New to Satellite / FTA - Help build my christmas wish list?

kingfenix · Nov 19, 2012

Hi everyone,

Ive been rocking a media center and HD Antenna on the roof plugged in via a couple hauppage cards, and then shared to xbox's throughout the house. Now I want to get get into the satellite/fta one cause I love technical hobbies and two so I can get more channels. Ive never owned a dish other than directTV/DishNetwork.

Ive been reading awhile and gather that I can feed the tv channels into my media center through hauppage cards which handle DVB2, and they need to blind scan, etc. Also Ive seen that some schemes require IKS or other file methods in order to get complete programming and I do want this. I am a computer techie with a bad-ass home network so would love if this equipment can do some things with my network but if not I do have my media center to fill in the blanks. I am also thinking I want a motorized setup so now with all that said, can you guys please help me decide on what components I need from start to finish on my first ever satellite setup?

Dish?
Mount?
Motor?
Receiver?
Wiring?
Connectors?
PC Cards to distribute channels through media center?
Anything I'm missing?

TIA and I look forward to learning and getting into this hobby

kingfenix

cyberham · Nov 19, 2012

IKS is an illegal sharing method, as I understand. So you won't get any help on this forum on that.

Most agree you need a 36" dish or larger for Ku-band. A motorized setup is ultimately needed, but many feel it's best to start with a fixed dish first while you learn about the hobby. Common sense says if you want a standalone receiver, the GeoSatPro microHD is the receiver to get nowadays.

FTA is a good hobby with lots of technical stuff to keep your mind busy.

northgeorgia · Nov 19, 2012

You'll need a clear line of sight to the sat(s) you want to receive. Check your location at Dishpointer.net to see if you can even get some of the satellites.

In addition to the 36" dish cyberham mentioned, you'll need a linear or universal Ku-band lnb. The little circular thing used for Dish Network / Direct TV won't work for most FTA signals. The microHD is a great little standalone receiver. You might want a PC-based receiver the way it sounds you're set up -- I haven't had any experience with thsoe.

Check Lyngsat.com for listings of Ku-band channels that are in the clear (not encrypted). This will give you an idea of what's out there. The most populated sat is 97W. 125W has a lot of PBS feeds. A few other channels and feeds are spread out on several other satellites.

I don't know of any legal application of IKS, and this site is dedicated to true FTA. Satellite piracy discussion is also against this site's terms of service. But if you are a true hobbyist, you'll find lots on Ku-band in the clear to watch and will probably also want a C-band system if you catch the bug!

Anole · Nov 19, 2012

Well first of all, IKS stands for Internet key sharing, an illegal way that used to get Dish Network. Any more talk of that around here will get you banned. However, since you mentioned a motorized dish, it does sound like you are looking for legitimate FTA. And on that, we can help you very generously.

Start off by looking at The List (top of every page). Those are the satellites on both Ku band (36" dish), and C-band (8' dish) we watch. I will warn that getting a PC based system going is the domain of the very advanced FTAer. You might want to start with a regular receiver to learn the ropes, and avoid frustration.

rrob311 · Nov 21, 2012

Welcome to the forum! A motorized C-band dish would be your best bet for maximum FTA channels. A motorized Ku setup is great too but there is a lot more content with C-band. Ku has a lot of random sports feeds and news feeds. There is way more network channels on C-band than Ku nowadays. Do you have the space, etc to setup a say, 10' dish or so?

Kraven · Nov 21, 2012

My spidey senses tell me we'll never hear back from the OP.

Cheers, K

KE4EST · Nov 21, 2012

Yeah I am thinking same, we'll see he posted and logged out. He has not even been back to read the comments.

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