General information on getting started?

[kb31nv]

I Need General information on getting started?

I am leaning toward making the switch from cable to FTA. I want the best equipment money can buy. Motorized Satalite,HD receiver with DVR, and one SD receiver. I currently have two Dish 500 satalites,(they came with the house) can I use them?

Other than that I have general questions that will help educate me:

How many LNB's per dish or receiver?
What is a ATSC Tuner?
What is a External Tuner?
What is a Diseqc?
PCI card?
DSR?
DVB-S2?

Any Help is appreciated. I believe I could do all the work with patience and your help. I like quality and will pay if I have to for it. Thank You, Kevin.

 

[kb31nv]

Help me get started on FTA.

I have two Dish 500 Satalites. Where do I go from there?

I want a HD receiver (the best one)

I want the best money has to offer for two TV's with HD capability.

Help

Kevin

 

[gillham]

First and foremost you need to realize that you do not get anywhere near the same channels via FTA that you get via a subscription. Check out "The List!" above on this site or ftalist.com for information about channels, languages.

If you want the most HD, you really need a C-Band dish, at least from my understanding. The only permanent HD on Ku is PBS HD. There are HD sports feeds on Ku as well, but you really need a big dish for HD right now.

One of your dish 500s can be used to get 119° which has NASA TV on it. There really isn't anything else available legally.

Check out one of the sponsors above, Sadoun in particular has good motorized bundles.

You need at least a 36" dish, you'll want a motor eventually and I think all current HD units support PVR functionality. Check the FAQ and the reviews sections for more information.

 

[Cadsulfide]

Welcome!

First thing to do is to read everything you can get your eyeballs on. Lots of great FAQ's at this site.

If you are looking for a way to bootleg programming, this is the wrong place, we look at all the ways to recieve legitimate "Free TO Air" programming here.

Then throw out the Dish 500's and get a real dish (36" or bigger) and a linear lnb. It's a great hobby if you have a DIY spirit, a little time and a little $.

 

[empiretc]

I have two Dish 500 Satalites. Where do I go from there?

I want a HD receiver (the best one)

I want the best money has to offer for two TV's with HD capability.

Help

Kevin

1.) ditch those dishes. they are of no use to you for FTA.

2.) the diamond 9000hd is a real good HD receiver. it is the most affordable one.

3.) best money has to offer = quali-tv

 

[goaliebob99]

I have a pansat 9200 wich I think is one of the best on the market. I would recommend to start out with KU programming on 90 cm dish or above and get the feel for it. Point to a coupld of birds, and then add a motor. You might want to consider investing into a digital signal meter as it might help making pointing go a little quicker. After about 6 months on KU, if you have the room move up to C band. There's lots of things up there on C that is well worth it!

 

[Sadoun]

Here is a page that could help answer some of your questions:

What Should I get?

 

[Mr Tony]

merged threads...no need to start 2 threads with same question

 

[kb31nv]

merged threads...no need to start 2 threads with same question

Ya, sorry about the merged threads. The 2 Dish 500's I have are already installed. One has two LNB's and one has one. I'm thinking they are already pointing in the right direction. Hoping to get HD though and will eventually, but if I get the HD receiver I could test them out on SD couldn't I?
How is the Viewsat Max HD vs Pansat 9200 vs Coolsat 8000?
So many receivers to choose from. The receivers with DVR capability, would any external hard drive work?

 

[lownote2]

As previously stated... the dish 500's won't work. (ok, technically they will, but all you're going to get for free is NASA). You're going to have to get a bigger Ku dish. If you're in Vegas, I'd recommend a larger 36" dish.
Start studying up though before you make the switch. There's tons of stuff to watch, and I watch my FTA as much or more than my dishnetwork. You're not going to be able to get a lot of channels that are only available through some sort of subscription though. Also you need to understand that what is free today may not be free tomorrow. It's a fun hobby and really enjoyable, but you need to understand some of these things before just cutting the cables to your subscription service. I don't know a lot about C-band, but also as previously stated, there's not much HD on Ku. Wouldn't hurt to have a hd receiver if you can afford it, but I don't know how necessary it is to have right now either.