Anyway to predict signal strength?

[Kirby Baker]

Since I cant post in any of the other FTA forums, I am forced to ask here.

I want to setup a dish to get AMC3, to pull in PBS-HD. I am in Southwestern Michigan, zip 49099. I have a clear line of sight to the satellite, and am curious if there is any way to know what kind of signal I would get, and what size of dish would yield that signal?

Example, could I get by with a dish500 dish, dish1000, 18", 26" (dbs dishes)? I'm not interested really in moving to pick up other sats, as I only care about HD, and the only other HD channel I saw listed at lyngsat (that was ITC) was the M Movie HD channels, but I cant believe thats really ITC. I just want higher bitrate PBS-HD, as my OTA and cable PBS channels max out at 11.7mbps. Horrendous!!!!

I looked at the EIRP maps of AMC3, and it appears I am in a "48" area on the map, with 49 being the highest listed.

Any help would be appreciated....

 

[PSB]

Check the below footprint...........


http://www.ses-americom.com/americom/siteSections/satellitesAndTeleports/coverageareas/kuband/amc3/

Then checking Sadouns web site..........

http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Installation/Dish-Size.htm

You are going to need at least a 65cm dish!

 

[Mr Tony]

also to get PBS HD, you need either a receiver that can support it (700 bucks) or a PC Card

I'd get at least a 76cm dish

 

[Kirby Baker]

Well thanks for the quick info guys! I do plan on using a PC DVB card, just not sure which. My ultimate goal is to incorporate it into my HTPC with SageTV, with the MyTheatre DVB plugin that they have. It does support DVB-S, which is what I would need, correct?

Also, is there any other worthwhile ITC HD channels up there in Ku (between 82 WL and 123WL, my clear line of sight) that I have missed when looking at Lyngsat? any national feeds of other broadcast networks like CBS, NBC, etc, that I could get a better bitrate signal than OTA channels that are crippled with multicasted subchannels. Nothing worse than watching a show on my CBS HD channel here and only getting 12mbps because they feel they need 2 video subchannels!

Ohhh, and I apologize for posting originally in the PC card forum...Total lack of sleep the past few days left me looking at the main FTA forum screen, and only seeing the 4 sub forums, never dawned on me that there were actually posts below that!!! DOH!

 

[ken2400]

You MAY be able to put a standard LNBF on the 26" dish and get something? I don't know how strong the transponder is for PBS. If it works it might be low and cut in and out depending on weather.

Good luck!

Since I cant post in any of the other FTA forums, I am forced to ask here.
I want to setup a dish to get AMC3, to pull in PBS-HD. I am in Southwestern Michigan, zip 49099. I have a clear line of sight to the satellite, and am curious if there is any way to know what kind of signal I would get, and what size of dish would yield that signal?
Example, could I get by with a dish500 dish, dish1000, 18", 26" (dbs dishes)? I'm not interested really in moving to pick up other sats, as I only care about HD, and the only other HD channel I saw listed at lyngsat (that was ITC) was the M Movie HD channels, but I cant believe thats really ITC. I just want higher bitrate PBS-HD, as my OTA and cable PBS channels max out at 11.7mbps. Horrendous!!!!
I looked at the EIRP maps of AMC3, and it appears I am in a "48" area on the map, with 49 being the highest listed.
Any help would be appreciated....

 

[Tron]

The PBS mux is notoriously weak, so it would be best to get something even larger than the 30" if you expect to view these programs on a regular basis.