DirecTV and FTA (Intelsat Americas 5)

[Paco95124]

Hello,

I live in the Bay Area and have enjoyed DirecTV/TiVo for the past 4+ years now using my trusty SAT-T60. I am ready to move on and have my eye on receiving FTA from the Intelsat 5 bird at 97. Since I am fairly new in this arena I have a few questions that may be easy to answer for most of you I assume:

- Is it possible to replace my old, dual LNB dish with a new one and receive both 97 FTA and the 101 DTV? If so, what types of LNB do I need?

- What is a good not-too-fancy FTA receiver?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Paco

 

[PSB]

You will need at least a 30" dish and a KU LNBF for IA-5

I LIKE the Fortec Classic NA, but check the review area...............

WELCOME to the SatelliteGuys.US FTA forum

 

[Paco95124]

Hi PSB, thank you for the quick reply!

Your answer tells me I need only one dish for both services. Not so cluttered on my roof. Thanks for the receiver recommendation.

Do you have a recommendation for a dish as well? And would I be able to reuse the LNBs I have on my DTV dish?

Thanks,
Paco

 

[Mr Tony]

Paco
What you can do is get a 30” dish or larger dish (I would recommend a Winegard dish) and put that up for IA5 (97W). It sounds like all you can see is 101 on DirecTV, so just put that LNB (the thing with the eye on it) right next to the LNB for IA5.

Voila…one dish, 2 LNB’s

I have the same thing going on mine for Dish Network. I have a 30” dish for Galaxy 10 (they have a few English channels on there) and a LNB right next to it for 119 (Dish’s main satellite)

All you need to connect them is either a fancy 2 LNB adapter or the Iceberg special…a Hose clamp (your hardware store has them for a buck or two)

 

[Mr Tony]

alot of places will give you a deal if you bundle it together (dish, LNB, receiver)

 

[Paco95124]

I must admit it, Iceberg, your advice beats buying one of those 'packages' for $100's from the big guys!

Looks like I should be able to do this myself. You think the dish would support three LNBs? Hate to give up my dual tuner TiVo (which rocks!).

Thank you very much. I'll keep you posted on my endeavour. Hope the roof isn't too slippery

Paco

 

[Paco95124]

Wow, you are quick Iceberg.

The 'package' I looked at was from globecast. Relatively expensive for the equipment they provide.

Paco

 

[Mr Tony]

Are you looking for subscription stuff on IA5 or the free stuff?

If its just the free stuff, you wouldn’t need to go through Globecast. Any FTA receiver works.

As for the Tivo thing, I’m confused on what you are asking. What do you have right now for a dish? A Phase III (with 3 “eyes”) or a single dish. If it’s a single (one eye) dish, all you are losing is the dish…the LNB would move to the 30” dish.

 

[Mr Tony]

Paco
Here are some examples of 2 LNB's on one dish

The metal piece is the hose clamp

All of these at one time were on my roof setup. A few have departed (switched stuff around)

 

[Paco95124]

Iceberg,

I think you've answered what I was looking for (sorry if I confused you with, I'm far from an expert).

Basically, I'd like to receive the free channels on IA5, in particular BVN which is FTA, and keep using my DirecTV service. I'd like to have only one dish on my roof that can receive both DirecTV 101 and IA5 97.

I currently have a single dish with dual LNB. Moving these to a new bigger dish that can also receive IA5 appears possible (thanks for the pix). I realize I will have to deal with two receivers though...

Again, thanks for your help. It is very much appreciated.

Paco

 

[Mr Tony]

yes you will have to deal with 2 recevers (since they work different) but it can be done on one dish. BVN is free so any free to air receievr will work.

and I'm sorry. I forgot to welcome you to Satelliteguys

 

[Sadoun]

Paco
Here are some examples of 2 LNB's on one dish
The metal piece is the hose clamp
All of these at one time were on my roof setup. A few have departed (switched stuff around)

Iceberg, nice collection of dishes. When you get a chance, take a group picture of all the dishes on your roof and post it here. To us satellite dish fanatics, the more dishes on a roof the better :devil: It tells us a true hardcore satellite enthusiest lives here.

 

[Mr Tony]

I'll take some pictures this weekend (its suppose to snow today)