Getting back into FTA

[gopher2]

Hey guys i finally getting settled into my new place
haven't been into FTA for a LONG time (years)
I am itching to put up my 90cm KU dish...
Don't have a motor at the moment, so i am wondering
what bird do i get the most KU from ?
Were Do you guys have your dishes pointed mostly ? Especially for feeds?

btw my stb is a old pansat 2500a
time to upgrade?
i seen some of the new ones blind scan SOOO fast...
any good recomendations on a new STB ?
Is there enough Ku FTA HD out there to justify the extra $ for a HD stb?

Thanks guys

 

[turbosat]

Right now there are few HD channels that are full time, save for the PBS channel (s) and NASA , when a mission is active. Sports feeds can be found in HD, may find some baseball backhauls now. Need that motor to search around for them though. We recommend 123W for reg programming, AMC9 for Retro TV Network, 97 has the most FTA channels, mostly international stuff from many countries. News feeds and sports feeds are all over the place. The List, top of page here, will give you some idea of what's around on the birds. Go for a newer box for faster blind scanning, Traxis 3500 is very fast, but tends to lockup on HD signals sometimes, the Mercury 2(now called the Fortec Dynamic) is a favorite. Coolsat 5000 is another fav scanning box. I've tried a few but my latest is an Icon S550, has the speed of the Traxis but doesn't hang up on HD feeds.

 

[TimLones111]

Hey guys i finally getting settled into my new place
haven't been into FTA for a LONG time (years)
I am itching to put up my 90cm KU dish...
Don't have a motor at the moment, so i am wondering
what bird do i get the most KU from ?
Were Do you guys have your dishes pointed mostly ? Especially for feeds?

btw my stb is a old pansat 2500a
time to upgrade?
i seen some of the new ones blind scan SOOO fast...
any good recomendations on a new STB ?
Is there enough Ku FTA HD out there to justify the extra $ for a HD stb?

Thanks guys

Hi Gopher:
Bear in mind I am a relative newbie myself, only having been into the FTA hobby sbout a month or so, but I'll tell you what I know.

The most stations from one bird would be from Galaxy 19 at 97 degrees west, though most of the channels are foreign language..Most English broadcasts come from religious channels at AMC4 101 degrees west (and some on 97)..

Galaxy 18 123 west-G18 has several Rocky Mountain Fox Channels and a couple of ABC affiliates..

AMC21 at 125 degrees west has Montana PBS.

83 degrees west (AMC9) has Retro TV East and West Feeds..

There are usually some Wild Feeds at 72 degrees west (AMC6)..As well as other sats, but I havent really looked into that a lot yet..

As far as a receiver, If your Pansat 2500 is more than a couple years old, I would probably upgrade..I have a Fortec Dynamic which is excellent for my needs..Check out The advertisers at the top of the page..Other members will be helpful to you as well..Good luck..

 

[Tron]

Gopher, Galaxy 10R at 123w is now Galaxy 18 (satellite was replaced), and is still probably the best single bird for English language programming.

 

[gopher2]

Hey guys thanks for the replies...
I am going to start messing around with it today..
After reading the replies i remember how much the motor came in handy
I do a a SG2100 motor *somewhere* but i gotta find it

I do have 2 more questions

When my dish was setup long time ago i had painted it to match the house never had problemes with signal
now its looks a bit out of place, is it ok to throw another coat of paint on it?

The dish is a 90cm, Do you think i can get away with just mounting the pole in the dirt? i dont feel like pouring concrete again

Thanks guys..

 

[phlatwound]

Another coat of paint should not hurt anything.

And you should definitely make sure your pole is secure and plumb, no matter how you do it (I would use concrete). If your pole isn't solid and near-perfectly plumb you will not be able to track the arc properly with your motor.

 

[TimLones111]

My wife and I have lived in a duplex apartment for 7 years..When we moved here we had a pole put into the ground in our front yard for Dish Network/Sky Angel and later Direct TV..We never had concrete with it, and never had a problem with the pole being plumb..Just make it as deep and sturdy as possible and you shouldnt need concrete.

 

[Anole]

The pole doesn't really need to be plumb for fixed-aim.
But for a motor, it does need to be perfectly plumb to track the arc, as PhlatWound mentioned.

Also, the extra off-balance weight of the motor, -and- the fact the dish is now further from the pole center line, both conspire to drag the pole off-plumb.
So, a short, large diameter, stiff pole, in concrete, would be the best security for anyone putting in a motor.

 

[TimLones111]

The pole doesn't really need to be plumb for fixed-aim.
But for a motor, it does need to be perfectly plumb to track the arc, as PhlatWound mentioned.

Also, the extra off-balance weight of the motor, -and- the fact the dish is now further from the pole center line, both conspire to drag the pole off-plumb.
So, a short, large diameter, stiff pole, in concrete, would be the best security for anyone putting in a motor.

I just put my motor on about a week and a half ago, and Our pole has stayed plumb even without concrete. As Anole said, concrete would probably be the better way to go..In our situation, being a rental property is an issue..The Landlord didnt want concrete there, as I recall..