Bell TV in West Virginia?

[domdrakka]

Okay my cousin just moved back from Canada and wants to get Canadian Programming. He lives in Wheeling, WV. Which is in the Northern part of the state.

He wants to know what kind of Dish/Satellite he will need to purchase. The size of the dish, whether it is 18 inches or 36 inches or even 24 inches. He also wants to know what brand of dish would work. He was looking into DirecTV, Dish Network, or just a generic dish or satellite.

Would any of these options work? I mean DirecTV, DishNetwork, or generic satellites. And if so, what size would be needed in order to reach the Nimiq 1 footprint from Wheeling, West Virginia?

The main channel he is interested in is Investigation Discovery Canada, which is channel 528 in Canada on Bell TV. So how would he go about getting everything set up so he can watch this channel from WV?

Would he just need a Bell TV receiver or would he need just a satellite dish, or would he need both a Bell TV receiver box and a satellite dish?

Thank you for your help.

 

[domdrakka]

I looked at the footprint map, however I am not what you would call an intelligent person. The footprint map looks like hieroglyphics to me. Maybe if I posted the location of where my cousin is living and where he wants reception it would be better.




The green area is the state of West Virginia. The red is the exact area in the state of WV where he is living now.


I would like to know what brand of satellite dishes he could use. Whether it is DirecTV, Dish Network, or a generic satellite dish from Radio Shack or anywhere else that sells satellite dishes. Or does he need a Bell TV satellite dish?

What size should the dish be if he wants to get reception from Nimiq 1. Such as 18 inches, 24 inches or 36 inches. I also want to know if he needs to purchase a receiver box from Bell TV, or just the dish or both?

Also I don't know if it matters, but the channel he wants to get is Investigation Discovery Canada. It is on channel 528 and it comes from Transponder (TP) 15.

How does he choose which transponder he wants reception from? Like I said the channel he wants is from TP 15.

 

[dallascowboy]

That channel is on the 91 bird and should be easily received in Wheeling. Dish standard 20" should do. In fact, In Wheeling You should be able to receive the 82 nimiq sat as well for HD channels. The spotbeam for 82 can be best described as following the mason-dixon line which would be the border of PA- Extending through WV above New Martinsville, WV Hope that helps.

 

[domdrakka]

That channel is on the 91 bird and should be easily received in Wheeling. Dish standard 20" should do. In fact, In Wheeling You should be able to receive the 82 nimiq sat as well for HD channels. The spotbeam for 82 can be best described as following the mason-dixon line which would be the border of PA- Extending through WV above New Martinsville, WV Hope that helps.

So it does not matter which brand of satellite dish he uses, whether it be DirecTV or Dish Network, just as long as it is the right size, and in this case you said would be 20 inches for Wheeling. So what your saying is he doesn't have to worry about the brand of the dish, just the size right? I also assume he will need to have a Bell TV receiver box activated as well, or is that not necessary with the satellite dish?

Thanks Dallas Cowboy.

 

[Mr Tony]

82 wont work well in WV with the stock dish

You would need a 36" dish or larger to get 82W which is the HD channels

91W can work with the stock Bell/Dish dish. Bell and Dish LNB's/dishes are universal (the receivers are not) so he could use the stock dish for 91W

 

[domdrakka]

82 wont work well in WV with the stock dish

You would need a 36" dish or larger to get 82W which is the HD channels

91W can work with the stock Bell/Dish dish. Bell and Dish LNB's/dishes are universal (the receivers are not) so he could use the stock dish for 91W

Would he be able to use a 36 inch dish for both 91W and 82W, or would he need two separate satellite dishes to receive both 91W channels and 82W channels. And he will definitely need a receiver box from Bell TV right? Do you recommend getting the dish set up first and then activating the box or activating the box then hooking up the dish?

 

[Mr Tony]

actually looking at that you might need a 48".....it can be done but requires ghetto rigging since larger dishes only see one satellite. You have to rig it to see two.

You could use 2 dishes....the stock dish on 91W and the larger one for 82W

Hook everything up first to verify reception then activate it

 

[domdrakka]

actually looking at that you might need a 48".....it can be done but requires ghetto rigging since larger dishes only see one satellite. You have to rig it to see two.

You could use 2 dishes....the stock dish on 91W and the larger one for 82W

Hook everything up first to verify reception then activate it

Thanks Iceberg, I appreciate it man. I have one more question, it's about the transponders. Does a satellite installer program a satellite dish to see a specific transponder, or will the dish be automatically be programmed to get channels on TP 15 (Nimiq 1), which has the main channel he is interested in. Which is Investigation Discovery Canada.

