Getting started with FTA

[samalex]

Hi...

We recently moved into a new house and I'm really wanting to get into FTA. We currently have Dish and like it, but I'd like to put up an FTA Ku Band dish in hopes of bringing in content we can't get from other sources.

Just curious, what sats or stations do you guys generally watch via Ku Band? I'm not much into the religious networks which seems most of the channels are focused on, but what else do you guys generally watch? Are the days of picking up network programs ahead of time gone? Probably so in this encrypted/digital age, but just curious.

As for hardware, I've been looking at the various Gold vendors on the SG website, but is it suggested to get a dish with a motor? It seems there's a hand full of sats that have a majority of the programming, but I'm betting they can't be hit with a stationary dish. Also given our yard is VERy small is there any problem with mounting a Ku Band dish on the house as we have our Dish network dish now? And is there anyway to get C Band signals from a smaller dish? We don't have the space for a 6' dish in the back yard.

Thanks for any info or 'getting started' tips. Take care --

Sam

 

[freezy]

you can start with a KU dish 30" to 39" with a motor. There are many non English channels. If you speak Spanish 30w has a load of channels. News and event feeds are fun to find. There's a few Ku English channels around. 125w is like all PBS. You can make a 1.6M mini-bud and put that on the roof but it wont work nearly as well as a old fashion BUD for c-band

 

[Blindowl1234]

Samalex, 6 foot is the smallest for reliable cband reception. If you have a clear line of site for Ku band...there's quite a bit from 63W to 125W. 97west has the most channels in a variety of languages. Russia Today, Al Jazeera, Ebru Tv, Press Tv, Kuwait Tv 2 are a few of the english language channels on that sat. As Freezy said 125W has the PBS. All depends on what you want to watch. Also it depends on whether or not you have an HD TV? and are looking for HD content. Many here have chosen either the Azbox or the Openbox/Sathawk/Solomend receivers for HD. There's plenty of reading available here on both receivers. Also check out the "List" at the top of the page for a list of whats on various sats...Remember also there's radio channels as well as Tv on many of the sats...Blind

 

[samalex]

Samalex, 6 foot is the smallest for reliable cband reception. If you have a clear line of site for Ku band...there's quite a bit from 63W to 125W. 97west has the most channels in a variety of languages. Russia Today, Al Jazeera, Ebru Tv, Press Tv, Kuwait Tv 2 are a few of the english language channels on that sat. As Freezy said 125W has the PBS. All depends on what you want to watch. Also it depends on whether or not you have an HD TV? and are looking for HD content. Many here have chosen either the Azbox or the Openbox/Sathawk/Solomend receivers for HD. There's plenty of reading available here on both receivers. Also check out the "List" at the top of the page for a list of whats on various sats...Remember also there's radio channels as well as Tv on many of the sats...Blind

Yes, HD is definitely something I'm looking for, specifically the PBS feeds in HD because we don't have a local PBS station anymore and though Dish does offer one from a neighboring market it's not in HD. But this, Al Jazeera English, and some of the foreign news networks that broadcast in English are the biggies I'm looking for along with the music stations.

I have been reading-up on the Azbox and Openbox receivers, and can those take smart cards to legally decode the encrypted broadcasts if a subscription were purchased from whoever? I wasn't sure if that was even possible, or if most providers require you to get their hardware (like Dish and DirecTV do). Also can any of these accept OTA programming to record on the DVR like the VIP receivers from Dish do? Also what about a channel guide like the VIP receivers have? Is anything like this available for FTA programming?

For the people who use FTA as their primary way of getting television I wasn't sure what the primary channels were that they watch. I know each person's interests are different, so some might focus on the Christian content, some the foreign language content, or what have you, but for us I'm just looking for alternative sources of programming so if we did drop Dish in the future we'd have a live source for news and other media other than the Internet. I've read ABC World News is there, so hopefully when big events happen in the US, like elections, presidential speeches, major national events, etc, those would be covered there and on PBS live.

Also how stable are the channels? I often read posts saying a channel has moved or disappeared, but I'd hate to really get dependent on a channel then it disappear.

