Newbie Needs Advice

Discussion:

Newbie Needs Advice

(too old to reply)

Alex

2008-01-11 19:41:48 UTC

I just read an interesting article on FTA TV in the winter issue of 2600
magazine. I'm considering setting up a system as soon as I do a little more
research.

My first concern is if I can "see" the important satellites from my back
yard and what are their names? I have a good south view but I may have to
install the dish on my roof because of a tree. Does this complicate things?

Appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for the LNB, receiver, dish,
etc. I've looked at several vendors but don't want to get ripped off since I
have no experience in this area. Not looking for "top of the line" until I
learn more about about wht is out there.

Many thanks.

Jim

Patrick C

2008-01-12 11:10:06 UTC

Permalink

We went with Dish Network. They installed the dish on the roof too due to
trees (older neighborhood). We particularly liked their 522 DVR as it had
two outputs one to feed the main TV and the other feeds the other TVs in the
house thru the house cable wiring. They control the second output with a
unique uhf remote that works thru walls, more of which can be bought on
Ebay. Since then they came out with newer DVRs a 625 and a VIP722 which is
for high def. For a while they were the leader in quantity of hd channels
but for now Direct took the lead but they are planning more channels this
year.

Post by Alex
I just read an interesting article on FTA TV in the winter issue of 2600
magazine. I'm considering setting up a system as soon as I do a little more
research.
My first concern is if I can "see" the important satellites from my back
yard and what are their names? I have a good south view but I may have to
install the dish on my roof because of a tree. Does this complicate things?
Appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for the LNB, receiver, dish,
etc. I've looked at several vendors but don't want to get ripped off since
I have no experience in this area. Not looking for "top of the line" until
I learn more about about wht is out there.
Many thanks.
Jim

Roger Buttsnort

2008-01-12 19:42:31 UTC

Permalink

We went with Dish Network. BLAH BLAH BLAH.....

Patrick..you are CLUELESS!!!!!

Alex.....

look at www.f2atv.com
or www.al7bar.tk

You will find the answers your seeking there.

Post by Alex
I just read an interesting article on FTA TV in the winter issue of 2600
magazine. I'm considering setting up a system as soon as I do a little
more research.
My first concern is if I can "see" the important satellites from my back
yard and what are their names? I have a good south view but I may have to
install the dish on my roof because of a tree. Does this complicate things?
Appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for the LNB, receiver,
dish, etc. I've looked at several vendors but don't want to get ripped
off since I have no experience in this area. Not looking for "top of the
line" until I learn more about about wht is out there.
Many thanks.
Jim

Alex

2008-01-12 22:04:29 UTC

Permalink

Thanks Roger, I don't believe Patrick understood what I was asking!!

Post by Roger Buttsnort

We went with Dish Network. BLAH BLAH BLAH.....

Patrick..you are CLUELESS!!!!!
Alex.....
look at www.f2atv.com
or www.al7bar.tk
You will find the answers your seeking there.

Post by Alex
I just read an interesting article on FTA TV in the winter issue of 2600
magazine. I'm considering setting up a system as soon as I do a little
more research.
My first concern is if I can "see" the important satellites from my back
yard and what are their names? I have a good south view but I may have
to install the dish on my roof because of a tree. Does this complicate
things?
Appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for the LNB, receiver,
dish, etc. I've looked at several vendors but don't want to get ripped
off since I have no experience in this area. Not looking for "top of the
line" until I learn more about about wht is out there.
Many thanks.
Jim

alt

2008-01-17 23:10:08 UTC

Permalink

Post by Alex
Appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for the LNB, receiver,
dish, etc. I've looked at several vendors but don't want to get ripped
off since I have no experience in this area. Not looking for "top of the
line" until I learn more about about wht is out there.

For a dish you'll want either an 8' or 10' dish with either something
like a Chapparal Co-rotator (with one C-band and one Ku-band LNBF) or a
BSC-621 C/Ku band LNBF. If you get a co-rotator you'll either need a
22kHz switch or a Diseqc switch (I recommend the 22kHz switch as it'll
work transparently with the v-box and the DSR-922 mentioned below) so you
can select between C and Ku. BUDs (Big Ugly Dishes) can often be found
unused in someone's backyard (I have acquired 2 of these for $100 total).

