So I thought I'd give this FTA thing a try. Purchased a used X2 reciever on ebay, and hooked it up to my old Direct TV multi dish (oval dish 3 LNB's) to see what I could get. Sat search gave me 6 satellites all with 60 or above signal strength. But no radio or TV channels on any of them. Internet research says I should be getting many FTA radio & TV channels on G-19 with a 78% signal strength, but not showing any channels. Box is an X2 (X squared) Premium HD. LNB is the Direct TV 3 head that was on the oval dish. I did get an LNB along with the X2 box, but I assume that with the signal strength I am getting, that isnt the issue?? Thanks in advance for educating and helping the ignorant attempting to learn
OTHER New to FTA. X2 box. Receiving satellites, but not channels ???
- Thread starter BKD6048
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Welcome to Satellite Guys BKD6048!
First, if you still have the dish aimed at its original location (the DirecTV satellites) you will not be able to get 97W. You would need to go to a site like dishpointer.com and enter your location and the desired satellite to get the correct azimuth, elevation and skew. Then enter a known good transponder into your receiver while aiming the dish to look for a signal.Second, you should swap out the original 3 lnb assembly for one made for FTA. There are others available but something like these could be used:
LINEAR DUAL LNB FSS SATELLITE LNBF FOR VIEWSAT PANSAT | eBay
Orion Standard 0.5dB Linear Dual LNBF L.O. 10750 for FTA Digital Satellite TV 780456280194 | eBay
You could also buy an adapter like this ( Welcome to Michael Electronics ) and mount the lnbf you bought on the dish. FTA signals are much weaker compared to DirecTV and DISH so it must be done very carefully so that the lnbf is in the exact focus spot of the dish to get a proper signal.
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Welcome to Satellite Guys BKD6048!
Second, you should swap out the original 3 lnb assembly for one made for FTA. There are others available but something like these could be used:
LINEAR DUAL LNB FSS SATELLITE LNBF FOR VIEWSAT PANSAT | eBay
Orion Standard 0.5dB Linear Dual LNBF L.O. 10750 for FTA Digital Satellite TV 780456280194 | eBay
You could also buy an adapter like this ( Welcome to Michael Electronics ) and mount the lnbf you bought on the dish. FTA signals are much weaker compared to DirecTV and DISH so it must be done very carefully so that the lnbf is in the exact focus spot of the dish to get a proper signal.
Why would he need to re- aim?
Because a 3 lnb SL3 or 5 lnb SL5 Slimline dish would have been originally aimed for DirecTV programming at 99w/101w/103w/110w/119w.
Thank you! The ebay purchase I made included an LNB with the box, so I will swap them out and try that. I dont have the info I wrote down with me now, but the 6 satellites it found last night were in the range you mentioned above 90W-120W.. So to clarify, I can possibly use my oval Direct TV dish, but I will need to aim it specifically at G-19 to get the strongest possible signal, and use a different KU LNB, making sure I get the focal point correct. Any good sites to teach me how to measure the correct focal point distance? I watched a video and the guy mentions aiming to the focal point of the dish, but doesent describe it. My assumption was the lowest (longest measurement) portion of the dish (bowl)?? Thanks again for helping someone attempting to learn. I've been trying to glean info from the internet, but it gets lost in the amount of info and the lack of specific info
For G-19 I get this with my address .............................Satellite: 97W GALAXY 19 (G-19) Elevation: 42.7° Azimuth (true): 207.7° Azimuth (magn.): 216.9°
If I enter the 3 LNB Direct TV setup I get Satellite: DirecTV 3 LNB (101W, 110W, 119W) Elevation: 36.0° Azimuth (true): 224.3° Azimuth (magn.): 233.5°
My old dish doesnt have slimline written on it, ( I think it has 3 lnb written on it, will verify when I get home) so I assume I chose the correct info for what I have. So my elevation needs to decrease 6.7 and my azmuth roughly 17
If I enter the 3 LNB Direct TV setup I get Satellite: DirecTV 3 LNB (101W, 110W, 119W) Elevation: 36.0° Azimuth (true): 224.3° Azimuth (magn.): 233.5°
My old dish doesnt have slimline written on it, ( I think it has 3 lnb written on it, will verify when I get home) so I assume I chose the correct info for what I have. So my elevation needs to decrease 6.7 and my azmuth roughly 17
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Also, when you're trying to lock onto a satellite, the Quality bar is the one to watch, not the signal one. The signal bar will always have a reading as long as a lnbf is hooked to the receiver and working. If you actually lock onto a transponder from a satellite, you'll see activity in the quality bar.
