Oyster 1 satellite dish upgrade using Zeniatech modification

Oyster 1 satellite dish upgrade using Zeniatech modification

The Oyster 1 motorhome satellite system was the system of choice in the 1990s. It was built to last, and is still to be found on the roofs of many classic motorhomes today. The problem is though - they no longer work! Well they do, after a fashion, because the dish can still be positioned manually, but this is a fiddly job. 

The situation was created when the Astra satellite people upgraded from the old analogue TV system to digital, and they changed the way the satellites identified themselves. Unfortunately for the Oyster 1 this rendered them obsolete overnight, and there were many many really angry customers as a result. Oyster did everything they could to make the best of the situation, but even the most basic modifications they could come up with cost well over £500. In the end many owners decided to scrap them and buy new, and vowed never to buy Oyster again. This was a a bit unfair on Oyster, as they had no warning from Astra about what was going to happen, as this would have been commercially sensitive information. Such is the cost of progress.

I acquired a 1993 Hymer that had an Oyster 1 fitted. I knew it wouldn’t work automatically, and the seller said so - so I basically got it for nothing. But I knew it would work after a fashion. I changed the LNB for a more modern one for £40 and bought a cheap digital satellite box from Maplin. Using the compass built into my Iphone, and a satellite location app from the app store, I soon learned how to position the dish manually. But it takes about 10 minutes, so I only ever used it when something big was on like a cup final or Wimbledon, and in an area where I couldn’t get normal Freeview from the local TV transmitter. I also knew it would be useful when traveling in Europe, because the Oyster 1 dish is quite big, and would receive Freesat down as far as the south of France.

But I always thought at the back of my mind, that it should be possible to modify the control unit and bring it back to life. Sure enough a year or so later, I read about a guy in Ireland who had done just that, and I immediately entered into correspondence with him, and a few weeks later I had his kit delivered at a cost of €200 inc delivery. It comprises of a small box about the size of half a paperback book, and it simply plugs into the existing RJ45 network interface socket on the Oyster 1. It has a display and a keyboard, but the unit comes pre-configured for Astra 2. It can be re-programmed if Astra make any future changes. It can also be programmed to seek out other satellites, such as Hotbird or Eutelsat, which is useful if you are a long way abroad.

Well I love things that work straight out of the box, and this one was an absolute joy. We are talking about 20 year old equipment here - it hadn't auto seeked a satellite for over 10 years! I just plugged the new into the Oyster box and pressed the on switch. The dish started to whirr on the roof, it did a few 360s and then locked on. BBC1 HD appeared immediately on my TV. Since then it has worked without a fault. I get a rock solid signal - even occasionally when trees are in the way, which I think is down to the fact that the dish is quite big by modern standards.

I had the added bonus that although my Samsung TV was HD ready, it did not have a Freeview HD tuner. It could only display HD pictures from an external source such as a DVD player or an HD sat receiver. I had never had HD TV in the van before and I was well impressed with the picture.

But there was another slight problem. Although I had access to over 200 Freesat channels from Astra 2, plus at least another 300 or so of other weird channels, organising them was a pain, and worse still, the EPG would only display “now and next”. This was because my cheap Maplins satellite receiver was a generic unit, not a dedicated Freesat box. After a bit of research online I discovered that in order to have a full UK EPG, similar to what I was used to on terrestrial Freeview, I would need a dedicated Freesat box. So I decided to ditch the Maplins receiver (it will be useful abroad in the future) and I ordered the entry level Humax Freesat box for £95. A Freesat box is programmed to receive only the UK Freesat channels, and ignores the rest, and it has a full 7 day EPG. It is a joy to use - even better the than the Sky+ box I used to have when I lived in a house!

I am very impressed! The box will connect to the internet, so if I have a wifi connection, I can play BBC Iplayer and a whole host of other on demand services. I have also plugged an old 500gb USB hard drive into the back of it, and that gives me a live pause and record facility. Of course this is of limited use in a motorhome, because the dish will not be up while driving, and so recording will not always be possible, but I can take this into consideration. It is a very useful facility to have. And it is also extremely useful to have live pause when watching TV.

So for about £300 I now have a pretty sophisticated satellite HD TV system in the van, with recording and live pause. Of course this is no different to most modern systems, so I am not claiming anything special, but what is particularly satisfying is to be re-commissioning what was an obsolete piece of kit, and in particular, an extremely well built piece of kit. Modern van satellite systems are not cheap!

If you have one of these old Oyster 1 dishes on the roof of your van, you now have the opportunity to bring it back to life. I am well chuffed.

Contact - John Gibbons of Zeniatech - zeniatech@gmail.com

Technical footnote. Sophisticated users can install dual or even quad LNBs to enable multiple recordings. If you pay more, then you can buy Freesat boxes with built in HDs up to a Terabyte. If you are streaming TV over the internet, make sure you are aware of how much data you will use and what your tariff is. I also have seen some forum comments that you can use an old Sky+ box and get similar results.