New to FTA...Very much a hobby!!! It is like fishing!

[TheHamNerd]

Hello all! I am new to the FTA hobby, and I must say it is FUN and EXCITING. It is like fishing...and being patient is something I am learning about the hobby.
I do not have a fancy meter, and I just use a cheap $30 digital meter to navigate the birds. As most know I cannot tell what bird I am looking at with a meter of this caliber, but it is part of the adventure in the hobby. My first mistake was that I mounted my dish on the roof. I find myself up on the roof tuning and searching for birds. Then I run inside and do a detailed blind scan.

I am thinking of upgrading and getting myself a Diseqc switch and adding another dish on the ground. My current equipment in a GeoSatPro MicroHD receiver and dish combo with the HD PLL LNBF. I cannot complain at all about it, and it is working great! I have only found 2 birds with my cheap setup, and was looking for G19 (97W), but stumbled on 101W SES1 first. This was pretty cool to find the Pentagon channel as that was only channel in the clear on that bird...LOL. The second bird I found today was Galaxy 3C 95W! The two English CCTV channels are really awesome, as I like to get a different point of view on the news! One of these days I will find 97W Galaxy 19 for sure. Like I said earlier I plan to add another dish, because I cannot seem to tear myself away from CCTV 9 and CCTV News. Again, I have no idea what I am doing, but this is a hobby for me, and I am having too much fun at this point to give up! LOL I will probably get another GeoSatPro dish to stick in the yard with a Diseqc switch so I can leave this dish on 95W.

Anyone have any suggestions on a step-up meter? (Hobby, not pro install meter)
Anyone have any suggestions on a different dish setup to try?

73's
TheHamNerd

 

[KE4EST]

Welcome to the site Ham Nerd!!

The Sat Hero SH-200 is a good meter for a hobbyist that you can use without having to use the receiver to find what you are looking for. You can find them on eBay for a little over $100.
If you have the room my suggestion on a different dish set-up is go with a10-foot dish and go C-Band.
But if that is out of the question, another GEOSATpro dish should do you well...but...if you look around your neighbor hood you may find an abandoned one on an old gas station or something and get it for free. Even Primestar dishes are still out in the wild and you may see one in someones yard and stop and ask, may get that for free too!
If you put your microHD on 97W and put it on a valid transponder for that bird, then put the beeper on and turn the volume up loud and go to the dish:
Move the dish elevation up about 1 degree and then slowly move the dish to the west you should hit a transponder to give you enough signal to peak the adjustments.

Yeah I would move your dish(future dishes) to the ground.

73
KE4EST

 

[Jim S.]

My suggestion? Unless you can get a dish for free, a motor is cheaper than another dish (since dishes are expensive to ship) and after you get it set up properly, you won't have to worry about aiming a dish again.

 

[TheHamNerd]

Hello KE4EST,

Very good....I have looked at those meters, and I am considering one of those. I have been doing a lot of research on forums and the net about FTA. I do have room for a BUD, but I am not sure of my tree line to the South. I am sure the birds are higher in the sky than one would think, but I am not sure. I would have to hunt for a BUD that is used, cause I am not going to spend $1K on a dish...LOL This is a hobby, not my life! LOL I do use many helpful sites like dish-pointer to get me in the ballpark, then I go fishing for birds.

You said something interesting about KU dishes like the Primestar dishes....I didn't think that a Dish or Directv dish would work for FTA? In my area most people have Dish or Directv. I have noticed the difference in the shape of the dish compared to a FTA dish. I have read on here where those dishes are not ideal, but hey...I have nothing but time my friend. Also, that is a great idea of putting my receiver on the tone, but I dont think I would hear it outside from where my man cave is located..LOL

 

[T134]

Welcome to Satelliteguys and FTA!

I have to echo ke4est, SH200 is an awesome meter and they must be dirt cheap these days. I have literally the first one to hit North America and it is the meter I grab each and every time I walk out to the dish.

Also agree with Jim S....get a motor. I started in this hobby with a single fixed Primestar on 123W and when I got a motorized 1m going it was like going from b&w to 1080p HDTV. It will totally open up your world for True FTA Ku.

 

[KE4EST]

C-Band is in the same place as Ku. In fact they actually share it on the same bird. So if you can see where the Ku is then you can see C-Band.

Well on some the strong transponders you can modify at DISH or Directv dish to work...but Primestar dishes are not the same as those. Prime star actually used lower powered linear transponders for their service when they were in business. They went dark early the year 2000. Their dishes are larger than DISH and Directv and work well on Ku for our hobby. They used two different sizes the bigger the better!

