FTA and outdoor antenna

[Tye]

Hello all!

I'm setting up a channel master deep fringe/high gain antenna to receive my local channels but I'm thinking about setting up a FTA system consisting of a 90 cm dish, an invacom quad LNBF,a HH 120 stab motor and a Viewsat Extreme receiver. I see that FTAdirect has a "package 3" that fits the bill. The antenna has a 75 ohm coaxial cable and a remote control rotator.

My question is; How do I connect both the antenna and the FTA package up to the same TV?

Thanks for any and all replies!

TY

 

[SatelliteAV]

Connect the terrestrial antenna to the ANTENNA INPUT on the satellite receiver. When you turn the satellite receiver off, an internal A/B switch will switch the RF output from the satellite receiver to the the ANTENNA INPUT.

BTW..... You might want to purchase another brand of receiver if you are motorizing the dish. Viewsats are notorious for inconsistant control of motors.

 

[ftamart]

Hi Tye,
The receiver has an antenna input on the back, so you can have both, antenna and LNB connected to it. Now, it you want to use only one coax cable, I think there is a switch that you can get, someone in this forum will have a better answer for the one cable onption.

 

[Tye]

Thanks for the quick replies!

As can be plainly seen, all this is new to me and there's so much to learn! But it's interesting so I'm ready to "take that plunge!"..........

I'm thinking that I could go with a stationary dish because I have a pretty clear view of the southern sky. I need a bigger dish however to replace the one I'm using now for DirecTV.

So, All I need to do is run two coaxial cables; one from the antenna and one from the dish, and hook them both to the receiver, right?
And then, switching from one to the other can be done with the remote control?
Please forgive my ignorance. I know nothing about all of this but I'm trying to learn. That's why I'm here!...........

Thanks again for the info, guys!

TY

 

[SatelliteAV]

Correct! Run one coax from the terrestial antenna and one coax from the dish and connect to the satellite receiver. Pressing the power button on the satellite receiver remote or on the front panel will place the receiver into a standby mode and automatically switch the RF output to the terrestrial antenna.

 

[Tron]

If running two cables into the house (from the dish and the OTA antenna) is a problem, you could look into a diplexer to combine both signals into the same cable outside and then another diplexer to separate them at the back of your entertainment center.

 

[mastermesh]

of course, using two coax cables should work just fine. Just wiretie them together to make it all look nice and pretty... then just keep adding new wire ties as you add more coaxes and stuff... I have a ton of wires going along my setup now... I have both satellite & antenna going to fta reciever, then also have satellite going in to computer in the attic (usb dvb world box), antenna going to computer (ati all in wonder), and computer signals going to living room via coax and speaker wires (to watch internet tv shows in the living room, and use the computer as a dvr).

 

[Davage]

Thanks for the quick replies!


I'm thinking that I could go with a stationary dish because I have a pretty clear view of the southern sky. I need a bigger dish however to replace the one I'm using now for DirecTV.

TY

Have you decided on a particular satellite that you want to point the dish at? I really would suggest going with a motorized setup to be able to scan the skies and pick up stuff on the different birds. Ohio News on SBS6 at 74 degrees, Dr Gene Scott on Galaxy 26 @ 93 degrees, International stuff on Galaxy 25 @ 97 degrees, WhiteSprings tv on Galaxy 27 @ 129 degrees, and of course the Equity Broadcasting stuff on Galaxy 10 @ 123 degrees. I couldn't imagine going with a fixed dish, I'd definately suggest that you consider going with a motorized setup.

 

[iafirebuff]

I started with a fixed dish, then got another, and antother....then a motor I have both fixed and motorized now. I actually watch my fixed dish which is pointed to G10 for RTN's about 90-95% of the time. BUT, those othe 5-10% of the time I sure have fun watching feeds or all the world wide stations on IA5.

 

[SatelliteAV]

We do not recommend that you use Diplexers as they will introduce approx. 3dB of loss per pair, resulting in the signal strength being cut in half! While this is acceptable with DBS and DSS (Dish Network / DirecTV / Bell ExpressView) systems, FTA systems do not fair as well with the weaker signals.

If running two cables into the house (from the dish and the OTA antenna) is a problem, you could look into a diplexer to combine both signals into the same cable outside and then another diplexer to separate them at the back of your entertainment center.

 

[Sadoun]

Running two cables would be the ideal solution. Also preferably solid copper core coaxial cables instead of the cheaper solid clad steel cables. Booth will work, but solid copper core is a better conducter, hence better signal. Also, make sure receiver is 100% DiSeqC 1.2 and/or USALS compatible with the motor.