Help receving Democracy Now feed

[clifman]

Hi, I'm completely new to the satellite world and need some help.
I run a small Public Access TV station and currently rebroadcast Democracy Now from a Dish network feed but that is getting to expensive! So I found that Democracy Now broadcasts an FTA signal I just need to know what I need to down-link it.

Here are the specs they have posted:

MPEG 2 Satellite: C-Band Galaxy 16 Transponder: 23C Slot D Downlink Frequency: 4173.5 MHz, Horizontal polarization Bandwidth: 9 MHz Symbol Rate: 6.62 FEC: 2/3, virtual channel 2

So what I would like to know is will a simple FTA receiver that I see all over the net for around 70 bucks and a LNB for 20 and use an old dish network dish to receive this signal?

I'm thinking its probably not that simple. So any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. If the above will not work then what do I need to receive there feed?

Thanks
Cliff

 

[toucan-man]

I think you'll want to scrounge a 10 foot size dish, you may be able to find one for free. I've picked up Democracy Now with a 7.5 foot dish, but some days the signal was not reliable.

I've noticed that Democracy Now has been on AMC-21 lately, that's Ku band, one of PBS's feeds. But I don't remember exactly which feed, and can't say if Democracy Now will be there long term. That would require a smaller dish, but also AC-3 audio. If you email Democracy Now, maybe they can advise you.

 

[clifman]

Thanks
I sent them an email.

 

[stone1150]

I've noticed that Democracy Now has been on AMC-21 lately, that's Ku band,
one of PBS's feeds.

That show is part of the NPR, and PBS family. The PBS feeds on AMC-21 are Ku band. So all that is needed is A linear lnbf, and a 39 inch dish should get those. Being part of the PBS NPR family, they should remain on AMC-21 for the forseeable future. That said, with the move to HD programming, and noticing the HD channels that pbs has, It might take a HD receiver that is also S-2 capable to get them depending on how they feed the show.