What am I getting myself into?????

[mattyb8562]

Hi all, I have been looking around at some fta systems and the more I read about different receivers lnb's lnfb's motors and several diSeqc versions the more I get confused and overwhelmed. There seems to be dozens of satellites out there with hundreds of channels that I may or may not get. I have not had pay cable or satellite for over a year now and really don't miss it between ota and hulu. I am just wanting to add more channels with no monthly fee plus I think it will be fun to see the feeds and TV from other country's.

I want to go with a motorized system to get as many channels as possible and am undecided on ku or c band or both and what equipment to buy. I have seen some inexpensive kits on eBay but am skeptical to buy something I don't know enough about how it works. I guess my questions are: do I need a separate receiver and dish to get c/ku or if it is a c/ku lnb and c/ku receivers it will pick up both? Does c band have enough channels to justify a big dish taking up a chunk of my yard? How hard will it be to set up a big dish? Am I better off just starting with a smaller ku dish as it looks easier for a first timer to set up. Does c or ku band offer any pay tv (beside directv or dish)?

Or better yet if someone will point me in the direction of a hd and digital cabable motorizeed system that will do the following get as many as possible of the channels available to north MS. c and ku on the same receiver and dish that will turn the dish when I change the channel to another satellite, ota tv input on the receiver would be great, blind scan to find feeds, dvr and multiple tuners are not important as I will add this to my htpc later on. Thanks for the help.

Matt
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[bobvick]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys! I can answer some of your questions the best that I can. You will only need one receiver, some of the best seem to be the AZBox, Openbox, and the up and coming Manhattan. You can go to lyngsat.com and look and see what is availble on C vs Ku. You will only be able to get what is in the clear, and not encrypted (scrambled) you can tell by the color coding on the chart at that site. A lot of what you can get depends on what size dish that you have, this is true whether you have a C/Ku system or a Ku only system. The bigger the dish, the better signals you will get. As far as anything subscription goes, you can still subscribe to a few channels on C-Band at 105W (AMC 18) they are provided through HITS, and sold by SkyVision and Satellite Receivers LTD. You will need a 4DTV or a DSR-410 if you want to subscribe. You can find out more about that at www.skyvision.com. I am looking at getting into FTA for a hobby myself, and I am trying to decide what I want. I see that you said you were in North Mississippi. I am in NW Alabama, about 60 miles east of Tupelo.

 

[stanleyjohn]

Welcome!! I was bitten by the FTA bug alittle over a year ago and haven't looked back.One receiver will work with both c and ku bands.If you want both c and ku you have two choices! Get two dishes!(a 36" motorized dish with a ku band LNB) and a 6 foot or larger motorized dish with a C band LNB) or you can get one 6 foot or greater motorized dish with a ku/c band LNB. Both c and ku both have a good amount of clear channels to choose from!so if you want to maximize what you can get with minimal effort i would get a motorized 6 footer or greater with a ku/c band LNB.If you worry about putting up too large a dish! a 6 footer will get you most of what can watch from a satellite.I myself have a 6 footer with a DMX741 (ku/c LNB) and get greater than 80% of what the satellites have to offer.Along with the dish,LNB and receiver you will need a actuator (motor for 6 ft dish or greater) and a v box/g box to drive the actuator to the satellite you want to see from.Hope this helps! Stan

 

[GenBap]

Matt, I started into FTA this summer for the very reasons you stated. I was getting my TV via Hulu and Netflix which has much to offer, but wanted at times just to have the TV on. My experience thus far is to find a 10' dish that somebody is wanting to get rid of in the nearby area and a c/ku band LNB. Follow the directions you will find here closely to set it up. I use the inexpensive Openbox S9 but still would prefer to get my dish through my home theater PC (still working on that part of it). I receive 157 English channels that I watch on a regular basis (favorites list) that includes everything from hunting to sports to PBS to network TV. All free and legal. Finding feeds are great and the 100's of international channels has much of interest to offer. Fun hobby and really worthwhile. All in all it went better than I expected. I would say that if you can go with Cband, it is worth it.

 

[mattyb8562]

Thanks for all the answers guys! I think you have clarified all of my questions. Hey Bobvick I live in Tupelo I'll let you know when I'm ready to install you can come give me a hand lol j/k....Stanleyjohn I think I'll take choice 2, one big dish for both c and ku. thanks for clarifying what my options are. GenBap let me know how it works out with your home theater pc thats what I want to do as mine already is set up for my ota tv with the epg dvr bluray hulu and all the online content I can find. Anyone know of any hauppauge cards that work with dvb?

