c band/large dishes

[korsjs]

i have been thinking about buying a large cband satellite. i was wondering what the average cost would be for a three receiver hook up with one of them capable of receiving hdtv. how much would the dish cost. installation cost. is it worth the hassel. how much space do i need, what direction do i need a line of sight too?

i am kind of tired of the compressing used with dish and direct and hear that there is no compression.

any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[korsjs]

i am also interested in start up costs for free to air tv and what directions i would have to point at.

 

[dishrich]

Well, a couple of points that will probably stop you now...

-I assume that you are aware that (unless you have LOTS of $$$ to spend) it is impractical to have 3 receivers hooked to one C-band dish. Aside from the cost of 3 C-band receivers & the necessary splitters, etc to the dish, you would NOT be able to have very independant viewing on those 3 receivers, since programming is scattered across several sats - you basically would need 3 C-band dishes to accomplish what you can already do on DBS.

-More & more programming services are going digital, so a 4DTV receiver would be necessary to get many of the more common channels you are accustomed to on DBS. BUT, there are some channels that are going to digitally compressed signals that are NOT receivable by a 4DTV receiver anyway. (A&E, History Ch & Lifetime are 3 channels that just announced they are doing this very thing by the end of this year, ending any access by consumer BUD systems)

-Some of the HD signals up on C-band, even though they use 4DTV HD compression, are NOT being sold to backyard dish owners, so even having the right receiving equipment will not do you any good.

Still interested???

 

[PSB]

I don't blame you! It would be a great project, a learning experience. I was at an installation of a D* system yesterday and the customer still had a BUD in his back yard, I was all over it like a rash! It was a very impressive satellite dish, I have been offered a few free but I am still working on the wife, I am sure I will win but it will just take time, check the link to DMSI on my web site for some ideas about FTA, it would be a great place to start as the principles of a motorized dish are much the same, working out all the angles for your area is a lot of fun, here are a few links to get you going.......if you go ahead with C-band a daily log or similar would be of great interest to the members I am sure, good luck.

http://www.global-cm.net/
http://skyvision.com/index.html

 

[Speedwagon]

working out all the angles for your area is a lot of fun, here are a few links to get you going.......

I can just go to work and type in a lat/long, and it will give me all the angles needed. One of the advantages of working at a satellite communications control center.

 

[PSB]

On a Saturday! Anyway thats no fun, I was talking about the angles to set up a motorized dish! I thought you were in need of help sorry, I just seen your other posts today where you said you will be getting your first satellite install on Monday and you said you had never seen a satellite meter???????? I was just trying to help? Good Luck!

 

[Speedwagon]

On a Saturday! Anyway thats no fun, I was talking about the angles to set up a motorized dish! I thought you were in need of help sorry, I just seen your other posts today where you said you will be getting your first satellite install on Monday and you said you had never seen a satellite meter???????? I was just trying to help? Good Luck!

Oh, yea.. I'm just curious as to how all the sat TV stuff works. Working with satcom all the time, I know how the whole thing works, but we don't deal alot with the end user(which is what I'm about to be now), and not much video(compared to a TV sat anyways) goes over the military satellites anyway. And I was just commenting on how I could get the angles and whatnot from work. Of course, that doesn't help if you don't have any measurement equipment.

 

[PSB]

You are off to a flying start anyway, sounds like very interesting work, the kind of work where they have to fling you out at the end of the day : ) Happens to me some times at installs I am going over and over what their new systems will do and I get that "OK enough already" look, time for me to leave! As for satellite meters heres what I use right now.

www.satmeter.com

 

[W4WMM]

C-Band to DBS

My C-Band receiver died and now I have Dish Network using a Dish 500. One of my disappointments with the "newer" technology is Rain Fade.

Is it possible to convert my 10' C-band, mesh dish to a DBS dish to eliminate rain fade? If it's possible, is it really worth the trouble to do it? It seems to me that the C-band dish would only pick up one satellite at a time which could be frustrating.

 

[W4WMM]

I found this device at Skyvision and wonder if this will let me convert a C-Band dish into a large DBS dish for the purpose of receiving 110 and 119 on the Dish Network system?

http://www.skyvision.com/store/mi5034007.html

 

[mkm4]

I found this device at Skyvision and wonder if this will let me convert a C-Band dish into a large DBS dish for the purpose of receiving 110 and 119 on the Dish Network system?

http://www.skyvision.com/store/mi5034007.html

It will let you get one sat or the other not both.

Replacing the standard DBS dish with a bigger dish will probably be easier and most effective way to go.

Try here for a bigger dish.

 

[W4WMM]

It will let you get one sat or the other not both.

Replacing the standard DBS dish with a bigger dish will probably be easier and most effective way to go.

Try here for a bigger dish.

I went to the link you provided thanks. I guess a 30" dish is the largest I can get and still receive two sat's at once? The 36" dish appeared to be only good for one sat itself.

30" would be better than the DISH 500 I have but would it eliminate rain fade? I'm not used to rain fade since I've been on a C-band dish for the past decade. I thought DBS was supposed to be an improvement. I guess I got rapid channel surfing and EPG but lost in the rain department. I'd be glad to trade considering I live in one of the wettest cities in the USA.

Can rain-fade be eliminated on a DBS system or am I barking up a tree?

 

[PSB]

Woof! A bigger dish will help A LOT but really heavy down pours will still give you rain fade, it would have to be a bad storm, so bad that you should not be watching TV. You can add a second LNB to a 30" and 36" dish, its a standard bracket that fits both (check with your retailer), I think a 30" would work great, thats all I have and I have very little rain fade on dbs satellite, I am in MN. the further south you go the stronger the signal from the satellite.

 

[W4WMM]

If I stopped watching TV because a severe thunderstorm (30,000' tops) was nearby, I'd never get anything watched.