Looking to get into fta

[Van]

Ok, I have had enough of dealing with charter cable and all the problems it has with billing and a stable service on the television end and I am looking to try fta and have a few questions.

(1) What is a good system for a new person to fta but that has exstensive experience with dbs installation and repairs?

(2) How stable is a motorized dish on a tripod?

(3) Knowing the above what system would give me the best bang for my buck on a budget?

Any responses would be appreciated and if any of the sponsors read this feel free to reply or pm me.

 

[Tron]

FTA is a fun and addicting hobby You'll need at least a 30 inch (76cm) dish, 36 inch is better. These Ku satellites are harder to aim at than DBS, but experience with DBS should help.

Because of the larger dish size plus motor weight, a non-penetrating flat roof mount would be better than a tripod. You can anchor the NPRM down with cinder blocks, it works very well.

As for receivers, there are currently several favorites. Check the reviews section for comments. Most like the Pansat 3500, Coolsat 5000, and Fortec Mercury II, but there are other good ones as well. Avoid Viewsats if you plan to use a motor.

 

[SatinKzo]

I started with a motorized kit from sadoun and I had already scrounged a second 90cm dish beforehand. I think the 90cm dish is in a sweet spot for size and signal. Iknow it's in a decent spot shipping wise.

I have used all 3 receivers Tron mentioned. I learned on my MercII/Coolsat 5000 and got familiar with different menu's etc. But since I scanned so much and my kids liked to listen to music in the FTA room alot and there is no CD player in there, I picked up an Pansat 3500. It has an SD card for saving channel data and the receiver plays MP3's. So it was an ideal receiver for me.

I would recommend all 3 to anyone, but blind scan wise (big feature in my book) I think the mercII is the best with it's different options for scanning.

I only had experience setting up my DBS dishes and I had no real issues with my fta setup. Took a bit more patience, but overall, very similar even with the motor. Just have to read and understand the differences.

 

[esteps]

Take a look at the SatelliteAV website. They have a motorized system for a great price. It worked for me!
esteps

Ok, I have had enough of dealing with charter cable and all the problems it has with billing and a stable service on the television end and I am looking to try fta and have a few questions.

(1) What is a good system for a new person to fta but that has exstensive experience with dbs installation and repairs?

(2) How stable is a motorized dish on a tripod?

(3) Knowing the above what system would give me the best bang for my buck on a budget?

Any responses would be appreciated and if any of the sponsors read this feel free to reply or pm me.