Thread: What receiver and set up do I need?

I'm new to the FTA world and would like advice on best/user friendly equipment to purchase. I've read about what is needed for start up etc but do I need to wait for the geosatpro microhd???

Hey welcome to the forum! That new receiver is something a lot of us are waiting for, and I think it's due out next month or so.
You don't mention what kind of tv you're interested in, so I'm assuming you just want FREE tv , like me and aren't too particular.
I can find more than I ever want to watch with a 4yr old box now, but to really enjoy fta you need an HDTV and a receiver that does it.
Most of us say start with at least a 1m dish for reliable operation, should work fine for you in FL. Dish, motor, cable , reciever and some patience is all you need. You can buy dishes from some of the sponsors listed at top of the pages here. Some of us like to scrounge used dishes, especially the old Primestar tv sat-dishes, they can still be found ifyou look around enough. There sturdy, mostly well made and the lnbf on them will still work in most cases. Or the old Direcway/DirecPC satellite-internet dishes , also work but are usually smaller somewhat, than the primestar dishes. Shipping on anything bigger than about `1meter can get crazy these days. Check the sponsors >you might find a package deal to start out with that won't break the bank.
Post any questions about particular items before you buy, we like to help folks here.

Wow, thanks for the fast response. This is really a lot of help! I do have an HDTV and basically looking for free TV but I'm sure as I learn more and more I'll probably want to get the most out of FTA. I'm the looking at a package from Gosatellite; Pansat 9500hdx, 36" dish and motor with dual lnb and remote uhf. Pretty pricey but I don't want to save $, be unsatisfied and spent more $.

I will be trying to service 4 tvs. From my understanding the uhf remote will allow controlling dish from 2 locations but can I provided a signal to more than 2 tvs with one receiver? I guess to watch more than one channel you need multiple receivers and dishes??

What are the advantages of the new geosat microhd receiver? What is the DVB 8psk board for pansat??

Thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by ACman3

I've read about what is needed for start up etc but do I need to wait for the geosatpro microhd???

I would, unless you want to get your feet wet with the basics of aiming a dish and learning how transponders, scans, and receivers in general work. If you want hands on experience NOW, I would suggest a cheap SD DVB-S MPEG2 receiver to play with until the microHD comes out.

Coolsats and Visionsats are good older receivers that would fit the bill for this purpose.

Welcome to SatelliteGuys.US!

Great, thanks for the reply.

ACman I have no idea about that new Pansat receiver, you might try a search for it here, it has been mentioned before, I believe.
As far as 4 rooms, you'd be stuck with the same channel unless you had multiple receivers and lnbfs. I know there are dual-output lnbfs for fta but not sure about a quad! All receivers would be on the same satellite though. Right now it seems there are more hd channels on c-band, for which you'd need a big c-band dish, but channels come and go almost every day.

Google the retailer before you buy. Not very a positive customer service experience by most comments...