Directshaw antenna for Mexico City please?

cosmico07

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Original poster
Jun 13, 2010
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mexico
Please help me. I would like to receive SD at Mexico City, I would like to see the french programming and if possible the HD.
So which antenna do you recommend me to buy:
A) A shawdirect 75cm ellyptical one
B) 2 antennas offset 90 cm with lnbf ku lineal (one for f1, other for f3)

I don´t have more money at the moment for a bigger antenna. thank you.
 
Another possibility is to use one 1.2m offset dish instead of two 90cm. It might cost less unless you already have the two dishes and it will deliver a better signal. This worked perfectly for me. The focal length is long enough that I was easily able to mount two ordinary LNBs next to each other and receive both satellites optimally. I centered the dish on F2 because its signal is weaker down south, and then found the sweet spot for the second LNB and F1.
 
Hi Pendragon. I like your idea. Where can I buy the 1.2 dish offset and the receiver in Mexico City? Is it difficult to install the dish and find the satellites? Could you help me in the installation and orientation of the dish when I have the dish and the receiver please?

thank you.
 
It would seem like a dish setup like cosmico07 mentioned above is likely available from anyone in your area who sells ku-band free-to-air satellite equipment.

Suggest you visit www-dot-starchoice-dot-com and check into their various programming packages. You will need to switch to the French version of the web pages to view the various French packages. I have the "Tout-En-Francais" package that provides all the French content that is available.

I do not believe there any legitimate sources of new Shaw Direct receivers outside of Canada. You can find them on E-Bay, but BEWARE that a used receiver can be re-authorized by Shaw only if there was no unpaid balance on the previous owner's account. There is no receiver of any kind that I know of that can receive Shaw Direct signals except their own proprietary receiver. Therefore I doubt you can find one in Mexico City.

Also, (and I do not mean to insult you intelligence), I should say that Shaw is not authorized to provide service to an address outside Canada. Therefore, for Shaw to authorize your receiver, you will need to provide them with a Canadian address (not a PO Box). If you have relatives/friends who reside in Canada, they might be willing to let you use their address. If not, you will need a broker to help you get authorized. See the sticky post (above) "What Is A Broker" for more information so that you understand exactly what you are getting into. There are other, more devious methods, to get a Canadian address that I won't go into.....except in a PM if you ask me to.

You should also visit the website www-dot-kusat-dot-com and make contact with them via phone or e-mail regarding your situation. They are very helpful and can solve almost any potential problem.

Lastly, presuming you get past the above-mentioned hurdles, it is not difficult to orient the dish youself. But first, before investing any money, make yourself reasonably sure you have a line of sight to the Anik Satellites from your location. See the DishPointer-dot-com tab at the top of this forum for a graphic illustration of the correct direction from your location. Select Anik F2 in the satellite drop-down box and enter your address or your lat/long. Any object that could potentially block the line of sight needs to be investigated before you invest your money for nothing. If you're handy with tools and can mount the base plate to a solid object and can run the coax, someone on this forum will walk you through getting the dish pointed.

Aplogize for being so verbose, but it sounds like you might be getting into this for the first time......just trying to get you up-to-speed before you spend any money....

Keep asking questions....
 
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Hi Pendragon. I like your idea. Where can I buy the 1.2 dish offset and the receiver in Mexico City? Is it difficult to install the dish and find the satellites? Could you help me in the installation and orientation of the dish when I have the dish and the receiver please?

You've already received some excellent advice from joshuals, so I won't duplicate any of that. If this is a first time install for you I would take it slowly and read the introductory threads in the FTA section of these forums, because a lot of the general info for installing a Ku system is the same for Shaw and FTA. If you don't get your questions answered here for some reason, there's plenty of willing advice over there.

I live in the US so I can't help you with a source. I have several GeosatPro 1.2m offset dishes, but many others would work fine, also. For LNBFs I picked up a couple of the DMS standard Ku-band dual units (NOT universal) and removed the plastic covers. After mounting one of these in the normal GeosatPro holder, I fashioned a mount for the second LNBF with a couple of pipe grounding clamps and a couple of threaded rods. Taking off the LNBF covers makes this a lot simpler. If I climb on the roof soon I'll snap a picture.
 
Hello my friend,

I've got Shaw running with a 1.10m dish for HD Sat and a Sky Dish 90cms for SD channels

I got all the french channels, if you wish me to help you send me a PM and i'd be glad to help.

