Thread: What FTA Receiver should I purchase?

I'm looking at purchasing an FTA system and need recommendations for the receiver. I have a 39.3 Fortec Star dish and all install hardware. I'm in SW Florida. I'm interested in a "top of the line" HD receiver with PVR if possible. I understand that scanning rate, signal meter, etc are a few of many considerations. Any suggestions?

What does it do and what is 4:2:2?

What HD are you most interested in? Basically there are short lived feeds and PBS and maybe NBC on Ku in HD.

If you're not as interested in sports or news feeds in HD, you don't really need a blind scan HD receiver. In that case you could got with a Coolsat 8100HD.

More recently people are excited about the Vantage Digital HD1100S because it blindscans DVB-S2 signals. This is particularly useful for sports feeds or other short lived broadcasts.

More information is over at Ricks: ptth://www.gofastmotorsports.com/HD1100SVantage.htm
EDIT: Just noticed a mini review was posted on this receiver: http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg...-receiver.html

You should really have blindscan in some receiver. I use an old Coolsat 6000 for blindscan and then a Coolsat 8100HD for watching HD or recording HD/SD.

The 8100 is slaved off the 6000 and the combination works pretty well. Of course the Vantage sounds pretty nice since it would be all in one box.

I'm obviously new at this, but am interested in receiving all types of HD and other. When purchasing, should I consider 422 and 8PSK Module?

There is no real "top of the line", in my opinion.
There are several expensive boxes, and they all have shortcomings.
Some people can put up with one or another shortcoming, and happily use the box to meet their needs.

Meeting the need to watch PBS in HD is probably the easiest. Many would not settle for just that.
OTA tuners may or may not be necessary to any given user.
Same for a PVR or program recording capability.
Watching feeds in 4:2:2 may be the least supported feature (and unnecessary for many)

As Gillham asked above, what do you want to watch?
I realize ya may not know what's available, so it's sort of a chicken and egg thing.

The Vantage 1100 may or may not be the latest Holy Grail.
You can read Stogie's review-in-progress.

Originally Posted by homeyg

What does it do and what is 4:2:2?

8PSK is a newer modulation and is needed on most DVB-S2 transponders. The DVB-S2/HD receivers should have 8PSK builtin. The 8PSK addon boards you see in the market are generally for "Turbo 8PSK" for Dish Network piracy and you don't want them.

4:2:2 is a chroma sampling technique, but for FTA purposes you just need to know that there is only one receiver that supports it, the QualiTV, and most people use a computer with PCI card to watch 4:2:2 content.

Personally I would suggest a simple, inexpensive SD receiver like the Coolsat 5000 / 6000, Fortec Mercury II / Dynamic, to get started and make sure you're enjoying the hobby. There is not enough HD content to justify an HD receiver for most people and they all have their idosynchrocies that make them annoying.

One thing to note, do not buy a receiver because you read about it on some other "FTA" site (probably just a pirate site) and they said it is good or the best. That generally means it is not very good for real FTA at all. Search back through this forum for models like Sonicview 360 and Viewsat Ultra lite and you'll see what issues people have with them.

Before buying something, post about it here and get opinions. Otherwise you'll pick something for a whizbang feature (like dual tuners for example) and find out the receiver can't move a motor properly. Better to go with some tried and true receivers for your first FTA receiver and go from there.

Well, I don't know how to answer that question...what do I want to watch? Whatever I can scan and find. My biggest concern is purchasing the best receiver for HD. I am still baffled with 8PSK and 422.

Originally Posted by homeyg

Well, I don't know how to answer that question...what do I want to watch? Whatever I can scan and find. My biggest concern is purchasing the best receiver for HD. I am still baffled with 8PSK and 422.

There is not much HD content available for free. It shouldn't be your first priority. It is a "nice to have" feature that isn't always worth the money.

Also, if you get PBS in HD locally via OTA, about the only thing left to watch in HD (at least on the small Ku Band Dishes) would be sports feeds.

If you're looking for News / Weather / Movies / "Cable Channels" all in HD, you won't find them on FTA.

Good suggestions. Thanks everyone. I spoke with a tech at GoSat and it seems that Veiwsonic, Coolsat, Nfusion, Sonicview are recommended (cs 8100hd does have 8PSK built in can anyone confirm?). I guess at this point, I’d like to get a really good HD receiver. Suggestions on the above models and recommendations for retailers?

I know I’m new at FTA, but am a pro with gear (musical, cable, audiophile) and would like to learn as much as possible to buy a great first time HD STB. Thanks for everyone help!