For a receiver, you'll definitely want an inexpensive DVB receiver
(commonly called an FTA receiver). I personally like the Pansat 2700A as
it can drive a co-rotator's polarity servo directly. If you get the
BSC-621, then this will not be an issue as the BSC-621 uses voltage
control to select polarity.

Should you wish to view for-pay programming, get a Motorola DSR-922. The
922 is an expensive piece of gear (they run for about $500+) but it's
well worth it as it is the only piece of gear that will receive 4DTV
(there are older models such as the DSR-920 and the DSR-905 that will
also work, but you cannot buy them new).

If you don't get the DSR-920, then you'll need a v-box which will receive
a Diseqc motor command from the DVB receiver and drive the actuator (the
922 can do that on its own).

There are also a lot of used analog receivers out there. Don't pay too
much as analog is on its way out (there are maybe a dozen analog channels
left with fewer than half that being "in the clear").

There are a lot of "important" satellites out there. In my research, I
have found that the satellites between 97W and 137W yield the bulk of the
programming. (I say research because I'm in the process of building a
mount for my C-band dish. I rent and don't want to pour concrete or
otherwise mess with the landscape. I currently have a 36" Ku-band dish on
an SG-2100 motor)

Good luck and I hope you find the hobby as enjoyable as I do!

Alex

2008-01-19 12:30:25 UTC

Permalink

Thank you for the info. Probably not interested in C-band since it requires
such a large dish.

Post by alt

For a dish you'll want either an 8' or 10' dish with either something
like a Chapparal Co-rotator (with one C-band and one Ku-band LNBF) or a
BSC-621 C/Ku band LNBF. If you get a co-rotator you'll either need a
22kHz switch or a Diseqc switch (I recommend the 22kHz switch as it'll
work transparently with the v-box and the DSR-922 mentioned below) so you
can select between C and Ku. BUDs (Big Ugly Dishes) can often be found
unused in someone's backyard (I have acquired 2 of these for $100 total).
For a receiver, you'll definitely want an inexpensive DVB receiver
(commonly called an FTA receiver). I personally like the Pansat 2700A as
it can drive a co-rotator's polarity servo directly. If you get the
BSC-621, then this will not be an issue as the BSC-621 uses voltage
control to select polarity.
Should you wish to view for-pay programming, get a Motorola DSR-922. The
922 is an expensive piece of gear (they run for about $500+) but it's
well worth it as it is the only piece of gear that will receive 4DTV
(there are older models such as the DSR-920 and the DSR-905 that will
also work, but you cannot buy them new).
If you don't get the DSR-920, then you'll need a v-box which will receive
a Diseqc motor command from the DVB receiver and drive the actuator (the
922 can do that on its own).
There are also a lot of used analog receivers out there. Don't pay too
much as analog is on its way out (there are maybe a dozen analog channels
left with fewer than half that being "in the clear").
There are a lot of "important" satellites out there. In my research, I
have found that the satellites between 97W and 137W yield the bulk of the
programming. (I say research because I'm in the process of building a
mount for my C-band dish. I rent and don't want to pour concrete or
otherwise mess with the landscape. I currently have a 36" Ku-band dish on
an SG-2100 motor)
Good luck and I hope you find the hobby as enjoyable as I do!

alt

2008-01-20 21:05:01 UTC

Permalink

Post by Alex
Thank you for the info. Probably not interested in C-band since it
requires such a large dish.

well, there are a couple of other ways to go then.

If you want to look at FTA on Ku only, then I recommend the following:

minimum 36" dish (if you can swing it, try a 1.2m. I'll explain below).

Invacom Quad LNBF (This will receive Linear from 11.7-12.2MHz and
Circular from 12.2-12.7MHz)

SG-2100 or equivalent H-H motor (will support dishes up to 1.2m)

FTA Receiver that supports Diseqc Motor control, or preferably USALS
(most do)

22kHz tone switch (for switching from linear FTA to circular DBS on the
LNBF)

Quad shielded RG6 preferably with a solid copper centre conductor (I've
had no problems with a copper clad steel centre conductor myself for this
application, but others swear by it).

The above parts will give you a Ku system capable of scanning from
Horizon to Horizon as well as receive the very few unencrypted channels
on Dishnetwork (NASA and WOUB-PBS) and Bell Expressvu (nothing really,
but you can listen to Deutsche Welle radio on 82W).

