This post is long. So I'll sum up my info first:
Dish: 75cm
LNB: 0.6DB Universal
Receiver: Viacast Vistar 2000 Quantum MSR (by Visionetics...must have been a sale on letters!!)
Latitude: 43N
Longitude: 81W
Satellite: Galaxy 10R (g10r)
Signal Quality: TP 12114: 100
TP 11720: 50
Elevation: 35 (Contrary to all sat calcs on the net which said 25)
Setup Equip: satellite finder (works with the universal lnb), compass, ladder
Conclusions:
1. Make sure the LNB is in the cradle as far from the dish as possible...makes a signal quality difference of about 40% (it did for me, at least);
2. Use the satellite meter in conjuction with your receiver to get a lock on a quality signal;
3. Plus, keep trying...you'll find it eventually.
I first became aware of the FTA opportunities out there in May of 2004. I'd been a Bell customer for about 2 years, and felt wedged between two criminal extremes: pay one criminal (Bell) to receive signals that are available via a rabbit ear antenna, or pay (and become) another criminal to hack into the Bell system. As luck would have it, I discovered Lyngsat and FTA, and bought a 76cm dish, Universal 0.6dB LNB, and a Viacast receiver (from middletowneng on eb*y...I know, I know...its a four-letter-word) in August of 2004. It seemed like a perfect solution...free and legal. What could be better?
I couldn't get started, though, because we moved houses. I decided at my new place that I wanted to mount the new dish to a wooden deck, because it being a larger dish, I felt if it was mounted to bricks, the bricks might get pulled off the house in a storm....(hey...you never know!!). Anyhow, since it was a brand new house, it took some time before we could build our new deck ( a year actually)...so the criminals at Bell got another $400+ out of me from Aug 2004-Aug 2005. Given that there was no hockey season, its even more criminal.
Finally, I mounted the dish just where I wanted it - it really blends in - but I could not get a lock on G10r no matter what. I live way up in the icy Canadian tundra of London, Ontario (43N, 81W), and I started to think I was not going to be able to get a FTA signal. I bought a satellite meter, and could tell there was something out there, but the Vistar is really not a good receiver for newbies, since you program it and then it tells you if you have a good dish alignment...instead of pointing the dish and having the receiver do the thinking.
So I was close to giving up. But I'd like to think I have a ton of heart, and couldn't bear the idea of giving up. Also, I'm very cheap. Given that over $100 had been invested in this FTA gear, it was pretty much guaranteed I'd get the job done eventually.
As luck would have it, I did a google search to find out if any other brave souls had tried using the Vistar for FTA. And I stumbled upon this site, and specifically Iceberg's tutorial. Then I was inspired: here was a blueprint for success, and from someone who actually lives further north than me! Plus, there was that picture of Iceberg...whenever I was ready to feel sorry for myself, or try to convince myself that my equipment was faulty, I'd look at that picture, which if it had a caption would read: the reason you can't get a signal is because you're an idiot. And I'd think: damn...Iceberg's right...I gotta try harder.
So I learned the basics about the vistar, how you have to program it first, how you have to add three 0's to the end of the transponder frequency, how you have to set the LNB LO Frequency to 10600000 for a univeral LNB, and how you have to set it to 14+22K for Vertical and 18+22K for Horizontal (again, when you have that universal LNB). So I did all that stuff, and tried again...and got nothing. I tried adding different transponder (tp) frequencies and symbol rates (sr)...no dice. I tried using the satellite meter to point the dish to a very strong signal, and always got 0 quality (on the vistar the difference between signal quality and signal stength is that signal quality matters).
Finally, with the satellite meter telling me I had a really strong signal in what I thought was G10R's area, I keyed in a tp freq and sr. But I made a mistake...I keyed in 11720000 and a sr of 26800...I don't even know where I got 26800 from...I just wrote it down by accident I think. Anyhow, next thing I know, the vistar has a quality of 30 and I later figured out it was Galaxy 13/Horizons 1 at 127.0°W (technically, the KU is on Horizons 1 (H1), which was what I was pointed at).
So I tinkered a little with H1 and got a quality of 77...which I figured was not bad. H1 has a lower EIRP (48) for London than G10R (49) so I figured I must be close. I started moving the dish in tiny steps to try to get a lock on G10R at 123.0W. After a couple of hours of 0 success, I put the satellite meter back on.
Well, I realized what a newbie I was, because I put the satellite meter on, pointed the dish back at H1, and then I could see on the TV that the signal was able to pass from the dish, through the meter and into the receiver. Previously, I had thought the meter would prevent the signal from reaching the receiver. Instead, I could use the meter, and also have the signal meter from the receiver displayed on a the TV...so I would know precisely when I had a good quality signal.
Within about 5 minutes using that arrangement, I had a quality reading on G10R, tp 12114000, sr 4444. That quality reading was about 30...but hey...it was a minor success.
