TBS5927 USB

satesco

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TBS5927 Professional DVB-S2 TV Tuner USB



If I had to express my preference for USB tuners that exist on the market at present , I would definitely choose the model PROFESSIONAL USB DVB-S2 TV BOX TBS5927,which was put on sale at the end of last year (2016).
In 2011, when the Chinese manufacturer launched it on the market, the 5925 USB-based model did not even meet an expectation first of all by the enthusiasts of the satellite receivers who wanted to have a portable device capable of the same performance as the first professional PC card , TBS6925. With some technical features, tbs 5925 usb could be compared to performance with the 6925 card and the advantage was that everything was packaged in a small, easy-to-handle case and used in a variety of situations. But the advantage came with a problem, because the users complained that the TBS5925 was heating up after a certain amount of time of use, which affected its performances, but especially threatened the integrity of some elements from the interior. Because of the small size and the lack of proper cooling, some components inside the casing emit a fairly high temperature that endangers the device's safety, which is why you had to find an external source of ventilation to prevent a potential damage to the device.
Some users,worried that their case was getting too hot had reported this situation to the Chinese manufacturer. As a result, he understood that he had to find a solution to the problem and came up with a much improved and certainly more reliable version of the 5925, namely the TBS5927 USB Tuner. Compared to the old version, the new device has been fitted with a fan mounted right inside the box, which ensures long-term safety. And I have to say that the effect is immediately visible: the tuner can be turned on non-stop and does not heat up!
The new tuner is mounted in a black, matte aluminum case, which gives it a certain sobriety, and with its reduced dimensions of 105 x 90 x 22 mm and weight of only 195 grams, it fits in -a pocket coat, which can be worn anywhere and easily used in many situations.
But beyond these outer differences, what is really special is when you work with him. And that's because the USB 5927 has to be compared functionally and performance rather with the TBS6903 card, with the same main hardware components and technical features as: STV120 tuner, STV0910 demodulator, plus a DVB-USB-Cypress adapter FX2 USB controller. The only difference to the board is the one tuner, not two.
Compared to the old model 5925, the Output Port (Loop Out) has been removed for signal feeding to another receiver.
Virtually all the comparisons we can make when talking about the performance of the new model should refer to the TBS6903 card and not the 2011 model 5925! TBS5927 is capable of performing all the functions of the professional cards produced by TBS, : it has multi-stream ACM, VCM support, reads and closes signals sent in 16 / 32APSK modulations, supports Generic and Common Streams, TS, which many devices do not know how to do. As with other models, the 5927 tuner knows the " (blindscan) through hardware, so it finds frequencies with difficult parameters that regular tuners do not even "smell", such as symbol rates very small, even below 200 ksps.
Although it is a recent model, I must draw the attention of those interested in the latest news in the field that even in the absence of this standard,I think that this tunner covers exactly the area of interest of enthusiasts who want to receive today the majority of transmission modes via satellite.And one of the most sought after functions is blind scanning, an area where 5927 reacheas the same level of performance as the TBS6903 card.This fact can be checked on any satellite on the Arc of Clarke,regardless of the transmission parameters used.I chose to do a "blind",scanning on Horizons-2 at 85.2E because we have tv programs packages on this satellite,but also transponders of various streams, mostly generic(actually on many satellites).I used the Blindscan application of the manufacturer,and I scanned the satellite with both tuners,Usb 5927 and the 6903 card.The result was that the Usb tunner found and locked the same number of transponders as the DVB-s card.



Of course, what interests all of the satellite receptionists is the sensitivity of a tuner, the ability to detect and receive as best as possible a weak signal that is at the reception limit. And there are plenty of situations when we do not know how it separates us from receiving a signal because it is weak to be viewed. But with the help of an RF signal analyzer, the 5927 tuner can help us. For that I checked Intelsat 902 at 62 degrees East, the signal on vertical is very weak in our area. With the Crazyscan utility I managed to detect a weak signal, which, later, by small adjustments to the antenna, I could improve it even if I could not lock it, now I can see the transponder I did not know. It was another test to me that the 5927 tuner has the same capacity to show a weak signal as the 6903 card. Here is the picture below, as shown by the transponder at 62 degrees east at reception with the two devices.



