I need help.

[Blueboat]

I have no OTA signal in my area, so upon finding out about FTA (way cool) I would like to set up a C and KU band system. I have been reading about FTA on the internet but I have no experience on anything close to FTA.

So I was hoping the forum members could help me put together the equipment for
a C-KU band system that a FTA challenged person could run <- that would be me.

I will need to run coax about 200 feet from the future dish location to the TV inside the house. I have it on good authority that I will need a 8 to 10 foot disk and a actuator to move the disk around.

That's about all I know at this time.

Your recommendation, equipment dealers and any helpful discussion would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your time.
Mike, Tonto Basin, Arizona 85553
Latitude 33.846, Longitude -111.303

 

[KE4EST]

to the site Blueboat!!!

You have come to the right place. There are a number of folks here that can help a ton.
Keep doing lots of reading and reading and reading. Then when you have a question don't hesitate to ask, no such thing as a dumb question.
We are here to help!!

So I guess in checking your site, you have done your homework and that spot 200' away is the best place for seeing the "arc"? Dishpointer.com is a good place to start if you don't already know about it yet.

 

[. Raine]

Welcome to Satguys, Blueboat!

 

[Lone Gunman]

You didn't say what you have been using for TV but since you can't get OTA I'm going to "assume" you're on pizza dish? Are you planning to keep this sub?

 

[Blueboat]

Lone Gunman,

I haven't had T V or dish service for over two years, so trying to put something together for PBS, news, CBS, NBC anything we can get in our area.

Thank you for your response and any help you can give me.
Mike

 

[77TA]

An 8ft or larger motorized dish should give you plenty of channels to watch including those you mentioned. Items you will need include a fta receiver (dvb-s2 capable), satellite dish, actuator motor, motor controller, lnb/lnbf, and cabling.

Before investing any money the first thing to do is confirm that you have a location for the dish that will allow an unobstructed view of the satellites you want to receive. It sounds like you may have done that already. After that you can start planning your setup.

One of the first things to decide on is what receiver you want. There are pluses and minuses to most receivers available and the best selection really depends on what you want to use it for. Any receiver needs to be dvb-s2 capable. Other issues to consider include:

1) What type of input your tv is capable of. (rf, component, composite, hdmi)

2) Will you be primarily using the receiver for watching regular tv channels or scanning for wildfeeds. (some receivers are better at blindscanning than others)

[FONT=&amp]3) Is reception of 4:2:2 signals important to you. Only a couple of options available[/FONT]

 

[Nov-01]

Hey

I'm from Upstate SC. Hope you don't mind the hijack, but I thought it'd be just as easy to ask a few ?'s here as starting another newb thread.

I would like to dip my toe into FTA. I'm a stay-at-home dad so my budget is virtually nil, and after scanning around for dealer/packages and what not, my head is spinning.

Some sites are far less costly than others, and I'm sure there is a catch there-But I have to find the most stuff for the least $ to make this happen. Is there a good trusted dealer who sells a good product to broke folks like me?

Is there anywhere that pre-owned dishes are avail?

I'm interested in the Religious Programming on G-19 for the house (to compliment OTA). And I'd like to have the Radio in the Ham Shack-located in my barn about 150' up the hill (for part15 FM Re-broadcasting). I'm thinking I may need 2 systems to accomplish the goal, but understand I have to start somewhere.

so any help you could spare would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

[northgeorgia]

Hey

I'm from Upstate SC. Hope you don't mind the hijack, but I thought it'd be just as easy to ask a few ?'s here as starting another newb thread.

I would like to dip my toe into FTA. I'm a stay-at-home dad so my budget is virtually nil, and after scanning around for dealer/packages and what not, my head is spinning.

Some sites are far less costly than others, and I'm sure there is a catch there-But I have to find the most stuff for the least $ to make this happen. Is there a good trusted dealer who sells a good product to broke folks like me?

Is there anywhere that pre-owned dishes are avail?

I'm interested in the Religious Programming on G-19 for the house (to compliment OTA). And I'd like to have the Radio in the Ham Shack-located in my barn about 150' up the hill (for part15 FM Re-broadcasting). I'm thinking I may need 2 systems to accomplish the goal, but understand I have to start somewhere.

so any help you could spare would be appreciated!

Thanks

For Galaxy 19 Ku-band alone (the religious programming on 97W), it won't take a large investment. Yes, if you look around you might find some old Ku-band dishes. Both mine and my brother's were retrieved from ads on Craigslist. I paid $30 new for mine, and $50 for my brother's which also included a working receiver and a broken motor. Anyway, I don't feel burned -- those were pretty good deals for the dishes. You'll need at least a 75 cm dish for that satellite, although you'd have better signal reliability with a 90 cm one if you can find it. For most of the 97W programming, an older receiver that does MPEG-2 works just fine.

 

[KE4EST]

Welcome to the site Nov-01!!!!!

If you buy everything new this deal here you cannot beat!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GEOSATpro-m...US_Satellite_TV_Receivers&hash=item1c304e40e7

That will get you started and then you can go from there as you learn everything.

