what receiver to use with Primestar dish

[jscud]

Complete FTA newbie question: I am overwhelmed with the choices.....What Ku receiver would you recommend to use with a Primestar 40x30 dish?

 

[turbosat]

Depends on what you want to spend. There's a number of good standard def receivers, you should be sure you get one with blind-scan feature, most of them have that these days. A lot of us have several, start out with one, try another for different features. They're a lot like computers, after awhile you want to upgrade, newer boxes sometimes will have improvements you really want to try, etc. So far there's not a lot of full-time HD on KU band, which your primestar/channel master dish is, so I won't try to recommend an HD receiver. A lot depends on what you want to see, you'll find some wildfeeds, newsfeeds and some sports events in HD, but I'd say start out simple, get yourself familiar with fta first. The next thing you'll want is a motor, so you can move around to the different satellites, and sample everything. Look at our review section to read about users experiences with some of the fta receivers out there. If you can land a Coolsat 5000 they're probably one of the most popular, but they're not made any more. ebay, craigslist has them from time to time, if you trust shopping that way. Fortec Mercury 2 , Traxis 3500 are a couple of other simple boxes that do a good job blind-scanning. There will be lots of opinions, like car-shopping!
EDIT: Now, for my personal opinion, the best one I've found is the one I'm using most>Icon S550 (brother of the Satopia, same receiver). I own the others I mentioned above, but the Icon is the best all around SD receiver I have found. FAstest scanning, super-sensitive tuner, and will display most any channel it finds.

 

[jscud]

Thanks, that is very helpful. I was going to try for an HD receiver but now I think I will wait.

 

[Wescopc]

I would recommend the DSR 200c from SatelliteAV (Gold Sponsor above) as a great receiver - well supported!
Bob

 

[gremlin411]

I am using a Coolsat 5000 with a motex SG2100 motor and a Azbox with the same dish.

 

[Pixl]

I would recommend the DSR 200c from SatelliteAV (Gold Sponsor above) as a great receiver - well supported!
Bob

I'd go with this too. For a few dollars more you can buy the GeoSatPro 1100c, pretty much the same as the 200c, but has PVR recording support, just add a USB hard drive. Great receiver,and yes good support.

Jim

 

[jscud]

Yesterday my 'new' Coolsat 5000 arrived. Hooray!!

Today I hooked it up to an old Dish 500 pointed at 110/119. It worked, although not much on there in the way of FTA. I did find three Sirius/XM channels that Dish is sending down unscrambled, that's cool.

Next I set up a Primestar Dish a temporary tripod. I tried to find AMC 21. No luck there, but I was able to find AMC 3 and Anik F1r.

I did notice that the names in the Satellite database in the Settings Menu is up to date. AMC 21 was not listed. How do I up date that list? Is it a BIN file that I need to download. If so where can I find one?

 

[Mr Tony]

Here is the loader and my "master" list of KU sats from 30W to 129W and then C-Band after that. Some of the names may be outdated (G10 rings a bell) but its there

Use a RS232 cable. UNzip files and open loader
select "channels" tab at the top
click browse and find the "master" file
hit start

it will update the whole list

edit: updated the list...newer names

 

[jscud]

Thanks Iceberg! That did the trick. I see CoolSat Pro loader also updates the firmware. My CS 5000 Platinum is running Version 0.06. What is the latest version?

 

[Mr Tony]

yeah thats the newest "3rd party approved software" out there. Its 3rd party stuff but its factory software so a bunch of us use it

 

[Mikey11]

I tried to find AMC 21. No luck there,

i dont think you can get anything from amc21 with your receiver...all channels there are DVB-S2 and/or HD....your coolie wont get either of them....

 

[thebaggins]

Not True 12180V30000 is SD but you will need something to decode the AC3 audio

 

[Mr Tony]

i dont think you can get anything from amc21 with your receiver...all channels there are DVB-S2 and/or HD....your coolie wont get either of them....

BUZZ...wrong answer

lets see...there are 7 TP's that are DVB
12140 V 30000...HD but the Coolsat will log them
12180 V 30000...AC-3 audio but thats fine
12150 H 14028...HD but the Coolsat will log them
12162 H 4444
12169 H 4444
12175 H 4444
12095 V 4340...will show signal but will log as radio as its MPEG4

I have my Coolsat 5000 on 125W a lot. The PBS subchannels work fine (just need something to play the AC-3 audio) and use the azbox slaved for the HD stuff

as long as its DVB the CS5000 will grab it...doesnt matter if its AC-3 audio, 4:2:2 or HD. Heck even MPEG4 will show signal on the meter but will log as radio channel (as there is no VPID for it)

 

[jscud]

My experimentation with the Primestar Dish continues. After I physically aim the dish using a small satellite meter I go inside to set up the Dish Settings in the Coolsat Menu. There I can see the signal strength but the satellite name is not displayed. The only way that I can identify which bird I am actually looking at is to do a blind scan to find stations and use the station list to identify the satellite. Is there an easier way?

BTW the exception to this are the DN satellites at 110 and 119 using the Dish 500. Those satellite names pop up on the Coolsat screen. Why don't the satellites found with the Primestar dish do that?

 

[turbosat]

I think that has to do with the satellite "beacon" freq, I have some fta receivers that will display the sat name like that, and others that won't. One box I had that was very good for that was a Viewsat Ultra (it died). In the satellite setup screen it would usually show the correct satellite name if you were aimed at the satellite and looking at an active frequency on it. I think a Mercury 2 would do that also, but if your receiver doesn't, you may just have to memorize some of the active frequencies on some satellites. Believe me, once you start blind-scanning, you'll begin to remember some of them. Just an FYI, it is much easier to aim a dish with a receiver out by your dish, if that's possible in winter weather. I have 150' of power cord just for that reason.

 

[jscud]

Just an FYI, it is much easier to aim a dish with a receiver out by your dish, if that's possible in winter weather. I have 150' of power cord just for that reason.

If it were not for the foot of snow on the ground I would bring the receiver outside. In the past I have used a monitor & receiver connected to a battery & power inverter loaded into a wheelbarrow for remote dish adjustments.

I was just wondering why the Coolsat displayed satellite names for Echostar satellites and no others.

 

[Mikey11]

Not True 12180V30000 is SD but you will need something to decode the AC3 audio

well what i meant was.....he can not watch AND hear any channels on that satellite with his receiver.....

 

[Cadsulfide]

You can diplex the tv signal out to the dish, I used to do that until I ran a Pile 'O' wires out to the array...