New and confused

[spud_rubble]

Hi there, my name is Jim and I live in the south central area of Missouri. I sorta got sick of my Dishnet and decided I needed an alternative. I bought a Trek38 TV antenna and that covered my locals for me but of coarse being a red blooded american I want MORE!

SO being new reading alot but not getting it to well I ask you masters of the FTA world the following:

I would like to know what equipment I should get? I am interested also in maybe being able to use a rotor or something to go to more than 1 satellite if that is an option. Like anyone I want the most for the least.

I have no idea how to set them up although I did do my own dishnet myself but that seems totally different. Is there people in Missouri that you can pay to come out and set these up?

Any help would be so appreciated.

 

[rdel]

Welcome Jim
I used to have dishnet but I unloaded it awhile back, We enjoy the programming on RTN on G10r and the PBS stations. FTA went from a fun hobbie to a great way to get a bunch of free TV (and I still get to play with my dishes in the yard )
I would start with one dish (as large as you can get) and learn from there, alot of people have problems lining up the dish but it's really not that hard. (people tend to make it harder then it is) When your setting up your first dish take your time and have fun. Sat AV and Sadoun, go sat can sell you what you need, (their sponsors of the forum) You setup your own dishnet so you can setup a KU band. You can order the motor but I would wait awhile before setting it up, just start with the single dish first.
Here is some of the things you can get with a ku setup

http://www.global-cm.net/MPEGlistKuBandUS.html

If you have any questions just ask
rdel

 

[spud_rubble]

OKay I hope Im not over simplifying this but it sorta looked like if a persom had a 8 foot mesh, a 36" solid and a 24" solid you could pretty much get it all?

That or getting a 36" dish would be around the best starter? Is there a way to fine tune a say large 6-8foot dish to work all bands like some sort of antenna tuner (like ham band radio)?

I will call the place you offered the link to today when they open, really apprectiate it. I just got so tired of paying for TV that never had anything to offer me, you know the 100 channels and nothing worth watching deal.

 

[Tron]

If you have access to an 8 foot BUD (Big Ugly/Useful Dish), you can use it for C-band programming. A 36" dish will get Ku only, but it is often helpful to use separate dishes for Ku and C-bands. The 8 foot mesh dish will work for Ku if you have a C/Ku combo feedhorn and LNBs for both bands. If it is a mesh dish, make sure a pencil won't fit through the mesh if you are going to use it for Ku. Many BUDs only have C-band LNBs.

A 24 inch dish is really too small for Ku. It will work fine for the very little amount of programming that is in the clear from Dish Network (NASA and some music on 119w), but it is basically the same as an 18" dish.