help with FTA

[framacus]

With all the commotion going on with nagra message I've decided to go True FTA, but I'm a bit rusted on it and need help. I've got 2- 33" dishes pointed @ 118.7 and 129 and 2- dish 500 pointed @110 and 119. I would like to utilize them for true FTA. I'm in So. Cal. USA and need help as to which sats can I pick up and what programs are available. I have downloaded the instructions on how to read the LyngSat charts but am not confident about all the info that's posted (I was looking at 97W that seems to cover all of California with about 200 channels but it seems that most channels are ARABIC channels. I read somewhere that the History channel was on this bird but could not find it listed there). Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[jvvh5897]

Well, the History channel is on 101 degree SES1 sat. A lot of folks watch RTV on 83 degree sat, the NBC mux on 72, PBS on 125 AMC21 (had to look that one up on lyngsat) as well as the 101 bird and 97 bird (KTV2 has some good movies in english in the evening and there are good english news channels and other stuff that is interesting). C band has some stuff that folks like a lot too.

You are going to need to use the 33 inch dish(s) with linear LNBs. You might want to have a motor or multiple LNBs with diseqc switches, but to start I would say just manually move dish to diff sats and see what you like and don't like.

[Terryl]

I would go with a 39" and a good linear LNB plus motor, that way you get them all, we also have fun looking for temporary feeds on some of the birds, there are short term sports feeds and news feeds that pop up during the events.

A good thread to watch is here, http://www.satfix.net/showthread.php?13881-Report-Ku-Band-Feeds-Here!

And here, http://www.satfix.net/showthread.php?64253-Report-KU-Sports-Feeds-Here

Being that they are on different birds and of short duration it would be better to have a motorized system, otherwise you will wear out the roof moving the dish around.

[natsu]

I think 97 is one of the best sat's that are actually cuz there are acutlally couple good english channels like KTV2 (jvvh said), Ebru TV, Russia Today and couple more, and all these are true fta channels so always up

[Costactc]

The sky is the limit depending on how many channels you want to pull in on fta. I scan in approx. 1200 fta channels on both c and ku band.

[framacus]

Well, the History channel is on 101 degree SES1 sat. A lot of folks watch RTV on 83 degree sat, the NBC mux on 72, PBS on 125 AMC21 (had to look that one up on lyngsat) as well as the 101 bird and 97 bird (KTV2 has some good movies in english in the evening and there are good english news channels and other stuff that is interesting). C band has some stuff that folks like a lot too.

You are going to need to use the 33 inch dish(s) with linear LNBs. You might want to have a motor or multiple LNBs with diseqc switches, but to start I would say just manually move dish to diff sats and see what you like and don't like.

Thanks jvvh5897, terryl and all others for your helpful suggestions, they're all good!
I was looking at 58W, it seems that it covers So. Cal very well with lots of channels on it but I could not decipher the true FTA channels from the rest, I saw "national geographic" channels on it in various languages, can I access this bird? What equipment would I need? What channels of interest can I see?
Again, any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Costactc]

You would need a 10' mesh bud for that sat on c band.

[slugworth]

Thanks jvvh5897, terryl and all others for your helpful suggestions, they're all good!
I was looking at 58W, it seems that it covers So. Cal very well with lots of channels on it but I could not decipher the true FTA channels from the rest, I saw "national geographic" channels on it in various languages, can I access this bird? What equipment would I need? What channels of interest can I see?
Again, any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

most of 58w is scrambled or beamed to south america.
channel list has to be cream colored to be in the clear.

[jvvh5897]

And there is a way to pick up the audio only on a number of sats--that is not a good solution unless you don't bother to watch the TV and only use it for background audio as I do. The 101 sat using circular LNB and a old modded provider card in that prov's box is handy testing tool using smaller dishes that you have--don't know a lot of folks that do that but it can be done though not true FTA, it is testing.

[grub]

And there is a way to pick up the audio only on a number of sats--that is not a good solution unless you don't bother to watch the TV and only use it for background audio as I do. The 101 sat using circular LNB and a old modded provider card in that prov's box is handy testing tool using smaller dishes that you have--don't know a lot of folks that do that but it can be done though not true FTA, it is testing.

I still use that one to provide background music

[framacus]

You would need a 10' mesh bud for that sat on c band.

