FTA Newbie wants to watch Italian TV from Austin TX

[Angus Vaquero]

Hello!

I am a newbie to FTA. In fact I have yet to purchase any equipment so I am looking for suggestions from you, the experienced experts.

Specially I want to watch Italian TV as a tool to learning Italian and for the culture. I live in an HOA neighborhood so the dish has to located out of view from the front of the house. It is a 2 story house.

The house faces geographically South with a clear view to the horizon. The location is
LATITUDE N30 29.968
Longitude W97 50.455

I have a great deal of experience with shortwave radio prior to the internet and computers made that simple. So I am used to tinkinger with the receive dials, etc.

Any recommendations you could provide would be greatly appreciated. If anyone lives near Austin TX and can recommend an installer I would really like that info as well.

Thanks a lot

 

[Othea]

Italian

Hello Angus.

You should be able to get some limited Italian programming FTA.
Galaxy19 @ 97°W has (1) Tele Padre Pio and (2) Telepace.
Intelsat 3R @ 43°W has (1) Telefoggia.

I haven't seen Telefoggia because it's out of my range -- trees are in the way. Of the two programs on Galaxy 19, I only watch Telepace on occasion, but it probably has enough interesting material for language learning purposes. A standard FTA receiver and a 31, 33 or 36-inch dish should be good for reliable reception. The site sponsors can point you in the right direction.

It sounds like you will need to put your dish in the front yard or perhaps on the front wall despite what the HOA would like to impose on you. You probably will not want to put the dish high up, as that will make adjusting it rather difficult. I'm not familiar with the federal legislation on the matter, but from what I've heard from other people on this forum, everyone has a legal right to put up a satellite dish on one's own property or house. The HOA may be able to prevent you from putting up a dish that exceeds 1 meter in diameter, but usually that's about all it can impose on you. Those of us who have no HOA can put up larger dishes, if we wish.

Before you decide to purchase equipment, it might be a good idea to make sure that you have a clear line of sight to the satellite that you would like to lock onto. You might also want to look into Italian programming available through DirecTv or Dishnetwork for comparison -- they may have something that you would enjoy more.

As far as installers... I'm not familiar with your area. Most people here do their own installations. The tricky part is pointing the satellite dish precisely. If you are only trying to get Galaxy 19, that should not be too difficult.

 

[pedrogarcia]

Your approximate dish pointing for 97w (galaxy 19) would be a compass bearing of 175 magnetic and for 43w 106 magnetic so it would seem even if you had a motorised dish it would need to view at least due south so on the house front or SE corner. 97 west is probably the better of the FTA sats.
Here is a link to the Federal law re 1 metre dishes which will over rule HOAs requirement and they well know this as it has been tested in court.

FCC LAW

Ciao a tutti

 

[Auric]

The easiest way for me to find 97 was by way of 91 NIMIQ, which is a strong sat but scrambled...Just move the dish a little west of that 97 also has a strong signal...It has a lot of open channels & also one of my favs...

 

[concord]

As mentioned, a few on 43w: SatelliteGuys.US - 43.0°W Intelsat 3R Ku Not sure if you can get it (that low in horizon) from TX

I've seen some interesting channels in the past, guy going around to strip joints talking to people

 

[Angus Vaquero]

THanks everybody for your recommendations and advice. It is a big help. Happy Viewing!

 

[pendragon]

You may not have room for a 6' C-band dish, but Intelsat 9 (58W) has three Italian channels. See Lyngsat.

 

[phlatwound]

I'm not sure it's still there or what the programming is (was?) but what about RAI Italia on AMC1 @ 103W tp23 analog?

Of course, that channel would also require C-band capability.

 

[ACRadio]

As mentioned, a few on 43w: SatelliteGuys.US - 43.0°W Intelsat 3R Ku Not sure if you can get it (that low in horizon) from TX

I've seen some interesting channels in the past, guy going around to strip joints talking to people

The Italian MUX on IS-3R is gone....

 

[granadaguy]

Italian channels at 58W ( intelsat 9 sat. )

Hello!

I am a newbie to FTA. In fact I have yet to purchase any equipment so I am looking for suggestions from you, the experienced experts.

Specially I want to watch Italian TV as a tool to learning Italian and for the culture. I live in an HOA neighborhood so the dish has to located out of view from the front of the house. It is a 2 story house.

The house faces geographically South with a clear view to the horizon. The location is
LATITUDE N30 29.968
Longitude W97 50.455

I have a great deal of experience with shortwave radio prior to the internet and computers made that simple. So I am used to tinkinger with the receive dials, etc.

Any recommendations you could provide would be greatly appreciated. If anyone lives near Austin TX and can recommend an installer I would really like that info as well.

Thanks a lot

From my location ( Mi. ) I can get Yes Italia & RAI News at 58W on that bird, ( I will keep you posted if I see more ).


Iceberg, sorry but didn't have time this past weekend to scan more Eastern sats. ( Buick Open was playing near me-had to go and watch Tiger...."priorities" ...lol ), and this week I'm going to be in Ca., hopefully when I get back I have free time and will do some hunting over the Atlantic.

Oh yeah, got a brand new toy- azbox ( follow garga's advice ), will see what new feeds it can hunt down.

Regards.