TEST REPORT Satellite Receiver

Fortec Star FSIR-5400 NA

Power Scan, Embedded
Irdeto and more…
In the previous issue of TELE-satellite we introduced Fortec Star’s new model 5400 NA satel- on a satellite receiver remote control plus a
lite receiver. But since we only received it a few days before deadline, we did not have time set of four colored function buttons at the
to thoroughly put it through its paces. But here it is now two months later, and as promised, bottom of the remote.
we’d like to give you a more detailed analysis of this receiver now that we have had some time
to play with it.
Everyday Use
This receiver is essentially ready to go right
As we mentioned in the previous issue, the IF input comes with a looped-through output out of the box. Simply connect the box to the
silver-colored receiver has a sleek design and and there’s a terrestrial antenna input with antenna, scan a satellite and watch TV. The
comes with five chrome-colored buttons on corresponding modulator output that oper- only thing you may need to do is change the
the left side (On/Off, Channel Up/Down and ates on either VHF channel 3 or 4. Video and local oscillator frequency (LOF) setting for
Volume Up/Down). The display window takes stereo audio are also available on a set of Ku-band satellites since the default setting
up a good portion of the center of the front three RCA jacks. If you crave even better is “universal” and most North American Ku-
panel and includes a number of status LED’s quality video and audio, you won’t be dis- band systems use a standard Ku-band LOF
along with the green four-digit display that appointed thanks to the S-VHS and digital (10.750 GHz) as opposed to the 9.750/10.600
shows either the current channel number or audio outputs. The RS-232 interface serves combination found in universal LNB’s.
the time of day. The status LED’s indicate if to upload new receiver software. And let’s
the receiver is locked on a signal or if it is in not forget the main power switch. This allows If English is not your first choice for menu
standby mode. you to easily disconnect power to the receiver language (default setting), you can choose
so that you can avoid having to reach down from six other menu languages (Italian,
The fold-down flap takes up a good portion behind the TV cabinet to unplug the receiver. Turkish, French, German, Spanish or Greek).
of the right side of the front panel. Behind Even more languages are available for the
this flap is the SmartCard slot for the embed- The silver-colored remote control sits com- audio subcarriers and subtitles. The receiver
ded Irdeto encryption system. The rear panel fortably in your hand and comes with all of comes preprogrammed with a very up-to-
comes with almost everything you need. The the standard buttons that would normally be date list of 48 North American satellites from

