eyes tired...can't go on...

[edlarusa]

i recently stumbled upon your fantastic web site. i thought that the days of free satellite left with the 20 foot dish antenna and the introduction of dss. i had no idea how this has evolved and how compact things are. i want some too!. but, i have a couple of questions. i live on the mexico-texas border so my location is in the deep deep south as compared to most of you. what system is good for a newbie like me? after i purchase said equipment, will i be able to tune into any satellite and get local stations from l.a., chicago, denver and so forth. will i be able to tune into satellites from mexico? i saw there is a website that gives you the coordinates to a specific station. can i manually enter these coordinates in my receiver and get to watch the station?

when i do a search for fta channels in the us, i get a long list of channels i may not watch.would i be limited to this list only? any info would help me decide to yes or no this interesting hobby.,

thanks to all and have a great day..

 

[PSB]

Hello, you will not be able to get local channels from all over the country just the ones that happen to be in the clear, mostly on the G10R satellite right now.
There are LOADS of mexican programming : )
Not only do you get most of the channels listed but all sorts of news and sports feeds from around the country get ready to have FUN!

 

[Mark_AR]

There is for sure a lot of free programming out there.

If you are referring to the lyngsat site, just be aware of one thing. It depends on whether you have a C-band big dish, or a smaller Ku band dish on what channels you can pick up and what you can't.

Ku can get most of the Green and Yellow(referring to lyngsat color chart). I just figured out yesterday that the site lists BOTH C & Ku. Look at the Freq column. If it is between 3000-5000 it will be C-Band. 10450-12500 it will be Ku. (rough numbers)

Equipment is a personal preference. If you have room for a larger dish, you may want to go with C-Band since it offers more programming. If space (or wife acceptance factor) is an issue, then the smaller 30" Ku dish would be a better choice.

You will probably want a motorized dish. This adds to the scope of programming since interesting channels seem to be spread all across the skies.

Receivers are another wide open choice. There are a lot of good low cost receivers out there (under $200). Some even for your computer. You want one that will do a 'blind search' or 'smart scan' so you don't have to manually enter all the numbers. It is the 'point and shoot' type of receiver that is excellent for a beginner. (like me)

There are Coship, Traxis, Pansat, Satworks and many others receivers. It is personal preference again as to which is better. They all do a fine job.

Check with some of the dealers here on this forum. PSB and Tom Taylor have their own websites with equipment for sale. Check the SatelliteGuys Classifieds for deals too!

My whole setup was $369.00. I'm hooked and I haven't had mine up for a week yet.

I really enjoy the raw news feeds and Peoples Network.

 

[edlarusa]

thanks for the info. im intertested in a pansat system..it appears to be the most popular.. ill send in a pic as soon as its set up.

thanks