Sorry for so many green questions... I'm really new to FTA but I seriously want to look at it beyond a hobby and possibly a primary source for our television viewing while at home.

Thanks --

 

[freezy]

this is from wikipedia

The most common North American sources for free-to-air DVB satellite television are:

• NHK World HD on Intelsat 9 (58°W)
• Retro Television Network on AMC 9 (83°W)
• NASA TV Multi-channel (NASA HD, NASA Public, NASA Media, NASA Education), TVU Music channel and This TV on AMC 3 (87°W)
• ABC News Now on Galaxy 28 (89°W)
• Eternal Word Television Network on Galaxy 17 (91°W)
• My Family TV on Galaxy 3C (95°W).
• AMGTV and BYU Television on Galaxy 19 (97°W)
• English and foreign language broadcasters RT (TV network), MHz Worldview, Ebru TV, IRINN, Al Jazeera English and more up-linked by GlobeCast World TV on Galaxy 19 (97°W)
• Christian broadcasters The Word Network, Emmanuel TV, Daystar Television Network, JCTV, Trinity Broadcasting Network, The Church Channel, 3ABN, The Hope Channel, Amazing Facts Television, God's Learning Channel and more promoted by Glorystar & Spiritcast Satellite Systems TV on Galaxy 19 (97°W)
• Pentagon Channel on AMC 1 (103°W)
• Jewish Life Television and University of Washington TV on Galaxy 18 (123°W)
• Montana Public Broadcasting Service and other PBS Satellite Services on AMC 21 (125°W)
• Classic Arts Showcase and Eternal Word Television Network HD on Galaxy 15 (133°W)
• Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, and Hockey wildfeeds on various satellites

 

[Mr Tony]

Updated some of the list...Bolded is C-band
* NHK World HD on Intelsat 9 (58°W)
* Retro Television Network on AMC 9 (83°W)
* NASA TV Multi-channel (NASA HD, NASA Public, NASA Media, NASA Education), TVU Music channel and This TV on AMC 3 (87°W)
* ABC News Now on Galaxy 28 (89°W)
* Eternal Word Television Network on Galaxy 17 (91°W)
* My Family TV on Galaxy 3C (95°W). Moved to 121W C-Band
* AMGTV and BYU Television on Galaxy 19 (97°W)
* English and foreign language broadcasters RT (TV network), MHz Worldview, Ebru TV, IRINN, Al Jazeera English and more up-linked by GlobeCast World TV on Galaxy 19 (97°W)
* Christian broadcasters The Word Network, Emmanuel TV, Daystar Television Network, JCTV, Trinity Broadcasting Network, The Church Channel, 3ABN, The Hope Channel, Amazing Facts Television, God's Learning Channel and more promoted by Glorystar & Spiritcast Satellite Systems TV on Galaxy 19 (97°W)
* Pentagon Channel on AMC 1 (103°W)
* Jewish Life Television and University of Washington TV on Galaxy 18 (123°W) Requires DVB-S2 for UWTV
* Montana Public Broadcasting Service and other PBS Satellite Services on AMC 21 (125°W) again requires S2
* Classic Arts Showcase(moved to 91W C-Band) and Eternal Word Television Network HD on Galaxy 15 (133°W)
* Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, and Hockey wildfeeds on various satellites

 

[samalex]

Freezy... Wow! I guess I've been focusing on Ku Band I didn't realize so much was available via C Band. Unfortunately though our yard isn't big enough for a 6' or 8' dish, though I should be able to make room for a smaller Ku Band dish. Going this route I'd like to get a duel-LBN dish setup to get AMC 21 for the PBS networks and Galaxy 19 for Al Jazeera English and various other foreign content, but it'd be great to get a motor so I could pickup AMC 6 for NBC, Galaxy 28 for ABC, and Galaxy 16 for CBS. I can already get these via my OTA antenna though, so might not be such a big deal.

Also Galaxy 17 on C-Band lists lots of great content and radio stations, but Galaxy 17 on Ku-Band doesn't. Is any of this available on Galaxy 17 under the Ku Band?

