Advice for a good beginner system?

[123tim]

I am new to FTA, and have been researching FTA systems in the hopes of finding the perfect system in my price range. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm working with the wrong range.
It was suggested in this forum (obviously good advice) that I should get a receiver with blind scan and USALS.
Receivers with blind scan seem to be hard to find using my price range. The receivers that In my range have features like "autosearch" "auto scan" but not blind scan. Am I going to regret not having the ability to automatically search transponders for FTA signals? Is it hard to do manually?

I also am running into a feature called "DiSEqC" which I infer is connected to motor positioning. Is this related to (or the same as ) USALS? Is DiEqC a dumb motor drive while USALS is much more sophisticated?
As with the blind scan, will I regret not getting USALS, or could I get by with
another sort of manual positioning?

I was told that a 1 meter dish would be better than a 76 cm. I really would like to get the 1 meter, but would I be better off settling for a cheaper (smaller) dish and getting a better receiver with a blind search?

I have looked at so many systems that my mind is numb. Does anyone have any suggestions for a beginner system? I am currently comparing systems with which have three different Receivers: a Zinwell ZDX-7000FTA, a Traxis DBS-2500 FTA, and a BEC Sys 200. Any suggestions as to which might be better of the three?

I would like to spend $250 or less. (Less would be good.) Maybe this is unrealistic. To think that this started off by my wondering if I could pick up the NASA channel with an old direct tv system that was given to me.

Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[PSB]

DiSEqC is very accurate and when the satellite is found and stored its stored. USALS just gets you in the ball park and very often the satellite needs fine tuned with DiSEqC 1.2 anyway.

If you know where the channels / feeds are then a receiver without blind scan will work well its not hard to input the channel information but is time consuming, but blind scan is a great tool and time saver. You will find things with a blind scan receiver you would never have come across other wise (unless someone with a blind scan told you where to look)!

And a smaller dish will work for 90% of the channels 90% of the time, but you will always be wondering if you could pull in slightly more signal with a bigger dish. The Winegard dish DS2076 works better than a few slightly bigger dish I have used, its not all about size I guess quality of product also matters!

 

[TiminMb]

I notice the term DisecQ applies to switches for selecting inputs to a cable and DisecQ 1.2 which is a motor control system. Make sure the receiver you buy has DisecQ 1.2 or USALS if you are going to run a motorized dish now, or in the future. I'm pretty happy with my Fortec Ultra. The blind scan could be faster, but otherwise its a good unit and was reasonably priced. Shipping can be a killer on those dishes, but if I were you, I'd buy the biggest dish I could afford. My 33" gets me most satellites and transponders, but I find some are weak and subject to fade, and the odd satellite or transponder I can't get any thing usable ever, when others can, either due to better location or equipment. I see a C band dish in my future as well.

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

If it were me, I would go with a good blind scan receiver and a Winegard 2076 dish. I use the Winegard and have been happy with the performance. True, you can never have too strong of a signal, but you have to start somewhere.

For $250 you could get the dish/LNB and receiver if you shop around, but not a motor too unless you buy used. You could also go without the motor for awhile and just aim at one satellite for now depending what type of programming you want. G10R has around 35 channels of the network variety. IA5 has over 100 international channels. IA6 has a nice variety of news feeds.

So with your budget, it's a balancing act.

 

[Anole]

Since joining this forum, I've found lots of good beginner advice just laying around everywhere.
The review section is amazing. I strongly recommend reading it all !

As I write, I'm waiting for FedEx to deliver (any minute, now) my first FTA system, which I ordered from Sadoun.
I chose a USB computer-based receiver for its ability to let me record shows.
I'm not recommending it to others, as a more traditional interface may be your preference.
I upgraded from 30" to a 36" dish, on advice of one of the above reviews.
I also upgraded the 0.4db LNB which seemed better than average, to an Invacom 0.3db LNB, again on advice of several reviews.
I agonized over mounting the dish, and eventually gave in and ordered a Stab HH motor.

My justification for the upgrades, was that I wouldn't have to wonder later if I needed a little bit more.
Also, it seemed cheaper to pay for slightly better equipment up front, than replacing it later.

We'll see.