But for me, the most important test for a DVB-S tuner is the ability to lock symbol low rates below 1000 Msps. And as in the specifications of the 5927 it is mentioned that he knows to lock symbol rates between 0.2 and 45 Msps, we tested Eutelsat 10A at 10 degrees east. We have on this satellite some transponder symbols with low rates of 256 Ks and three of them, between 12607 and 12609 MHz, are carrying six radio programs on a space small band of only 1 MHz, programs that are a few KHz distances. How can a tuner recognize and lock the signal on frequencies that seem to overlap and with a pretentious parameter? To check this capability of 5927, I chose the EBS utility, which besides other interesting features also has the Epsilon scan option, being able to lock the frequencies that are active under 1MHz. I have configured the utility so that I search for all transponders that have symbol rates less than 500 Ks at the top of the band, just as we had previously tested for the 6903. At the first scan, EBS found 9 of the ten frequencies found with 6903. On a new test, the utility found all ten. It appears that the USB cable 5927 succeeds in overcoming the same difficulties as the card. I have no knowledge that other USB tuners from other manufacturers are able to pass this difficult test.



Also in the reception, we have to keep in mind that the 5927 tuner supports the reception of the French and Italian multi-stream packages from 5 degrees west, as well as the Italian ones at 12.5 degrees west and the Bulgarian ones from 45 degrees east, to which I have to add the Telecom C-LM package on Hispasat (11491 MHz, V, 7522,3 / 4 PLS Combo 2388). The method of locking the signal on the MIS (Multi Input Stream) transponders that need the PLS code I presented it in card article (http://www.rdi-board.com/threads/155484-TBS6903-Professional-DVB-S2-Dual-Tuner-PCIe-Card) one year ago. Following the same steps described there, all MIS packages could be locked with the utilities used (Crazyscan and EBS), and with the DVB Dream player, we easily zapped the channels in those packets, and switching from one packet to another was as fast as to the usual channels without delays.





The more frequent use of 16APSK modulation in feeds has become a reality in the last year. This approach starts to spread and in the coming years we can expect to see more and more signals transmitted. Only computer cards and some signal metering devices are able to satisfy the curiosity of those interested in receiving them. That's why it's a good thing that the 5927 tuner can lock this kind of signal. I checked it on Eutelsat 8 West A from 8 west, where we often find feeds in 16APSK.
In the "blind" search, the tuner found the transponders with this parameter, regardless of the application, the utility or the DVB-S player. And in this chapter, model 5927 has shown that it behaves just like 6903 card.



Also, TBS5927 supports generic streams, besides multi-stream, regardless of the modulation used, 16APSK or 32APSK. Satellites have such transmissions, but their viewing involves the use of dedicated devices or special applications that reception enthusiasts do not have. In many cases, these streams have media content, even if we can not watch it. And yet I think it's an advantage that the 5927 tuner is capable of capturing such streams. Of course, this is not enough in practice, but I think it is important when there are applications where we can use such streams.



Related to this subject, I remind the reader that already some streams can be "recovered".For example, the radio programes that are transmitted in DVB-S / IP application can be received with IPcleaner.About such stream radio stations via satellite on Romanian at 62 degrees East and about the way in which we can listen I wrote on RDI forum (http://www.rdi-board.com/threads/154230-Receptie-Kissfm-Magicfm-Rockfm-de-pe-Intelsat-902).