The reason I suggested a 1.2m dish (and I should note that if you do
this, you'll need a dish that has two support arms for the LNBF in
addition to the main LNBF support) is that you can modify the dish to add
a C/Ku LNBF (BSC-621). This takes a bit of work and you need a conical
scalar ring (0.6 f/D) which are very hard to come by. Unfortunately,
you'll lost your DBS reception if you do this, but considering you're
only going to lose 2 or 3 channels, it's probably not a big deal.

Post by Alex

Post by alt

Post by Alex
Appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for the LNB, receiver,
dish, etc. I've looked at several vendors but don't want to get ripped
off since I have no experience in this area. Not looking for "top of
the line" until I learn more about about wht is out there.

For a dish you'll want either an 8' or 10' dish with either something
like a Chapparal Co-rotator (with one C-band and one Ku-band LNBF) or a
BSC-621 C/Ku band LNBF. If you get a co-rotator you'll either need a
22kHz switch or a Diseqc switch (I recommend the 22kHz switch as it'll
work transparently with the v-box and the DSR-922 mentioned below) so
you can select between C and Ku. BUDs (Big Ugly Dishes) can often be
found unused in someone's backyard (I have acquired 2 of these for $100
total).
For a receiver, you'll definitely want an inexpensive DVB receiver
(commonly called an FTA receiver). I personally like the Pansat 2700A
as it can drive a co-rotator's polarity servo directly. If you get the
BSC-621, then this will not be an issue as the BSC-621 uses voltage
control to select polarity.
Should you wish to view for-pay programming, get a Motorola DSR-922.
The 922 is an expensive piece of gear (they run for about $500+) but
it's well worth it as it is the only piece of gear that will receive
4DTV (there are older models such as the DSR-920 and the DSR-905 that
will also work, but you cannot buy them new).
If you don't get the DSR-922, then you'll need a v-box which will
receive a Diseqc motor command from the DVB receiver and drive the
actuator (the 922 can do that on its own).
There are also a lot of used analog receivers out there. Don't pay too
much as analog is on its way out (there are maybe a dozen analog
channels left with fewer than half that being "in the clear").
There are a lot of "important" satellites out there. In my research, I
have found that the satellites between 97W and 137W yield the bulk of
the programming. (I say research because I'm in the process of building
a mount for my C-band dish. I rent and don't want to pour concrete or
otherwise mess with the landscape. I currently have a 36" Ku-band dish
on an SG-2100 motor)
Good luck and I hope you find the hobby as enjoyable as I do!

Al Moodie

2008-01-19 17:33:14 UTC

Permalink

You need "clear line of sight" from your dish to the satellite, no
trees. Mounting on the roof is good if it will enable clear sight of
the satellites. It's more difficult to install and adjust a dish on
the roof, plus it is perhaps more dangerous.

Post by Alex
Appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for the LNB, receiver, dish,
etc. I've looked at several vendors but don't want to get ripped off since I
have no experience in this area. Not looking for "top of the line" until I
learn more about about wht is out there.

You will need 4 pieces of equipment:

1) A satellite dish antenna to receive signals from various
satellites. You have to point the dish to the satellite you want.
2) A satellite dish motor. Once the motor is set up properly it will
rotate the dish to point to whichever satellite you want to receive a
signal from.
3) An LNB (Low Noise Block feed or converter) which sits in front of
the dish antenna. It collects the microwaves from the satellite after
they have been reflected from the dish then converts the signals to
lower frequencies so that they can be feed through coaxial cable to a
satellite receiver.
4) A satellite receiver. This box will convert the received signals
and output them to your TV. It will also control the dish motor.

I have this type of system. Here's the costs for a typical set up:

Receiver $170
LNB $70
Motor $100
36" dish $80

Other bits and pieces you may need
Signal Meter $13
Coax, fittings, etc $20
Tripod mount for dish $25
22KHZ Switch $12 (to switch between LNB linear & circular heads)

See equipment supplier and prices at http://sadoun.com/ A USA company
I have dealt with.

See which satellites you can pick up: http://www.lyngsat.com/

Al Moodie.

Alex

2008-01-24 22:11:29 UTC

Permalink

Thanks to all who replied, it was a big help.

All additional comments, suggestions appreciated as I will probably make a
move in early Spring once the weather starts to warn up.

Jim

Gemini-Aquarius7.com

2009-07-16 18:09:54 UTC

Permalink