The Echostar PVR-5020 is a DVB satellite receiver with an integrated hard drive and twin tuner.Echostar's new flagship is offered in three different versions with different hard drive sizes between 80 and 250 GB:PVR-5020 80GB - 549 EUR PVR-5020 160GB - 609 EUR PVR-5020 250GB - 679 EURLike almost all satellite receivers, the device has neither a DVI or HDMI output nor a YUV output.Otherwise there is at least one S-Video output and one optical digital output.The USB interface allows content to be transferred from the hard drive to a PC.In detail, the Echostar receiver is equipped with the following interfaces:For the test, the receiver was primarily operated on an 80 cm Gibertini antenna with a Sharp Dot 4 LNB, which is controlled by an SG-2100 rotor and is installed in Bayreuth.The sensitivity of the receiver was checked at the same time with a 35 cm antenna with a Sharp Dot 4-LNB fixed to Astra 19.2° East.In principle, this small system is already sufficient for the reception of all digital programs broadcast digitally via Astra.However, some Astra transponders such as 11597 V with DW-TV, CNBC Europe and Sky News as well as 12633 H with XXP are caught so weakly on site with this installation that reception is really at the limit and reception is usually no longer possible when it rains .With a sensitive satellite receiver, however, reception is at least possible in sunshine and also slightly cloudy.With the Echostar receiver, all digital Astra programs could be received via the mini antenna in sunshine and light rain.The reserves were not particularly high due to the small antenna size, but the Echostar still showed real top performance and offered slightly higher reserves than a Technisat Digicorder S1 used for comparison with a similarly sensitive receiver.Even with programs on satellites that are difficult to receive in Germany, such as the BBC programs on Astra 2D (28.2° East) or Arabsat 2/3 (26° East), the receiver moved in the border area, but only produced dropouts in poor weather conditions.The reception performance of the two tuners is practically identical.Even in twin receiver operation with one cable, the loop-through cable connected in between did not result in any noticeable deterioration in reception on the second tuner.The image quality via the RGB output is very good.If the TV stations are not stingy with the bit rate, TV programs are displayed very sharply and with high contrast.Programs with a low bit rate are displayed largely without artefacts.Image dropouts were not observed during the test period.With the PVR-5020, Echostar has designed a very extensively equipped hard disk recorder that offers a wide range of recording and playback options.Thanks to the intelligently designed twin receiver concept, you will hardly miss a TV show, even if the program overlaps.Pay-TV subscribers in particular will appreciate the parallel recording options and the option for subsequent decryption.In addition, the Echostar PVR-5020 also offers excellent reception properties and is therefore particularly suitable for receiving difficult-to-receive satellites.However, if you only have a small TV, the small on-screen labels, which are a bit difficult to read, are annoying.Sensitive tuner with very good reception characteristicsTwin tuner can also be used with a satellite connectionSubsequent decryption of Pay TV recordings possibleFor more information, visit www.echostar-int.com and www.himtek.com.Email: germany@echostar.comResponsible for the test: Karsten Serck