Although I was tempted to just tighten all the bolts and declare victory (at last), I remembered reading other posts in this forum and in newgroups about how tp 12114 is supposed to be a blowtorch on this particular satellite. So I did some minor tinkering in the elevation and rotation of the dish. In the best case I got the quality up to 47. Then I remembered another piece of sage wisdom I read on this site (sorry, I forget the author...): when trying to get a signal, make sure to place the lnb in its cradle as far from the dish as possible. I did that, and to my utter shock I had a quality reading of 100!!! It currently dances between 97 and 100 consistently (that is in perfectly clear sky, mind you). Proper placement of that LNB is a vital piece of advice, I wish I had take more seriously. Every newbie should keep that tip in mind!!
With a rock steady lock on tp 12114, I began programming in the other tps as well. I used Iceberg's numbers: 11799 with sr of 26660 and got all of those channels. Then I used the lyngsat numbers for everything else. Although I was pretty fortuitous with tp 12114, I get average quality on the other tps...they're all between about 30 and 50. I could probably tinker more, but considering I've achieved the major goal of adding about 35-40 channels for free, I'm ultra happy. I now have legal and free access to all the US programming I'd watch via expressvu anyway, and I live within a line-of-sight of a CBC tower for NHL games this year (provided CBC ends their strike).So between my FTA dish and an antenna, me, my wife and my kids all have their favorite programming available. Everything we would have watched and paid for is completely replaced (and then some).
I am thrilled. For that, I am extremely grateful. Some people specifically to whom I am greatly indebted are:
Iceberg: you've done so much to help people like me. I really hope you are able to make money at this, because your advice is very, very valuable. Also, your photo is very, very intimidating.
ken2400 and ultratryon: you both have posted your experiences with the viacast visionetics vistar 2000 quantum msr (or whatever the dang thing is called) purchased via eb*y (middletowneng) and for sharing your experiences you made mine easier...despite the challenges I faced.
Given as how I went from never having done FTA to getting a good lock on G10R with the viacast, I couldn't have done it without a lot of help. So to all who posted their experiences, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I've included some pics of my setup. I hope they help others get into the hobby. One thing to note is the elevation of my dish. The calcs on the net all said I should set it to about 25. But you will notice its set around 35...which is a pretty big difference. Maybe that has something to do with how far above sea level you are...I dunno. Just something to keep in mind.
Dish: 75cm
LNB: 0.6DB Universal
Receiver: Viacast Vistar 2000 Quantum MSR (by Visionetics...must have been a sale on letters!!)
Latitude: 43N
Longitude: 81W
Satellite: Galaxy 10R (g10r)
Signal Quality: TP 12114: 100
TP 11720: 50
Elevation: 35 (Contrary to all sat calcs on the net which said 25)
Setup Equip: satellite finder (works with the universal lnb), compass, ladder
Conclusions:
1. Make sure the LNB is in the cradle as far from the dish as possible...makes a signal quality difference of about 40% (it did for me, at least);
2. Use the satellite meter in conjuction with your receiver to get a lock on a quality signal;
3. Plus, keep trying...you'll find it eventually.
I first became aware of the FTA opportunities out there in May of 2004. I'd been a Bell customer for about 2 years, and felt wedged between two criminal extremes: pay one criminal (Bell) to receive signals that are available via a rabbit ear antenna, or pay (and become) another criminal to hack into the Bell system. As luck would have it, I discovered Lyngsat and FTA, and bought a 76cm dish, Universal 0.6dB LNB, and a Viacast receiver (from middletowneng on eb*y...I know, I know...its a four-letter-word) in August of 2004. It seemed like a perfect solution...free and legal. What could be better?
I couldn't get started, though, because we moved houses. I decided at my new place that I wanted to mount the new dish to a wooden deck, because it being a larger dish, I felt if it was mounted to bricks, the bricks might get pulled off the house in a storm....(hey...you never know!!). Anyhow, since it was a brand new house, it took some time before we could build our new deck ( a year actually)...so the criminals at Bell got another $400+ out of me from Aug 2004-Aug 2005. Given that there was no hockey season, its even more criminal.
Finally, I mounted the dish just where I wanted it - it really blends in - but I could not get a lock on G10r no matter what. I live way up in the icy Canadian tundra of London, Ontario (43N, 81W), and I started to think I was not going to be able to get a FTA signal. I bought a satellite meter, and could tell there was something out there, but the Vistar is really not a good receiver for newbies, since you program it and then it tells you if you have a good dish alignment...instead of pointing the dish and having the receiver do the thinking.
So I was close to giving up. But I'd like to think I have a ton of heart, and couldn't bear the idea of giving up. Also, I'm very cheap. Given that over $100 had been invested in this FTA gear, it was pretty much guaranteed I'd get the job done eventually.