Would he automatically have access to transponder 15 once he gets his dish set up, I'm confused on how the transponders thing works. Or would the satellite dish receive all of the transponders on Nimiq 1?

I also believe I have the correct Elevation and Azimuth for the city of Wheeling. Which is 195.7 Azimuth and 42.4 Elevation. So my question about that is who would set that all up, a satellite installer, or after the satellite installer installs the dish, would my cousin program his dish to those coordinates?

 

[Mr Tony]

Thanks Iceberg, I appreciate it man. I have one more question, it's about the transponders. Does a satellite installer program a satellite dish to see a specific transponder, or will the dish be automatically be programmed to get channels on TP 15, which has the main channel he is interested in. Which is Investigation Discovery Canada. Would he automatically have access to transponder 15 once he gets his dish set up, I'm confused on how the transponders thing works. Or would the satellite dish receive all of the transponders on Nimiq 1?

as long as you can get a signal, the receiver decodes that signal. 91W has 32 transponders and all have the same "footprint" so he'll get everything he subscribes to on 91

 

[domdrakka]

as long as you can get a signal, the receiver decodes that signal. 91W has 32 transponders and all have the same "footprint" so he'll get everything he subscribes to on 91

Okay good. He definitely plans on subscribing to the Digital Theme Pack with Investigation Discovery Canada channel, so that won't be a problem.

So any brand of satellite dish will work right. It doesn't necessary have to be a Bell TV satellite dish. It could be a DirecTV satellite dish or Dish Network satellite dish? Or could he even opt for the cheaper generic satellite dish, just as long as it's the right size it won't matter what kind/brand of satellite dish it is?

 

[Mr Tony]

I would stay away from Directv dishes unless its the original one with one eyeball

If he only wants 91W any Dish 500 or Directv dish (the original) will work

 

[Mr Tony]

Here is my "ghetto rig" for Shaw Direct (the other Canadian DTH provider) on a 4 footer

 

[domdrakka]

I would stay away from Directv dishes unless its the original one with one eyeball

If he only wants 91W any Dish 500 or Directv dish (the original) will work

What about a generic dish? Such as RCA, Sony, and Fortec? Would those work, or would you stay clear of those as well?

 

[domdrakka]

Here is my "ghetto rig" for Shaw Direct (the other Canadian DTH provider) on a 4 footer

Did you rig that up yourself? You have any reception problems or is your coverage perfect?

 

[Mr Tony]

What about a generic dish? Such as RCA, Sony, and Fortec? Would those work, or would you stay clear of those as well?

Most RCA & Sony dishes were the old Directv single satellite ones which would work
Fortec would work but that would be for one satellite only unless you rig something up

 

[Mr Tony]

Did you rig that up yourself?

yep. Do all my rigging of my dishes

You have any reception problems or is your coverage perfect?

no coverage is perfect but I live in Minnesota and it worked great. Really strong signals and very little rain fade issues

 

[domdrakka]

Most RCA & Sony dishes were the old Directv single satellite ones which would work
Fortec would work but that would be for one satellite only unless you rig something up

So basically what your telling me is as long as the dish size is the right size, the brand of the dish really doesn't matter. Because I noticed you have WS International for your dish. So any brand of dish will work for Nimiq 1, just have to worry about the size?

 

[domdrakka]

yep. Do all my rigging of my dishes


no coverage is perfect but I live in Minnesota and it worked great. Really strong signals and very little rain fade issues

You definitely know your stuff when it comes to satellite. Very helpful and informative.

In case you are wondering where I got those coordinates....195.7 Azimuth and 42.4 Elevation, I used this website Satellite Elevation and Azimuth Position Calculator.
Down at the bottom of the page it has a place to input your City and State and it lets you input the satellite you want to connect to (in my case it was Nimiq 1at 91W).

Do I need to remember those coordinates or is that for the satellite installer to worry about? Or after he installs the dish, do I program the Azimuth and Elevation myself?

 

[domdrakka]

If my cousin wants to get channels only on 91W, I know it would work on an 18 inch dish. I looked at the footprint map. But what I want to know is if a larger dish would also work, or does it have to be 18 inches? Would a 36 inch dish work, or 24 inch maybe? I know it can't be a smaller dish, but what about a larger dish?

 

[Slartibartfarst]

The 18" Dish size should be considered as a "Minimum", the bigger the Dish, the more signal, therefore the lower the chances of rain fade etc.

As said several times, the dish is NOT critical, the LNBF is critical, it needs to be a Bell or Dish LNBF. For example, a Shaw Direct or KU LNBF will NOT work for Bell reception.

Stick with a std Bell Dish or a Dish 500 Dish Network Dish, this will give you adequate reception from the 91 bird, then look at a larger Dish for 82 later.