In the above presentation, I wanted to highlight those features of the USB cable 5927 that appeal to both TV programmers and enthusiasts of the signal reception without losing sight of the antenna installers. For these latter, TBS5927 has the great advantage of being portable, and if connected to a laptop with a utility, you can easily find the active transponders on the desired satellite without the need for a list of them, and on the other hand with the right tools to help adjust antenna irrespective of the power of a signal. I checked it myself when I made adjustments to the antennas.
It is also worth mentioning that it works very well with the Diseqc 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, USALS protocol. I used the most of the commands for Diseqc 1.0 and 1.1.
I can state that the USB cable 5927 is without doubt at the same performance level as the TBS boards based on the STV091, TBS6983,6903,6908,etc and can be used with all DVB-S applications. And the graphical representation of the RF signal is the same as to the 6903 board, which is important if we want to find out all the information about the signal, transmission parameters or content.
The only difference between tuner 5927 and 6903 is at search and lock speed, slower at 5927, but only if we use the Crazyscan utility with the manufacturer's driver. The manufacturer has chosen the standard search option up to ~ 100 KHz at i2C bus. But I did a test with my CrazyCat driver in fast mode, with speeds up to ~ 400 KHz, and the result is remarkable. If with the TBS driver scanning and locking the Astra signal - 19.2 degrees East lasted 5.65 seconds, with CrazyCat's duration was 3.68 seconds.
I think that when setting the search time for the 5927 tuner, the manufacturer was looking to provide an optimal ratio between search speed, correct reading of data transmission and stability, considering that the last two are most important. Anyway, CrazyCat's driver once again showed that the performance of the 5927 is not accidental and behaves as well as all the cards that rely on the STV0910 chip, accepting speeds of up to 400KHz;I have to say that I was impressed with this small device.
I was also interested in the status of the signal level at 5927 compared to the other DVB-S cards. Crazyscan 5927 indicates the same signal level as the other TBS cards. Instead, with other utilities like TransEdit, for example, the signal appears to be slightly weaker by about 7%, but only because the signal at 6903 was slightly improved from the driver. So this signal difference is just a soft artifice and it is not seen when we use 5927, regardless of the application or the player used and does not influence the reception basically. Quite often, in fact, 5927 indicates more "correctly" the signal level than the TBS cards having the same demodulator - 6983,6903. Reaction and stability at a weak signal are the same as these cards.
I said earlier that what is immediately evident is the slot of a fan mounted right in the case. Its purpose is evident and the solution is very good, only the user has to accept a small price for the safety it brings. The fan emits a small noise that is not so perceptible when it is connected to a PC that has a specific noise,but admittedly,it gets a little disturbing when there are no other sources of noise.
I have no interference or other negative effects due to the use of the fan. The result is the same with or without it.
It should be known that, unlike the model in the presentation picture, the model that is on the market does not come with the remote control sensor. It seems to be a problem with the FX2 firmware, which is why it was dropped.
It should be known, as mentioned in the specifications, that the 5927 tuner works on the USB 2.0 port. Connecting it to a USB 3.0 port causes errors regardless of the DVB-S application used.
Several conclusions can be drawn from the above:
- It is addressed to all categories of buyers / amateur users and dexrs, to which I add antenna installers.
- Its performance is on the same level as the TBS6903,6983 professional cards. It has the same result in "blind" scanning and the same SNR value as the 6903 card. It has the same capacity to receive poor signal transponders.
- It locks the signal on transponders with symbol low rates, even 144 Msps.
- It is much safer in long-term use than the previous model USB5925. It has the advantage of working safely in hot / cold environments.
- It supports all satellite applications (utilities, dvb-s players, etc.).
If we were to find a fault with 5927, it would be that noise produced by the fan. But because I had a bad experience with the 5925, I prefer to put up with a little noise,but be assured that I can work safely,under any conditions and for a long time.
In the final analysis, I think the USB 5927 is currently the best USB tuner available on the market in the category of portable satellite receivers. Maximum performance in a small case.
 

dxhound2003

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I have the 5925 for about 3 years. It does get a bit hot after a while but I have not found that a problem. From what I can see it has the same specifications as the 5927. I have it looped through from my main receiver (DrHD Grand Triple) which I use to tune in feeds. I can then watch 4:2:2 feeds on the computer using the 5925 so it is not in constant use. Blind Scan is part of the DVB Dream software which I use with the 5925.

The 5925 has a Loop Out as well as LNB In which is not on the 5927. I assume it had to be dropped to accommodate the fan. Not a consideration for me but might be for others.
 

satesco

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2,048
tbs5927-4K & 5.0W-Multistream

I post a few pictures for those who want to know if 5927 is running 4K and multistream from 5W.But for running 4K programs it is advisable to have a powerful CPU and GPU support. As you can see from the snapshot,UHD programs are a great resource-intensive of your PC.
As I said on another occasion,tbs5927 is the best usb device at the reception of all that is currently available on the market.
However,I still have to mention as he does not know to lock the frequency with the S2X extension.
Tests made with ProgDVB, DVB Dream and Crazyscan

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barney115

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MY PC Specs ...

AMD FX(tm) - 8350 EIGHT CORE PROCESSOR
4.00GHZ , 16GB DDR3 RAM
6GB Nvidia Geforce 1080 Graphics card
Motherboard = ASUS Tek Computer INC M5A99X EVO R2.0 REV


i just bought TBS5927 Professional DVB-S2 TV Tuner USB

Seller info
Flea-Bay - PCI Express Ltd (pci_express_ltd)

Purchase details
TBS5927 Professional DVB-S2 TV Tuner USB
GBP 228.00

it is time for a serious upgrade ..
i feel like a small child at crimbo my heart is beating fast with excitement and anticipation ,
MY TBS5980 Has been very good it has had it faults but nothing is perfect i understand but for the most part it has done much more than any Sat receiver i have ever bought , at least it has a very good tuner which i hope will be the case with TBS5927 also .

Thank you my Friend @ Satesco you make some very interesting and honest posts and truly deserve your Feed Hunter Title .
i Thank you for your advise which as you can see i have fully taken and i no longer made any delay in buying this TBS5927 i have not stopped thinking about it for a very long time already :D
 

perkims

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Hi guys i have TBS5520SE its has served me very well but if I may ask does it support satellite offline downloading using tools such as skynet or skygrabber and if it doesn't which other USB based TBS card can you advise me to buy?
 
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