Completely new to FTA, need advice

[GMFreak8]

I'm completely new to FTA, and have no idea where to start, and I'm hoping you guys here can help me.

So for the past month or so I've been reading the forums here off and on and trying to decipher all the information here, but I'm still pretty confused. So here are my questions:

1.) What type of system would I need to pick up as many FTA feeds that I can? I would like something that's easy for a newbie to install, and configure, probably a package type deal. How much would a complete package cost me? Am I looking at something for over $250 or can I get something cheaper?

2.) How bad is an installation? Is it something someone with little satellite experience can do?

3.) What can I expect to pick up for feeds?

4.) What type of maintenance do I need to do. Will this system last me awhile? I've heard about batteries needing to be replaced?

5.) Are these types of systems going to be useful in the future or are they going to turn into yard ornaments and paperweights?

6.) Is the signal analog or digital. Sorry if this sounds like a completely idiotic question.

7.) This is completely Free to Air, there isn't any subscriptions that I could subscribe to is there?


I guess that's all I can think of right now. Any other help or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm truly sorry if these questions are asked hundreds of times already, but I need something that's all laid out for me, to avoid as much confusion as possible. The more I look the more confused I get. But I'm truly interested in this, I find it extremely fascinating.

 

[ghia]

There are lots of people here that are more experienced and/or have more knowledge than me here is my 2cents.

1. I would plan on around $300 for a system with receiver, dish and motor. give or take a bit. I would highly recomend you spend the few extra bucks on some compression fittings and tool along with some good RG-6 cable as well. I am using a traxis 3500 , .85m dish and sg-2100 motor that is in this price range with tools etc.

2. Installation for me was very straight forward and not very difficult. My opinion is if you are half way technically minded and or have some dbs install experience it will not be a problem. Just make sure you do your research, be patient and exact.

3. Feeds are varied, but I personally like the news feeds. It's funny to see the reporter standing around joking with the crew etc. then getting all seroius or see them practicing their lines. IA-6 has lots of this stuff.

4. Not sure what batteries you are talking about except the remote. Only maint. I could think of is if high winds or something damages the dish or knocks it out of alignment.

5. Everything technical eventually becomes obsolete, but I would believe these systems will be usefull for some time. Just remember you are not subscribing to the programming and things can come and go.

6. Both there are KU and C digital and analog. You will probably be most intersted in KU digital.

7. Yes FTA as in no subscription. There are channels that are scrambled that you will not be able to receive. FTA reception for the most part is not being transmitted for the end user. You are just picking up the bits and pieces that are in the clear.

another note is that it's a fun hobby. I like scanning to see whats there, tweaking dish etc.

 

[GMFreak8]

There are lots of people here that are more experienced and/or have more knowledge than me here is my 2cents.

1. I would plan on around $300 for a system with receiver, dish and motor. give or take a bit. I would highly recomend you spend the few extra bucks on some compression fittings and tool along with some good RG-6 cable as well. I am using a traxis 3500 , .85m dish and sg-2100 motor that is in this price range with tools etc.

2. Installation for me was very straight forward and not very difficult. My opinion is if you are half way technically minded and or have some dbs install experience it will not be a problem. Just make sure you do your research, be patient and exact.

3. Feeds are varied, but I personally like the news feeds. It's funny to see the reporter standing around joking with the crew etc. then getting all seroius or see them practicing their lines. IA-6 has lots of this stuff.

4. Not sure what batteries you are talking about except the remote. Only maint. I could think of is if high winds or something damages the dish or knocks it out of alignment.

5. Everything technical eventually becomes obsolete, but I would believe these systems will be usefull for some time. Just remember you are not subscribing to the programming and things can come and go.

6. Both there are KU and C digital and analog. You will probably be most intersted in KU digital.

7. Yes FTA as in no subscription. There are channels that are scrambled that you will not be able to receive. FTA reception for the most part is not being transmitted for the end user. You are just picking up the bits and pieces that are in the clear.

another note is that it's a fun hobby. I like scanning to see whats there, tweaking dish etc.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

I'd be interested in HD, but considering I don't really want to spend the cash on a system like that I was looking at Motorized Mercury II Blind Search Choice Set setup located here:
http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Order/Satellite-systems/Motorized-Systems.htm

They recommend upgrading to the 36" dish, due to living in the NorthEast. Do you think that would be good enough?

I can point a dish and make connections and whatnot, no problem with that. I just heard that pointing this dishes can be especially tedious. Is it more so than say a DirecTV dish?