I'm in Mexico City in San Angel area

Cheers
 
I have 2 new options. What is better for mexico city a 1.50 offset dish with 2 lnb or two 1.20 offset dish? Which switch should i buy in order to mix the 2 satellite signals with one receiver? Is it difficult the installation by myself if i haven´ t make this before? Or should i pay more for professional installers? Thank you
 
a 1.50 offset dish with 2 lnb

I'm not going to be much help here, but if you do go with this option you would need to determine ahead of time if you can, in fact, install 2 LNB's on the same dish for satellites that are 4 degrees apart (107.3 & 111.1). On the 90cm dish I once used, the LNB's were physically too large to place two of them close enough to receive satellites that are 4 degrees apart. Perhaps with a 1.5m dish this would not be an issue, but I'm not sure how you would make that determination short of contacting the manufacturer or vendor. The feasibility of using 2 LNBs on the same dish depends on the contour of your dish and its focal length.

I have read of instances where people have removed the plastic case from each LNB, thereby reducing their size, in order to be able to mount them close enough for 4 degree spacing, and then fashioning a bracket to hold them.

You may see advertisements for LNBs that will handle 4-degree spacing. I have been made aware that these LNBs work only with dishes made by the same manufacturer, so beware before you buy.

It would seem to me that the 2-dish option w/switch is less hassle, albeit more expensive.

Is it difficult the installation by myself if i haven´ t make this before

Other posters in your area are having success doing it themselves with help from people on this forum. I guess it depends on you patience level.

Or should i pay more for professional installers

You might want to investigate the existence of competent installers in your area who have experience with Shaw Direct. Those who have no such experience, and who do not read this forum, could cost you a lot of money while they learn at your expense......
 
Thanks Joshuals I will take the two sat dish? :O). Another quick question, is it correct my decision about the diameter (1.20) of the dishes in mexico city? or do you recommend me 1.50, 1.80, 2.40?
 
I'm not really qualified to make a recommendation since I don't live that far south. In Arizona my 90cm dish worked very well. I am now using a standard Shaw 75cm dish and it works well so far, but it hasn't rained here since I put it up (last rain was March 23!!).

I would suggest you look through some of the posts on this forum that were started by folks in Mexico to see what they are using.

Also, further up in this thread, Iceberg recommended two 90cm dishes, so maybe the 1.2m will be more than enough.
 
Should I buy now?

Thanks for all your advices.
I have a new question. Should I Buy now the hd dsr505 receiver? Or do you recommend me to wait for months in order to buy the new hd 605 receiver when appears in the market?
Does dsr505 could be capable of receiving the signals of the new sats in the future (Mpeg4 ku extended)?
 
If you're not in a hurry, I would wait. The DS505 cannot handle H.264 and it's not clear whether it will be able to command the new LNBF arrangement required for the extended range birds.
 
Joshuals: What is your signal strength with the 75cm dish? I'm getting 7db on SD and about 4.5 on the HD's in Mesa. Occasionally last winter when the rains came I lost the HD's but the SD's were fine.
 
The DS505 cannot handle H.264

It doesn't matter. All Anik G series extented Ku band transponders will be HD channels using MPEG4 DVB-S2 - and only available in Canada with some spillover to the US.

That's because the US and Mexico have not authorized this band for exclusive satellite use.
 
I live near Cabo San Lucas on the Baja and use a 1.2 meter dish with a Pansat PT-5600 LNB. Not all linear LNB's work well with Shaw. I think I have a bigger dish than needed as many people I know have used one meter Sky-Mexico dishes and they seem to work fine.
I know of nobody who has been able to use the Shaw "two-eyed" LNB to get both sats. They get 107 or 111, but not both, even with the Shaw bow-tie dish. (The larger Shaw dish works well here for one bird only)
 
Jumbo Dumbo: Where do you hear that the ku extended signals of G1 couldn´t be received in Mexico? I have just read in many sources that G1 will provide Ku signals, and other services (voice, internet, communications etc) in LatinAmerica. So I guess one in Latinamerica could see the ku extended signals of shawdirect with the new receiver and lnb, am I right?
 
Hello my friend,

I've got Shaw running with a 1.10m dish for HD Sat and a Sky Dish 90cms for SD channels

I got all the french channels, if you wish me to help you send me a PM and i'd be glad to help.

I'm in Mexico City in San Angel area

Cheers
Alexcast>

Can you help a brother out. How do I get started getting set up with Shaw Direct in Mexico City?

I'm giving up on Dish Network.

I can swing a Canadian Address or do you know of any brokers/ installers here?

Thanks mate,
 

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