FTA newbie, please help

[Chad]

Archived from groups: alt.satellite.tv (More info?)

I am brand new to this hobby but I really want to get involved.

I have a ton of questions. It seems Ku band and a receiver that can handle
DVB signals is the way to go. Do any of these receivers handle DVB plus
analog. I thought I saw some that did DVB, NTSC, and PAL but that seemed to
good to be true. I think the name of the reciever was the Satwork ST 3688.

Also, what is a blind search? Can I only point my dish at one satellite?
What if I want to review channels on different satellites? Will I have to
manually move my dish? How does that all work?

I live in Pittsburgh PA. I have seen a couple of websites that say I will
have access to lots of different satellites. Is that really true. If it is
it would seem I could get tons of channels from all kinds of places. Even
Europe and foreign stuff.

Also, will Ku, FTA stuff pick up wildfeeds and sports backhuals?

How much will all this cost I saw one place that was advertising a whole Ku
FTA system for about 179 US. Could that really be right? Is that decent?
It doesn't have to be the best. I just want
to receive as many channels/feeds as possible and be able to see and hear
them. I really just want to explore what's up there.

One other question. Is it possible to receiver Dish or DirectTV using the
same dish and receiver? Legally? I only want to do things that are legal.
I don't wish to steal any signals?

I know I asked a lot of questions but if anyone would be willing to
answer/correct/add anything I would really appreicate it.





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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.satellite.tv (More info?)

I can't answer all your questions, being a newbie myself, but I can tell
you what I have done so far. I bought a PanSat 2500A; a WineGard 1 metre
dish and a DiSEqc dish positioner motor from KuSat in Montreal, Canada. You
could use a smaller dish for several of the satellites but the 1 metre thing
can pull in some of the weaker or lower ones that the little pizza dishes
can't see. With some help from newsgroups and the dealer I found it fairly
easy to install, even in early winter here in Canada. This set up can see
satellites over a wide arc from SE to SW, provided trees and buildings are
not too high (not more than about 40 degrees for due south satellite and not
more than about 5 degrees for satellites at the extreme end of the Clarke
belt (arc containing the satellites over the equator)). I have some trees
in the way over parts of the arc so I will move the dish when the damned
snow goes away.
This receiver, and there are many others, can apparently handle different
formats (PAL and NTSC) but only works with DVB transmissions and not analog.
The receiver works with C Band channels but the dish only receives Ku band.
It can remember about 2000 channels of C and Ku band signals. My dish, at
present, only has a linear lnbf so doesn't see much on the circularly
polarized signals such as Dish and Direct TV (which are encrypted anyway).
You probably need at least 8 ft diameter dish for C band. My complete Ku
set up cost me less than $400 Canadian which is much less than I paid for my
C band system some 20 years ago.
Blind search means that the receiver can be set to check out all the
frequencies on any satellite it knows about and really needs the dish moving
capability. It will find any FTA channels and list them in the order it
finds them as well as allocating sometimes strange names to them. You can
edit the channel list once you have found everything available to you and
dump the many you will not want. The whole thing is very user friendly
although the handbook is not the best I have ever seen. I have not scanned
all of the available satellites yet but already have located about 200 video
channels as well as a bunch of wireless (radio) channels. There are many
foreign language programmes, some of which have an alternate language, often
English, available. I particularly like the Chinese news programme on
satellite G3. There are also a bunch of PBS programmes with high quality
sound (needs a special sound system) and many local US stations, shopping
channels, medical channels, Dr. Gene Scott (recently deceased I understand)
and network news feeds. Basically you name it and it is up there somewhere
although I don't think I have seen sports feeds.
You can get an idea of what is available from lyngsat on
http/www.lyngsat.com/freetv/United-States.html, which also gives links to
many other places of interest. I cannot see the satellites out far to my
East because of a big old barn being in the way but if your site is good you
should be able to receive several of them.
My dealer, with whom I am well pleased, has a web site at
http/www.kusat.com/go.php?path=/intro.php. which will give you a lot of
excellent information. They are in Canada so you may want to find a US
dealer. There are many out there.
Dish and Direct TV use different encoding systems and need different
receivers as well as payment for their services. I believe the dish itself
would work with both systems if properly equipped with more than one lnb.
Have fun. You are likely to spend a lot of time playing with this stuff
once you get it up and running.
Alan C

"Chad" <chadpainter@zoominternet.net> wrote in message
news:422537ef$1_2@127.0.0.1...
>I am brand new to this hobby but I really want to get involved.
>
> I have a ton of questions. It seems Ku band and a receiver that can
> handle
> DVB signals is the way to go. Do any of these receivers handle DVB plus

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.satellite.tv (More info?)

I don't know about FTA but you can try this FTA forum for answers
http/www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=57

"Chad" <chadpainter@zoominternet.net> wrote in message
news:422537ef$1_2@127.0.0.1...
>I am brand new to this hobby but I really want to get involved.
>
> I have a ton of questions. It seems Ku band and a receiver that can
> handle
> DVB signals is the way to go. Do any of these receivers handle DVB plus
> analog. I thought I saw some that did DVB, NTSC, and PAL but that seemed
> to
> good to be true. I think the name of the reciever was the Satwork ST
> 3688.
>
> Also, what is a blind search? Can I only point my dish at one satellite?
> What if I want to review channels on different satellites? Will I have to
> manually move my dish? How does that all work?
>
> I live in Pittsburgh PA. I have seen a couple of websites that say I will
> have access to lots of different satellites. Is that really true. If it
> is
> it would seem I could get tons of channels from all kinds of places. Even
> Europe and foreign stuff.
>
> Also, will Ku, FTA stuff pick up wildfeeds and sports backhuals?
>
> How much will all this cost I saw one place that was advertising a whole
> Ku
> FTA system for about 179 US. Could that really be right? Is that
> decent? It doesn't have to be the best. I just want
> to receive as many channels/feeds as possible and be able to see and hear
> them. I really just want to explore what's up there.
>
> One other question. Is it possible to receiver Dish or DirectTV using the
> same dish and receiver? Legally? I only want to do things that are
> legal.
> I don't wish to steal any signals?
>
> I know I asked a lot of questions but if anyone would be willing to
> answer/correct/add anything I would really appreicate it.
>
>
>
>
>
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> News==----
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> Newsgroups
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