KVH Tracvision II in-motion sat system for FTA?

[Brooklynjim]

hey guys..
im in need of some help here, ive been scouring the net trying to find info for some time now..

i have 2 of these KVH tracvisionII systems, both with direct tv receivers, one is a sonyB55 and the other a the newer D12, one of these systems was originally a dish system and i have since tossed the dish reciever, the Sony is the one in use now but in all honesty, im tired of paying thier $90 a month access fees

im good at getting into the tracvisions programming and telling it which sat to lock onto and track, but after that i cant seem to get it to display, so im assuming its the receiver, programming the sat is as easy as telling it which channel to lock onto, or i can point it at a sat using coordinates, and it will stay locked onto it

please, someone point me in a direction on what to do here? is it as simple as just buying a FTA reciever and following thru on setting the dish to which sat to lock onto? or am i missing something more?​

 

[catamount]

My guess would be that those dishes are way too small for KU band linear, or FTA services. (10750 freq.)

They are made for high powered DSS or DVB circular KU band 11250 frequency.

Catamount

 

[turbosat]

What size dish do you have to work with? Those are expensive systems, but I'm not sure if they'd make a good fta system. Most likely have to change out the lnbf to a linear one, if they were made to be used for pay programming, and then as suggested, your dish may not be really big enough for reliable linear-ku. A 1meter or so, even 30" would be a good size dish for fta. I take it you are wanting to use these as fixed systems now...

 

[SatelliteAV]

The main issue with this design is that they do not skew the LNBF. Once you swap out the circular LNBF for a linear, if you stay in a small geographic region and only aim at the same one or two satellites within a few degrees of each other, I suppose that it would be adequate for the stronger transponders. The dome also attenuates the signal in rain, so this would certainly be a limited and fair weather solution.

If you want a true FTA solution that can also support subscription services (by adding the bird on a wire option) check out the open dishes without domes (not in-motion) that are designed for internet or even systems designed for Shaw Direct reception. You can find a used Datastorm F1 internet system with a D3 controller used for less than $1000 and a used F3 system for $6000. The Datastorm F1 is a 74cm reflector, F2 is 90cm and the F3 is 1.2M. The D3 controller uses DVB signals to tune and aim the dish with a sweet PC interface for setting up the satellite list and parameters.

 

[Tron]

SatelliteAV, those are sweet systems. I've seen them installed on mobile ATM trailers during outdoor events such as concerts and parades, and I've always wondered how available they were. At $6k, I don't think I'll be finding anyone throwing one away though ...

 

[SatelliteAV]

The F1 is adequate for most FTA. F2s are not as common, but often the Shaw Direct version is reasonably sold (mostly in Canada). Saw a F1 / D3 sell for .99 plus $200 shipping. Quite often the F1 /D3 systems sell for $500 - $750. Deals can be found with patience.