Need Help Please

[Krutoymuzhik]

I need some help guys. Basically I am looking at setting up my first FTA system. I am thinking about going with the GloryStar setup, which basically is preprogrammed for the christian stations but obviously you can pick up the other channels out there if you allow it. These are IA-5 and AMC4 I believe, from one stationary satellite. The question I have is if I get a motor, what all will I be able to pick up from zip code 66614 (Topeka, KS). I might not even invest in it, if there isn't much out there, im mostly interested in international programming/christian ect, which those two satellites I think cover it the best.

I am just worried about setting it up on my own. I have had DISH network in the past and I am attempting to set the thing back up to get 61.5 satellite because there is are some FTA channels I can pick up there I believe, but for the life of me I cannot get the dang thing to lock on. I heard 61.5 is a pretty hard one though? About skew also, sat finders tell me one thing and others say to leave it a 0 cause it doesn't matter. But sorry to get off topic.

Is there any suggestions on a good setup around $200 for all that I need to get going on FTA? I know I have seen some around, im just asking your oppinions is all. My brother in law is attempting to set up his GlorySTar system right now, he is having difficult time, but I think it can be done, with your input and researching. I would appreciate any information or help you can give me.

Thank you all! :up

 

[gabshere]

the GloryStar site , i'm sure is a mirror site of one of our gold sponsors. SatelliteAV The equipment they sell is FTA and can receive all the channels listed for KU on http://www.lyngsat.com thats digital/clear.

now setting it up and receiving FTA is most likely going to happen from a 30 inch or larger dish. The 18 inch dishes used by DTV & E* are picking up stronger DBS satellites which don't have much FTA on them.

If he's having trouble i'm sure a phone call to those folks over at glorystar and they will help him out or i'm sure someone here can walk you through a setup.

don't know what you can get on 61.5 read here http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=721151#post721151

 

[SatelliteAV]

If your brother-in-law is having problems with the Glorystar installation, please refer him to the technical support department. Technicians are available free of charge to assist with the set-up and operation of the system. 866-597-0728, 8am - 5pm M - Th, and 8am - 4:30 pm on Friday.

Glorystar is a fully functional FTA system that is preprogrammed for the Christian channels on AMC4 and IA5 and includes two LNBF with a unique 4 degree skew adjustable LNBF clamp. It is available with either a GEOSATpro DVR1000ci or a Fortec Mercury II receiver. You can easily point the dish at whatever satellite you choose and scan in any channels. Since you are interested in a hobbyist system, I would suggest that you purchase a single satellite system like the Adventistsat system (Fortec Mercury II, Geosat 90cm dish, Standard 0.4dB NR LNBF, Installation kit) and then add a motor rather than purchasing the dual satellite Glorystar system with the extra parts that you don't need with a motorized system. There are over 300, 24/7 TV and Radio stations available on FTA in North America and many more occasional feeds. See http://www.lyngsat.com and click on the link for America / Frequencies. Any channel that is listed as DVB and "F" free with a frequency of 11 - 12 GHz and the footprint showing North American coverage could potentially be received with a 90cm dish and a MPEG 2 receiver.

Sky Angel suggestion..... Reception of the 61.5 signal from your area is very easy and the signal is very strong. Just make sure that you point the dish at the ground or cover the LNBF(s) with foil then perform a switch test prior to attempting to locate the satellite and also select an active transponder on the Dish Network receiver (TP 25 or 32). Skew can be set at (0) zero as you are aiming at only one satellite.

 

[Krutoymuzhik]

http://sadoun.com/Sat/Order/Satellite-systems/Motorized-Systems.htm

How about one of those systems, thinking about the M2. But then I ask, I should be able to get just the same thing from the glorystar set up, its just the glorystar is pretty much structured toward receiving the two satellites AMC4 and IA5.

If anyone can give me a link to a starter FTA system that is motorized, that would be great. I dont wnat to spend to much on first system because I don't know how this wil all go. I am pretty sure I will eventually figure it out, but I am worried where to place it because I have tree's around my house, I just barely get 61.5 with Dish and for the other dish 110, 119 ? I have it mounted to the side of the house, so with motorized I dont know where the best place to put it would be to get a full range. There is allot of learning I know.

