Getting into FTA... help me finish my system

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cpalmer2k

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Oct 18, 2013
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Well after being on the fence for years I'm finally making the plunge and getting into FTA satellite. Back many moons ago I had an old C-BAND dish in the analog days. This is back when the satellite guides actually printed lists of "wild feed" times and dates in their magazines lol!

Based on my research and talking with several of you I've come to several decisions, but still want some advice. Basically I want to be able to pick up raw news feeds of political events from some of the CNN, FOX and CBS raw channels others have mentioned briefly, as well as some of the radio feeds available at 105. Getting some high school sports and raw feeds of other events would be a nice bonus. It looks like 87, 99, and 103 are home to the largest concentrations of these feeds? Are there any other major ones I"m missing? I've got to get out this weekend with the dish pointer app to make sure I can get a line of sight on all the birds I'm interested in or the project won't be worthwhile.

After researching various options I've decided to go with a 2.4m Prime Focus Mesh dish. I do live in a neighborhood but the back of our land is covered in trees, so with that and a new fence we're putting up this summer shouldn't have any issues hiding a mesh dish from view enough to get by. I'd love to go with a solid model, but really need it to blend in better.

Based on advice from some who have tested out the radio muxes on 105 I've been told the Edision OS mio 4K DVBS2X STB is the best receiver to use for those because it can accurate scan in the massive groups of stations on those that others miss. My only concern with this is I see nothing about DVR with that unit? Is there a better receiver available for receiving/recording the KU/C-BAND TV feeds?

I welcome any advice/suggestions anyone can offer.. My main goals are to be able to schedule and record the types of feeds I mentioned with a reliable receiver that interfaces well with the dish positioner so it can move itself around as needed based on the recording schedules.
 
I would also include 91 as a target. Lots of sports feeds, especially on the weekends.

I think you'd be happy with at least a GeoSat Pro 1.2m dish. It would easily tune all the satellites and feeds you are interested in :)
 
I would also include 91 as a target. Lots of sports feeds, especially on the weekends.

I think you'd be happy with at least a GeoSat Pro 1.2m dish. It would easily tune all the satellites and feeds you are interested in :)

Can that handle the c-band radio feeds on 105 though? We literally have no sports radio stations around here and virtually all our talk stations are AM so picking those up is a big want on my list
 
Can that handle the c-band radio feeds on 105 though? We literally have no sports radio stations around here and virtually all our talk stations are AM so picking those up is a big want on my list

Yes, I'm planning to go with a dual C/Ku LNB.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. After reading here, going back and forth via PM with several of you I'm still on the fence. At this point I've decided to start with just KU and see where that takes me. I've gotten really good advice that starting out with a 90cm Dish is good for beginners, but how much do you sacrifice with that vs the 1.2m Dish? In my case S.C is close to the center point of the east coast and it appears looking at Satbeams I'm in the "stronger" bands for most of the birds. Satbeams "recommends" a 90cm or less Dish for basically every KU bird I've checked of interest. Are their recommendations really good though or are they leading things too small? I hate to buy a 90cm dish because it is easier to ship, setup, etc. and then find out things don't come in and end up still having to purchase and pay for a 1.2m dish.
 
I would get the 90cm and test. The only sat I have difficulty with on the 90cm is 99W...

As I'm only pointed at one non-99W satellite, I'm not directly comparing to that satellite: Pointed at the weakest transponder on a non-99W satellite, I lean towards a 90cm that is solidly mounted, on a solid mount. I plan to replace my ground mount (not recommended wood post) with a more solid mount (steel post), to get rid of permanent reception-misalignment till I realign caused by strong wind gusts (30mph+).
 
I have a 1.2m on 87w. I find LPBS is a pain to get without one. I have a fixed 90cm for 125w (no issues). I have a 90cm on 97w (no issues) I have a 90cm on 30w (no issues)
I have a 1.2m (with two lnbs for 103/99) ( many signals on 103w are fine on a 90cm)
 
I have a 1.2m on 87w. I find LPBS is a pain to get without one. I have a fixed 90cm for 125w (no issues). I have a 90cm on 97w (no issues) I have a 90cm on 30w (no issues)
I have a 1.2m (with two lnbs for 103/99) ( many signals on 103w are fine on a 90cm)

I get LPB on a fixed Winegard 76cm with no issues; in fact signal quality is nearly 100%
 
I get LPB on a fixed Winegard 76cm with no issues; in fact signal quality is nearly 100%

I think we've discussed that you are located pretty much in the USA sweet spot for close to (if not) all the satellites.

LPB here in mid-Michigan, is impossible to get and keep locked on anything smaller than 90cm. The only time I ever got 100%, was when I had my Prodelin 1.8M offset dish up and aimed right at this sat.
 
I think we've discussed that you are located pretty much in the USA sweet spot for close to (if not) all the satellites.

LPB here in mid-Michigan, is impossible to get and keep locked on anything smaller than 90cm. The only time I ever got 100%, was when I had my Prodelin 1.8M offset dish up and aimed right at this sat.

Yeah, I suppose that is true, the only satellite I have endless issues with is 99, even on the 1.2m dish. Just curious, do you have issues with 99?
 
How many of you guys play with C-Band on a 1.2m dish? What kind of luck do you have with MeTV, Decades, etc (if any)? I KNOW that C-Band reception is going to be very, very limited on a 1.2m. I'm mainly interested in the radio muxes on 105 though and MeTV/Decades. If I could just get that with a 1.2m I'd be happy going with a 90cm with a KU lnb and then adding a 1.2m for the radio channels and MeTV/Decades.
 
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How many of you guys play with C-Band on a 1.2m dish? What kind of luck do you have with MeTV, Decades, etc (if any)? I KNOW that C-Band reception is going to be very, very limited on a 1.2m. I'm mainly interested in the radio muxes on 105 though and MeTV/Decades. If I could just get that with a 1.2m I'd be happy going with a 90cm with a KU lnb and then adding a 1.2m for the radio channels and MeTV/Decades.

It all depends on where you are in the satellite footprint. As primestar31 mentioned, I am kinda in the sweet spot in the geographic center of the country, so I can receive almost all the C-band feeds on 91 and 99. C-band on a 1.2m dish should be considered "for experimental purposes only"

See this thread for my results: Error | SatelliteGuys.US

Others have reported that they can also get the ESPN radio feeds on 105, so those should be fairly easy to nab.
 
How many of you guys play with C-Band on a 1.2m dish? What kind of luck do you have with MeTV, Decades, etc (if any)? I KNOW that C-Band reception is going to be very, very limited on a 1.2m. I'm mainly interested in the radio muxes on 105 though and MeTV/Decades. If I could just get that with a 1.2m I'd be happy going with a 90cm with a KU lnb and then adding a 1.2m for the radio channels and MeTV/Decades.

You aren't going to get MeTv or Decades on 101w on anything less than a 6ft dish, and even then you'll have problems keeping it locked.

Unless you are restricted by HOA rules (and if so, MOVE!) I absolutely can NOT recommend a dish smaller than 7.5ft for c-band stuff. Unless you move in with CN, LOL.
 
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