Which Satellite Should I Point At?

[Andrew K]

Hi everyone, I live in Ohio, and I'm considering setting up a stationary C-band dish. I have a spot that has a clear view from 30W to around 90W, and I'm primarily interested in Spanish language programming.

Does anyone know of a good dish I can purchase and have shipped? Does anyone know what the best satellite is that fits my criteria? I heard 40.5W may have a lot of channels, but can someone verify this? Or is there a better one?

 

[Titanium]

If you want a good selection of programming, go motorized C-band. There hundreds of Spanish language channels between 40w and 116.8W

Check out Ebay and Amazon for economical new 8, 10 or 12' polar mount dishes. There are also several sources for commercial quality dishes starting at (on the the low end) for about $1000. plus shipping If you decide that you want a polar mount type dish to be fixed, install a bar instead of a motor.

 

[Andrew K]

I don't want a motorized C-band dish right now. Perhaps in the future, but for now, I just want something that is simple to setup and not prone to problems. From my research, 40.5W seems to have a lot of Spanish programming... most of which is DVB-S2. So I'm curious if anyone has a dish pointed at 40.5W and is getting a lot of channels. I'm also wondering what the minimum size dish I could use to pick up the most channels. My location is Ohio. All I want to do is mount the dish and forget about it.

 

[DJdish]

If I were to point a fixed C band dish, I would aim at 58w, mainly for the international news, and docs, NHK World, France 24, Deutsche Welle.
CCTV News and CCTV 9 Doc is there, Arirang World, among other channels I remember.

http://www.lyngsat.com/Intelsat-21.html

 

[FaT Air]

Gotta agree, get a BUD on a polar mount, and set it up tracking the arc. Then instead of an actuator, some form of locking bar to 'fix' it on a single satellite(If you 'settle' on just one on C band)
Got to say 116W would be a good choice if you can 'swing' it.
Keep an eye on the thread for a good 8 to 10ft. Bigger is better
Kijiji, eBay, and Craigslist dishes for you to take a look at

 

[Andrew K]

My goal is to maximize the number of Spanish language channels I can receive. I am trying to learn the Spanish language. So SES-6 at 40.5W seems like the one I want to go for. I don't care about any English language channels like what most people in this forum care about. Right now, it's looking like a 6' dish isn't going to be adequate for this satellite. I may have to go bigger. From what I was reading in another thread, a 7.5' dish may be adequate... but the problem is where to get one. I don't have a truck to pick one up locally, so perhaps ordering one online may be best... one that comes in pieces that can be assembled.

 

[DJdish]

116w mentioned above has a good number of channels En Español from Mexico, Central America, Caribbean and South America,

 

[KE4EST]

So no way at all to get further west of 90?

 

[iBoston]

You might consider KU band. There are many spanish channels at 30w. and its easy to do motorized with KU and there are another smattering of spanish channels in the arc.

 

[Titanium]

30w KU? I'm looking at the footprints and I only see a few Spanish language channels in the North America footprint.

Have you checked out Amazon or Ebay for the new c-band mesh dish that I previously mentioned?

 

[iBoston]

30W KU

The spanish channels i just ran through...

1. Cubavision
2. Educativo
3. Educativo 2
4. Cubavision International
5. TVGA
6. Canal Vasco
7. Hipasat Feed
8. Bethel TV
9. RBC
10 Hispan TV (HD)

 

[jorgek]

I would also recommend 30w. Its a lot quicker, easier and cheaper to setup a fixed 33" KU band dish.
In addition to the 10 channels posted in the last post, these in Spanish are also available.

C11-Salta
Canal Luz HD
Contribucion
Cubavision International
Feeds Ts
TV Argentina
TVGA
Marti TV
CH1 Unitel Test

 

[. Raine]

What is stopping you from going beyond 90W, trees, hills? 97W on C band has a few decent Spanish stations.

 

[Andrew K]

Wow, I checked Lyngsat, and it looks like Satmex at 116.8W has a lot of Spanish channels. My primary concern about pointing a dish here is that I have issues with a few trees in my yard. Thankfully I have the handy app that shows where the satellites are located when I point my smartphone at the sky. Is anyone else viewing C-band on 116.8W? Satbeams says I need a 170 cm dish at my location here in Ohio. That's only about 5.5', so that wouldn't be bad at all. Can anyone confirm with a 6' dish what can be received?

 

[Lak7]

That is a little misleading and does not mean you would be able to receive any channels.
Go big - go 10 foot.

 

[Titanium]

What can be received on a 6 foot dish will vary from location to location. You will receive many answers, but they won't likely apply to you and your equipment. It is dependent on the dish build quality, the type of feedhorn/LNB(f), length and quality of coax, sensitivity of receiver, local terrestrial interference, footprint of adjacent satellites for your area, etc. You could get great results from one location and bad results from a different location. Why?

The problem with the question, what is the smallest dish I can use is that the size of the reflector suggested by these footprint map sites have nothing to do with reality! These maps dish size prediction is based on an assumption that you are wishing to receive a full bandwidth transponder, operated at full power under optimum conditions.

Could you use the smaller reflector to receive a full transponder operating at full power with low FEC? Yes, but it isn't only about how much signal is collected by the surface area.

Anything smaller than an 8 foot reflector on C-band and the beam width is too wide and it will pick-up signals from nearby satellites. This will introduce interference that will degrade the reception. Most transponders do not use the full bandwidth. Most transponders are not operated at full power. Most transponders do not transmit at low FEC. Many channels are transitioning to DVBS2 format which requires a larger dish for reliable reception.

Buy a 8' or larger dish. It will provide reliable reception on most of the available channels. Buy a smaller dish and your results will vary.

 

[Andrew K]

Oooh, getting a 10' dish may not be a good idea for me. That's really massive. I think that may get too much attention from my neighbors and wife. I think I could get away with a 6' or 7', and I have an ideal spot for it where I think it will be less noticeable. But I'm also concerned that a 6' or 7' dish may be too small to receive anything. That's why I'm wondering if anyone else in this forum has a 6' or 7' dish and can explain what they're receiving.

By the way, I already have a stationary dish pointed at 30W to receive a bunch of Spanish channels, and I love it!! But I want more!!

 

[Andrew K]

Maybe, just MAYBE, an 8' dish would be a possibility. I saw a 240 cm dish I could purchase online and have it shipped. That would be a 7.87' dish. It is a solid dish, not mesh.

 

[77TA]

While I agree with Titanium that 8ft or larger is a better choice, I get good results on 113W with a 6ft dish in Arkansas. At my location 113W is far easier to receive than 116W and has many Spanish speaking channels. Examples that I currently am pulling in with my 6ft dish include:

proyecto40
Cadenatres
TDT
GPO Imagen
Excelsior
RTN
Teleformula
Canal Trece
RCG Saltillo
Azteca 07
Azteca 13
AZA East
AZA West
Azt Noticias
Azte Novelas
Azt Deportes
Azteca Mix
Vibra Tv
OCHO Tv
Cablecom
Green Tv
Red Noacional Megacanal
AGS Tv
UdeGTV C44
RTV Hidalgo
Conoce Mexico
Puebla Tv
TV NL
TVMas
Telemar

 

[northgeorgia]

113W has mostly Mexican stations, and consist of a lot of local/regional channels instead of national networks. I love the programming! Although I don't have a C-band dish, I can receive around 10 of them when I put a C-band lnbf on my 90 inch dish. If a 90 inch dish can get a few channels, I feel pretty certain a 6-foot dish would get almost all of them on 113W. When I finally get around to putting up a C-band dish, I feel confident it will stay on 113W most of the time.

From: a Spanish teacher.