Moving to a house with a BUD... where should I start learning? :)

[madpoet]

Ok, I'm moving to a house with a BUD on a pretty high pole (maybe 12-15'). Not sure of the actual dish size, but it is pretty freaking big . Inside they have a 4DTV receiver now that they are leaving me (did not get the model number yet) and supposedly it all works great. So while I'm very pleased with my new toy, I am completely in the dark about what I can do with it, what I need to make sure and maintain, etc; Is there a beginner's page?

Thanks,
MP

 

[PSB]

http://www.geo-orbit.org/

Herte is the BEST place to start learning ALL about C-Band satellite, GOOD LUCK!

 

[madpoet]

Thanks. One thing I'm not seeing, although maybe I'm just missing it... what HD is available to CBand?

 

[tdti1]

Thanks. One thing I'm not seeing, although maybe I'm just missing it... what HD is available to CBand?

For the HD you will need to have a HDD 200 along with the 4dtv, here is a list of the programming on 4dtv:
http://broadband.motorola.com/4DTV/4DTVChannelUpdates_031205.htm (at the bottom click 4dtv channels by category)

It is a bit outdated, Encore HD is not there anymore, may come back one day, and Showtime east is gone.

This page has good info also:
http://satellitetheater.com/C-Band%20World.htm

 

[fayrich]

You will be really amazed at the SD PQ on the big dish compared to that of the small dishes. Never watched any of the V* SD channels because the PQ was so bad. The big dish had spoiled me.

 

[madpoet]

Thanks guys. Once I get some more details about the actual box, dish, etc; I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. Just excited to have such a cool new toy to play with. The wife looked at it, rolled her eyes, and said "Dear god you're going to be messing with this thing forever aren't you?"

 

[drhydro]

Thanks guys. Once I get some more details about the actual box, dish, etc; I'm sure I'll be back with more questions. Just excited to have such a cool new toy to play with. The wife looked at it, rolled her eyes, and said "Dear god you're going to be messing with this thing forever aren't you?"

Shes right just ask my wife and kid..........

 

[Walker1]

Big Dish & 4DTV

Ok, I'm moving to a house with a BUD on a pretty high pole (maybe 12-15'). Not sure of the actual dish size, but it is pretty freaking big . Inside they have a 4DTV receiver now that they are leaving me (did not get the model number yet) and supposedly it all works great. So while I'm very pleased with my new toy, I am completely in the dark about what I can do with it, what I need to make sure and maintain, etc; Is there a beginner's page?

Thanks,
MP

In 1990 I bought a 10' dish with an analog rec. At that time it was a hot setup. I still have the 10 footer 5 residences later. That dish has gone up & down the east coast and now resides in S. FL. I bought the 4DTV #922 in 2000. You get about 80 movie channel feeds with 4DTV. Much more than Dish or cable. The reception is very good even when it's pouring rain-(Unlike Dish). This big boy went through 2 110MPH hurricanes last year unscathed. We were still watching the weather channel until the power went out.

The negatives are low subscribership, channels are leaving C band, you have to maintain all the moving parts outside, and service is getting harder to find. I got the little dish to pick up non movie channels & locals. I also have 2 DVR's. If you got the big guy & a free 4DTV receiver all you have to do is buy some programming from Superstar. You also can save $$$ by buying annual programming at a reduction. I like the big dish much better than the small one, but its time is coming. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[i4tas]

How did you move that 10 footer? I had a hard time moving my 7.5 ft dish 10 miles

 

[voomvoom]

Ok, I'm moving to a house with a BUD on a pretty high pole (maybe 12-15'). Not sure of the actual dish size, but it is pretty freaking big . Inside they have a 4DTV receiver now that they are leaving me (did not get the model number yet) and supposedly it all works great. So while I'm very pleased with my new toy, I am completely in the dark about what I can do with it, what I need to make sure and maintain, etc; Is there a beginner's page?

Thanks,
MP

Try out this site: www.bigdish.info/

Al

 

[Walker1]

move C Band

How did you move that 10 footer? I had a hard time moving my 7.5 ft dish 10 miles

You put the dish in a large pickup truck tied down with rope. Leave the pole. It won't do you any good if you dig up all that cement. I pd. a local installer $200 for the whole job including programming all the satillites. I have all my movie channels through Superstar and have the small dish for network stuff. Type in skyvision in google, go to any other C band forums-you'll learn fast. The big dish isn't so different from the small one. It just has an arm to move it and requires some maintainence. By the way, I paid $850 for my 922 unit when it 1st came out. I have had no trouble with the receiver.