As luck would have it, I did a google search to find out if any other brave souls had tried using the Vistar for FTA. And I stumbled upon this site, and specifically Iceberg's tutorial. Then I was inspired: here was a blueprint for success, and from someone who actually lives further north than me! Plus, there was that picture of Iceberg...whenever I was ready to feel sorry for myself, or try to convince myself that my equipment was faulty, I'd look at that picture, which if it had a caption would read: the reason you can't get a signal is because you're an idiot. And I'd think: damn...Iceberg's right...I gotta try harder.
So I learned the basics about the vistar, how you have to program it first, how you have to add three 0's to the end of the transponder frequency, how you have to set the LNB LO Frequency to 10600000 for a univeral LNB, and how you have to set it to 14+22K for Vertical and 18+22K for Horizontal (again, when you have that universal LNB). So I did all that stuff, and tried again...and got nothing. I tried adding different transponder (tp) frequencies and symbol rates (sr)...no dice. I tried using the satellite meter to point the dish to a very strong signal, and always got 0 quality (on the vistar the difference between signal quality and signal stength is that signal quality matters).
Finally, with the satellite meter telling me I had a really strong signal in what I thought was G10R's area, I keyed in a tp freq and sr. But I made a mistake...I keyed in 11720000 and a sr of 26800...I don't even know where I got 26800 from...I just wrote it down by accident I think. Anyhow, next thing I know, the vistar has a quality of 30 and I later figured out it was Galaxy 13/Horizons 1 at 127.0°W (technically, the KU is on Horizons 1 (H1), which was what I was pointed at).
So I tinkered a little with H1 and got a quality of 77...which I figured was not bad. H1 has a lower EIRP (48) for London than G10R (49) so I figured I must be close. I started moving the dish in tiny steps to try to get a lock on G10R at 123.0W. After a couple of hours of 0 success, I put the satellite meter back on.
Well, I realized what a newbie I was, because I put the satellite meter on, pointed the dish back at H1, and then I could see on the TV that the signal was able to pass from the dish, through the meter and into the receiver. Previously, I had thought the meter would prevent the signal from reaching the receiver. Instead, I could use the meter, and also have the signal meter from the receiver displayed on a the TV...so I would know precisely when I had a good quality signal.
Within about 5 minutes using that arrangement, I had a quality reading on G10R, tp 12114000, sr 4444. That quality reading was about 30...but hey...it was a minor success.
Although I was tempted to just tighten all the bolts and declare victory (at last), I remembered reading other posts in this forum and in newgroups about how tp 12114 is supposed to be a blowtorch on this particular satellite. So I did some minor tinkering in the elevation and rotation of the dish. In the best case I got the quality up to 47. Then I remembered another piece of sage wisdom I read on this site (sorry, I forget the author...): when trying to get a signal, make sure to place the lnb in its cradle as far from the dish as possible. I did that, and to my utter shock I had a quality reading of 100!!! It currently dances between 97 and 100 consistently (that is in perfectly clear sky, mind you). Proper placement of that LNB is a vital piece of advice, I wish I had take more seriously. Every newbie should keep that tip in mind!!
With a rock steady lock on tp 12114, I began programming in the other tps as well. I used Iceberg's numbers: 11799 with sr of 26660 and got all of those channels. Then I used the lyngsat numbers for everything else. Although I was pretty fortuitous with tp 12114, I get average quality on the other tps...they're all between about 30 and 50. I could probably tinker more, but considering I've achieved the major goal of adding about 35-40 channels for free, I'm ultra happy. I now have legal and free access to all the US programming I'd watch via expressvu anyway, and I live within a line-of-sight of a CBC tower for NHL games this year (provided CBC ends their strike).So between my FTA dish and an antenna, me, my wife and my kids all have their favorite programming available. Everything we would have watched and paid for is completely replaced (and then some).
I am thrilled. For that, I am extremely grateful. Some people specifically to whom I am greatly indebted are:
Iceberg: you've done so much to help people like me. I really hope you are able to make money at this, because your advice is very, very valuable. Also, your photo is very, very intimidating.
ken2400 and ultratryon: you both have posted your experiences with the viacast visionetics vistar 2000 quantum msr (or whatever the dang thing is called) purchased via eb*y (middletowneng) and for sharing your experiences you made mine easier...despite the challenges I faced.
Given as how I went from never having done FTA to getting a good lock on G10R with the viacast, I couldn't have done it without a lot of help. So to all who posted their experiences, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I've included some pics of my setup. I hope they help others get into the hobby. One thing to note is the elevation of my dish. The calcs on the net all said I should set it to about 25. But you will notice its set around 35...which is a pretty big difference. Maybe that has something to do with how far above sea level you are...I dunno. Just something to keep in mind.
