Uniden Ultra 18 year old SystemUniden Utra 18 yr Old System Hi All; I'm new to C/KU-

[stokesrg]

Hi All; I'm new to C/KU-band.
I recently parted ways with DirecTV, and decided to set up my own system.
I was given an 18 year old Uniden Ultra System,and 7.5 ft. winegard dish.
The old cable was brittle and broken in several place; so it needs to be
replaced before I can even test the system. I was told that it worked
fine before it was disassembled 3 years ago!?! (owner went to DishNetwork).

So here are my questions!!
If the system is fine; what might I consider upgrading on it to bring it
up to date?

I also have a new SonicView 360 Premier Mini PVR received that I would
also like to connect to it. What are my options there?

If I were to eliminate the Uniden receiver/descrambler; and hook up two SonicView Receivers, what might I need to do, to make it work?

Any good suggestions, if it were your system???

Thanks

 

[Anole]

...what might I need to do, to make it work?

Well that IS the question, isn't it?
How much do you know about satellite, BUDs, C-band, receivers, LNBs & feedhorns?
There's plenty of basic/general reading material on this site, and links we can give you, but we should tailor it to your needs.

Start out with these three or four pages on the Geo Orbit site:
http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/tuningp2.html

Couple of basic things you need to know right away, are that the old analog receiver you have, will move the dish motor to aim at different satellites, AND it will run the servo motor in the feedhorn to switch between vertical and horizontal polarity.
There are a few analog stations still on the air, so you could get the thing running as-is, as a first step..

Having the Sonicview 360 run by itself is a bigger job, and we won't go there right now.
Yes, the SV could be slaved to the analog receiver, and many do that.
I'm not a big proponent of the idea, so I'll let others discuss it, should that appeal to you.

Most importantly, what do you expect to find/watch on FTA?
Would hate to see you go to a lot of effort, only to say to us: "is that all there is?" -
Here are three web sites with useful programming info:
- our own The List right here on our site, does Ku and C-band
- Global CM with Ku and C-band
- FTA List, Ku only, but very simplified for the beginner.

 

[Corrado]

I use a Uniden Ultra daily for dish moving duties and in combination with a 4DTV DSR905 sidecar receiver. It works great and is a nice analog receiver. It will operate a voltage controlled LNBF just fine. My favorite thing about that receiver is that I can custom name all the satellite positions in the memory the way I like them.

 

[stokesrg]

Thanks guys, for your replies. They both are helpful; giving me a good place to start.
I know what to expect from FTA, so I don't think its going to be a waste of time; or even disappointing to me! I'll take all the tips and advice I can get, right now.
It's got to be better than paying $70 plus a month for watching the same programming from DTV and DN, day after day. Once I sink my teeth into a bit deeper, and know for sure, what I want to do with this system, then I will probably consider subscribing to some kind of programming package. (I miss the syfy channel; and not being able to watch the Redwings games!)

 

[Inno]

I use a Uniden Supra for my dish moving chores. It is slaved off of a DSR905 and a Pansat 3500SD for FTA........and with a C-Band dish like the one you have there is a LOT of FTA to be had.

With what you have and some new cable you can get some great TV.
If you post some pictures or details of the feedhorn and LNB we can get you pointed in the right direction.

Sounds like you've researched it enough to know there is something there for you. I think you will enjoy it!

Welcome to Satellite Guys!!

 

[Dannymcenrow]

SyFy is not available on fta but you can subscribe to it.
But the problem is to subscribe you have to have a 4dtv receiver and they don' make them anymore and to get a used one is hard because most of them lost their unit Id and can't subcribe to anything
It's kind of about to go bankrupt you don't get a lot of channels you used to get fro dishnet but you can get some channels it depents I still live on that because I work all day and I don't have time to watch all the channels anyway I only watch like 5 or 6 channels a day so for me it's ok.
For sports you only get 1 channel and that's Versus.
No ESPN!!!!!
Or you can get sports time ohio on Fta.
If I'm not mistaken that's on 121 west.

