people from first world countries are still criticizing their governments, providers and etc.

Even Sky in the UK also having this kind of problem. TM HSBB is trying to emulate Virgin.

okay people. this is Astro Beyond's thread not RWI!

Please please please put some more screenies here!!

I am still waiting for my installer call. It is the 6th/7th day now. Oh .. I'm in KL.

Yeah .. all msian company sux.

I wonder why people don't even bother to read on the posts a few pages back. I remembered someone literally explaining regarding 1080p and 1080i standards. How BD differs? How 1080p isn't even being broadcast live in any part in the world and how it consumes bandwidth.

Sure, you can get 1080p quality but all are after market products.

Maybe we should complain that no company broadcasts in 4:4:4.

I was being sarcastic .. LOL.

Yeah .. our eyes aren't that sensitive to colors. ASTRO's SD txn is crap. That's why I'm opting for B.yond. Anticipating sports in HD.

Called the CS and inquired about my installation. She told me that there's a long queue due to large request. I told her back .. why got people registered later got theirs installed first? She said she will do something about it. I doubt it. Hehe.

So lucky lah you ..

Like the rest of us, I am still waiting ...

Got my call from the installer as well. He will come tonight!!!!

HD for me. Any live games on Supersport HD? ESPN HD still not available eh?

Installer came as promised. Really thumbs up for the HD channels. Really satisfied. Watching football would be much more entertaining after this. Woohooo.

Oh yes. Differ microwave spectrum. Meaning .. differ kind of dishes.

C band 4 to 8 GHz
Ku band 12 to 18 GHz


Yup, certainly having problems with Audio. Hope ASTRO will improve on that.

The ASTRO B.yond remote is rather useful. Easily 'integrates' with my TV.

This post has been edited by boxsystem: Dec 23 2009, 01:08 AM

Chill down guys.

smileguy, basically the contents would be the same between HBO and HBO HD. The only difference is the quality of the movies. Maybe, somewhere in the future, there will be more HD movies channels in ASTRO. I am not sure. But last time when I was in the UK, I also 'pening' on which channel to watch. So many channels there.

I don't really know ASTRO's capabilities in downlinking channels from UK, Europe and US. As what of I know, there aren't many interesting channels are being broadcast here in Southeast Asia. Normally, the ones that we are able to get are those being turned around from some source. But if you would like to have channels with ethnic(is this even the correct word?)/regional/specific countries contents, there are a lot lying around.

People in the US/UK/Europe can sue/claim for their rights because of their nature surroundings. I think that I've mentioned before that Ku-Band isn't really suitable with countries that are having heavy pours all year throughout. Well, there are ways to overcome the rain fade problems such as transmitting the signals with more power but that wouldn't be cost efficient.

These are the rates that I know :

SD transmission space segment uplink charges
First 10 minutes : $375(more or less)
Every minute afterwards : $50(more or less)

These rates are paid to the company that uplinking signals from their site to bird. Yet, you still have to pay the company that owns the bird. I am not sure about HD charges as I would like to think it would be much much more expensive considering the bandwidth it requires.

This post has been edited by boxsystem: Dec 23 2009, 07:08 AM

Dude, check my earlier post.

It's good that you emailed HBO. I am thankful for you to ask them regarding the scheduling.

Yet, the purpose to have HD channels is to have the content in HD. I know that there are some channels that are having diff contents for their SD and HD. Iti is totally up to them. But just bear in mind, normally it is just to serve the purpose of having a higher quality transmission/broadcast.

This post has been edited by boxsystem: Dec 23 2009, 09:20 AM

Thanks for the hindsight!

Any of you need screenies of the new machine? I'll try to snap a few later on ...

Was having the same problem last night while watching Sevilla VS (forgot) ...