Hi from Twin Cities!

[SATire]

Seems to be a huge number of forums so not sure where to post this .

Basically, new at FTA, got my setup about 3 weeks ago or so. I find it interesting but am using a motor so one of the first things I'd change is to do a multi LNB setup so there's less having to move.

Got some help from a local FTA dealer who was nice enough, until I mentioned the wrong hardware in his forums and got locked out. Very strange?!

Anyhow, any other FTA users in the Twin Cities?

Mike

 

[SATire]

Sorry, don't seem to have any edit function for the original msg?

PS: Other hardware doesn't mean hacking, I simply mentioned that I didn't like a certain brand after having problems with their support. I got thrown off his board for that ROFL.

 

[riffjim4069]

TC is Iceberg's hometown. Welcome aboard! :

 

[SATire]

TC is Iceberg's hometown. Welcome aboard! :

The installer had a lot of beef's with this board so I presumed either it or someone on it was local.

Is either the board, Iceberg, or both in MN?

Mike

 

[Anole]

Iceberg is the primary moderator for this entire FTA department (and sub-departments).
He hangs out in MN.

Comments about satisfactory or unsatisfactory dealers are allowed here on the forum.
If you have a beef with one of our Gold Sponsors (see links at the top of every page), we might suggest you don't go off on them here on the forum, as that is rude.
One reason we even have Gold Sponsors is because they take good care of their customers and especially forum members. -

Discussions of illegal hacking . . . or theft of service, is about the only matter that'll get you thrown off this forum.
Of course, if you manage to be a royal pain in the back sides, I suppose that might work... -

edit:
But , back to your original question.
If you want multiple LNBs, you might want to add more dishes, with a couple of LNBs each.
But however you go about it, see our switch discussion in the FAQ department for helpful advice:
Switch setups simplified
It has a number of suggested designs and layouts.

 

[stone phillips420]

my guess you probably visted psb's board.

 

[SATire]

>Iceberg is the primary moderator for this entire FTA department (and >sub-departments). He hangs out in MN.

Cool, not alone in the twin cities then .

>Comments about satisfactory or unsatisfactory dealers is allowed here on the >forum.

Nah, nothing like that. When I got into FTA, I looked around for an FTA installer after having a lot of problems. Figured he would come with proper gear to figure out the problem. Turned out to be a dead LNB, which seems to be rare.

The installer went on and on about how this forum was this, that, how he got booted off, and started his own. I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

He spent so much time here that I paid him extra and my wife even went out to pick up take-out so we could feed him.

I had problems with a rack mount FTA receiver I bought so ended up buying a receiver from him of the same make. That one worked perfectly and the rack mount unit would not work. The manufacturer could care less even after getting the installer to confirm this.

I updated a thread on his board about the event, mentioned how support had left me hanging and for that, he swiftly gave me the boot and locked me out which is rather childish behavior.

He isn't an installer or related to this place, at least, not anymore. It was strange behavior that truly surprised my wife and I considering that I was taking a liking to him and had ideas I was about to suggest for business.

I don't need to mention names. Was just saying how I found out about this board and saying Hello and wondered if there were other FTA users in the cities area.

Mike

 

[SATire]

my guess you probably visted psb's board.

The letters seem to add up. I found him through a google search for local installers.

 

[stone phillips420]

i knew it lol, welcome to satguys

 

[Anole]

Yea, now you know why he's no longer here.
But, we need not give him any further plugs.

Here, you'll find friendly and helpful people who are just trying to have a good experience with FTA.
We have newbies, and old pro installers from the 80's, and everyone shares their stories.

Sometimes you just need a sounding board to help with an idea; other times ya may offer help to someone who's green in the hobby.
We're glad to have you aboard and I hope you'll look through the various sub-forums and enjoy the wealth of knowledge that's here.

 

[Mr Tony]

Welcome from another Twin Citian (a couple miles as the crow flies from Valley Fair and Canterbury Park)

S
Basically, new at FTA, got my setup about 3 weeks ago or so. I find it interesting but am using a motor so one of the first things I'd change is to do a multi LNB setup so there's less having to move.

Got some help from a local FTA dealer who was nice enough, until I mentioned the wrong hardware in his forums and got locked out. Very strange?!

Anyhow, any other FTA users in the Twin Cities?

Mike

I know there are a few of us FTA'ers from the Twin Cities here who would help out

We're pretty laid back here and are always willing to help. Interesting that you got locked out from there for pretty much doing no wrong.

 

[Mr Tony]

>Iceberg is the primary moderator for this entire FTA department (and >sub-departments). He hangs out in MN.

Cool, not alone in the twin cities then .

oh no. There are a few of us from the Twin Cities with FTA and a few more in outstate MN (Rochester area or Northern Metro)

>Comments about satisfactory or unsatisfactory dealers is allowed here on the >forum.

Nah, nothing like that. When I got into FTA, I looked around for an FTA installer after having a lot of problems. Figured he would come with proper gear to figure out the problem. Turned out to be a dead LNB, which seems to be rare.

The installer went on and on about how this forum was this, that, how he got booted off, and started his own. I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

yep that sounds like him. I bet he didnt tell you the real reason he was let go which was he would edit or delete posts that he didnt like. He would try and ban someone who "rubbed him the wrong way" and said people were stalking him. So it sounds like he hasn't changed one bit.

