The bus that stole the show.

The promoter that stole the show this year was definitely TechniSat. On the huge central stand elevated at the back of futuristic yellow Mercedes bus TechniSat was presenting not only full range of its satellite receivers and cards but also TV sets from Colani and Classic series with and without embedded receivers onboard and full choice of dishes. We had a quick peek on newest beta additions to already known Digibox series and upon brief conversation with UK distributor of Technisats equipment - SAT-Europa - we've learned there will be Mediaguard boxes with a very attractive price tag released promptly this summer.

TechniSat Digibox series	TechniSat Viacam

Samsung, a relatively new contestant on satellite market exhibited 202, 203, and 303 series in FTA, 2xCI and embedded Viaccess plus 2xCI with alternative design to what we've seen from them to date and we must admit new fascias suit them much better. All boxes had digital audio output and s-vhs socket as a standard, not too shabby on screen graphics and 300 series also integrated positioner. Samsung may be a good alternative for the low price orientated market.

Samsung 503 303 203 202 series
	» 2000 - 4000 channels » Embedded Viaccess, CI or FTA » Analog and Digital or Digital only » Options with possitioner » Digital audio out and SVHS » 7 day EPG http://www.samsungcorp.com

Aston was promoting its small and cute Simba models together with Xena 1600/1700 boxes in well known handsome black suits. Xena 2000 made special appearance, unfortunately only in a glass cabinet without monitor connected to it.

Aston Xena 2000

Aston Simba

We hoped to see more new entries coming from Force, Galaxis, Manhattan and Digenius but all first three manufacturers decided to play safe this year while the latter one we couldn't spot at all.

The dish of the day.

While Triax and Channel Master were displaying their usual menu the real two course specials were hidden at the back of the exhibition hall.

Making their first step in UK WaveFrontier from far Korea displayed their range of strange and custom looking dishes that would suit any satellite fan but give the local city planner a prompt heart attack. Toroidal (55 and 90) is dual reflector design known by theory from extinct Gregorian dishes but brought to the real renaissance by using it to feed multiple LNBs. Capable of capturing picture from satellites within 30 degrees in range from each other and massive 40dB gain Toroidal without a doubt would be a dream come true for all those that find slow motorised dishes unsuitable for their needs. Except Toroidal on WaveFrontier stand one could find a flat panel and hemisphere shaped dishes.

WaveFrontier (from front) Toroidal 55, Hemisphere and flat pannel
Toroidal 55 » Main reflector: 53.2x66.8cm » Sub reflector: 25.3x49.7cm » Gain: 35.40-35.95dB	Toroidal 90 » Main reflector: 96.7x108.6cm » Sub reflector: 36.1x83.6cm » Gain: 38.20-40.10dB http://www.wavefrontier.com

Second dish manufacturer worth visiting was Swedish Telewide in a small stand up against the north wall presenting their Cybertenna. Revolutionary design lies in the fact that Cybertenna is supposed to work more as a magnifier than reflector, sending signal to the line of LNBs behind the face rather than in front of it. Holding up to 8 LNBs (80cm version) Cybertenna should find its way to retail points across Europe later this summer.

http://www.cybertenna.com

There is no way we could possibly describe every one of over 250 exhibitors at Mediacast even if we wanted to dedicate entire website to the show. On the organisation note - we thought the event had a very unfortunate date. Retailers and people genuinely interested in the content had to sacrifice their entire otherwise very busy three days at the beginning of the week. Most of the small manufacturers probably ground production to a halt just to appear. Due to our normal working schedule and extremely short opening hours for an event of that size we couldn't spend more than one day browsing with camera between the stands and even publishing this very article was delayed by the fact both of us had to work extra shift to cover for the day off. We couldn't shake off the impression that the popularity of Mediacast overgrew organisers' powers and in many cases also surprised the exhibitors - many of them ran out of promo materials and promoters to speak to by 2 o'clock on the first day. Let's hope next year will be better.