Jumping in the FTA Pool

[acadiancowboy]

Hello everyone,

I'm anxious to jump into the world of digital FTA! Here's what I have:

- 10' Aluminum Mesh BUD with C-Band LNB with SuperJack actuator
- Toshiba TRX-80 analog receiver
- Panasonic 50' 1080p Plasma HDTV (ordered... arriving this week)

The choice of analog programming is dismal, and I'm wanting to take advantage of any free HDTV satellite programming available. My questions are as follows:

1. With the setup I have (C-Band only, no Ku), can I expect some reasonable amount of programming with a digital receiver?
2. I plan to keep the Toshiba TRX-80 to move the dish. I realize a more integrated solution would be more automated/better. Can anyone recommend such a setup?
3. I am looking at the Pansat 9200HD receiver to start out with (no 8PSK module, just the receiver). Would this receiver be a good match for my setup? Can anyone recommend anything else?

My intention is to stick with C-band for now. I realize there are other encodings (DVB-S2) that could be caught with the Pansat 9200HD (with add-on card?) and want to be sure that my 10' BUD can handle this.

Thanks for all the help in advance!

 

[Mr Tony]

1. check thelist above. There are tons of C-band FTA stuff up there including networks (some in HD). I have a 6 foot dish on G4/G16 (99W) for the networks and a 2nd one that I move to whatever I can pick up
2. there is a thing called a V-Box that allows you to move a big dish with the FTA box
3. The Pansat 9200 is a good box and has blind scan which finds all the "feeds" up there (that pop up now and then)

 

[acadiancowboy]

1. check thelist above. There are tons of C-band FTA stuff up there including networks (some in HD). I have a 6 foot dish on G4/G16 (99W) for the networks and a 2nd one that I move to whatever I can pick up
2. there is a thing called a V-Box that allows you to move a big dish with the FTA box
3. The Pansat 9200 is a good box and has blind scan which finds all the "feeds" up there (that pop up now and then)

Iceberg,

Thanks for the post. It appears that from what I've been reading in the forum, along with your post, that C-band seems to offer more HD content at the moment, so that is a good thing.

I've just placed an order for the Pansat 9200HD. I'll post my thoughts once I get the box in and have it set up.

 

[stogie5150]

With a nickname like that you GOTTA like this newbie.

Acadian as in Louisiana or Acadian as in Nova Scotia?


Oh, and...

 

[acadiancowboy]

With a nickname like that you GOTTA like this newbie.

Acadian as in Louisiana or Acadian as in Nova Scotia?


Oh, and...

Louisiana... FTAing near Opelousas!

 

[Mr Tony]

oh good lord stogie has a buddy now

 

[stogie5150]

oh good lord stogie has a buddy now

He's actually about 10 minutes from swampman, and two hours from me....LOL

But thanks for the concern...I wish I had another hardcore FTA'er closer to me...I could use the help!

 

[digiblur]

And only an hour from me. From what I hear there some good things to be found on Cband with a DVBS2 receiver.