New to FTA and help is needed!

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prldrmz

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Sep 6, 2011
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Auburn, Wa
Greetings, Im very new to the FTA world. My friend introduced this to me a couple of years ago before the big format switch. I remember very little about the set up so I guess Im ew to the game again. I just purchased an openbox s9. To say the least, Im am completely lost. Not to mention, The forum post i have read have went over my head. Is there anyone out there that can slowly walk me through what I need to do to get this thing up and running? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!
 
First, WELCOME to the best forum on sat tv you will ever find. Yes, there are many here that can get your unit, same one I have and like, full of stations. Many experts here. They will post soon, I am sure. (I am not one of them)

RT.
 
Welcome to SatelliteGuys!

You should also have a 36" (90cm) dish and a linear polarity LNBF covering 11.7 - 12.2GHz. Let us know if you have at least a 30 inch dish and a linear type LNBF, if not..... time to go shopping.
 
Welcome to the site and welcome to this hobby!!
 
Thanks Guys, I do have a 30 in dish. Not sure about what an lnbf is. I hope Im not shopping! LOL

The LNBF is the "eye" or the electronic device that sits on the end of the arm in front of the dish. What is written on the LNBF? Any model or specs? A photo is worth a thousand words. Could you post any photos of the dish and mount. We first need to know what type of equipment that you are working with, then we can start giving you some assistance.

Make sure that there are no switches or splitters in line. Just a straight connection between the receiver and the dish.
 
I will take some pics tomorrow and get back with you. I know it has a triple head on the dish. Not sure that means anything. There are some splitters in the line as well. This is an existing system on the house prior to me moving in. I really appreciate all your help. Thank you
 
prldrmz said:
I will take some pics tomorrow and get back with you. I know it has a triple head on the dish. Not sure that means anything. There are some splitters in the line as well. This is an existing system on the house prior to me moving in. I really appreciate all your help. Thank you

Sounds like it is a Dish Network or DirecTV dish. If so, it is too small to reliably receive FTA programming and the wrong type of LNBF.

Before investing time or money, you might review the available KU-band channels by clicking on "The List" tab at the top of the FTA Forum and determine which satellite to initially aim for.
 
Yeah that's what it sounds like. However depends on which dish it is. I have a had great success with a dish network super-dish, however I did modify it. I took off the 3 LNBs it came with and added a bracket and installed a linear LNBF. So if that is what you have, you would not have to buy a dish, at first(see below). You would be able to get several Satellites with it and get your feet wet.

I said see below because after you get your feet wet you will want/need a bigger dish and one better suited for the hobby to get all the channels everyone else is talking about. You will also have better success with getting a good signal without headaches. Like I said I have had some great success with one, but sometimes it wasn't so easy locking certain birds, I don't recommend it for a newbie for a full time dish.
 
Not to hijack this thread, but I have a related question. Do you all think that there would be a significant difference in a 90cm vs a 1m dish? Would the 1m be worth the extra money?
 
bobvick said:
Not to hijack this thread, but I have a related question. Do you all think that there would be a significant difference in a 90cm vs a 1m dish? Would the 1m be worth the extra money?

Cost + shipping vs gain? Probably not.... 1.2m is well worth the upgrade for weaker SCPC and higher FEC S2 broadcasts.
 
So, a 1.2 meter dish might be worth the extra money?

Absolutely worth the money. I'm getting a lot of signals on my 1.2m that I never got with my 90cm so 1.2m has become my minimum ku dish recommended size and when I see all these posts of people with dishes smaller than 1.2m that having reception issues, it's not surprising to me because I"ve been there, done that and got it corrected with a 1.2m dish upgrade for my primary ku only dish.
 
Ok, thanks alot. Is the Geosat pro dish a good one? I seem to read good things about Geosat pro.
 
Ok, thanks alot. Is the Geosat pro dish a good one? I seem to read good things about Geosat pro.

The GeosatPro is as good as any "consumer-grade" dish I have ever seen.........and better than most. It has some specs/features (some plainly visible, some not) that a lot of the inexpensive stamped-steel dishes do not have.
 
I highly recommend the GeoSatPro 1.2 meter dishes. They are very well built, and as Phlatwound mentioned, probably the best of the consumer dishes in this class. I have two that will be used for miniBUD projects very soon.
 
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