I had problems with a rack mount FTA receiver I bought so ended up buying a receiver from him of the same make. That one worked perfectly and the rack mount unit would not work. The manufacturer could care less even after getting the installer to confirm this.

I updated a thread on his board about the event, mentioned how support had left me hanging and for that, he swiftly gave me the boot and locked me out which is rather childish behavior.

I agree....very childish. I've had same experiences there where he would change the user name to an e-mail address, add an avatar or change the password. Again very childish

We are totally opposite of "there". We welcome all members and questions. If a question has been asked 1000 times, we'll answer it that many times and if there is a good thread with more info we'll link to it. There is no stupid question. I always say everyone was a newbie before (even me)
We're not biased towards one brand saying its the best and that's why I sell it. Um, that's the only option for them to sell so that is why they sell it. Is there bad equipment out there? heck yeah. But the members here have worked with alot of different equipment out there so we can tell you the good and bad of it before making a decision. We call the equipment by their name and not trash it "just because" and call it different names.
We welcome "crazy ideas" like multiple LNB's on a dish, using a smaller dish to pick up stronger signals, or any other idea out there. We love to help out and learn

So WELCOME to Satelliteguys

 

[SATire]

Sounds good to me .

Being new to FTA, a few weeks into it, the one thing I believe I would change is to add more LNB's to lower the amount of moving the dish has to do. Kinda frustrating to have it move each time I go through my favorites since some only have 1 or 2 channels on them.

I've read that this can be done but need to learn more about it.

Mike

 

[Mr Tony]

it depends really on how close the satellites are
You can add multiple LNB's to a dish but usually the furthest you can go "off center" is 6-8 degrees. I use to have a 36" dish with 89/93/97/103 on it
89 for ABC News Now
103 for Pentagon
93 use to have some different programming on it until that satellite had a failure and most channels scattered away
97 for the plethora of stuff on there

 

[SATire]

Welcome from another Twin Citian (a couple miles as the crow flies from Valley Fair and Canterbury Park)

Hi Iceberg! I'm actually just outside of White Bear, maybe 20 minutes from St.Paul, 15 from Roseville, something like that.

>We're pretty laid back here and are always willing to help. Interesting that you >got locked out from there for pretty much doing no wrong.

You basically cannot mention any other brand, it's trashed immediately. So when I told my account of how I was sent a broken unit back, I was locked out.

Oh well . Glad to know this site exists and that there are other FTA users in the area.

Mike

 

[Mr Tony]

sweet. I go to Duluth a lot so I go by White Bear most of the times (going up 35E)

 

[SATire]

Just sad really. Like someone else said, I don't want to talk names or trash, it is what it is. Whether it was that person or not, it's a strange way of dealing with things.
The little red flags came up within less than an hour of meeting him. He had countless stories about how others screwed him over, always it was the others who did these things to him. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt though.

I am surprised at the misplaced loyalty more than anything. Talk about cutting yourself off, burning your bridges and any potential opportunities.

>We're not biased towards one brand saying its the best and that's why I sell it.

That's good to know because I tend to try all sorts of hardware. My first unit was a SonicView HD8000 to get going on FTA. It had all sorts of problems, would not motor correctly, etc. The seller took it back.

I then ordered a Traxis 3800 rack mount unit because I prefer rack hardware for my server room. I simply don't have much space to have things sitting. That had some other problems.

The remote would not respond well and the unit wasn't able to pick up signals. It took me something like 5 hrs to get two birds in and that was with P's help. He knew about the problem, I sent it back, they told me it was fine. I asked only that they replace with with a different model but they would not. They sent the same one back.
I suspect 3800 is very susceptible to spurious frequencies and so doesn't like being in my server room with all of the computing and networking hardware. Don't know, might try another one some time, we'll see.

After sending it back to them, I bought a 3500 from P and that one went up instantly, no problems, no drama, worked right out the box.

The only other rack unit I could find was Geosatpro DSR-R100b which I just ordered this morning. I read in these forums that it seems to be a good working unit so I'm hoping that will work out for me.

>We call the equipment by their name and not trash it "just because" and call it >different names.

Ya, always good to get real input on hardware then draw your own conclusion in the end.

>We welcome "crazy ideas" like multiple LNB's on a dish, using a smaller dish to

I hope it's not too crazy, I'm kinda interested in that .

Mike

 

[Mr Tony]

You basically cannot mention any other brand, it's trashed immediately.

We dont mind what brand receiver/motor/dish you use. Dont get me wrong there are some receivers out there that are not the best for free to air due to the motor software being bad or a bad blind scan but we dont have the trash it if "it isnt something I use" mentality. Lots of folks with lots of different equipment out there. Having a variety of opinions is good when it comes to buying items

 

[SATire]

>it depends really on how close the satellites are

Sure, that makes sense. Anything that might lower the amount of motoring would be good. There are several which are pretty close together.

That looks like a nice arrangement in the images you've posted.
I have an 89cm offset dish (NINGBO SENFU MACHINERY&ELECTRIC) along with the common GS2100 motor.

I noticed in the images that these dishes are actually mounted on a banister. I'm surprised, am I not seeing some additional mounting arms or something? We have enough wind out there that it would not last a week .

 

[SATire]

sweet. I go to Duluth a lot so I go by White Bear most of the times (going up 35E)

That means you're driving right by my main exit 123 or Highway 14. I'm actually in Hugo, just outside of White Bear, like 5 minutes North.