If you can't hear the tone directly use two cell phones or a house phone cell phone combo, or laptop/desktop with microphone with another laptop or smart phone and skype or Facebook chat or yahoo chat, etc. each one together.
More than one way to make it work.

Back to the dishes, like Jim said have you thought about a motor?

 

[. Raine]

Welcome to SatGuys, Ham Nerd!

I made the same mistake as you when I set up my first dish, I put it on my porch roof and was climbing out a window onto the roof every time that I had to do something with it. I have them all down low now, much easier! A decent meter like you're looking into getting makes it much easier too.

Totally agree, FTA's a real fun hobby, before you know it, you'll have ten or so dishes in your yard!

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

A cheap Ku dish you might find on Craigslist would be a DirecTV WorldDirect dish. It's bigger than the rest of theirs, and it has a linear LNBF. People sometimes post them after they buy a house and don't want the dish any more. I picked mine up for $20ish.

 

[wallyhts]

If your looking for a cheaper meter the SH100 works good too its the model right under the 200

Welcome to satguys

 

[FaT Air]

Your right, CCTV is also one that I watch a lot.
Primestar dishes are larger than the D15H or Diwrecked dishes. Smallest of them is 30 inches across, with the larger being 4ft. pictures are worth a thousand so:

Those primestars are great dishes, but heavier than a metal one, so it would take a good motor. I think the 4 footer (1.2 meter) would be too heavy for a motor but have seen posts where the 30 inch and the elliptical 84e have been 'motored'.

 

[jorgek]

Welcome to FTA. I'm surprised that you can't find Gal 19 at 97W. Its right between 101 and 95 that you did manage to lock on to. Also no one mentioned this but if you a have a small monitor, bring the receiver and monitor next to the dish and use that as a signal meter. Yes a bit awkward but a lot of us do it this way. A proper signal meter makes it too easy!

 

[bpalone]

I'll chime in with the motor suggestion. It opens up a whole new world, as you can go watch something on PBS over at 125W and then jump back to the NBC MUX on 72W, all from the comfort of the house. The other thing I would do, is get it down on the ground if at all possible. Much easier to work on and safer.

I just came back into this after a 10 or so year hiatus. Many things have changed a great deal. Do an internet search for a motor, I found mine on fleabay for about $60. Takes a little bit of extra work to get set up, but well worth the effort.

BTW, I have the same set up and probably got it about the same time, with exception of the motor of course.

 

[wbarrett]

Ham Nerd... If you have an Android phone or tablet then download the app "Satellite AR". It is free and you can put in the satellite (or even all visible) and the virtual reality app will use the camera to show exactly where in the sky the birds are at.

There is most likely an iPhone version too.

===
Bill

 

[Mr Tony]

welcome

 

[DJdish]

Hello all!I The second bird I found today was Galaxy 3C 95W! The two English CCTV channels are really awesome, as I like to get a different point of view on the news! One of these days I will find 97W Galaxy 19 for sure. Like I said earlier I plan to add another dish, because I cannot seem to tear myself away from CCTV 9 and CCTV News..

73's
TheHamNerd

Welcome ¡¡¡ as you like another point of view in the news, make sure you find Galaxy 19 97W, there are a few international news channels in english, RT, CNC, Al Etejah, Press tv, among the ones I remember

 

[TheHamNerd]

I have a silly question, but I see a lot about using, and finding used dishes from Primestar...etc. I understand an offset dish is what is recommended for KU band. Can you buy a new PLL LNBF like the geosat LNBF, or any standard LNBF for FTA North America? I guess what I am asking is will they fit on one of these dishes? I guess I would have to custom mount it in the worst case....I am not afraid of a few UV resistant zip-ties! LOL

 

[TheHamNerd]

Thanks for all the awesome advise guys! Being a FTA n00b I need all the help I can get

 

[. Raine]

You can retro-fit an LNB to an old dish, Primestar, etc. Here's one I just did a week or so ago to give you an idea: http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/335399-95W-on-an-18-dish

This dish size, 18'', is too small for any reliable performance, when it rains, I lose signal, you'd want bigger. By the way, I have this fixed on 95W for CCTV.

 

[SatPhreak]

Satellite AR is $2.09 now. Just checked the play store.

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[turbosat]

Welcome newbie, you'll find yourself hooked in no time with fta tv. Every time I watch something I like, I think "How much would this have cost me through a pay-tv provider?" LOL
When you start to gather the pricier parts, post a question here on the forum if you can't find anything on it, and someone will give you their experiences with it. Most of us have tried just about all the fta parts and receivers out there, and a few get new items to try before they hit the market. And if you like your dish on the roof, maybe you can leave that one parked on a satellite you enjoy, and have your next system on the ground, motorized to pick up everything else. With these diseqc switches, you can have just about any combination of dishes connected.