 

[tdti1]

If you purchase programming, I would not recommend YSP at all(superstar, netlink, tuner vision) they are owned by dish network, and are trying hard to kill off big dish subscibers all the time, with a bunch of BS, best places to get programming is:
http://www.callnps.com/
http://www.programming-center.net/

With NPS if you contact an outbound rep, you can get a better price than what is listed.

Contact:
John Ferguson
NPS
jferguson@callnps.com
1-800-444-3474 ext 6040

 

[Diamond Jim]

Ok, I'm moving to a house with a BUD on a pretty high pole (maybe 12-15'). Not sure of the actual dish size, but it is pretty freaking big . Inside they have a 4DTV receiver now that they are leaving me (did not get the model number yet) and supposedly it all works great. So while I'm very pleased with my new toy, I am completely in the dark about what I can do with it, what I need to make sure and maintain, etc; Is there a beginner's page?

Man, you fell into a bucket of s**t and came out smelling like a rose!!!!

 

[madpoet]

Well my offer was accetped on the house, and we're having the inspection tomorrow. I'll try and get some more details like what the receiver model is, some pictures of the dish maybe, etc;

 

[ken2400]

Please take some pics standing under the pole facing south. I wonder if you still need it that high? Is the pole attached to a building? Are there any guide lines? A REAL strong poie is needed to keep this dish up.

Hope you have a C/Ku feed on it. If not then just get a P* dish and check out the Ku channesl.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Ok, I'm moving to a house with a BUD on a pretty high pole (maybe 12-15'). Not sure of the actual dish size, but it is pretty freaking big . Inside they have a 4DTV receiver now that they are leaving me (did not get the model number yet) and supposedly it all works great. So while I'm very pleased with my new toy, I am completely in the dark about what I can do with it, what I need to make sure and maintain, etc; Is there a beginner's page?

Thanks,
MP

 

[madpoet]

Under the pole facing south? Ok... seems to be pointing more west than south right now, but I'd need to use my compass to be sure. It's a pretty massive pole with supports struts in a nice big concrete bed. I might have been wrong about the initial pole height, I'll try and get some measurements of that today. Hoping to find some part numbers somewhere on it.

 

[madpoet]

Sooo... I was wrong about the size. It's about a 15' mast . I'm trying to attach photos. I'm a little lost about what I need to do to make it all work. I tried putting a channel up on the receiver, but I kept not getting anything. The dish btw is pointed at about 250d, and the receiver said something about G0 and G1.

 

[madpoet]

Stupid question of the day... I don't understand the difference between C-Band and Ku. I keep readin how people are using their dish for both. I always thought Ku was what fed the small dishes, but I guess I'm wrong. I found the following post:

"a fullview system now is made up by a 10' dish c/ku band feed and lnbs a 4dtv with hdd 200 and VCII+ board a DVB box slaved"

Now I'm really getting confused . I've got a dish, I have (I assume!) some sort of LNBs somewhere (not sure where they are located) and a 4dtv receiver. I already know I don't have the HDD200, I don't guess I have the VCII+ board since I can't figure out what it is or where it would be, and I'm not sure what a slaved DVB box would be either . I'm starting to think I'm in way over my head!

 

[CbandLover]

There is only one way to describe your setup......SWEET!
That Wingard dish is premo brand. Alitte hail damage it looks like--I don't think you will have a problem- tdti and the other guys might know more about that.
Your dish is capable of C band and KU band, if both types of lnbs are on it. I am sure there are cause it looks like a newer setup.
You are inheriting a great setup. Makes me jealous.

 

[tdti1]

Broadcasters feed cable headends with C-band and Ku-band, DBS company's feed there customers with Ku-band, the difference is broadcasters use linear polarity and DBS companys use circular polarity, your big dish can get linear/circular but for what most of use pickup around here, and what is more common in North America is linear, so something like a ADL or Chaparral dual band feedhorn along with lnb's (I recommend CalAmp pro lnb's or Norsat lnb's) you will have the ability to get 4dtv c/ku analog and digital programming, and you can slave a DVB free to air unit to the 4dtv like so:
http://www.dmsiusa.com/add_a_receiver.htm
Adding a DVB receiver will enable you to catch many free digital feeds from the USA and around the world.

You can see if you have c/ku by looking behing the 4dtv and see if both the c and ku inputs have a coax connected (first set of coax on the left of the 4dtv)

Well I looked at you pics and you do not have Ku-band connected, so I would guess the setup is C-band only. (very easy to upgrade)