Elektor Satellite Receiver

After several very annoying experiences with normal commercially available sat receivers with PVR functionality I started to look into Linux based sat receivers only to find out that it seems to be vodoo magic to get them up and running and let them do what one wants. That process starts with the replacement of the firmware delivered by the manufacturer with an open source version and then tweeking that one for hours, weeks or months because the original software of the manufacturer is described as unusable. Therefore I'd like to propose the project "Elektor Satellite Receiver" in which the hardware and software of a Linux based sat receiver is described and explained. Readers may be able to build there own board if they have the possibilities to process lots of smd components. A completely assembled board should be available, too. The software should provide a functionality for normal everyday use but should be explained with enough details so that readers can extent it to their likings. I understand that this is no small project, done in one article with a few pages. This project will be in the tradition of the Elektor wow-projects of the past like e.g. the Elektor Formant synthesizer or the Junior-Computer. Therefore the theoretical background of sat receiver operations and deduction of the circuit design should be described in detail as well as the actual hard- and software. A how-to-article to extend the software would complete the series of articles.