I'm brand new to FTA and anxious to get started. I got a complete Dish 500 set up with an old Echostar 4700 receiver with a blue card for about $10. I wanted to get NASA TV as my first venture into FTA so I set up the dish, turned the receiver on, and immediately got a strong signal and received NASA TV and a Dish preview channel. However, after only about 30 minutes of flipping through the (mostly blank) channels and accepting a software upgrade, I now get nothing. I notice that the card SN is all zero's. Can I do something to get NASA TV on this setup again? I can access the menu and do the system setup - I still have a strong signal, but the main screen locks on step 0 of 5 in "Acquiring satellite signal".
NASA FTA With Old Dish Receiver
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sure:
- you could get a real FTA receiver - it'll get NASA (and Angel One) just fine @ 119°.
Some members have commented that Coolsat 5000's and 6000's have gone for as little as $35 on eBay.
You want to be sure to get a receiver with blind scan.
For a receiver with PVR capablility (you add your own USB hard drive) , consider the Visionsat IV-200.
- then get a 36" dish with linear LNB
LNB can be Standard or Universal (won't matter for a beginner)
- check out what's on FTA
TheList at the top of this page has a technical list you'll want to use once you graduate to it
For a beginner to get a clue of what's on the air, FTAlist will get you started.
And even though TheList has a good sat calculator, you might also want to take a look at GeoSatFinder and print out a PDF list of all satellites and aiming info for 'em.
- as a recommendation for your first FTA satellite, let me suggest 123° west.
- you could get a real FTA receiver - it'll get NASA (and Angel One) just fine @ 119°.
Some members have commented that Coolsat 5000's and 6000's have gone for as little as $35 on eBay.
You want to be sure to get a receiver with blind scan.
For a receiver with PVR capablility (you add your own USB hard drive) , consider the Visionsat IV-200.
- then get a 36" dish with linear LNB
LNB can be Standard or Universal (won't matter for a beginner)
- check out what's on FTA
TheList at the top of this page has a technical list you'll want to use once you graduate to it
For a beginner to get a clue of what's on the air, FTAlist will get you started.
And even though TheList has a good sat calculator, you might also want to take a look at GeoSatFinder and print out a PDF list of all satellites and aiming info for 'em.
- as a recommendation for your first FTA satellite, let me suggest 123° west.
Get FTA Receiver and Revive Old Dish Receiver?
Thanks Anole. I'm generally on track to follow your leads and am looking at used FTA receivers now. However, I would still like to know why the old Dish receiver quit picking up the unscrambled signals. If I can get it working (or find another cheap one) I could take advantage of the LNB dual outputs so I can watch NASA TV in the living room as well as in my "radio room" after I get an FTA receiver. Does the Dish receiver problem have something to do with the Blue vs Yellow card issue I've seen referenced elsewhere? If I found another old dead Dish receiver with a card, could I put a different card in my existing receiver?
Thanks Anole. I'm generally on track to follow your leads and am looking at used FTA receivers now. However, I would still like to know why the old Dish receiver quit picking up the unscrambled signals. If I can get it working (or find another cheap one) I could take advantage of the LNB dual outputs so I can watch NASA TV in the living room as well as in my "radio room" after I get an FTA receiver. Does the Dish receiver problem have something to do with the Blue vs Yellow card issue I've seen referenced elsewhere? If I found another old dead Dish receiver with a card, could I put a different card in my existing receiver?
You can't put a different card into an Echostar reciever. The card is 'married' to the reciever and won't work in a different reciever. Try removing the card and reinserting while the reciever is on. This will reset the reciever and hopefully you will get the card number back along with Nasa and Angel one. The reciever should get those two channels even if it is an old card (as long as the card is married to the reciever).
Thanks for the info SatPhreak. I tried removing/reinserting the card but with no luck. (I've also tried other reset methods from other semi-related posts but to no avail). I assume the card is married to the receiver since I did get NASA TV for a while. Any other thoughts?
old 311's are around cheap or free, are cardless and get NASA fine. I modulated NASA on a 311 to ch24 and pipe it throughout the house using a splitter backwards as a channel combiner.
weird....NASA is free and I can get it on my Dish 811 with no issues (no subscription on my Dish 811...just OTA & whatever freebies Dish gives us). Sounds like the 4700 was used for "other" things by a previous owner and DIsh zapped it
Back in the days of blue cards, I got a buddy's decommissioned 3000.