I hope to get the system sometime this week so if anyone could shout some suggestions and helps for first set up that would be awesome.

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[mastermesh]

If you are looking in to going cheap route, an old primestar dish can be put on a motor if you lose the metal in the back. You mentioned that you used to have dish network. You can, in theory use parts of that dish and put on the back of the primestar to lose a lot of weight. If you freecycle, you should be able to find some old primestars or similar old big dishes out there. I live in Missouri and can pick up most of the stuff from 145 to 30 west that's on the KU side of things. I don't have a Cband dish or else I'd try for more stuff. If you go with the primestar idea, get an hh motor, not an sg2100 like what I've got. I hear sg2100s are not the strongest things in the world - they work fine for 76 cm dishes, but bigger than that and you may be pushing it? Lots of folks say that the motor works fine for primestar though, so what do I know. I haven't messed with my freecycle obtained primestar enough yet to really know. As far as receivers go, pansat 3500 seems good for my uses, but if you are on a budget a 2500 may be better or something of similar quality from a couple years ago. Read the faqs and as many threads in this forum as you can. Knowledge is power.

Side note - I myself wasn't sure if I could do the motorized installation, but with encouraging words and advice from the folks around here, I got it done. It did take a while, mainly because there's a bit of a learning curve, but now I think just hanging out around here has given me more satellite dish know-how than 90% of the local dish network installers have. I've talked to some of those installer types on the phone and in person and when I start talking about the technical side of fta, they mostly just scratch their heads and give blank stares.

 

[Krutoymuzhik]

Thanks mastermesh I will look into that route. I guess its just one of those things where I have to just dive into it and then go from there. I know all you here have tons of knowledge and would most likely be willing to help me through this, so thats a great thing! I will keep you all posted on what comes of this and hopefully I will have a system here next week.

I will post questions if I run into them later, which I know I will

Thanks everyone

 

[neil_kc1]

Krutoymuzhik,
Welcome to the world of free2air! Hang in there I can tell you from experience it can be done even by a novice like me. The keys are making sure you have a clear south horizine, and that your pole is plumb. I worked on my system for 2 weeks before I got my first satellite and signal. I had not previous experience except installing my own dish network system. I recently added an old C band satellite dish and am still having a blast. The guys here can be lots of help.

 

[Krutoymuzhik]

Well I purchased the GloryStar set up (36" dish, fortec mercury II,etc) I didn't dive into the motor system yet, because I was looking at my townhome and a big ass tree is about 50 degree's of my viewing span Hopefully I can pick up the two AMC4 and T5. I think I should be able to as long as I get enough elevation to look over the top of next door neighbors dish thats pointing toward direct tv birds. I was wondering which satellite I need to aim it at so I can get both with one satellite, it comes with dual lnb with 4 degree tilt holder, so I am thinking AMC4 and T5 should come in just right? I guess I will find out, I am gonna be really pissed if my neighbors dish is right in my line of sight.

 

[brada]

Hello, Muzhik!
I can tell that here in California, I was able to get both IA5 and AMC4 with two LNBs, attached to each other with insulation tape. Need to aim at IA5 (central LNB), then attach a second one to the left side (if watching from behind a dish). I am sure that with 36" dish you will get it. I had just 30" while I was experimenting.

 

[SatelliteAV]

The Glorystar Christian satellite system is aimed at a point 1/2 way between AMC4 and IA5. Your aiming will be:
Compass Reading: 181
Dish Elevation Angle: 44.7
Skew Angle: +4 degrees

To study up on the installation guide before your equipment arrives, download the installation manual at: Glorystar Installation Manual

The elevation angle from your location is almost 45 degrees, so because you are aiming at a similar point in the sky as your neighbor's DirecTV make sure to move your dish as far back from your neighbor's dish as the DirecTV dish is in height. For example if the top of your neighbor's DirecTV dish is 20 inches high, place your dish at least 22 inches behind. You should have no problems clearing the neighbor's dish.