I have no idea what IA6 is. Can I get NBC feeds or anything like that? Will I get any channels that are say available on Cable? I'm not looking for this but I'm just wondering what a sample lineup would look like.

Haven't these dishes been around for ages? Excuse the stupidity, but isn't this setup like the BUD dishes from the 80s and early 90s?

Will the setup I linked to be capable of receiving both KU and C bands?

The hobby portion is the reason I want to get into it, I've been really interested in communications like this for as long as I can remember.

How many feeds can you currently receive? Is it a number even worth spending the cash for? I don't want to plunk down $300 just to receive 10 feeds.

Also is there a dictionary or something I can refer to for all the jargon associated with these things? I'm constantly seeing new abbreviations and whatnot that I have no idea about.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions, I truly appreciate it.

 

[ghia]

I think the system you linked to would be an excellent choice. I have never used it but it has features that mine does not. There are people here that use 30 / 31" dishes with very good results. I live in Texas so I am not the best person to advise on dish performance in your area.

Compared to a DBS dish install the signals are nowhere near as strong. In fact the most iritating thing when you align the dish is finding the right signal and not accidentally locking on to a DBS signal. It takes patience but I do not think it is that dificult.

If you are looking for espn hbo sci-fi etc forget it you will be disapointed. There is alots of good stuff to watch though. There are some stations that purposly broadcast to the home user. Mainly these are ethnical channels but there are excpetions. such as Russia Today on IA5 which I find an acceptable international news source.

IA6 is the name of a sat. have a look here. http://www.lyngsat.com/ia6.html with a the system you mentioned and a small 30 - 36" dish you will be receiving KU-digital look for the five digit numbers on the left hand side. Some of the information here is dated and you will not pick up evrything listed, such as CNN and Classic arts. Read the color key on the bottom some of it is scrambled. You will need a much larger dish to receive the C-band stuff. Feeds come and go but I feel it's worth the investment. You get use to what transponers have feeds after a while. Again see the Lyngsat list for an example, remember the link I posted is for one sat.

I am not sure about a dictionary but this site has tons of info just search through the archives. Another source that is helpfull with history, "jargon" etc. Is http://www.coolstf.com/mpeg/.

There are lots of people still using the BUDS from the 80's / 90's I wish I had there room to install a BUD there is FTA on C-band as well!

Hope this helps.

 

[GMFreak8]

I think the system you linked to would be an excellent choice. I have never used it but it has features that mine does not. There are people here that use 30 / 31" dishes with very good results. I live in Texas so I am not the best person to advise on dish performance in your area.

Compared to a DBS dish install the signals are nowhere near as strong. In fact the most iritating thing when you align the dish is finding the right signal and not accidentally locking on to a DBS signal. It takes patience but I do not think it is that dificult.

If you are looking for espn hbo sci-fi etc forget it you will be disapointed. There is alots of good stuff to watch though. There are some stations that purposly broadcast to the home user. Mainly these are ethnical channels but there are excpetions. such as Russia Today on IA5 which I find an acceptable international news source.

IA6 is the name of a sat. have a look here. http://www.lyngsat.com/ia6.html with a the system you mentioned and a small 30 - 36" dish you will be receiving KU-digital look for the five digit numbers on the left hand side. Some of the information here is dated and you will not pick up evrything listed, such as CNN and Classic arts. Read the color key on the bottom some of it is scrambled. You will need a much larger dish to receive the C-band stuff. Feeds come and go but I feel it's worth the investment. You get use to what transponers have feeds after a while. Again see the Lyngsat list for an example, remember the link I posted is for one sat.

I am not sure about a dictionary but this site has tons of info just search through the archives. Another source that is helpfull with history, "jargon" etc. Is http://www.coolstf.com/mpeg/.

There are lots of people still using the BUDS from the 80's / 90's I wish I had there room to install a BUD there is FTA on C-band as well!

Hope this helps.

I'm not looking for any of those channels, I know I won't receive those, I have cable here, and I'm just looking at this as a hobby.

Does the mercury II receiver allow for reception of C-band feeds? Can I eventually upgrade to a C-band capable dish and keep the same Mercury receiver? I know I could get one cheap used, there's tons of them just laying around up here. Is there more FTA feeds on C-Band or the KU-band? Can I receiver KU-Digital and KU-Analog feeds?