Thanks again for the great input and info, I'm slowly building-up my knowledge on all this and hope to invest in an FTA system by this summer.

 

[turbosat]

Gal 17KU has no regular channels, sorry. Just newsfeeds , and some sports wildfeeds at times. There's almost always something on there though, after about 4pm central , if you blind-scan it and look. If you get a ku-setup, I think you'll be pleased with the variety of things you can see! Even if you aren't able to pick up all the satellites in the arc because of trees,buildings, etc.

 

[Jim S.]

Going this route I'd like to get a duel-LBN dish setup to get AMC 21 for the PBS networks and Galaxy 19 for Al Jazeera English and various other foreign content

That's a 28-degree spread, to make that work you'd need a toroidal dish. (Cheaper to get a motor.)

 

[Blindowl1234]

I cant speak about the Azbox only the Solomend/openbox. I have a 1 TB external drive hooked to mine to record stuff as I watch it. Also you would need to keep your current receiver hooked up as you have it now, and subscribe to whoever you currently use, to get the pay channels etc...FTA receivers are a whole different animal. The channels--some are pretty stable but theres no guarantee though. The content isn't intended directly for us, so the channels may stay for years or months. There's a lot of cost to put up a channel on a satellite. It seems like we lose a couple of channels and then gain a couple you never know whats next. Still a fun hobby though...Blind

 

[Tron]

[*]NASA TV Multi-channel (NASA HD, NASA Public, NASA Media, NASA Education), TVU Music channel and This TV on AMC 3 (87°W)

TVU is gone. It was a Christian rock music video channel.

A new retro TV network called MeTV (Memorable Entertainment TV) came online on 87W this year. I can literally watch this network all day long, it is far better than TVLand.

 

[samalex]

That's a 28-degree spread, to make that work you'd need a toroidal dish. (Cheaper to get a motor.)

Using a motor might be the way to go then, because the content I'd like to get is spread out over several sats, and given we already have a dish on the house for DishNetwork I don't see the xyl letting me add many more

But being a noob to FTA how difficult is it to align a dish with a motor? Is it similar to setting-up a telescope with a tracking mount, or is it programming the sats into the receiver, pointing at either a single sat or specific location (like magnetic north) and the receiver takes it from there? I've seen some of the gadgets on WS International's site to help align a dish plus some apps on my Android phone to help with alignment, so would this be a must? I've also seen sites showing how to use the sun but again as a noob I wasn't sure how difficult/easy this would be.

Also given we have a good line of sight with the Ku Band sats and I have a decent dish and LBN what other factors should I check? I've read that signal strength and quality strength are different beasts, so I want to do whatever I have to so I can get the best content from our FTA setup.

Thanks again for all the great info...

 

[phlatwound]

samalex, it is not that tough to setup a motorized Ku dish. I was where you are (FTA greenhorn) 3 years ago and with the help of the great folks on this site I setup my first motorized Ku setup, and it hasn't missed a beat since then.

There are numerous threads in this forum that will take you through the process step-by-step, and plenty of people here that will answer any question you may have, there are NO dumb questions (don't ask me how I know that ).

No, you do not need any fancy gadgets/meters/apps to get going, just follow our tested procedures, and it's best if you can take a small tv and your receiver out to your dish.

I also HIGHLY recommend shopping with our forum sponsors, nowhere else will you be guaranteed to get quality products, competitive pricing and support after the sale.

 

[freezy]

setting up a motorized dish in Waco TX is really easy. 97W your true South satellite is one of the strongest Ku satellites in the western hemisphere

 

[Jim S.]

I had no problem at all setting up a motor after setting up a non-motorized dish -- which brings me to an important piece of advice: even if you know you're going to want the motor right away, aim your dish at a satellite without the motor first! Then, you'll have two invaluable bits of data: first, how slow you have to adjust your aim to avoid going right by the satellite without even noticing it; second, whether the elevation scale on your dish is accurate. (Some dish mounts are flimsy, some are just plain stupid.)