Foretec Star Mercury II or ViewSat 2000 Ultra

[Babadem]

[(1) I am new at this so please, forgive my ignorance or lack of knowledge of the Satellite jargon. I am in the process of buying a second receiver for my Globecast system. After doing some research I have kind of narrowed my choices to The Fortec Star Mercury II and ViewSat 2000 Ultra. Could someone give me their take on both receivers and or recommend which is a better unit and where I can purchase it at a cheap or reasonable price.

(2) Secondly, how do you determine which LNB go to which satellite in a multiple LNB setup on a dish?

(3) My Globecast has .75m Eliptical Dish Antenna. It is possible for me to add another LNB to the single one there already. Will i have to adjust the antenna after adding the second LNB and what satellite should the second LNB be pointing at?

 

[updatelee]

I have a fortec merucry II its an excellent receiver. Ive been told that viewsat doesnt support uncommited switch's nor v1.2 motor's very well, I dont know though as I dont own a viewsat.

the fortec mercury II has been one of the best workhorses of an ird Ive ever had, feature wise you can get more slick features out of other ird's, like dreambox, but they allways seem to be missing something basic. the fortec has the essentials down pat rock solid.

goto lyngsat.com

R/L are circular sats
V/H are linear sats

4 digit freq are cband
5 digit freq are ku band

ftalist.com is an excellent site for finding out what is in the free and clear up there.

 

[Mr Tony]

[(1) I am new at this so please, forgive my ignorance or lack of knowledge of the Satellite jargon. I am in the process of buying a second receiver for my Globecast system. After doing some research I have kind of narrowed my choices to The Fortec Star Mercury II and ViewSat 2000 Ultra. Could someone give me their take on both receivers and or recommend which is a better unit and where I can purchase it at a cheap or reasonable price.

If those were the only two options, I'd take the Merc II hands down. Much easier to operate in my opinion

 

[satcustomer]

I did a lot of research before getting my FTA system around a year ago and determined that the Fortec Mercury II is/was one of the best receivers out there. I'm very satisfied with it.

 

[Babadem]

I have a fortec merucry II its an excellent receiver. Ive been told that viewsat doesnt support uncommited switch's nor v1.2 motor's very well, I dont know though as I dont own a viewsat.

the fortec mercury II has been one of the best workhorses of an ird Ive ever had, feature wise you can get more slick features out of other ird's, like dreambox, but they allways seem to be missing something basic. the fortec has the essentials down pat rock solid.

goto lyngsat.com

R/L are circular sats
V/H are linear sats

4 digit freq are cband
5 digit freq are ku band

ftalist.com is an excellent site for finding out what is in the free and clear up there.

Thanks for the tips and insight!

 

[Babadem]

If those were the only two options, I'd take the Merc II hands down. Much easier to operate in my opinion

Thanks! But do you have any inputs on questions numbers 2 & 3 of my original post?

 

[Babadem]

I did a lot of research before getting my FTA system around a year ago and determined that the Fortec Mercury II is/was one of the best receivers out there. I'm very satisfied with it.

Thanks for the feedback. What is your take on questions 2 & 3 of my original post?

 

[satcustomer]

Thanks for the feedback. What is your take on questions 2 & 3 of my original post?

I really don't have answers for your second and third questions. As you can see in the signature area below my screen name, I list my current setup. I like having my motorized system and also found in my research that choosing a low dB LNB is important.

 

[Mr Tony]

(2) Secondly, how do you determine which LNB go to which satellite in a multiple LNB setup on a dish?

diseqc switch. It allows you to have up to 4 LNB's to one reciever. The settings in the reciever tell it to go to which LNB (port 1,2,3,4)

(3) My Globecast has .75m Eliptical Dish Antenna. It is possible for me to add another LNB to the single one there already. Will i have to adjust the antenna after adding the second LNB and what satellite should the second LNB be pointing at?

sure you can add another LNB. Due to LNB size the minium spacing is 4+ degrees so if you are at 97 (Globecast satellite) you could do 101 (AMC4) or maybe IA6 (93W) next door. Once you get past that 4 degrees the signal really goes in the crapper (and the 4 degree offset sometimes isnt the best either)

 

[bill190]

Fortec is a good company. I and others have sent them email requesting certain features and they have listened to us.

So they listen to their customers. They also reply to email sent to them.

They also come out with software updates for their receivers.

I have a Mercury II and it works. Pretty much bug free.

Fortec also has a customer survey on their web site. They want to know how you feel about their products.

Then they have videos on their web site to help you with your installation...
http://www.ftavideos.com/fortec/cd/index.html

And this used to be the way all companies were (in general, not just satellite). i.e. Listen to your customers, keep your customers happy, give your customers features they want, etc. These days this seems rare!

FYI - I am not familiar with the other product you mentioned.

 

[Babadem]

diseqc switch. It allows you to have up to 4 LNB's to one reciever. The settings in the reciever tell it to go to which LNB (port 1,2,3,4)


sure you can add another LNB. Due to LNB size the minium spacing is 4+ degrees so if you are at 97 (Globecast satellite) you could do 101 (AMC4) or maybe IA6 (93W) next door. Once you get past that 4 degrees the signal really goes in the crapper (and the 4 degree offset sometimes isnt the best either)

Thanks Iceberg!!! Will I have to readjust my Globecast antenna after I add the LNB? Is there any order that the LNB will be placed next to the 97 (Globecast satellite) LNB? I mean, For example will 93W be left or right of 97W?

 

[Babadem]

Fortec is a good company. I and others have sent them email requesting certain features and they have listened to us.

So they listen to their customers. They also reply to email sent to them.

They also come out with software updates for their receivers.

I have a Mercury II and it works. Pretty much bug free.

Fortec also has a customer survey on their web site. They want to know how you feel about their products.

Then they have videos on their web site to help you with your installation...
http://www.ftavideos.com/fortec/cd/index.html

And this used to be the way all companies were (in general, not just satellite). i.e. Listen to your customers, keep your customers happy, give your customers features they want, etc. These days this seems rare!

FYI - I am not familiar with the other product you mentioned.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[SatelliteAV]

You will not be redirecting your dish as the current LNB that is receiving 97W Galaxy25 will not be moved.

To receive 93W place the additional LNBF on the left side of the current LNB (standing in front of the dish looking at the back of the LNBF and towards the reflector).