501 or 522 Receivers Compatible?

[Venombite]

I currently have a 2700 & 3100 receiver and they work fine with my Atmega's(except for all those damn ECM's) but I was thinking about getting a PVR model. I was considering getting a Dish PVR & convert to BEV, either a 501 or one of the new 522 models. I just had a few questions about these receivers:

1. Can you convert them to BEV?
2. Will it work with ATMEGA/what testing device will it work with?
3. Are there locks/jtags/etc... for the 522 since it's new?
4. Are the PVR's stable/working like the 2700 & 3100's?
5. Any problems I should expect from these units?

Any information/suggestions anyone can provide on these receivers will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

-Vb-

[sdavies]

I can't comment on the 522, but i had a 501 for over a year without a hitch. That was after I fixed the overheating problem. If you rig up a couple harddrive fans on top of the PVR where the harddrive is located you should be fine. Also, there is a problem with one of the chips below the harddrive heating up and losing its ground... which requires a fix also. So, hardware wise, they aren't put together very well.

That being said, once it was all setup properly I didn't have a problem at all. I emu'd and went down maybe 2 or 3 times throughout the year. But you can use all the standard methods of testing with them. One thing know that is if you get ecm'd you will lose all of your recorded events.

I think they're great, but be prepared for hardware issues. Many sources of how to fix them though without too much of a hassle.

Oh yeah - when I bought mine the harddrive was fried, but I sent it into Maxtor under warranty repair and had a brandnew one in 2 days! So rest assured, the harddrives themselves are pretty much covered.

Cheers.