TELE-satellite International — www.TELE-satellite.com

TEST REPORT Satellite Receiver
the Echostar satellite at 148 west all the
way to Telstar 12 at 15 west. There’s even
enough room to add 16 more user-defined
satellites. Up to 4800 channels can be stored
in the 5400 NA. Using this box with a motor-
ized antenna is highly recommended so that
you can take full advantage of everything
this receiver has to offer. The receiver’s sup-
port of the DiSEqC 1.0 and 1.2 protocols as
well as the USALS protocol lets you connect
this box to a wide variety of antenna configu-
rations. For example, you could connect the
receiver to multiple fixed dishes via a DiSEqC
switch or you could go all the way and use a
STAB HH motor.
In the TV Settings submenu the Video
output can be set to NTSC, PAL or MULTI
mode and you can set the picture format to
either Full Screen or Letter Box. Here you
can also turn the S/PDIF digital audio output
on or off.
The automatic channel scan can be set to
search only for FTA channels or ALL chan-
nels and can be performed with the Network
function set on or off. You can also choose to
perform a Power Scan. This is Fortec Star’s
version of a Blind Scan. Fortec Star’s Power
Scan is a very powerful tool in that you can
customize the scan to your needs. For exam-
ple, not only can you scan for FTA or ALL
channels or scan one or both polarizations,
but you can also select the frequency range
you want to scan and also specify the fre-
quency steps the receiver should take during
a scan. We tested the Power Scan feature
on Intelsat Americas 5 at 97 west with the
frequency steps set at 4 MHz. The scan
required about 20 minutes to complete but in
return for your patience the receiver identi-
fied 23 transponders on that satellite.
But how does a standard scan stack up?
A complete automatic scan of the 23 trans-
ponders on the Intelsat Americas 5 satellite
was handled in just one minute and 45 sec-
onds. The time to switch between channels
was a brisk 0.5 seconds. At least with this
receiver you can have some fun channel surf-
ing.
TELE-satellite International — www.TELE-satellite.com
Of course, some form of organization of all more details on the channel including satel-
these newly found channels will be needed so lite name, transponder frequency, symbol-
that the task of finding a specific channel will rate, polarization, PID data as well as a signal
be much easier. This work is handled by the quality bar graph.
Channel Manager. Channels that you intent
to watch more often can be moved into one The Electronic Program Guide (EPG) can
of the four Favorites lists so that they are be accessed with the push of a button. The
easier to get to. No doubt there will be chan- weekly programming information for all
nels that you don’t want your kids to get the channels on the current transponder is
to. Fortunately, Fortec Star also included a then shown. Pressing the green button on
parental lock feature that lets you pick and the remote displays programming data on
choose what your kids can have access to. the highlighted channel. The picture of the
current channel is displayed as a picture-in-
An individual transponder scan can also graphic (PIG). Pushing the yellow button
be performed. In Manual Scan mode trans- brings up detailed programming information
ponders can be edited if needed, added or on the current channel. The 5400 NA also
deleted. A Network Search can also be acti- comes with an eight-event timer so that you
vated in Manual Scan mode. The PID scan won’t miss your favorite program if you need
lets you search for a channel with specific to step out of the house. Simply highlight
PID data. the program you want to record in the EPG
and press the blue button on the remote.
Fortec Star indicates that this receiver can The timer function will then turn the receiver
handle symbolrates anywhere from 2 to 45 on at that appropriate time.
Ms/sec. When we tested this box on a 1.279
Ms/sec. signal on Intelsat 805, we were Should you ever get bored with what is
pleasantly surprised to find that this signal currently on TV or if you want something
was recognized and processed by the 5400 to do while you’re waiting for those exceed-
NA without any difficulties. ingly long commercials to come to an end,
you could pass some time with one of the
A push of the Info button on the remote three available video games (Tetris, Snake or
momentarily displays a banner at the bottom Sokoban).
of the screen with the channel name, chan-
nel number, encryption status and current While most of the operation of this receiver
time. Pushing the Info button again while is self-explanatory, the detailed user-manual
this banner is still on the screen displays a (written in English, French and Spanish) will
second banner at the top of the screen with help answer any questions that might arise.
Expert conclusion
+
The Fortec Star 5400 NA is an easy-to-use receiver that would be
perfect for use in anyone’s living room. It comes with a multitude of
features including Power Scan, embedded Irdeto, fast channel scan-
ning, fast channel switching, etc. Add to that its ability to handle
extremely low symbolrates and you have a receiver that not only Ron Roessel
TELE-satellite
makes a good family receiver, but also one that would make an excel- Test Center
lent tool for a DXer. North America
-
Don’t lose the remote control! Its five buttons on the front panel do not provide
access to the receiver’s menu functions.
TEST REPORT Satellite Receiver Info-Box

Fortec Star FSIR-5400 NA

Digital Satellite Receiver with
Embedded Irdeto
TECHNICAL
DATA Channel Info Bars
Manufacturer Fortec Star Communications,
Mississauga, Ontario,
Canada L4W 5A7

Fax + 1-905-602-5289

E-Mail fortecCA@fortecstar.com

Model FSIR-5400 NA

Function Digital Satellite Receiver

with Embedded Irdeto

Channel Memory 4800

SCPC Compatible yes Main Menu

Symbolrate 2-45 Ms/sec.
(tested to 1.279 Ms/sec.)

DiSEqC 1.0, 1.2

USALS yes

S-VHS Output yes

A/V Outputs yes, 3 x RCA

Digital Audio Output yes, S/PDIF (optical)

Power Supply 90-240VAC, 50-60 Hz

Channel Manager
Power Consumption 40W max

Features
TEST
RESULT

Channel Memory

Channel
Scan Speed

Channel
INTERNATIONAL

Switching Speed
SATELLITE

Antenna Setup Menu

Video Quality

Audio Quality

TELE
Tuner Sensitivity

TELE-satellite International — www.TELE-satellite.com