Thanks everyone for all your helpful suggestions, I really appreciate it.
Re. 58W, if I read the chart correctly for the dish size required for my area (So. California), it is only a 75 cm, this translate to about a 30" dish, right? Could I not, then, use my existing dish(es)?
Someone please educate me on the difference between KU and C band LNBFs. I've read so many differing infos I need to understand them in simple terms, anyone? Thanks in advance.

[Gold]

Thanks everyone for all your helpful suggestions, I really appreciate it.
Re. 58W, if I read the chart correctly for the dish size required for my area (So. California), it is only a 75 cm, this translate to about a 30" dish, right? Could I not, then, use my existing dish(es)?
Someone please educate me on the difference between KU and C band LNBFs. I've read so many differing infos I need to understand them in simple terms, anyone? Thanks in advance.

Hmm. I'm not sure what chart you're looking at, but the only channels on Intelsat 16 cannot be seen from California. They can only be caught in Brazil & Mexico. The channels on Intelsat 9 that you can see from Calif, are C Band channels & you would need at least a 10' prime focus dish. The channels like National Geographic are premium channels. Premium channels are encrypted. If you go to Lyngsat (lyngsat.com/intel9.html) you will notice it says PowerVu that is an encryption that cannot be hacked. You need to look for the cream colored like slugworth mentioned. Typically they have the letter "F" by them.

Look at the legend at the bottom of the page & match the color for "digital clear":thumbsup:

[jvvh5897]

Someone please educate me on the difference between KU and C band LNBFs. I've read so many differing infos I need to understand them in simple terms, anyone? Thanks in advance.

C band LNBs are for a frequency around 4 GHz and often the F(feedhorn) part is not integral to it. Ku band LNBFs are for around 12GHz so tend to be about 1/3rd the size of C band LNBs and always have the feedhorn as part of its design.
You can get C band LNBs that have a Ku band LNBF as part of it--they tend not to work that well from what I can tell, though it may be that the folks that have trouble do so because of other factors than the design (I've tried one with a 1 meter mini-bud and found that the tweeks required to get good C band do not always give good tweek for Ku band--so much so that Ku band LNB was never getting good signal).
C band dishes have to be 3 times the size of similar responce Ku band dishes. Some C band dishes do a good job of gathering Ku band signals but some do not (the desgn tolerances of C band dishes is less than those needed for Ku band, so using a large Ku band dish as mini-bud for C band tends to work better than C band dish used for Ku--though modern dishes tend to be better than older ones so that is not always true).
Cost of Ku band LNBs tend to be less than C band, but the ones out of China these days are pretty cheap in $s. You can pick up Ku band LNBFs for less than $20 US and C band for about the same (I tend to buy from satpro site and they had had Ku band LNBs for $6 US for a while and a C band LNB for $16 as I recall)

[framacus]

C band LNBs are for a frequency around 4 GHz and often the F(feedhorn) part is not integral to it. Ku band LNBFs are for around 12GHz so tend to be about 1/3rd the size of C band LNBs and always have the feedhorn as part of its design.
You can get C band LNBs that have a Ku band LNBF as part of it--they tend not to work that well from what I can tell, though it may be that the folks that have trouble do so because of other factors than the design (I've tried one with a 1 meter mini-bud and found that the tweeks required to get good C band do not always give good tweek for Ku band--so much so that Ku band LNB was never getting good signal).
C band dishes have to be 3 times the size of similar responce Ku band dishes. Some C band dishes do a good job of gathering Ku band signals but some do not (the desgn tolerances of C band dishes is less than those needed for Ku band, so using a large Ku band dish as mini-bud for C band tends to work better than C band dish used for Ku--though modern dishes tend to be better than older ones so that is not always true).
Cost of Ku band LNBs tend to be less than C band, but the ones out of China these days are pretty cheap in $s. You can pick up Ku band LNBFs for less than $20 US and C band for about the same (I tend to buy from satpro site and they had had Ku band LNBs for $6 US for a while and a C band LNB for $16 as I recall)

WOW! Lot's of good info. Thanks jvvh5897, I think everybody can learn from this. My problem now is deciding what course to choose. I'll post back. Enjoy!

[slugworth]

some neighborhoods are pretty restrictive about the size of the dish you can put up.
C band dishes aren't cheap either.

[Costactc]

some neighborhoods are pretty restrictive about the size of the dish you can put up.
C band dishes aren't cheap either.

