Need Help Getting Into C-Band FTA For NASA UHD

[The-John]

Hello, I am interested in purchasing a 10 foot dish, and receivers for C band ( with KU as well) in order to receive the NASA UHD channel currently on Galaxy 13. Would you all be able to recommend what type and brands of receiver, dish and other equipment would be the best for this project? I may try mounting this dish on my back deck, and clearing our roof which has a circa 15 degree incline. This would provide a clear shot to Galaxy 13, and hopefully a few more satellites. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Also, is the setup of this equipment plug-n-play simple, or should I brace myself for a learning experience ! Thank you all for any help you may provide.

John

 

[Cham]

Hi John, welcome!
Not sure about a plug-and-play solution unless you have real deep pockets... Not much for reception of UHD channels yet here. There might be one or two set-top-box units available soon though. Also look around for a good used C-band dish, there are some around that can save you a lot of cash, new dishes of any quality are very expensive.
Many of us are using a PCIe receiver card, assorted software, and may or may not have UHD displays/TVs. I just play it on my computer monitor. The card I am using is a TBS 6903, but there are many others. The card receives the signals, software scans, decodes, plays, records, etc. If you plan on watching the UHD feeds in UHD, you'll need a high end video card as well.
I prefer to keep the antenna (dish) on the ground where is can be easily reached for adjustments etc. If you are in an area where snowfall is an issue, make sure it is high enough though to clear any accumulation!
Just scanning G-13 as I type, I hear in another thread the UHD channel from NASA may be down. Most FTA channels are feeds not really meant for public consumption... so they can come and go any time. Keep this in mind as you plan your setup.

 

[KE4EST]

to SatelliteGuys The-John!!!

As far as a C-Band dish goes, first thing I would do is look around your neighborhood. There are still plenty of used dishes, out in the wild. Many that have not been used in years. You can often stop and knock on a few doors and get a used dish still in descent shape for free or almost free. Usually just to take it down and get it out of their way.
If that does not work, there is a company called TEK2000 out of Canada that has some reasonable prices on consumer C-Band dishes. Their dishes are pretty descent quality consumer dishes. I believe it is tek2000.com.
There are other places but they are sold for commercial use and get into the thousands of dollars.

As far as a good UHD receiver...since a lot of companies are still what it would appear as the experimental stages, there is not one that stands out as of right now.
I have an Amiko A4K and it works great on UHD and other stuff. It still though has some bugs on a couple of other transponders that I don't like. There are others out there, and perhaps someone will give other suggestions on that.

Also, is the setup of this equipment plug-n-play simple, or should I brace myself for a learning experience

Not plug in play, there is a bit of a learning curve like any hobby. However, the rewards are worth it, and it is not astronomically hard to do.
Just ask lots of questions here and you will get it. Also do some reading, and start getting familiar a bit with how this all works.

 

[SatelliteAV]

John,

If you are looking for a used 10ft, the best place to find it would be Craigslist, most people want to get rid of them these days, so most likely you will just have to haul it. For new 10ft, i would recommend you decide if this dish will be fixed or movable with actuator.

 

[cyberham]

In Ontario, kijiji.ca is the best free online classified ad site if looking for dishes. I saw one very recently that looked nice but was mounted at top of a tall pole with electrical wires nearby. Owner would probably let go for free to anybody capable of safely removing. tek2000 only sells online. I contacted yesterday to come over to buy a dish and today received feedback to this effect. I went to Dr. Sat and bought instead who has a physical store and a telephone to receive calls!

Free Satellite Dish | free stuff | Oshawa / Durham Region | Kijiji

 

[Al K]

I have a solid 6 foot dish ($25 Craigslist) and a K1 plus 4K receiver ($60 eBay). Good reception of NASA 4K here in Phoenix. The 6 footer is too small for other 4K transponders. The material on NASA gets pretty old pretty quickly.

 

[skysurfer]

Hello, I am interested in purchasing a 10 foot dish, and receivers for C band ( with KU as well) in order to receive the NASA UHD channel currently on Galaxy 13.

I would consider an 8.5 foot (10 foot more preferable) dish so you can add 101W as a place to get UHD should NASA UHD bore you or have technical problems. 101W has a few other UHD channels in addition to a rebroadcast of NASA UHD.

 

[Cham]

An 8-footer should get G13 at 127W reliably, and G13 also has the other NASA feed channels for launches, special events, etc. If you are ONly interested in UHD, then 101 or 103 is a great option.

 

[The-John]

I would consider an 8.5 foot (10 foot more preferable) dish so you can add 101W as a place to get UHD should NASA UHD bore you or have technical problems. 101W has a few other UHD channels in addition to a rebroadcast of NASA UHD.

Hi skysurfer, Thank you for the reply and apologies for the tardy reply. Should the 10 foot dish be solid or is mesh able to gather enough signal to support UHD 4k and other programming? I am researching the receiver as well. If you have any recommendations on a receiver that is able to fully support UHD 4k programming, that would be very helpful. I have been a DirecTV customer for about 20 years and finally am able to invest in the equipment necessary to receive NASA programming in its native HD and UHD resolution and record these to a DVR of sorts. DirecTV receives the HD signal and steps it down to SD. What ever recommendations on the brand of dish, receiver and other needed equipment will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers and thank you,

John