As I recall, it received NASA.
That showed me how to aim a dish, and get a signal.
And was the last experience I had with it.
I stopped fiddling with it and subscribed a much nicer 301 I bought at... Walmart...?
Haven't though about that old POS 3000 in years! -
But, once yellow cards came out, and more importantly, the firmware got updated, there's no telling what happened to 'em.
I think you got screwed because you took the firmware update which undoubtedly means your receiver now requires yellow.
That's just an educated guess.
But, sorry to say, if it's broke, it's trash... or spare parts... so that's why I focused above on a solution that works.
As I recall, it received NASA.
That showed me how to aim a dish, and get a signal.
And was the last experience I had with it.
I stopped fiddling with it and subscribed a much nicer 301 I bought at... Walmart...?
Haven't though about that old POS 3000 in years! -
But, once yellow cards came out, and more importantly, the firmware got updated, there's no telling what happened to 'em.
I think you got screwed because you took the firmware update which undoubtedly means your receiver now requires yellow.
That's just an educated guess.
But, sorry to say, if it's broke, it's trash... or spare parts... so that's why I focused above on a solution that works.
yes the blue cards will still get 101,213(NASA) and 262 (Angel One). My old Dish 5000 has a blue card
All the problem when you see R0000000000 related to a) bad card slot/contacts b) dead smart card.
For check b) insert it in any working Dish receiver/DVR then remove it after rebooting, when getting Wrong Card messages - next you will see System Info screen with all pertinent info.
Then do your next step - new card or fix old receiver's card slot.
There is nothing wrong related to FW with the issue.
For check b) insert it in any working Dish receiver/DVR then remove it after rebooting, when getting Wrong Card messages - next you will see System Info screen with all pertinent info.
Then do your next step - new card or fix old receiver's card slot.
There is nothing wrong related to FW with the issue.
You can clean the chip on the card with an eraser if the contacts look dirty. Make sure it is inserted with the contacts on the card facing down and towards the back of the reciever.
I've got a plan
Thanks to all for the advice and info. I decided to quit obsessing over why the old Dish receiver doesn't work anymore and will get a used Coolsat to get NASA TV with my Dish 500 setup. Of course, this leaves me with a "one thing leads to another" situation because I will next want a bigger dish and a linear LNB. But I guess that's what I planned to do eventually anyway!
Thanks to all for the advice and info. I decided to quit obsessing over why the old Dish receiver doesn't work anymore and will get a used Coolsat to get NASA TV with my Dish 500 setup. Of course, this leaves me with a "one thing leads to another" situation because I will next want a bigger dish and a linear LNB. But I guess that's what I planned to do eventually anyway!
You'll definetly want a larger dish and a linear lnb anyway. Nasa is ok but there is a lot of good free channels up there. You might even find yourself with a new addiction if your not careful.
Yep. Somebody around here got his start in FTA because he was just looking to receive the unscrambled music channels (back when they were unscrambled)
Yep. Somebody around here got his start in FTA because he was just looking to receive the unscrambled music channels (back when they were unscrambled)
it was the Canadian radio stations on Expressvu, get it right
Well, a few years ago, there were a lot of both.
Now, there's hardly any of either.
Shame, too, but that's the nature of FTA.
I don't even have a circular LNB on my FTA box.
Now, there's hardly any of either.
Shame, too, but that's the nature of FTA.
I don't even have a circular LNB on my FTA box.
It's always disappointing when things sramble or disappear, BUT it's a rush when new channels show up.
it was the Canadian radio stations on Expressvu, get it right
I stand corrected
Wish all those were still there. But yes, that is the nature of FTA, and there's always something new that will pop up and make us happy 
You might even find yourself with a new addiction if your not careful.
Yup. Just ask my wife.
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