Newbie looking for direction

[larrysfire]

I just got an old 8.5ft bud with a ust4900 no remote and a nfusion solaris. the dish has a vonweiss actuator. Now I got it moved and cemented in. Not wired yet getting that set up. Because the old cable had two coax but only one hooked up to the feedhorn I assume it is a c band only feedhorn/lnb. So my questions are do I replace the lnb and feedhorn with a c/ku lnbf and which one would be a good choice. Next I think I need a positioner or can I use the UST4900 without a remote to do it? Which should I buy the gbox or vbox or something else? Then I guess I need another receiver to get say AMC1. I'd like to stay away from keys and cards if I can any suggestions would be great. I know a lot of this is on forums already but I can see so much changes so fast a good receiver today may not work tomorrow so I'm looking for new info. Thanks much. And yes I still have no clue what I'm doing but nothing ventured nothing gained. Besides I think there are good forum people out there to help me out.

 

[jaray]

Welcome to the forum and the world of real FTA. There are LOTS of very knowledgeable people here who will definitely give you some pointers. I speak from past experiences.
I can't speak for the USR4900, would probably be pretty tough to navigate through menus on any front panel buttons. As far as the Nfusion, they were built for one thing..hacking. They will work in some capacity for real FTA but you'll enjoy it alot more with a better DVB receiver. I'd suggest a Traxis 3500 for starters because they're cheap, great blind scan performance as well as good track record, but it does depend on what you want to achieve at the end of the day. If you want to receive some of the DVB-S2 stuff out there (and there's more and more of it every day it seems) then your choice of receiver will need to take that into account. The 3500 is a basic every day receiver but will not receive DVB-S2 or any of the 4.2.2 stuff up there.
In terms of moving the dish, both the g-box and the v-box do the same job but there have been some reports of less than favorable build quality of the V-box's. I can attest to that as I have the newest version 10 and the little push clips where the wires connect are very cheap and are just waiting to fall apart. Doing it again, I'd buy the G-box. I would also switch over to an LNBF and let the new receiver switch polarity for you, less things to go wrong, service etc and they just plain work.
Sounds like you lucked out in getting a Von Weiss actuator, clean it up if it needs it and give it a try. I think they're the cats meow in terms of actuators.

 

[FaT Air]

By the info at

[url=http://www.satellitehelp.com/un_4900_index.asp][B][U]Uniden 4900 programming[/U][/url][/B]

it appears that you need the remote to program sat locations. Sorry, but you're going to need the remote, or a GBox to move the dish.
Gbox recommended most here. I like mine.
For a clean, streamlined, system Replace feed with new voltage controlled LNBF so the uniden can be totally eliminated.

 

[larrysfire]

Thank you so much for the help. Any lnbf suggestion? On a receiver I guess I might as well start with a dvb-s2 4.2.2 type depending on price or maybe just start with the 3500. On the lnbf I just pull the old stuff and install new? The gbox will understand the vonweiss voltage etc, and the receiver will work through it? Sorry for stupid questions. I'm sure there will be more.

 

[FaT Air]

Any lnbf suggestion?

Don't know if your dish is good for Ku, But I've had good results with a DMX241, single output C band. A dual band, BSC621 C/Ku or DMX741 CKU LNBF are options for C and Ku on the BUD. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get mine to work acceptably, and resorted to mounting a Ku dish to the lip of the BUD. It, in my view, works great. I do know that aiming is super critical when operating a BUD at Ku freqs. Many old (80's vintage) dishes weren't designed for Ku. The holes in the mesh are too big. Even many fiberglass dishes don't have a Ku rating. If the dish is warped slightly, C may still work acceptably, but Ku is going to suffer big. So to operate "Dual Band" will entail a bit of experimentation. C band should be no problem. I am sure that others will chime in on this.

On a receiver I guess I might as well start with a dvb-s2 4.2.2 type depending on price or maybe just start with the 3500.

4.2.2 receivers are the Azbox STB's. Don't know of another brand that does it. Other than PC cards or USB receivers. The Traxis 3500 is a good DVB-S unit. And you can use it to tune up the dish and load sat locations into the Gbox. Then when upgrading to the Azbox, Preload the locations and bada bing. (I am sure the Azbox has a PC ch editor available)

On the lnbf I just pull the old stuff and install new?

Yes. And you'll have the servo wires unused as the new LNBF polarity is switched by the receiver via the 13/18V lnb voltage.

The gbox will understand the vonweiss voltage etc, and the receiver will work through it?

Yep! the receivers speak disqc and the Gbox listens the same language.

 

[larrysfire]

Great info,thanks. Yup I read stuff about the bud and the mesh with KU. I have pretty fine mesh can't put a pencil through it. I think I'll start with the 3500 like you suggested and work from there. Would I need 4.2.2 or would DVB-S2 be good enough. Speaking of DVB-S2 I read something about compliant vs supported vs native. How do I know if it is DVB-S2 for sure and not something to be added on?

 

[jaray]

Have a plan to go to DVB-S2 in the near future as there's more and more of it all the time, and you'll start seeing stuff you wish you could get with the Traxis DVB-S but can't.
Not sure what your asking about compliant vs supported etc...Are you reading those descriptions on various receivers? They should indicate either they are DVB-S2 or they aren't.