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    Future of C-Band Paid Programming

    I don't see myself as tech savvy. I have probably a good spatial sense of what I am aiming at and what needs to be done to hit the target, but the electronics? I have no idea, for example, what S2 is or how broadcasts are encrypted. For this hobby, I really don't think the required notions...
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    Future of C-Band Paid Programming

    I have had Directv and Dish Network at one time or other. I think I had cable once, but that fades into memory. Now I am exclusively C and Ku FTA. Even forgetting for a moment that I don't get a monthly bill, just blocking out all other thoughts and feelings, and focusing on how I feel...
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    Future of C-Band Paid Programming

    How many more years for FTA ?? I don't know but I doubt more than 10. The sad part is how the world seems to be stuck in the age of German rocket scientists out of the nazi era. A lot of people thought in the 1960s that some kinds of new, advanced rocketry would be zipping tourists to the...
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    Future of C-Band Paid Programming

    Even at 70 bucks per foot, it doesn't take long for customers to pay that off. Sure, the more remote, rural places will be a big investment for fiber. But then the arithmetic of the situation will have the corporates asking if it is worth launching satellites for the few out in the...
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    Looking for a C band dish

    Got a great deal this week on Enay You should be able to get all the Ku you want and at least some of the C band. At one point I actually tried to get a certain six foot dish from a motel. They didn't want to part with it though. Keep us informed about what you can get.
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    Future of C-Band Paid Programming

    I would like to think that FTA satellite technology will continue, but I admit I am not predicting it. The biggest issue is the nature and expense of rocket propulsion. We still use chemical rockets - basically WWII technology.. As far as fiber being expensive, it isn't - at least...
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    Disassembly, step by step?

    I cut my Birdview pole off at ground level when I got it. I used a circular saw with with a black metal cutting blade. I already had a three inch pole going from the ground to above my roof line. I thought the diameter difference would be noticeable with the Bv pole being 6 in diameter but It...
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    Looking for a C band dish

    A solid, spun aluminum dish of at least 8 feet across is considered by many to be the best option. Mesh dishes are lighter and cheaper, but more prone to damage, Another advantage many see in them is in their being less prone to wind pressure . That wind factor, however, is only demonstrated...
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    Future of C-Band Paid Programming

    Very briefly, just about all methods of past communication continue in existence. Mail, wired phone and telegraph, radio, satellite. Probably the economics favors fiber optics, so while I am expecting satellite tv to continue, I see fiber as the wave of the future. Satellite providers have to...
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    Big satellite dish (New Birdview) to be given away- Fort Garland, CO

    Right now I am using a Pansat mover, which does accurately move the dish, but my G-box was better. I had a V-box and returned it after a short time. The G-Box was the best of the three. I am not alone in that thought, and I have had people wanting my broken G-Box in order to replace bad...
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    Big satellite dish (New Birdview) to be given away- Fort Garland, CO

    They used to make a C/Ku lnbf - (voltage controlled for H or V on both Ku and C bands). I used that for awhile. It worked not too bad and getting both bands was a big improvement. That would be the quickest way to get both bands for this dish. A lot of the good products in the past are just...
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    Big satellite dish (New Birdview) to be given away- Fort Garland, CO

    I am in Southern Cal and did try to change the declination with washers. I did all the trigonometry and calculations. I ended up taking the washers out. I mention that only because my latitude is well south of Kansas. I am also further south than Colorado. I wouldn't mess with it.
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    Big satellite dish (New Birdview) to be given away- Fort Garland, CO

    Great news that it is reed switch and not potentiometer.That saves you a day right there. It's true there isn't a fine adjustment for elevation, although I've retrofitted mine with one. Used a two foot length of threaded rod, 5/8 " and three heavy angle pieces, all found at home depot. I...
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    Not one inch

    I understand the issue, living as I do in UV world here in So Cal. I have not enclosed the cable, but I have run it under my eaves. The only place it's exposed is going up to the lnb. I have also run the four wire sprinkler cable under the eaves. For that I have a junction box and stranded...
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    Big satellite dish (New Birdview) to be given away- Fort Garland, CO

    Here is the link on this site for phlatwound's magnet wheel template - - - http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/phlats-birdview-2.166422/page-3 it is for a 3.25 inch wheel. It took me several days to lay out mine with a compass and like instruments. With this you just print it out on...
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    Big satellite dish (New Birdview) to be given away- Fort Garland, CO

    The dish is aluminum and easily handled. The six struts make it difficult to ship. Steel nuts on aluminum strut rods. I ended up grinding off the nuts. I would tie it face up on a pickup bed, leaving the strut nuts for later, and transport it that way . The motor unit is a beast. Getting the...
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    Big satellite dish (New Birdview) to be given away- Fort Garland, CO

    I lucked onto a Birdview maybe six years ago 8.5 feet across. Looks like the same model. For those who are mechanically inclined, it isn't all that hard to do the modification. Somewhere on this site will be the diagram having a circle with 32 1/4 inch holes in it. Print that out and glue it...
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    Bad Arc?

    Farthest east I ever got was at 53 degrees west. Can't say about 40.5, but if it's near the south of your arc, you said you were getting those. Unless your dish and mount has a defined spot where zenith is, spend the time with measurements to find it. If your house/dish location is, say...
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    Bad Arc?

    Yes. Sounds like your south/zenith position is off by a couple degrees.The best way I've found is first of all not to think of your southernmost satellite as "due south", unless you live on the exact longitude of its orbit. Most live a degree or two off of it and accounting for that gets the...
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    Best way to find first signal on C-band dish???

    Just to let you know, the method I describe above is basically the same method as used by small Ku dishes and movers using USALS. Once you enter them with your latitude and longitude, they automatically are at zenith at your longitude. Then when you drive the dish to a satellite with a good...
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    Best way to find first signal on C-band dish???

    Some people get frustrated when they apply mathematical measurements and formuilas and they don't get a signal. It's better to go off the actual signal than off the theoretical of where the signal is supposed to be. You don't need a satellite finder, because the Manhattan receiver has a "beep"...
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    The most basic, stupid question.

    For all but a few, the term "due south satellite" is wrong. Most of us are off that exact longitude by a number and fraction of degrees. When I hinally realized that, I discovered why I couldn't hit the satellites at the far east and west. The system I use now is fast and works. You start...
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    Scarce Times for FTA - Sports Bars to Blame?

    Whatever the reason is, I have been in the hobby since '07 and I can't recall a time where less unencrypted programming was available. Hoping for the return of good times soon.
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    Scarce Times for FTA - Sports Bars to Blame?

    As I look around the cities I pass through, I see a BUD on maybe one out of 200 homes. I would not be surprised if only one or two on average actually work. This has always been the true FTA loophole. Because our numbers are so tiny, it's hard for the providers to justify expensive encryption...
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    What is this?

    Probably steel. I only say that because you mention rust on the bolts. Generally you don't mix metals because of a reaction that occurs when you do. I think it's called electrolysis. I don't recognize the dish, but it looks fine. Sometimes those buttonhook systems loosen or sag, causing the...