new here....some FTA questions

[giovanni1]

Hello guys....

After having had enough now of cable bills, I have decided to have a look at what is available to me out there on the free side in orbit.

I see that there are quite a few sats out there when I look at Lyngsat. It is hard to undrstand (for me anyway from that site) what is available to me and what is not.

I have a Fortec 36" dish that a I am picking up tomorrow with a sg2100 motor attached.
I also have a BeSat LNB. I am hoping that it is the right one I need for FTA?

It is labelled as follows:

Input: 10.7 - 11.7 GHz
11.7 - 12.75GHz

Output: 950 - 1950MHz
1,100 - 2150MHz

Local Freq:9.75, 10.6GHz.

Also, any tips aiming the dish is appreciated. I am in southern Ontario, Canada. (Hamilton). I have read all the stuff about "true south".
Is there a specific sat that I should try to lock onto first to make my setup go smooth?
Or should I hope to hit true south and then use USALS from there?
Thank you!!

 

[Anole]

get started:

Sounds like decent hardware.
Better than all the newbies who come here asking how to use their existing 18 or 22 inch dish for FTA ! -

The LNB is Universal (two local oscillators) so that's fine.
Just remember to select that option on your receiver.

For programming suggestions, try this page.
Also, tell us what you would like to watch, and you will get better suggestions.

edit:
what receiver did you have?

AcWxRadar does a in depth, and step-by-step motor setup:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/170861-motor-setup-questions.html#post1778160

 

[giovanni1]

Thanks for the info...

As for receivers, I have a few.
The best one I am guessing is the Viewsat Extreme. the other 2 are a Captain 7000 and a Fortec Ultra.

As for programming, I plan to get rid of my cable sub once this is all going good, so the more I can receive the better!

I will check on that link.

 

[Davage]

In Hamilton, you are in a pretty good area to use an over-the-air antenna to pick up Canadian and US stations. FREE HDTV channels are all around you, free for the taking. Over-The-Air combined with a good motorized Free-To-Air satellite system will provide you with plenty of entertainment.

I am in London. The over-the-air channels are not nearly as plentiful as you have.

You had asked as to which satellite is your true-south satellite. As far as I can tell, the longitude and latitude for Hamilton is 43° 16' N 79° 54' W.. That means that AMC5 at 79 West will be your true-south satellite. A good frequency to use when tuning in that satellite is:

H-12177 Symbol Rate 20.500 - That is the NEW YORK NETWORK NYN set of channels.

Welcome to the fun FTA hobby.

 

[giovanni1]

Thanks for the info....

Just want to clarify something... Should I first point the dish manually to what I have calculated to be my true south azimuth, and then through the receiver find AMC5 at 79W in the listing and tune to that sat?

Hopefully the receiver will then turn the dish to AMC5, then I can do some minor adjustments to peak signal levels. Is this correct?

I see that the listing of Sats in my Viewsat diffres from the Lyngsat list ot others I have seen. Is that normal? The name of the sat changes but the positioning stays the same?

I have also read all that I can about the angles for the dish. I am quite confused. I see different setups. Sometimes I think to read too much info over the net is not good!!

Some help on what to set the angle on the motor itself and also the skew on the back of the dish would be a BIG help.

I now have the dish and motor in my posession and all looks good.

Thanks!

 

[Lak7]

Go to dishpointer.com, enter your address, select your Motor from the bottom of Satellite List, and click GO. That will give you the angles you need to start with.

Use the Motor Latitude Scale (not elevation scale) it it set to Your Latitude, and leave it there, don't adjust / tweak.

In the Antenna Setup menu, be sure to have a Live Transponder selected, you are looking for quality.

It's easiest if you can have the Receiver and TV at the Dish.

I'd would not even connect the cable to the motor.
I'd connect directly from the Receiver to the LNB.
Get a Lock on your True South Sat first, then introduce the Motor.

You have to enter the LNB and Motor Type settings to each and every Sat you want.

 

[giovanni1]

Dishpointer.com tells me that my motor elevation should be set to 43.2, but the chart that came with my dish says that the motor elevation should be at 47 for my lat/long.
Which should I use?

Also, I have another problem. I do not have an LNB holder. Having bought the dish used, the gentleman who had it before me had a multi LNB on it so he sold the LNB separately for a higher price.
I have checked at a couple of dish shacks around my area but they dont seem to have the one I need.

It is the Fortec dish but it seems the arm that the holder fits into has been narrowed lately. Mine has the wider arm (40mm I believe), and all they have is the narrower one.

I will have to search for one!

 

[brentb636]

Have you looked at THIS one ?
LNBHolder1 40mm KU-band LNBF Holder for Offset Dishes
Looks like the wider style.

 

[giovanni1]

Can anyone give advice on the motor elevation anlge I mentioned??
Dishpointer.com or the chart that came with my dish??

 

[Mr Tony]

The motor latitude is the same as YOUR latitude

Dishpointer is saying the elevation of the motor. On some motors there are 2 meters. One side says latitude and the other is elevation

Its the same answer for both
latitude scale is the same as your latitude
elevation scale is 90 minus your latitude (so 90-47 = 43)

 

[giovanni1]

Iceberg...

I thank you for the reply!
Now I see the logic.

The only piece to the puzzle that I am missing right now is the LNB holder before I can actually put the dish up and aim.
I have seen it on Sadoun's site as brentb636 mentioned.
Before I order, there is one more place here in Hamilton that I would like to check to see if they have one.