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mmewrench & tbropro,

Thanks for your responses. I'll admit I'm a bit comfused.

You both indicate that (some of) the subscription channels I want are on W5, yet according to Lyngsat, w5 is only visible in Europe (and I'm in midwest U.S.A). mmewrench said "W5 (AMC18)", but Lyngsat doesn't say anything about AMC18 having SyFy or Disney XD. So is Lyngsat wrong/out-of-date?

Also, any thoughts on my other question about having the big dish in a fixed location with multiple ku LNBs for multiple FTA birds? I've seen photos like this one of where people have done this a lot in Europe, and I seem to recall seeing a photo of someone here in the states that had done it on a Big Dish, but I can't find it now.

Thanks!

Look here for AMC 18 (W5) 105 W:

http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/hitsamc18.html

On a 4DTV, W5 600 is Disney XD, SyFy is 642.

You can do all kind of things with multiple feeds on dishes, let your imagination go wild. There have been all kind of home brew mods done by Satellite Guys.

W5 is the 4DTV designator for the source of programming that is beamed down from 105°W aka AMC15/18. The 4DTV family of IRDs is the successor and sole heir of home TVRO C band subscription service. Authorization of individually owned VC II modules was shut down just a little over a year ago, hence no more analog sub services.
The Digicipher 2 (DCII) encryption is the digital signal counterpart to our now useless VCII modules that were used for analog signal encryption. Licensing for DCII is held exclusively by Motorola (bought from GI) and consumer subs in the USA must use a 4DTV IRD (built by Motorola/GI) like the DSR905, 920, 922 or the lesser known subscription programing service that uses the DSR410.

The DSR410 service essentially takes an IRD that was originally for Ku DCII service and re-purposes it to be subbed to a single position (W5@105°W) DCII broadcasts. Skyvision offers the IRD (and complete pkg if needed) for those interested in "trouble free" C band sub service. Take a look at the packaging/cost as this may satisfy your sub needs. The main drawback to using a 410 vs a legacy 4DTV IRD is that it is locked to W5 programming, unlike the others that allow hunting for and watching other DCII but otherwise considered FTA channels and programming.
To summarize, your ol' Chappy is now relegated to dish positioning and polarity control duties only, with the occasional capture of unencrytped analog programming you might luck accross.

As for the other digital (FTA) C and Ku broadcasts, a receiver capable of DVB-S (or DVB-S2) mode is needed. DVB-S2 is the nextgen itteration of DVB-S which allows for more data withing a given bandwidth. The HD content is already taking advantage of this mode, and it is expected to eventually be adopted by the SD tranmissions sources to cram more content into a given bandwidth. Currently DVB-S still handles the lions share of FTA programming. It is my understanding that HD FTA content is exclusively using DVB-S2, although you would need to consult someone that does HD FTA to verify that.

For optimum DVBS/S2 signal viewing, you will need to be able to position to multiple orbital locations. IOW, choosing the DRSR410 service may give you what you want for your sub needs, but if you intend to utilize C band (and Ku if your BUD has both LNBs) for DVB-S/S2 you will want the convienence of a motorized system with polarity control, so hang on to the Chappy! There are other solutions using a V/G box to control position and using an LNBF that switches polarity using a voltage level rather than a mechanical servo, however both "remedies" incur add'l cost and equipment.

EDIT - A Ku motorized system can be added to the mix as well which can be natively controlled by most DVB boxes without any add'l positioning or polarity control equipment.
Limited C band reception can be realized as well on these smaller dishes with the proper LNBF on a large (3-4') dish, but 2° sat spacing becomes an issue and desired signals are offten interfered with by adjacent satellites in the small dish's beamwidth.

Your DTV dishes are not large enough or compatable with the linear mode (vs circular used by DN,DTV,Bell) transmission of FTA signals.

I hope that helps clear up some of your questions.

Disney channel is not available on C band for subscription.
That'sm why I still have to pay for cable.
You can get Disneyxd but they don't have Hanna Montana theshow kids cannot go without.
Plus C band is not like back in the day.
Because most people with cband went for the small dishes and now there are only a few of us left.
So most channels are Re-uplinks like the small dishes do it.
Not master feeds like there were before.
Also the only receivers being made for this is the Motorola 4dtv but they don't make them anymore and if you buy it used the chances are big that you're gonna find one with a deadbattery and no unit ID.
I have 4dtv because my sister gave me it for free but if I had to buy it I wouldn't.
More and more channels are leaving C band because of the low volume of subscribers and it looks like everything is coming to an end.
Because the subscription companys like NPS now has to re-uplink the channels themselves and with the amount of subs they have they can't even cover the cost of uplinking so they sell dishnet and other stuff to be able to cover that but I guess they won't go on likethat for long

Channels on G3 and W5 are re-uplinked, all others are masters I believe. W5 picture quality is very good quality. Satellites such as C3, G1, etc picture quality, though SD, looks as good as dishnet HD.

There are some analogs left, they arent all gone, but may be of no interest to you, but are good for tweaking dish. You can get these with the old ird.
Shepherds Chapel, INSP, ShopNBC, HSN/QVC, Fox feeds, probably a few more.

I bought a 4dtv via ebay, havent had any problems. You just need to verify it has a good id number before buying it and make sure it hasnt been uplugged too long, that kills the battery. Go for a newer unit if possible (motorolas, not GI's)

Good luck.