Which band has more programming I am looking to supplement Ota and can't decide which is the better option ?
C band or KU
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1.2M dishes are ok if you are content with receiving a few of the available FTA services. Many channels need an 8 - 10 foot reflector to have reliable reception and even a 6 foot dish will not be adequate.
Well, I really only care about high definition channels, so I'll give you an evaluation from a HD perspective. There's just far too much quality high definition content available today to watch in a lifetime so I don't see the point in worrying about standard definition.
C Band probably has the most material, but there is a lot of quality material on the Ku band as well. I highly recommend investing in both.
NBC and PBS's Ku feeds are truly awesome. Also, lots of quality wildfeeds show up on the Ku band like concerts, fights, conventions (the Republican National Convention happening right now for example had a gorgeous 38 Mbps 1080i backhaul on Ku over at AMC 16 yesterday). A lot of them show up on C band too but you'd be surprised at the amount of feeds on Ku I think.
There is more 24/7 HD networks on C band but keep in mind most of them are junk - shopping or religious. The good 24/7 HDs on C band are:
-ABC
-CBC
-CBS
-CW
-CW Plus
-ION
-NASA
-NHK World HD
-ReelzChannel
NBC and PBS are also available on C band but their C band feeds are actually inferior to their Ku band feeds so I don't count them.
As far as a 1.2 meter dish goes, you can get the best C band channel on it if you stick a C Band LNBF and conical scalar ring on your 1.2 meter! If you can't do a full C Band dish it's worth doing a 1.2 meter "miniBUD" for NHK World HD alone. Check out their site:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/genre/index.html
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/schedule/index.html
NHK World HD is very MiniBUD friendly because they use the highest amount of error correction possible and a DVB-S signal. You can have as little as 10% signal on the channel and pull it in fine.
You can a lot of C band stuff from Galaxy 17 or Galaxy 16 reliably on a MiniBUD. So you should be able to get CW Plus HD and Reelz HD on a 4 footer without problems. Your only concerns on these two satellites are material that is DVB-S2 and a very low amount of error correction.
C Band probably has the most material, but there is a lot of quality material on the Ku band as well. I highly recommend investing in both.
NBC and PBS's Ku feeds are truly awesome. Also, lots of quality wildfeeds show up on the Ku band like concerts, fights, conventions (the Republican National Convention happening right now for example had a gorgeous 38 Mbps 1080i backhaul on Ku over at AMC 16 yesterday). A lot of them show up on C band too but you'd be surprised at the amount of feeds on Ku I think.
There is more 24/7 HD networks on C band but keep in mind most of them are junk - shopping or religious. The good 24/7 HDs on C band are:
-ABC
-CBC
-CBS
-CW
-CW Plus
-ION
-NASA
-NHK World HD
-ReelzChannel
NBC and PBS are also available on C band but their C band feeds are actually inferior to their Ku band feeds so I don't count them.
As far as a 1.2 meter dish goes, you can get the best C band channel on it if you stick a C Band LNBF and conical scalar ring on your 1.2 meter! If you can't do a full C Band dish it's worth doing a 1.2 meter "miniBUD" for NHK World HD alone. Check out their site:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/genre/index.html
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/schedule/index.html
NHK World HD is very MiniBUD friendly because they use the highest amount of error correction possible and a DVB-S signal. You can have as little as 10% signal on the channel and pull it in fine.
You can a lot of C band stuff from Galaxy 17 or Galaxy 16 reliably on a MiniBUD. So you should be able to get CW Plus HD and Reelz HD on a 4 footer without problems. Your only concerns on these two satellites are material that is DVB-S2 and a very low amount of error correction.
I am getting a kick out of some of the channels on galaxy 19 watch something on WWII on The state Kuwait tv this morning it was good. and their sport channel has some english auto racing programming on it also.
Dan Rose
Dan Rose
KTV 2 on 97W is a good channel, english movies with kuwait subtitles, dummest criminals etc.
97W also offers international news in english.
Other than that there are a lot religion channels and a lot from the middle east, asia and africa.
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C and ku are good.
It all depends on your interests.
A few channels that represents your interest is better, than a hundred channels that you do not like or you do not understand the languish.
For me science, energy, new technology, religion, some movies and some news is my thing I like to watch.
Those interest I have may not match your interest.
I have C and Ku, but I think for me C has more to offer for me.
Either way it added a lot of free channels to watch for my family and me and it was a very welcomed addition to my OTA.
Go to Lyngsat and look up what channels c and ku have to offer and see if this is for you.
It all depends on your interests.
A few channels that represents your interest is better, than a hundred channels that you do not like or you do not understand the languish.
For me science, energy, new technology, religion, some movies and some news is my thing I like to watch.
Those interest I have may not match your interest.
I have C and Ku, but I think for me C has more to offer for me.
Either way it added a lot of free channels to watch for my family and me and it was a very welcomed addition to my OTA.
Go to Lyngsat and look up what channels c and ku have to offer and see if this is for you.
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What I am looking for is the channels that show shows like Matlock, In the Heat of the night the old westerns and then for me to just be able to scan the sky and watch whatever I can pull in for free and save the $100 a month I pay for pizza dish tv
I don't have any C-band experience, but I'm happy with my Ku band setup. I'm thinking of getting into C-band, but it's hard for me to receive the full arc with such a large dish. I have a motorized Ku dish on my roof, and I can receive every satellite from 15W to 129W on Ku. I have the dish on my roof because it clears all the trees in my yard, but I can't really mount a 6' dish on my roof. There's a lot of good channels on Ku...
NBC feeds on 72W
Retro TV, Tuff TV, & PBJ on 83W (these channels probably have what you're talking about)
Louisiana PBS (3 channels), on 87W
CCTV News and CCTV Documentary on 95W
Ebru TV, News channels like Aljazeera, Russia TV, and Press TV (all government propaganda), River Broadcasting on 97W
Pentagon HD on 101W
Oklahoma & Montana PBS, PBS East & West, Create, World on 125W
Tons of radio channels on 30W, 95W, 97W, 101W, 103W, 113W. Every once in a while I'll turn to 30W just to hear the handful of Cuban music radio stations, or 101W for K-Love or Air-1.
There's tons of foreign and religious programs on 30W and 97W.
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