 

[Krutoymuzhik]

Update:

I recieved my Satellite system yesterday. Started to put it all together, almost done on that part. I basically disconnected my old Dish Network reciever and plugged in my FTA Reciever to all the same ports as the Dish had, because im basically gonna use the same run as I had with my Dish Network. So hopefully that will work on that part.

About the Skew Angle, is this skew of the LNB's? Because I see where you can skew the two lnb's +/- ect. So I will do the +4 on that. I am trying to get my mast perfectly level. I am doing this by myself from a ladder about 25ft in the air, so I am gonna mount the mast first and then bring the Dish up and secure it on the mast and point from there. So to get this correct I need to point the dish 181 degree's and that will be the right angle to pick up both IA5 and AMC4 ?

I dont think the elevation will be to bad because I am about 30 feet from my Neighbors Dish, so I think I should shoot over his Dish just fine. We will find out today, hopefully I can get out there and set things up. I am worried about some limbs that might be in the way though, so Ill have to see about that to.

I will keep you updated, might be back here asking questions

Thanks everyone!

 

[Krutoymuzhik]

Okay satellite is installed. Man that was pretty crazy hanging out by my limbs trying to put this 36" Satellite up 30' in the air But I have a problem. I can can get IA5 with signal quality about 13 - 56% on most channels. I am not getting AMC 4 at all. So I am thinking to not touch it for right now or what could I try?

Any information would be much appreciated....could be lnbf scew. .... i think im at +4 but not for sure. These are 4 degree's apart so any movement i think would make the other one come in?

 

[Anole]

you're almost there!

I reviewed the numbers above, and didn't find anything out of order.
SatAV does this for a living, and gave you great advice.

Tuning up the dish is a bit tedious, and shouldn't be attempted when you are tired or stressed.
Is you ladder affecting the 30' pole at all??

edit: I just read through their installation manual.
I must say, it's quite clear and clean.
Since it is in disagreement with what I posted, I've removed my comments.
(I wasn't aware of the nuances of their dual LNB holder.)
RTFM, I guess.

 

[Krutoymuzhik]

I am having hard time locking in two sat's at once, its either one or ther other. Its like one LNBF isn't working. I have tryed all that I can think of, and technically you would think if you get one the other shouldn't be much further away the way this dual lnbf set up goes. But i actually have to change the azimuth about 4-5 degree's each time to pick up one or the other. Oh well.

 

[Anole]

If it were about 8 degrees, I'd say you had the inputs to the diseqc switch backwards
Or the definitions... either would cause that.

Are you sure you are properly selecting the 2nd LNB through your switch?
If you can get someone familiar with that receiver to guide you, (or is it in the manual?) you might work this out easily.
I'm guessing that's the problem.

Could be a bad cable from one LNB to the switch (I'm not betting on that)

And it could be one bad LNB. Interchanging them would be proof.
Easy to check, if the whole thing were easy to get to.

 

[Krutoymuzhik]

Well played around with it today more. It seems my diseqc is bad. Because I basically did this i just switched the rg6's from the Lnbf's to LNBF 1 and 2 ...went back to the reciever T5 went out and AMC4 came on with 80% quality. Went into the antenna settings and switched the LNBF's there nothing happened from 1 to 2 still got signal. Went back outside swictched the RG6's again on the diseqc .... and sure enough T5 back on full quality and AMC4 out. So something is up with one of the ports on my LNBF. Or at least thats what it looks like to me.

Thanks

 

[Tron]

Be sure to power off the receiver completely (by either flipping the switch on the back or unplugging it from the wall) before disconnecting or reconnecting a DiSEqC switch. They are VERY sensitive to voltage spikes caused when disconnecting or reconnecting a cable to them and will usually blow a port if there's power on the coax when this is done.

 

[rdel]

Be sure to power off the receiver completely (by either flipping the switch on the back or unplugging it from the wall) before disconnecting or reconnecting a DiSEqC switch. They are VERY sensitive to voltage spikes caused when disconnecting or reconnecting a cable to them and will usually blow a port if there's power on the coax when this is done.

Hes not joking either, I blew a port on my disq switch and it drove me crazy trying to figure out what was going wrong with the dishes.