Are these the channels that I'm capable of receiving: http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Channels/Channels-FTA-free-to-air-Satellite-TV.htm

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

 

[ghia]

There is a review of this receiver here on this site http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=67762 unless I have the model number confused. As far as I know this receiver will like most DVB receivers pick up KU and C digital transmitions. for the analog stuff you would need an old school analog receiver such as the toshiba trx series, unidien drake etc. wich will pick up C and KU analog transmittions.

The list in the link you posted is about par, some of it is outdated. Some of the things listed such as Deutsche Welle needs a large dish this is C-band. You will not pick it up using a small dish.

Have a look here for what you can pick up with the small dish you are considering. I have purchased equipment from him as well. He is an honest guy and very helpfull.
It is probably more acurate.

http://www.global-cm.net/MPEGlistKuBandUS.html


Yes if you have the room you can set up a large dish to receive the C-band stuff and the mercury receiver should be able to pick up the C-band digital stuff. You will need another receiver for both C and KU band analog. You will also need a C-band LNBF.

I don't have a c-band dish (No room! arghh) so I can't comment on that but I do pick up KU analog feeds with an ancient receiver I bought from a buddy that upgraded to 4dtv for $20. It's good for fun but not a lot to tune into on a regular basis.

 

[GMFreak8]

There is a review of this receiver here on this site http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=67762 unless I have the model number confused. As far as I know this receiver will like most DVB receivers pick up KU and C digital transmitions. for the analog stuff you would need an old school analog receiver such as the toshiba trx series, unidien drake etc. wich will pick up C and KU analog transmittions.

The list in the link you posted is about par, some of it is outdated. Some of the things listed such as Deutsche Welle needs a large dish this is C-band. You will not pick it up using a small dish.

Have a look here for what you can pick up with the small dish you are considering. I have purchased equipment from him as well. He is an honest guy and very helpfull.
It is probably more acurate.

http://www.global-cm.net/MPEGlistKuBandUS.html


Yes if you have the room you can set up a large dish to receive the C-band stuff and the mercury receiver should be able to pick up the C-band digital stuff. You will need another receiver for both C and KU band analog. You will also need a C-band LNBF.

I don't have a c-band dish (No room! arghh) so I can't comment on that but I do pick up KU analog feeds with an ancient receiver I bought from a buddy that upgraded to 4dtv for $20. It's good for fun but not a lot to tune into on a regular basis.

If there isn't much available in Analog I might as well not even bother then. I thought the mercury did both analog and digital.

I notice in the review of the receiver, it has problems with Blind Scans. Is the firmware upgradeable?

I think I'll probably go with the Sadoun complete package.

There's a lot of channels that aren't listed on those lists too right?

Again, thanks for the help. I'm feeling much more comfortable with everything. I'm just worried about the installation, the more I read about it the more confused I get.

 

[ghia]

As far as I know the Mercury is a digital only receiver. I have read about the problems with the blind scan and to be honest I would not be concerned about it. My receiver does not have the option to be detailed in the scans. The firmware is upgradeable but if you are an IT person you will be amazed at the lack of release notes concerning the firmware ! I would say that the list at global-cm is accurate. Like I said feeds come and go you can't really count on them. I would not worry too much on the installation. If you run into problems I am sure there will be people here to help you. It sounds like you already know you want a system. I would go ahead and go for it! If it takes you 2 hours or two weeks to get it set up who cares! If you are into it for the hobby as well you will have fun. Another benefit is there are lots of FTA audio channels. While it won't match you XM sub (in your sig) it is interesting as well. A first step would be to get a compass and do a site survey. Make sure you have a good line of site to the sats that you want to receive. Satfinder is a great tool to help in this area.

 

[GMFreak8]

As far as I know the Mercury is a digital only receiver. I have read about the problems with the blind scan and to be honest I would not be concerned about it. My receiver does not have the option to be detailed in the scans. The firmware is upgradeable but if you are an IT person you will be amazed at the lack of release notes concerning the firmware ! I would say that the list at global-cm is accurate. Like I said feeds come and go you can't really count on them. I would not worry too much on the installation. If you run into problems I am sure there will be people here to help you. It sounds like you already know you want a system. I would go ahead and go for it! If it takes you 2 hours or two weeks to get it set up who cares! If you are into it for the hobby as well you will have fun. Another benefit is there are lots of FTA audio channels. While it won't match you XM sub (in your sig) it is interesting as well. A first step would be to get a compass and do a site survey. Make sure you have a good line of site to the sats that you want to receive. Satfinder is a great tool to help in this area.

Yeah feeds coming and going sounds fun actually. Scanning and finding something cool.