 

[Mapleleaf69]

Thanks guys, for your replies. They both are helpful; giving me a good place to start.
I know what to expect from FTA, so I don't think its going to be a waste of time; or even disappointing to me! I'll take all the tips and advice I can get, right now.
It's got to be better than paying $70 plus a month for watching the same programming from DTV and DN, day after day. Once I sink my teeth into a bit deeper, and know for sure, what I want to do with this system, then I will probably consider subscribing to some kind of programming package. (I miss the syfy channel; and not being able to watch the Redwings games!)

HEY stokesrg,i can get you your syfy channel free bud. google up a proggy called TVu player and download it. it will give you a wack of free tv stations but has syfy listed under fun channels i think. all i did was hook the computer to the tv and watch the tvu player on full screen. i had to have my syfy so i could watch my ghost hunters and its all most as good as the satellite broadcast picture quality wise.hope that helps you out bud.

 

[putney]

google up a proggy called TVu player and download it. it will give you a wack of free tv stations but has syfy listed under fun channels i think. all i did was hook the computer to the tv and watch the tvu player on full screen.

Heh! I was going to suggest that!

 

[Mapleleaf69]

Heh! I was going to suggest that!

he he he, sorry. well as they say" the early bird may get the worm but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese", lol
i'll let you have the next one, fair enough bud.

 

[stokesrg]

Thanks for your suggestions. I looked into the TVu Player. It looks cool. However, I use Linux. I have Wine-Doors installed for running Windows apps. But, it doesn't run properly. So it looks like I'll have to put a hold on that one. We're having some freezing temperatures here in MI; so I really don't feel like messing with my dish right now. Otherwise, I would go out, and pull the cover off it, so that I can get a photo or two of the LNB. Maybe in a few days!?!

Inno (or anyone-else) if you read this; can you briefly describe to me- or even direct me to some online info (if available) on how you slaved your units-

I use a Uniden Supra for my dish moving chores. It is slaved off of a DSR905 and a Pansat 3500SD for FTA

I'll research that as well.
Thanks Again

 

[Inno]

Well.........My Pansat has an input as well as an output for passing IF to the next receiver. So the Pansat gets the signal first, out of there into the DSR905, out of the DSR905 then to the input of the Supra. When the Pansat is turned off the 905 has control of polarity (I have an LNBF). The 905 is set up as a sidecar for an old analog receiver so there is a analog/digital button on the remote which switches me over to the old analog Supra for moving the dish.
It is basically a priority thing. When I want to watch the Pansat I simply turn it on. When I want the 905 I have to make sure the Pansat is turned off.

I also have Ku band dishes hooked up to the same coax cable through a diseqc switch and a 22khz switch which are controlled by the Pansat. As long as I select a satellite that does not require 22khz on the Pansat everything is good.......as soon as the Pansat is on a satellite that requires a 22khz tone, the rest of the system does not work.
It takes a bit of switching sometimes. Eventually I will set up another BUD just for FTA which will simplify things but for the time being I can get everything with a few button pushes.

For a more detailed explanation we'll wait until you have some of your basics put together and working.

Oh and as for the freezing, I put up a BUD last January in -30° weather..........

 

[GreatFTA]

I use a Uniden Ultra daily for dish moving duties and in combination with a 4DTV DSR905 sidecar receiver. It works great and is a nice analog receiver. It will operate a voltage controlled LNBF just fine. My favorite thing about that receiver is that I can custom name all the satellite positions in the memory the way I like them.

Corrado, I was wondering if the UNIDEN Ultra would operate a voltage controlled LNBF. I had a chance to get this receiver from a friend for $50. They were great IRDs in its day. And to customize the name of the satellites???
Priceless!
I will call him tomorrow and see if he would let me try it out!

 

[Inno]

My Supra does. Not sure if they are similar or not.
There may be a manual for the Ultra in the manuals section.

 

[Corrado]

If I remember correctly, I think the Ultra model was a Skyvision exclusive. They weren't very expensive back in the 90s as compared to some others with more features. It's just a nice simple receiver.