 

[FaT Air]

if you look around you might find some old Ku-band dishes

All of my ku dishes are former DTN (.7meter and 1.0 meter) or Primestar (1.2 meter) and the most expensive was $25. (Only because someone was saving it for some one else to make a sign out of. The rest were free!) If the electronics (the LNB/feedhorn) is also included, It will only receive one polarity. Requires manually rotating the LNB 90° for the other polarity. For automatic polarity selection replace it/them with a new LNBF.
Agree that the 'deal' recommended by Ke4est is a great way to go. Especially if PBS and C band is desired. You know it will work and the support is 'top notch'. Whereas there's no guarantee if:
Opting for, or adding, an older DVB-S receiver (Ku use on G19 [97W], Hispasat [30W], or the audio channels on AMC3 [103W]) post what you find and the folks here can tell you what you should(or shouldn't) pay. Some have even surfaced in the local Salvation Army stores, Boys & Girls Club Thrift Stores, etc.
Might be a member here that has an extra they'd be willing to 'give up' (sell)?????
C band dishes(and some Ku), in addition to your searches, keep an eye on this thread Kijiji, eBay, and Craigslist dishes for you to...
For a 'taste' of what you should get, check out Mikes list at MPEG Central
Welcome to the hobby and Satelliteguys.

 

[Lone Gunman]

Lone Gunman,

I haven't had T V or dish service for over two years, so trying to put something together for PBS, news, CBS, NBC anything we can get in our area.

Thank you for your response and any help you can give me.
Mike

Reason I asked was because FTA IS NOT a substitute for a paid program service!! For the most part it's not user friendly for the family as it requires periodic adjustments and such to keep it operating. It's as much a hobby as it is for TV IMHO. OH, and it's also addictive!

Yes, PBS is available on more than one satellite as are the Network feeds. "The List" up top of the page has a listing of most of those and you might also find some stuff listed on Lyngsat if you can ever learn how to use it.

 

[Nov-01]

Thanks Y'all!

So the 36"/90cm dish will do C-band as well? that means even more choices-nice

 

[northgeorgia]

Thanks Y'all!

So the 36"/90cm dish will do C-band as well? that means even more choices-nice

It is within the realm of possibility to get a few C-band channels that way -- I certainly have. However, I must say that they are few and far between, very unreliable reception-wise, and annoying having to swap out the C-band and scalar with the Ku-band lnbf (the circular thing that goes in front of the satellite). So, it's really just for experimenting instead of regular TV viewing. A six-foot dish is minimum for reliable C-band, and even then you'll still not get great results. 8 to 10 feet is probably a better bet. I don't have a C-band dish yet.

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

Something that small would be good for Ku-band but "experimental" for C-band (maybe 1-5 channels under ideal conditions). C should have an absolute minimum of 6 feet, preferably 10+. The package linked above is a very good receiver and a very good ku-band dish. Those plus a C-band sized dish and you'd be golden.

edit: you barely beat me, northgeorgia! *shakes skinny nerd fist*

 

[turbosat]

I will add, if the original poster has been messing with digital OTA tv, for very long, setting up an fta dish will be a piece of cake. Since the digital destruction, er , switchover , of OTA TV I've spent more time trying to get reliable steady signals with an antenna than I ever did with a dish. Of course I live in a vacuum, "2 edge" signals are what TVfool says I have. That means the signal is reflected off the nearest two planets to earth. So, get that dish and you won't believe how wonderful the video quality is!

 

[Blueboat]

An 8ft or larger motorized dish should give you plenty of channels to watch including those you mentioned. Items you will need include a fta receiver (dvb-s2 capable), satellite dish, actuator motor, motor controller, lnb/lnbf, and cabling.

Before investing any money the first thing to do is confirm that you have a location for the dish that will allow an unobstructed view of the satellites you want to receive. It sounds like you may have done that already. After that you can start planning your setup.

One of the first things to decide on is what receiver you want. There are pluses and minuses to most receivers available and the best selection really depends on what you want to use it for. Any receiver needs to be dvb-s2 capable. Other issues to consider include:

1) What type of input your tv is capable of. (rf, component, composite, hdmi)

2) Will you be primarily using the receiver for watching regular tv channels or scanning for wildfeeds. (some receivers are better at blindscanning than others)

3) Is reception of 4:2:2 signals important to you. Only a couple of options available

What is 4:2:2 signals?
Thanks

 

[danristheman]

video format most receivers won't decode that PC cards and AZbox will but not to many transponders use that.

dan Rose

 

[FaT Air]

One, strike that, two networks do use them.
4.2.2 - A different encode 'method' of the video. Pretty rare IMHO. And seems one has moved to normal DVB-S2 HD from DVB-S with 4.2.2 video. Those streams, if needed could be recorded, and played back on your computer. I've never found the need, except to see if it works, and it worked well.
Side note: Think the Az will only do DVB-S 4.2.2. Will not do DVB-S2 4.2.2[really really rare] - Think I've read that a few times.
--- could be wrong on that tho- - -