What do you guys think of this setup on eBay? As I said I'm not worried to much about the receiver that will be temporary until I upgrade my htpc.

cgi.ebay.com/Complete-6ft-Dish-Sys-Actuator-V-Box-FTA-Pole-Mount-/260814112355?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cb9bb8663

Thanks again

Matt

 

[Anole]

That appears to be a dealer for WSI/Galaxy selling product out of Arizona.
You can look for more info on the products by searching the web site of our gold sponsor (see top of any page; click the WSI or Galaxy Marketing logo).

We have reviews and discussions on that light weight dish, the motor, and the LNBF.
Some have cursed it; some have made silk purses out of it.
I don't think anyone has tried the receiver, but it's standard def (DVB S) only.

If you're going to get in bed with C-band, I'd recommend a bigger dish to start with.
The dual-band LNBF isn't the most suitable on small sized BUDs.

It is an entry-level system for cheap, though.

Required reading for anyone setting up the 6' WSI/Galaxy dish:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/248617-finally-17.html#post2514175

 

[Lone Gunman]

As was already mentioned, I'd take a weekend day and ride around out in the country to see if you can find a 10 footer that's not being used as with Cband, bigger is always better. There's still some around and more often than not ppl will give them to you just to get them out of their yard. I've gotten a few like that and there isn't anything better than free.

As far as receivers go, I've got 4 with the most recent one purchased being an Openbox S9 and I like that one a lot. Those can be had for cheap and they will do S2 but not 4.2.2, which isn't a major issue since it's my understanding that it's going away at some point in the future anyway.

Those DMX-741S LNBFs will fit right into a scaler ring that was used on the older Cband dishes as I've used two of those in the old Chaparral scaler rings with just a little file work on the numbers on the side of the DMX.

So if you like to tinker with this kind of stuff, and it sounds like you do, then jump on in with us as I'm sure you'll have fun with it and get free TV to boot!

 

[mattyb8562]

I do like to tinker. My last project was an 8bay ota antenna i built. It was fun and works great. I'm getting about 18 channels a couple as far as 90 miles away (on a clear night).

I think I will take the advice and look for a old c band dish. I have seen a few on my road that are not being used. It just seems like a HUGE project to get a big dish installed and set up. I'm always up for a challenge but I kind of feel that might be something I need to work up to. What I am thinking now is grabing a decent motorized ku system with a 5' or 6' dish get that up and running mean while I can take my time getting a hold of a c band dish and add that on when I can.

 

[Tron]

What I am thinking now is grabing a decent motorized ku system with a 5' or 6' dish get that up and running mean while I can take my time getting a hold of a c band dish and add that on when I can.

That is the best thing for you to do. Get a nice Ku-Band dish (1.2 meter dishes are around 4 feet, and you could go smaller if you want), and get your feet wet. Meanwhile, you can search for a good C-Band dish.

Another benefit from having both dishes is that Ku-Band on a C-Band dish isn't always ideal. It usually involves a trade-off in signal quality for both bands, since the dual-band LNBs have to be tweaked quite a bit.

 

[RT-Cat]

I am just wanting to add more channels with no monthly fee plus I think it will be fun to see the feeds and TV from other country's.

I see others have given you a great amount of info here. Great, you will find many here that know very much about sat TV. One part of your post you should think about, many, many, many, and many more of the channels from other countries are not in English. From your listed location, I would guess that is what you speak. Unless you DO speak many other languages, those channels are just, well, junk. Pictures with words you cannot understand do not give me much entertainment. Maybe they will for you.

RT.

 

[mattyb8562]

I assumed there would be channels in several languages I also assume there will be channels from other English speaking countries. I just meant that it will be interesting to see current events and what not from another countries perspective instead of what we see on tv here in the states. I'm not going to sit around and watch re runs of mash in Chinese or anything

So I was walking around my yard yesterday trying determine the best location for my dish (when I get my hands on one) using my android phone with the dish pointer app. Looks like the best spot will be on my roof if I want to get the whole arc. I'm guessing that will be ok with a smaller dish but probably not a option when I get a big dish. I have tall trees blocking some of the eastern satellites that are lower on the horizon when I check from the ground. Time to get the chain saw out !

