best newbie starting equipment

[Scott Bear]

Hi everyone this would be my first post here on the site and i'm hoping i can atleast get pointed in the right direction and maybe in the process help some other newbies get a jump start.
my question

what equipment should a novice/newbie/greenhorn get to dive right into this your opinion?

i have a pansat 2500 sitting in the back of a closet that i bought a few years back that i never could get up and running (may have been signal, area was blocked by many trees) but at the time i had not found any places like this site to ask for help and so it sits collecting dust ..... i know i will need a new feed horn but what type?
i was also told about a newer reciver (fusion nova) or something like that , that connects to the net and is suppose to be easy to install. would that be fitting for a newbie?

thanks for any help anyone can give me ....i really want to get into fta but i just do not know where my starting point should be before wasting money on trial and error

thanks again
bear

 

[oldford]

#1- Read all the sticky threads.

#2 - get a 30 inch or so dish and a linear LNBF (Sadoun is a good place to start)

#3- Dig out the pansat 2500 and see if it works. There are lots of threads here on restoring factory software, etc.

#4 - pick a satellite (123W is a good one), aim and peak the dish and watch some TV.

#5 - read a lot here!

Welcome, and enjoy.

Regards, eric

 

[Scott Bear]

awesome ....now if it's that simple i'll jump for joy. and restoring the factory software will be the deal. i'm sure i'll be posting asking more questions when i get it out and start into that

thank you for replying and giving a direction it will help out a LOT

thanks again

 

[Sadoun]

Scott,

Since you have the receiver already, all you need is the Dish, Motor, LNBF, and coaxial cable.

I would recommend the MKIT-1 for you:
Motorized combo Satellite Dish with HH Motor, LNBF, Offset Prime Focus Fortec Star Winegard

Depending on where you live, you may want to upgrade the dish to the 90cm,100cm,or 120cm. The 120cm will require the DG380 motor.

 

[Scott Bear]

the pansat

hey again thanks guys for the help and any other tips ya might deem worthy of passing along .....now my biggest challenge i think will be loading factory software on it ...i found the pansat site and software but i have read some cases where they go to load the software and nothing happens or it locks the computer or it just never loads in which case i would wonder if the cable it ok ...so i would 1st check the cable i just bought with a volt meter to see if it's ok .....which bring me to my questions

1. if the cable is ok ....what then ....is the reciver bad?, if so is there no hope for that reciver is it shot? ...just get a new one?

2. if the cable is bad ....where would be a place to get a trusted good one online?

i'm just trying to cover my bases and gain as much knowledge as possible while i have someones ear on the subject

again thanks for all you guys help
bear

 

[oldford]

I think the 2500 used a straight thru serial cable, while the later model Pansats use a null modem cable. So you'll need a straight cable for your 2500. Any computer shop or even radio shack should have one.

YMMV, Eric

 

[Mr Tony]

yes the 2500 uses a straight through. My 1500 (little brother...same setup minus AC-3 and S-Video) uses a straight through also

 

[Scott Bear]

sweet

again awesome !!! i guess that is why i could never get it to work right before ...bought it new ($300) dish and all back in the day and was told to use a null modem cable ...so i went through the trouble of ordering 1 ...never worked after several days and millions of attempts with that cable i gave in and just stayed with cable tv .... wished i had been asking way back when ....

some places are saying fta might be coming to an end .....any truth to that ??? if any of you might know ?

as always thanks for the help you guys are a wealth of knowledge on this stuff

 

[Tron]

I doubt that TRUE FTA will ever come to an end. Television stations and cable companies will probably need to use satellites for feeds for some time to come. Hacking pay satellite services, which some people erroneously refer to as "FTA", may be coming to an end.

 

[DishDigger]

Scott Bear, I can't add much to what's been posted, just that you came to the right place for help. The `FTA coming to an end' was probably told by one of those that are banned from this site. You'll find TRUE, LEGAL FTA help here that I guarantee you'll enjoy and will bet it'll stay.

One thing I can offer:



To the forum

Bill

 

[Scott Bear]

yeah i figured as much about the "fta coming to an end" and true fta is what i am looking to get into not just cracking cards and stuff ...besides if i want all the pay channels ...most are streaming on the web live ...what i want to do is get away from paying a cable bill that hovers around 300 bucks a month to get any ok content ...
my next question that i am hoping you guys can help me with is this

the striaght through cable ...is that the same as the monitor cables used to hook up a extrenal monitor to a laptop ?.... if thats the case i have one and will be good to go .... if not ...where can i order one?

again and as always thank you guys for the direction, it's invaluable

 

[Anole]

cables:

- For instant gratification, your local Radio Shack.

- If you are planning ahead, and can put together an order to make it worth while, then maybe MonoPrice .com

- But, if you need any sort of satellite accessories, you can't beat a buck at one of our sponsors: SatelliteAV