You mentioned that you can watch news reporters screwing around before they do their report. And I read another thread where a guy could watch a helicopter news feed. Do those things happen often?

I think the biggest problem with the installation is finding a place that suites me and everyone else around here, and still can receive a signal. Are most of the satellites in the southern sky?

I'm not even sure what the sats are all called, much less which one I want to tune into.

I did notice that I can receive radio stations. That's pretty cool.

What is satfinder?

Do you recommend that I get a signal meter or can I get by with using my TV as the signal tool? I don't really want to spend the cash on a meter.

I was looking at the Fortec site and apparently upgrading your firmware voids your warranty anyway, so I probably won't even attempt that.

Thanks again.

 

[ghia]

Satfinder is an application to help you find the sat's you can see from your location. here is a link http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinder/index.html

As far as watching the news feeds with the reporters mucking about it happens all the time.
You can see them move around stuff in the background for that extra touch, see them standing in a flood area with their boots inside there pants legs before the actual broadcast and yelling at the locals, etc. I think its quality entertainment.

Sat's have names and locations. some people refer to either or both. for example IA-6 is the same as 93.0w. play around with lyngsat for a while and you will understand.

Yes you mentioned that you were in the northest. You must have an unobtsructed view of the southern sky. If you have a tree or building in the way here or there you will not receive whatever sat is in that line of site (LOS)

If you can have a helper or take a small tv or have a long ac extension cord to your install site I would not bother with a signal meter. i don't know if the receiver you are considering has a signal tone but some people use a home phone and cell phone to listen to the sound to adjust the dish.

There has been some discusion as to what Fotec is implying with that statement. I personally do not think that if you flash an official Fortec receiver with an official Fortec firmware that they will void your warranty. I think they are refering to people that try to load hacked firmware to the receiver. I could be wrong though.

 

[GMFreak8]

Satfinder is an application to help you find the sat's you can see from your location. here is a link http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinder/index.html

As far as watching the news feeds with the reporters mucking about it happens all the time.
You can see them move around stuff in the background for that extra touch, see them standing in a flood area with their boots inside there pants legs before the actual broadcast and yelling at the locals, etc. I think its quality entertainment.

Sat's have names and locations. some people refer to either or both. for example IA-6 is the same as 93.0w. play around with lyngsat for a while and you will understand.

Yes you mentioned that you were in the northest. You must have an unobtsructed view of the southern sky. If you have a tree or building in the way here or there you will not receive whatever sat is in that line of site (LOS)

If you can have a helper or take a small tv or have a long ac extension cord to your install site I would not bother with a signal meter. i don't know if the receiver you are considering has a signal tone but some people use a home phone and cell phone to listen to the sound to adjust the dish.

There has been some discusion as to what Fotec is implying with that statement. I personally do not think that if you flash an official Fortec receiver with an official Fortec firmware that they will void your warranty. I think they are refering to people that try to load hacked firmware to the receiver. I could be wrong though.

Thanks for the link. I'm going to research everything and order it when I have the extra cash. Hearing about the reporter yelling at people is just too good to pass up. That completely sold me on the idea right there. Are these feeds usually live all the time or do you have to constantly do a search for them?

I have a 14 channel two way radio that I used when I installed my last directv dish. I can use that.

The only thing that's in the way of my view of the southern sky is one telephone poll and some wires. Think that'll interfere much?

 

[ghia]

The Feeds are not constantly live but like I said before you get used to where they are. For example one transponder may have x number of feeds per day. Some transponders will actually have a count down to when the next feed occurs. The blind scan function will allow you to store transponders that have feeds. They will not all be active all the time but you will know where to look after a while. If you are a news junkie you will not be disppointed.

While I do not know the exact postion of the telephone pole /wires I would be willing to bet that it will not be a big deal. Lots of people lose LOS because of trees and or buildings. You will probably luck out with the small obstruction you have.

 

[GMFreak8]

The Feeds are not constantly live but like I said before you get used to where they are. For example one transponder may have x number of feeds per day. Some transponders will actually have a count down to when the next feed occurs. The blind scan function will allow you to store transponders that have feeds. They will not all be active all the time but you will know where to look after a while. If you are a news junkie you will not be disppointed.

While I do not know the exact postion of the telephone pole /wires I would be willing to bet that it will not be a big deal. Lots of people lose LOS because of trees and or buildings. You will probably luck out with the small obstruction you have.

I see. Pretty cool that all that's down FTA.

