Lost at "C"

[Lak7]

If you don't have a compass, you can use this site to get an idea where the Dish should be pointing...
Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com
Enter your Address, select Galaxy 15 (G1) from the Satellite List, and click Go.

 

[Bloorp]

Wow, I was way off. Looks like I'll have to break out the chainsaw to view G1. Thanks, I'll give an update when I'm done with some timbering.

 

[Lak7]

You did come up with a South West direction?

 

[Bloorp]

Yes, but it turns out that is beyond the physical limit of my dish and the neighbors trees !

 

[Lak7]

How it the Due South view?
Go back to Dishpointer.com, enter your address, select AMC 3 @ 87 west, and click Go
Set the receiver to Sat "W3" Channel 20

 

[Bloorp]

That worked ! For the first time I have a picture, and crystal clear at that. Where do I go from here? Seems like this is the only satellite I could successfully find. From eyeballing the situation on the dishpointer site it seems my limits are between 25 and 114 W. Should I find much more FTA programming in this area?

 

[Swamp_Rat]

There a good bit of FTA and 4DTV in that range although it won't get a lot of what is there. W5 and G3 have a good bit of subscription programming and there are fta sats basically every 2 degrees starting at 79w all the way to the west end of your arc. You will need a good fta receiver to get those.

 

[Bloorp]

So I will need another receiver to get FTA? DSR 920 no good? My antenna will be useless soon so I am just looking for FTA not subs. Will my receiver basically just be a "dish mover" if I get a FTA box?

 

[Swamp_Rat]

Exactly, unless you sub there is little free on a 4DTV receiver. When looking for a FTA receiver make sure you find one with blind scan. It takes a lot of the work and research out of free to air. If you have a lnb make sure you get a fta with polarity control or you will have to manually switch it on the 920.

 

[gabshere]

where are you at in Arkansas?

 

[Lak7]

So I will need another receiver to get FTA?

Correct. And it all depends on how much money you want to spend too.
You can choose between a Standard or High Def unit.
To add an FTA unit, you need a slave kit....
BUD Slave Kit Splitters, Switches, DVB MPEG2 Sidecar 4DTV Receiver ....Great Prices

 

[dunnsept]

OOOOOOOHHH.. one of my favorite 4dtv channels is Blackbelt.tv that's "free" digicipher.
W1 300
reminds me of Kung Fu Theater on USA in the 80's

one thing to try: you need to write down the position of that sat. Then you need to find another one towards the other end of the arc. Once the 4dtv has a few mapped, it can try to guess where the others are. Also, let's say that you find 2 sats that are 10 degrees apart, you can calculate how many 'counts' on your system equate to 2 degrees (the spacing on most sats).

so if you are on say AMC 3 and you find T4 ( a good one to try for, .NET is on there) you can calculate the position of most other sats fairly accurately
note: T4 is Galaxy 28 at 89 west Galaxy 28 at 89.0°W - LyngSat try to calc where the dish should point, tell the 4dtv you want to program T4, move the dish close, press info, change to channel 600 or 601, press info again, and start bumping the dish around looking for that quality to start going up. you can try the 'auto peak' once in a while too just to see what the 4dtv can find on it's own

HTH
keep us posted

 

[Bloorp]

T4 is Galaxy 28 at 89 west Galaxy 28 at 89.0°W - LyngSat

Is there a chart or link to something that can interpret what actual satellites correspond to the listing on my receiver?

 

[dunnsept]

sure is: NPS - Your One Call Solution

 

[No Doubt]

I highly recommend you change the internal battery out soon, trust me when I tell you this. I waited on mine & it died, which is too late. The receiver is now in my shed, & DEAD.

 

[Bloorp]

Now that is working that is the next project before I even unplug it.

 

[Bloorp]

Before I get too deep and buy an FTA receiver etc. can someone tell me if my LNB will be adequate? It is an Echostar 0950-1B

 

[Lak7]

Kinda depends what you are looking to get. That LNB is for C Band only, kinda old too.
What do you have in the budget?

 

[Bloorp]

I would like to keep the whole ordeal under $300. From what I've gathered so far, I'm thinking I may be better off getting a motorized FTA complete kit from Sadoun for around $250 and Ebaying the 4dtv. With my OTA antenna going useless in June, I njust want to be able to get some basic channels and news.

 

[Lak7]

You can get C and Ku on a BUD, but not the easiest for beginners, measure the holes in the Mesh.

You would need:
FTA Receiver(non HD): $50 used, $125 new
FTA HD DVB-S2 Receiver: around $150 - $225 used, $250+ new
I would recommend an HD receiver, they will down convert to SD if you don't have an HD TV
GBox 3000 (BUD Mover): $80
C / Ku combo LNBF: $50
Shipping: around $50

Sell good 4DTV: around $150 + shipping

Do you have an idea of which channels you want?