I have found 4 10' buds locally from people who don't use them any more. Just put an ad on kijiji or craigs list, you'd be surprised what might come up. I do also agree with slugworth, go to your City Hall and see if there are any municipal restrictions.

[framacus]

I have found 4 10' buds locally from people who don't use them any more. Just put an ad on kijiji or craigs list, you'd be surprised what might come up. I do also agree with slugworth, go to your City Hall and see if there are any municipal restrictions.

Thanx costactc for your reply. I've done a search on both sites but the few listings I found were already sold/given away. I've been looking on ebay and the best buy I could find is a 39" dish from Taiwan with an AUTHENTIC INVACOM QPH031 QUAD DUAL POLARITY LNB LINEAR AND CIRCULAR and a 2011 EDITION OF REAL MOTECK SG2100 with AUTHENTICATION STAMP ON THE MOTOR, all for $210.00 including shipping. I've been searching for a little bigger dish like a 4 ft. but cannot combine good quality and price. It seems like bigger dishes are readily available in Europe as I've seen many ads selling 1.5 m dishes in UK. Not sure yet what to do.

[jvvh5897]

About the cheapest price that I've found on Ku band "1 Meter" dish is at harmonyfta site--don't know what it would cost to ship from Boston, but they have it at $44. satpro tv site has 1.8 M (6 foot) for $139 with higher shipping cost apply notice.

[slugworth]

My 1 meter primestar dish is 43x39,so I don't consider anything smaller than that 1meter.
The harmony dish is 39x36
The $135 1.8meter is interesting,but no details on the pole/mount/motor required.

[jvvh5897]

Yep, that is why I put the quotes around the meter dimension. At 36 inch, the gain would be 1 dB down from a true 1 meter sized dish (in linear terms a loss of 15% of signal).

[Terryl]

My 1 meter primestar dish is 43x39,so I don't consider anything smaller than that 1meter.
The harmony dish is 39x36
The $135 1.8meter is interesting,but no details on the pole/mount/motor required.


A 6 foot mesh dish would need at least a 2" pole, a solid would need at least a 2 1/2 " to 3", most come with elevation adjustments, AZ is done via rotating it on the pole, it will cost more for one with a polar mount (like on a BUD) for a motor, and the motor needed would be one of the linear actuators like on a BUD, you would need a "V" box to run it with your FTA receiver.

A 6 footer would be a ground mount or a wall mount with "T" and "K" brackets, unless you have a strong flat roof, then a weighted roof mount could work.

[framacus]

Thanks everyone for all your helpful suggestions and education. Having given so much thought about my situation I've decided on and have ordered the "AUTHENTIC INVACOM QPH031 QUAD DUAL POLARITY LNB LINEAR AND CIRCULAR and a 2011 EDITION OF REAL MOTECK SG2100 with AUTHENTICATION STAMP ON THE MOTOR" hoping it will perform as well as they represent it to be. The INVACOM QPH031 LNBF and 39" dish should provide me with most satisfying testing experience with true FTA. Wish me luck...
I'll report my findings after I receive and install the motorized dish. Enjoy....

[Terryl]

Thanks everyone for all your helpful suggestions and education. Having given so much thought about my situation I've decided on and have ordered the "AUTHENTIC INVACOM QPH031 QUAD DUAL POLARITY LNB LINEAR AND CIRCULAR and a 2011 EDITION OF REAL MOTECK SG2100 with AUTHENTICATION STAMP ON THE MOTOR" hoping it will perform as well as they represent it to be. The INVACOM QPH031 LNBF and 39" dish should provide me with most satisfying testing experience with true FTA. Wish me luck...
I'll report my findings after I receive and install the motorized dish. Enjoy....


The Invacom and 39" is what I use and am very happy with it, the only "Ku" band bird you can't receive all the transponders on with that LNB is 118, but I get the rest from 61W to 129W, I use to get 148W but they put that bird into a graveyard orbit.

[framacus]

The Invacom and 39" is what I use and am very happy with it, the only "Ku" band bird you can't receive all the transponders on with that LNB is 118, but I get the rest from 61W to 129W, I use to get 148W but they put that bird into a graveyard orbit.

Thanks terryl, I hope it will work as good for me, too! I can't wait to get it installed as soon as I get it in my hands.