Anole thanks for the link after reading through I have a pretty good understanding of how to get started and in dee's thread there is some very good instruction on pointing the dish and getting lined up on the arc. I feel more comfortable getting into this. I also read through the faq section on this forum. I probably should have read that first as it covers pretty much everything you would need to know about fta satellite. Thanks for the advice everyone

 

[Anole]

....I think I will take the advice and look for a old c band dish.
I have seen a few on my road that are not being used.
It just seems like a HUGE project to get a big dish installed and set up.

Big projects break down into several small (bite-sized) projects, each of which is easy to understand.

For your first experiment into FTA, I strongly suggest having the Ku dish in your back yard.
Learning how to adjust it is hard enough (the first time).
Not something you want to take to the roof without previous experience.

Some foreign language channels may have news in English.
Seeing world news from their perspective versus US sources, is very telling.
Also, if you can see the bird at 30° west (you should), late at night the Cuban channel has new American movies in English, with Spanish subtitles turned on.

As for my link into Dee's thread, that was just so you would read my one post, and its link to Dougruss's actual setup info on the 6' dish.
(and hopefully scare you away)
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/228237-6-foot-dish-install.html
Dee had a hell of a time (being new to BUDs) with her 6' dish.
And note she decided that bigger is better, as well.

Hopefully you did notice her little Ku-dish farm.
That's great work for a recent beginner, who happened to have a garage full of top-of-the-line dishes. - :up

 

[RT-Cat]

I assumed there would be channels in several languages I also assume there will be channels from other English speaking countries. I just meant that it will be interesting to see current events and what not from another countries perspective instead of what we see on tv here in the states. I'm not going to sit around and watch re runs of mash in Chinese or anything

Some foreign language channels may have news in English.
Seeing world news from their perspective versus US sources, is very telling.
Also, if you can see the bird at 30° west (you should), late at night the Cuban channel has new American movies in English, with Spanish subtitles turned on.

RT.

 

[mattyb8562]

I'm shopping around and have a couple of quick questions. Is getting a dual output Circular and Linear LNBF important or will i get all the satellites I need with just linear? What is the smallest recommended dish size for ku to get an acceptable signal? I'm looking at a 30" fortec (they also have a 39") dish with a Invacom QPH-031 LNBF. Any thoughts a the SG2100 motor?
Thanks,

Matt

 

[Bongu]

There isnt too much useful stuff on the circular birds. If you like color bars and tone, then i guess it might be ok. Linear is where the majority of the Ku and C band FTA stuff is at. The circular is pretty much non FTA stuff with very few exceptions. I do use a dual circular-dual linear Invacom LNBF and the Circular connections go unused.

 

[Tron]

Occasionally there are channels on circular birds that are temporarily in the clear, so that would be one good use of the Invacom QPH LNB. However, you shouldn't count on these channels being there when you want to see them. They are usually here one day and gone the next. I can be fun hunting for them, though ...

 

[Bongu]

I'm shopping around and have a couple of quick questions. Is getting a dual output Circular and Linear LNBF important or will i get all the satellites I need with just linear? What is the smallest recommended dish size for ku to get an acceptable signal? I'm looking at a 30" fortec (they also have a 39") dish with a Invacom QPH-031 LNBF. Any thoughts a the SG2100 motor?
Thanks,

Matt

I would recommend that you go with the 36 inch or the or 1.2m from GEOSAT instead of a fortec. I think the invacom is a good lnb for any Ku dish setup.

Sent from my Timex Sinclair using SatelliteGuys

 

[mattyb8562]

OK I'm about to order my equipment. If anyone has any advice or feed back on my choices please let me know. 90cm Geosatpro dish, Invacom QPH 31 lnb, SG2100 motor, and the Openbox S9 receiver. Thanks

 

[SatelliteAV]

OK I'm about to order my equipment. If anyone has any advice or feed back on my choices please let me know.

Sounds like you will have a great system. Good choices!

 

[Anole]

OK I'm about to order my equipment.
If anyone has any advice or feed back on my choices please let me know.
90cm Geosatpro dish, Invacom QPH 31 lnb, SG2100 motor, and the Openbox S9 receiver.

- 90cm GeoSatPro dish : good choice; known quantity, can't go wrong
- QPH-031 : excellent; maybe overkill ; probably high priced ; make sure you get REAL Invacom, not some clone!
- OpenBox receiver S9 : gets you S2 ; can't fault your choice
- SG2100 motor : everybody and their brother slaps that name on their motor ; 2100's are a crap-shoot these days ; maybe read more reviews or just take a chance.

Just wish all the above had been available when I first got into the hobby.
I'd say you're off to a great start. - :up