South here would be pointing essentially straight up the street, so I shouldn't have much of a problem. I wonder what everyone's going to think when i mount the large dish in the front lawn.

Looking at the feed lists, it looks like a majority are in foreign languages. Am I right about that?

Also is there a complete installation guide that I can read?

 

[ghia]

The neigbors can read this. http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/homeowner-association-installing-satellite-dish.htm

or better yet

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

There are lots of foreign stuff but the feeds I was refereing to are US english feeds
I am unaware of a complete installtion guide. If you do enough research you will not need one. Lots of good stuff her in the archives.

 

[GMFreak8]

The neigbors can read this. http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/homeowner-association-installing-satellite-dish.htm

or better yet

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

There are lots of foreign stuff but the feeds I was refereing to are US english feeds
I am unaware of a complete installtion guide. If you do enough research you will not need one. Lots of good stuff her in the archives.

:haha I'll keep those links handy, I have one neighbor I know is going to be upset.

Yeah, I'm reading up on installation threads now. I downloaded that satfinder program and ran it. This is what I came up with:

Malone, NY 12953
Latitude 44° 50.892'N Longitude 74° 17.568'W

Sat Name Sat Lng Az(t) Az(m) El Skew
-------------------------------------------------------------
*** Of Particular Interest ***

EchoStar 3 61.5W 162.2 178.2 36.8 -12.5
EchoStar 6 110.0W 225.5 241.6 27.4 30.4
EchoStar 8 110.0W 225.5 241.6 27.4 30.4
EchoStar 7 119.0W 234.5 250.6 22.2 35.3
EchoStar 5 119.0W 234.5 250.6 22.2 35.3
EchoStar 9/Telstar 13 121.0W 236.4 252.5 21.0 36.2
EchoStar 1 148.0W 258.4 274.4 2.8 44.0
EchoStar 2 148.0W 258.4 274.4 2.8 44.0
EchoStar 4 157.0W 264.8 280.9 -3.5 44.9

DirecTV 3 81.8W 190.6 206.6 37.8 7.5
DirecTV 2 100.8W 215.3 231.3 32.0 24.2
DirecTV 1R 100.8W 215.3 231.3 32.0 24.2
DirecTV 1 101.0W 215.5 231.6 31.9 24.3
DirecTV 4S 101.2W 215.7 231.8 31.8 24.5
DirecTV 6 109.8W 225.3 241.4 27.5 30.3
DirecTV 5 119.0W 234.5 250.6 22.2 35.3

