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My dish is actually 30 inches round, not oval. I was able to dial in Galaxy 19 and came up with 176 channels. I have two receivers one is the Sonicveiw sv4000 and it doesn't have the Galaxy 19 satellite listed. The other I purchased on eBay for 30 bucks, it is an HD DVB-S2 and it is the one I found everything with. From the old days of "testing" direct tv channels I have set up a lot of stationary dishes and I feel this helped me with this FTA dish setup. My next question is, which satellite is best for English speaking channels? I noticed that Galaxy 19 seems to have the most channels on it, but most are religious non-English speaking broadcasts. I enjoy the challenge of finding the satellite and finding new channels but am clueless to how the setup for a motor would be. I know it has to be on a perfect arc with the satellites but not sure which satellite to line up on first. I want to play around with it as a stationary setup first and then move to the motorized dish. I did order a new LNBF as I am not sure about the one I have. As for the Sonicveiw receiver, is there a site where I can get updated firmware for it?

cabin4me said:

As for the Sonicveiw receiver, is there a site where I can get updated firmware for it?

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That is like asking where you can updates for a VCR.
I am sure the firmware is as good as it gets for the Sonicview. It is also mostly, only good for G19(97W).
I don't have one in front of me, but can you, via the remote rename satellites? If so that is all you need to do. Receivers are dumb as far as satellite names. They are there just to help us humans stay organized.
You can pick any bird in the list, select the proper LO and such, and scan. If you dish is aimed at 97W it will scan in those channels. It has no way to know which satellite your dish is aimed at unless you tell it.
If you can't rename it to Galaxy 19, just use the one that is in there. Satellites die or get moved. So different ones get moved to their slot...or a new one gets shot into orbit. As long as you are on whatever it shows for 97W you are fine.(Gal 25, Maybe).

When you get ready for a motor, I have a pinned thread at the top of the FTA forum, all about that.

Yeah,but I'm old and don't have any sense of time anymore

waylew said:

Yeah,but I'm old and don't have any sense of time anymore

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Oh, I know that feeling. Time flies!! Just the other day I was talking about a neighbor that had passed away. I was thinking something like 5-6 years. His daughter looks at me and said, Mom has been dead 14 years now. oops.

KE4EST said:

That is like asking where you can updates for a VCR.
I am sure the firmware is as good as it gets for the Sonicview. It is also mostly, only good for G19(97W).

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I understand. I kinda thought that the Sonicveiw would turn out to be an ugly paperweight. I did find and look at your setup for the motor and I must thank you for taking the time to layout those instructions in a way that even a newbie like me would understand. FTA is a nice hobby and I enjoy the challenge that comes with it. I do admire the patience that each and every one of you have when it comes to dealing with my ignorance of the hobby.

So the only other thing I would like to ask (I hope) is which satellites do most of you watch? I know that from my location in the US I am only going to be able to locate satellites from 61D west to 180D west. Also, it won't be long before I move to a C band dish, as I have read that C band is better when it comes to channels I may like. I have also noticed that when you guys are talking about satellites, you don't call them by their name. You will just say 95 west or something like this. Would I be able to pick up more than one satellite in a stationary position?

Again I want to say thank you so much for helping me and welcoming me to this forum.
BTW Where are you all located? US?

KE4EST said:

Oh, I know that feeling. Time flies!! Just the other day I was talking about a neighbor that had passed away. I was thinking something like 5-6 years. His daughter looks at me and said, Mom has been dead 14 years now. oops.

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I do the very same. I am 49 and each time I think of something from the 90s or even the 80s I feel as though it was just a few years ago. My 14-year-old son tells me that the 80s were a very long time ago. LOL Time seems to get away from us and it gets even faster when you top 40.

x

cabin4me said:

I have setup Direct TV dishes in the past and also some Dish Network, without any problems.

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The best one piece of advice I can give [been doing this for 20 years and have also set up my own DTV and Hughesnet Internet dishes along with C and KU band] is to get a 'decent' signal meter. It will save you a lot of frustration. The beamwidth of a KU band dish your size is a lot narrower than a DTV dish and aiming can be frustrating without proper equipment. And you don't have to break the bank nowdays to get one. You find the satellite your interested in and program the transponder information and move from satellite to satellite until it locks. And some of them today tell you what satellite your aimed at.

There is nothing more frustrating than moving back and forth from the dish to the receiver or listening for the darn thing to beep when your getting close. A lot of people never last in the hobby because locking down a satellite signal can be so frustrating. The DTV type dishes have a wide beamwidth and the satellites are so strong compared to the ones we aim at that one of those dishes is pretty easy compared to FTA. It takes me minutes now to do what took hours and like with any hobby there is a learning curve involved so you have to grit your way thru it. If you can aim a DTV dish then you can also do a FTA dish but it won't be as easy.

cabin4me said:

I understand. I kinda thought that the Sonicveiw would turn out to be an ugly paperweight. I did find and look at your setup for the motor and I must thank you for taking the time to layout those instructions in a way that even a newbie like me would understand. FTA is a nice hobby and I enjoy the challenge that comes with it. I do admire the patience that each and every one of you have when it comes to dealing with my ignorance of the hobby.

So the only other thing I would like to ask (I hope) is which satellites do most of you watch? I know that from my location in the US I am only going to be able to locate satellites from 61D west to 180D west. Also, it won't be long before I move to a C band dish, as I have read that C band is better when it comes to channels I may like. I have also noticed that when you guys are talking about satellites, you don't call them by their name. You will just say 95 west or something like this. Would I be able to pick up more than one satellite in a stationary position?

Again I want to say thank you so much for helping me and welcoming me to this forum.
BTW Where are you all located? US?

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I mostly watch PBS on 125w, NBC on 103w, CNN feeds on 87w.