C-Band Question?

[New2Satellite]

Hello All,

I have HD rear projection 57in. Use to have Voom, but now just use it for local HD. I currently have DTV but from what I hear they are using Lite HD. I was thinking of going C-Band to get more programming for my money, but don't know much about these things.

I want HD and the ability to record in HD ( wife loves the DTV TIVO!) . What would I need far as equipment and programming? Do I need a subscription to receive USA and TNT and premium channels such as HBO.

Is this a good system to provide everything I am looking for?


Thanks in advance..


C-band Systems

WHAT'S IN A SKYVISION SYSTEM?


Everything you require for a high caliber, dependable system! We begin with a top-of-the-line receiver which best matches your needs. We include a high performance C/Ku mesh 8.5' dish for quality, precision, and style, combined with a Valueline 18" dish mover. Then, we add a VCRS decoder module so you can access all the cable channels and more. And, with a special feedhorn which carries a 20° LNB, we make sure your picture is the sharpest ever. Finally, after we toss in a CKD dish assembly video and your Site Data and the Five Easy Steps to Alignment, you've got the most complete and reasonably priced package available anywhere!




4DTV DSR 922 Satellite System
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[drhydro]

First off, a 10' dish is what you really want. 2 degree satellite spacing means that smaller dishs can get interferance from adjacent satellites. Usually you can find these for FREE by looking in your local papers or checking your local freecycle organization. I have 2 10' dishs and a 6' dish that i have found in my local papers for free.

Then you can purchase a 4dtv new from www.callnps for around $300.00 (after rebate). So, while the package that you have found is OK, you can do better for a LOT less money, even if you have to replace feedhorn/ LNB's /actuator.

 

[iammike]

For recording HD, you'll need to get the r5000hd mod from Nextcom. They will either mod the hdd200 unit or the 9XX receiver itself. This allows the hdd200 or 9xx to be connected via USB cable to a PC, that records the programming either to hard disk or dvhs tape. The 9xx mod still needs some work on the PVR application, (I think I'm the first guy to buy it) but my understanding is the hdd200 mod works well now.

I'm recording to my hard drive and playing back the files through a MyHD card. The solution isn't real wife friendly though. It's a lot more complicated than a Tivo. It's mainly geared towards recording of programs to be played back later, rather than pausing live TV. The live pause can be done, but requires some work on the PC side and is still mainly a kludge.


The good side is that the HD from 4dtv is the best you're going to see. Some of the stuff on Discovery HD is truly amazing. I've also been really impressed with movies on HBO. You can also keep the recordings forever and play them back on anything that plays transport streams. In other words, you're not stuck with playing them back through a Dish or Directv receiver and their very limited archiving capabilities. Not to mention the inferior picture quality of the pizza dish.

 

[tdti1]

Look around for a used system, for parts try out Lee from Mechtech, Roger From Rps satellite or Mike from global communications, all three company's are great and very helpful.

A 10' is the best choice, HD is breathtaking, recording HD from the big dish can be a bit tuff, but you can always have the big dish for the main room (big screen) and small dish or cable with a small sub for the other rooms.

 

[truckracer]

Get 4dtv

You will love the pic and audio quality of 4dtv, it is superior. The first generation signals straight from the uplink. Pizza dish people get their signals from large c-band dishes at their uplink sites, compress the heck out of them (here's where your pic quality goes way down and colors look washed out), then they re-uplink the compressed and encrypted signals on KU band (rain fade) then you get them on the little dish.

With 4dtv, no re-uplinking on most channels, you get the signal straight from the horse's mouth. Even SD pics are amazingly clean. D* or E* or my local digital cable can compete with the pic quality of my 4dtv.

As for dish size a lot of folks claim 10 feet, and bigger is better because of the beamwidth. 8.5' is the minimum recommended size for digital reception.

I am using a SAMI (superior antenna manufacturing inc) 7.5' mesh with c/ku lnbf's
I live in Charleston, WV and get great signal quality on all 4dtv satellites. my dish can see from amc-6 72w to amc-8 139w.

The hardest signals to get on 4dtv is the HBO/Max feeds from G1 (soon to be G-15). Hbo/Max use very little forward error correction which means you need to be precisely tuned for a good signal lock.

I get 63% quality and 50% quality with no macroblocking or dropout-even when we have snow or hard rain. These are my lowest signal levels on any 4dtv satellite.

Some folks with larger dishes report lower numbers.

The programming rates for 4dtv are much lower than pizza dish and cable.
The absolute digital pack from www.Callnps.com is a killer deal.
Also the movie channels are great deals too. Don't forget all the free stuff you get. Lots of free goodies on 4dtv and analog. Slave a DvB receiver like a pansat or fortec ultra, even more interesting non-mainstream programming. Radio stations are also on 4dtv.

You do not get all that with pizza dish or cable.

Good luck, Trucker

 

[New2Satellite]

You Guys Rock! Thank You for the replys.

My head is spinning right now from sucking in all that knowledge... I do belong to a FreeCycle group so I will post for a 10' dish to see what I can find...

Going to get the 4DTV, the pc hook the wife will not like...lol... but hey she needs to come into the digital age at some time (I just got her to do her first ATM deposit, she is very old school..lol)

Ok let me soak all this in and I will put a system and package together and would love to get your inputs..

Again- truckracer, tdti1, iammike,drhydro ty :up

 

[bigal01]

new to cband

I have order from Skyvision for at least 15 years and only Once had a problem and it was Immediately corrected. I have had a C band System since 1982 and Very few problems. So Enjoy and Dont be afraid to check out all of the Satellites, There are some really Cool Transponders and you can learn alot by doing so.

 

[Squeeze]

The best part about C-Band is watching a live news uplink raw and unedited!
or the president picking his nose while waiting to "go live"
I do not have a high def decoder or tv(yet)
but my 50 inch Hitachi has the best picture I have ever seen when compared to cable and pizza!
and even the analogs look deadly when your have a strong signal!
Viva La Bud!!!!!!!