*** All Satellites 61W - 160W ***

EchoStar 3 61.5W 162.2 178.2 36.8 -12.5
Rainbow 1 61.5W 162.2 178.2 36.8 -12.5
Brasilsat A2 (incl. 5.8 deg) 63.0W 164.2 180.2 37.1 -11.1
Brasilsat B2 65.0W 166.9 183.0 37.5 -9.2
Brasilsat B1 70.0W 173.9 190.0 38.2 -4.3
Nahuel 1 71.8W 176.5 192.5 38.3 -2.5
AMC 6 72.0W 176.8 192.8 38.3 -2.3
Galaxy 12 74.0W 179.6 195.6 38.3 -0.3
SBS 6 74.0W 179.6 195.6 38.3 -0.3
GOES 12 75.0W 181.0 197.1 38.3 0.7
AMC 5 79.0W 186.7 202.7 38.1 4.7
DirecTV 3 81.8W 190.6 206.6 37.8 7.5
Nimiq 2 82.0W 190.9 206.9 37.8 7.7
Brasilsat B3 84.0W 193.6 209.7 37.4 9.6
XM Roll 85.0W 195.0 211.1 37.2 10.6
AMC 9 85.0W 195.0 211.1 37.2 10.6
AMC 3 87.0W 197.7 213.8 36.8 12.5
Galaxy 9 91.0W 203.1 219.1 35.7 16.1
Galaxy 11 91.0W 203.1 219.1 35.7 16.1
Nimiq 1 91.0W 203.1 219.1 35.7 16.1
Brasilsat B4 92.0W 204.4 220.4 35.4 17.0
Telstar 6 93.0W 205.6 221.7 35.1 17.9
Galaxy 8I (incl. 1.0 deg) 95.0W 208.2 224.2 34.4 19.6
Galaxy 3C 95.0W 208.2 224.2 34.4 19.6
Telstar 5 97.0W 210.7 226.7 33.6 21.2
Inmarsat 2 f2 (incl. 1.7 deg) 98.0W 211.9 228.0 33.2 22.0
Galaxy 4R 99.0W 213.1 229.2 32.8 22.8
DirecTV 2 100.8W 215.3 231.3 32.0 24.2
DirecTV 1R 100.8W 215.3 231.3 32.0 24.2
AMC 4 101.0W 215.5 231.6 31.9 24.3
DirecTV 1 101.0W 215.5 231.6 31.9 24.3
AMSC 1 101.1W 215.6 231.7 31.9 24.4
DirecTV 4S 101.2W 215.7 231.8 31.8 24.5
AMC 1 103.0W 217.8 233.9 31.0 25.8
Solidaridad 1 (incl. 2.8 deg) 103.5W 218.4 234.5 30.8 26.1
AMC 2 105.0W 220.1 236.2 30.0 27.2
G-Star 3 (incl. 11.5 deg) 105.0W 220.1 236.2 30.0 27.2
G-Star 1 (incl. 6.0 deg) 105.0W 220.1 236.2 30.0 27.2
MSAT 1 106.5W 221.8 237.8 29.3 28.2
Anik F1 107.3W 222.6 238.7 28.9 28.7
Anik E1 109.2W 224.7 240.8 27.9 29.9
DirecTV 6 109.8W 225.3 241.4 27.5 30.3
EchoStar 6 110.0W 225.5 241.6 27.4 30.4
EchoStar 8 110.0W 225.5 241.6 27.4 30.4
Anik E2R 111.1W 226.7 242.8 26.8 31.1
Solidaridad 2 113.0W 228.7 244.7 25.8 32.2
Morelos 2 (incl. 4.4 deg) 114.9W 230.6 246.6 24.7 33.2
XM Rock 115.0W 230.7 246.7 24.6 33.3
SatMex 5 116.8W 232.4 248.5 23.5 34.2
Anik E2 118.7W 234.2 250.3 22.4 35.1
DirecTV 5 119.0W 234.5 250.6 22.2 35.3
EchoStar 7 119.0W 234.5 250.6 22.2 35.3
EchoStar 5 119.0W 234.5 250.6 22.2 35.3
EchoStar 9/Telstar 13 121.0W 236.4 252.5 21.0 36.2
Galaxy 10R 123.0W 238.2 254.3 19.7 37.1
Galaxy 5 125.0W 240.0 256.1 18.4 37.9
Galaxy 12 125.0W 240.0 256.1 18.4 37.9
Galaxy 13 127.0W 241.8 257.8 17.1 38.7
Telstar 7 129.0W 243.5 259.5 15.8 39.4
Satcom C3 131.0W 245.2 261.2 14.5 40.0
Galaxy 1R 133.0W 246.8 262.9 13.1 40.7
Satcom C4 135.0W 248.4 264.5 11.8 41.2
GOES 10 135.5W 248.8 264.9 11.4 41.4
AMC 7 137.0W 250.0 266.1 10.4 41.8
AMC 8 139.0W 251.6 267.6 9.0 42.3
Inmarsat 2 f3 (incl. 1.9 deg) 142.0W 253.9 269.9 7.0 42.9
EchoStar 1 148.0W 258.4 274.4 2.8 44.0
EchoStar 2 148.0W 258.4 274.4 2.8 44.0
TDRS 9 (incl. 7.4 deg) 151.0W 260.5 276.6 0.7 44.4
TDRS 10 (incl. 6.2 deg) 151.0W 260.5 276.6 0.7 44.4
EchoStar 4 157.0W 264.8 280.9 -3.5 44.9

Satellite Finder is (c) Copyright 2004, P. Lutus

Which sat would I point the dish at to begin with? And how would I enter that information into the receiver?

 

[PSB]

SBS6 at 74ºw is your TRUE south satellite (same as your longitude), its always a good idea tio find and store this satellite BEFORE ever adding a motor!

 

[GMFreak8]

SBS6 at 74ºw is your TRUE south satellite (same as your longitude), its always a good idea tio find and store this satellite BEFORE ever adding a motor!

Why is it important to do it before?

 

[PSB]

It makes the setup much easier as all the angles are different when adding a motor, this is the way most of use here started. The hands on experience is great!

 

[GMFreak8]

It makes the setup much easier as all the angles are different when adding a motor, this is the way most of use here started. The hands on experience is great!

OK, so before connecting any coax cable to the receiver I should do this. I got it.

Can't wait to order it. I'm sure I'll have more questions when I get the setup. Thanks for all the help guys, I appreciate it.

 

[PSB]

We will be here when you are ready to set up