What to do next: receiver, LNB, Dish, what?

[mastermesh]

I got my arm reinforced a little. I have a winegard 76 cm. I reinforced the lnb that has the invacom qph on it by putting some rolled up electric tape both under the part of the dish where the arm's bottom is connected to the sg2100's pole and also under where the lnb is attached... between the arm and the lnb. Also did a lot of bolt adjusting to get it just right. I've not had any problems thus far, with my new motor. The old motor, which burned out, I think burned out because I kept adjusting things too darn much. I think I've got this one set, and shouldn't have to fiddle with it for a long while. Also, my plumbness on the pole was a little off so I put a screw in the roof just above and to the side of the dish, and ran some copper wire from there to the pole to move it more in to plumb just a bit - that helped quite a bit.

I was gonna try to put a universal on the side but decided against it since the thing is good as is, and if it ain't broke I don't need to mess with it because I have a midas touch that causes things of this nature to break. Several years ago, I tried installing some pci cards in my wife's (then girlfriend's) computer - it busted - think the main power source got screwed up some how. Luckily we got her another pc a litte before that... I was fiddling with that long coax run over the weekend, and busted the coax port off one of the vcrs - think I've got it connected again, but haven't tried it yet... before I got the winegard, I busted one bolt on an old dish network dish and busted the main elevation bolt off of a primestar... I don't need to screw things up if they are working now.

 

[iafirebuff]

OK, you know, I am looking for tinkering material....... The Coolsat receivers sound like they scan fast. I like that they have a signal and a quality meter - my Fortec doesnt. So, any recommendations on which Coolsat and where is a good place to buy them? It might be nice to have 2 receivers again

 

[SatelliteAV]

We have a few silver Coolsat 5000 receivers left that we will sell at the SatelliteGuys.us Powerbuy price of $90.

These were receivers that were held for a SatelliteGuys purchase that fell through. Their loss .... your gain!

 

[Mr Tony]

Larry
The quality meter is deceiving. 63 minimum and depending on the software in it 85 max (version 1.00) or 99 (1.01). Most signal will be around 73-76 (on the 85 scale). The Fortec does have a better meter (IMO). The Coolsat does scan faster than most models I've seen

 

[iafirebuff]

Interesting! I am noticing some tp's are giving me 93% now with the motor

But as for blind scan... the Fortec is not too bad, much better than the Neusat. Was looking for something maybe a little faster.

So far I have this for my possible upgrades:

- 90 cm dish
- Coolsat or other "upgrade" receiver
- Invacom LNB of some sorts

 

[taelon721]

I was one of the many people around here that by a Coolsat 5000 from SatelliteAV a few weeks ago. I am really impressed with them. The receiver, but more importantly the way SatelliteAV conducts business. To me, they seem to treat customers the same way they want to be treated.

 

[gabshere]

larry ,
it (CS 5K)was my first DVB but i liked it so much i got a second one from another member here and i will echo the above SatelliteAV was the best to offer up such a deal and absolutly no problems , shipping or otherwise. But now that your in tinkering mode , you might be like me. No HD and i thought i my next venture might be the something thats able to do HD & maybe PVR , so when my funds get right i will probably get a DVB World USB and tinker with something like that... since i don't have much in the way of HD. well its just a thought

 

[techno935]

Very happy with my CS 4000. They are good buys for first timers. The only thing with the CS 4000 meters, is that they NEVER reach 100% on the quality meters. Must be a lack of calibration or what not.

Signals lock well when they hit at least 70 on quality. Again, very nice system for start up.

BTW, I posted something about certain satellites synching the clock on the receivers. NASA Tv ends up synching the clock pretty well cause I pick it up off 119 which is the E* bird. There must be some time code on 119 that the receivers read rather well.

Same goes for the EPG. Only active with E* birds.

 

[GaryPen]

gabshere- You're lucky to find such a kind-hearted and generous satguys member who would give you such a great deal on his CS5K.

firebug- The CS5K is nice. And, SatelliteAV is GREAT. The price of $90 can't be beat. If you're looking for a really fast scan (much faster than the CS), but a more cumbersome implimentation of USALS and a higher price tag ($159 shipped), the SonicView SV-1000 is very nice. (I want to write a Satguys review of it. But, I don't have access to post to the review forum.)

 

[Mr Tony]

the SonicView SV-1000 is very nice. (I want to write a Satguys review of it. But, I don't have access to post to the review forum.)

Gary
The review area is blocked for new threads due to all the general posts we had that would have to be moved. You are more than welcome to do a review and post it in the main area and we will be happy to move it to the review area (and people can respond)
(we've done that with a few reviews)

 

[iafirebuff]

Sounds like a great receiver and a great place to buy from. Thanks all!

 

[ghia]

Larry
The quality meter is deceiving. 63 minimum and depending on the software in it 85 max (version 1.00) or 99 (1.01). Most signal will be around 73-76 (on the 85 scale). The Fortec does have a better meter (IMO). The Coolsat does scan faster than most models I've seen

I have the 1.01 version. Generally speaking 63 is the minimum but on occasion I've seen 61, 62% pull in a signal. Anything above 63 to 70% seems to lock good without breakup So on mine 61% is minimum it then goes to 70% from 70% it jumps to 87% the highest I've seen is 97%. (IE: Ive never seen a signal quality in the range of 71 to 86%)

Other than the funky meter I really like the Coolsat 5000. It's what I'm using now. It scans a bit slower than the Traxis 3500 but it has more scanning options. I got mine from SatelliteAV during the powerbuy as well. They shipped it real quick.

 

[gabshere]

the one thing i don't care for on the CS5K is when surfing channels if i flip between some and they are located on different sats if automatically goes there. this is just a personal thing but i would rather like to tell it go to the satellite. cause sometimes i don't want to leave the satellite i'm on.

maybe theres a different way to list and store them and its something i will have to find out when playing with the remote and setting up my favorites

 

[iafirebuff]

Now I have seen lots of peeps talk about the Traxis 3500........

 

[gabshere]

maybe we can demo & review some of them hmmm where do we put our names in the hat at ... lol lol

 

[iafirebuff]

Good Idea!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GaryPen]

The Traxis doesn't have component outputs, which was a deal-breaker for me.

 

[iafirebuff]

I have my FTA hooked up via S-Video. I only have 1 set of comp on my tv, and that has the 622

 

[GaryPen]

Braggart!

 

[iafirebuff]