New Guy, Advice

[WillyV]

I'm brand new to "free to air satellite tv" and need to know the average costs for a basic system with a KU band dish and motor (that might be able to tune in 2 satellites) as long as that doesn't cost too much. Is it even possible to receive any other satellites other than Galaxy 19 from south western PA?

My location would be southern Bedford county (Southampton Township) PA, USA. Looks like Galaxy 19 would be the primary satellite I'd be interested in from what I've researched, although I'm open to suggestions. I'd also like to be able to tune in some German tv but based on what I've read, it doesn't sound too promissing.

I was hoping to get away with $4 - 500.00 with myself as the installer. Is that doable or am I being unrealistic? What's really important to me is to get equipment from a reputable supplier. I'd appreciate any comments. Thank you.

 

[Hockeynut]

4-500$ is easily doable.Yes you can get more than just Galaxy 19 from your location granted there is no obstructions from buildings,trees etc.

A good performer for its size is the Ariza 90cm coupled with an Invacom QPH-031...I would stay away from a dish any smaller than 90cm for FTA.
And a good motor that is rated to handle a stamped steel dish up to 1.4m is the SG 6100

There is many receivers in the 170 dollar and under price range that can do more than some receivers from only 5-6 yrs ago that were double and even triple the price now!..Some to look into would be the Amiko line of receivers,Micro HD,Pansat 9500..etc...there is alot to choose from now that would work just fine with a motor.

These are just a few suggestions to get ya started and am sure many more will come..Good luck..Be careful ya might get hooked on this fun hobby.

 

[Jim S.]

I'm brand new to "free to air satellite tv" and need to know the average costs for a basic system with a KU band dish and motor (that might be able to tune in 2 satellites) as long as that doesn't cost too much. Is it even possible to receive any other satellites other than Galaxy 19 from south western PA?

If you have a clear view of the horizon, you can receive everything on the list at http://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist/
You'll note that many of them don't have a lot of full-time channels, though.

I can't think of any German channels on the Ku band. Some PBS channels carry a half-hour per day of Deutsche Welle, however, it's international news in English.

 

[turbosat]

You can get a motorized system for under that amount, with the motor you can watch all the satellites viewable from your location. And there's lots to see! Sadly, though, if you want German tv in German language you'll need a big dish ( c-band dish, 6' or bigger, preferably 8' or bigger for good stable signals). Only German tv I know of was mentioned above, on 58W satellite. The English language version of it is on 103W c-band. Post what you find before you buy, if you want opinions on equipment.
And, welcome to Satelliteguys!

 

[WillyV]

Hello Jim,

Thank you for responding. My cabin sits on the upper side of a mountain valley with a view of the east and south sky. Although I'm not there right now, I'd say that the views span most of both horizons. Although there is a ridge directly outside my window, the sky located directly above it is of the south east sky. Since the mountain ridge isn't too high, a dish would not need to be pointed up very much to see the sky etc. Looing down the valley, I can see the southern sky as well. Since the valley is approximately 4 - 5 hundred yards wide, there are no tree or other obstructions.

When people talk about "arcs in the horizons," in regards to satellites and the sky, are they referring to views left to right or something else? Does the description of my location sound doable? Yeah, I'm familiar with Deutsche Welle and sort of thought my chances of tuneing into other stuff wasn't good. How about Austria? Thanks again.

 

[WillyV]

Hello Hockeynut,

Thank you for responding! Glad to hear that it shouldn't be too expensive. Hopefully, my location description to Jim above will mean that obstructions shouldn't be an issue. I plan to mount the dish on the side of my porch. Are there mounting brackets designed to hold the dish out and away from walls? I would need to pivot the dish almost 90 degrees to hit the southern sky.

How about equipment suppliers? Can you suggest any reputable ones?

Just to make sure I'm on track, I'd need the dish (does it come with a mount?), motor, LNBF (not sure I have that right), receiver and what else?

Really appreciate your comments? Thanks again.

 

[WillyV]

Hello Turbosat,

Yeah, that's a bummer about the lack of German language channels. Is there any chance some German programing might shift to KU in the future? How about Austria?

On another track, I'm pretty certain that I'll need to go with a KU band set up due to size concerns. So, would I need to just look for a 90cm dish like mentioned in the threads above? Assume the dish and motors are seperate units or do they come together as a package?

Are there any suppliers where I could buy all the gear as a package? That would make it a little easier. Thanks for your response.

 

[northgeorgia]

With FTA, there's always a chance of anything!

 

[KE4EST]

Welcome to the site Willyv!!

 

[FaT Air]

Check out http://www.global-cm.net/mpeg2central.html for listings
A good receiver/dish package is http://www.ebay.com/itm/GEOSATpro-m...US_Satellite_TV_Receivers&hash=item1c304e40e7
and a motor : http://www.ebay.com/itm/SG6100-Mons...471?pt=US_Antennas_Dishes&hash=item3f28d6e087
*Not suggesting any particular seller. Mix and match as needed. But these are also members here . There's more, but the ID's/handles escape me and my bookmarks are a mess.

 

[WillyV]

Hello FaT Air,

So then, buying "the complete" package is possible. Thanks for the info. Let me mull this all about. I'm sure I'll have some questions.

 

[Tron]

The best way to understand the satellite arc is to picture a rainbow across the Southern sky, with its highest point exactly due South of your location, and the ends Southeast and Southwest of your location.

The satellites are positioned along that rainbow.

 

[WillyV]

That's an excellent description Tron! My hunch is that, the higher the angle of view into the sky (assuming I'm the dish looking up etc.), the better the view of the complete arc. Does that sound right?

That said, how does one determine the dish's vertical elevation? Got any idea what this might be for folks in South western Pennsylvania? Thanks very much.

 

[northgeorgia]

Not quite! Very common mistake for newcomers to point the dish way up into the sky! It's a magical rainbow you can't see, so it's easy to aim too low or too high, when it needs to be right on that "ribbon of color."

 

[turbosat]

Dishpointer is one website that'll give you those angles, WillyV. Put in your address , and pick a sat from the list.

 

[polgyver]

That's an excellent description Tron! My hunch is that, the higher the angle of view into the sky (assuming I'm the dish looking up etc.), the better the view of the complete arc. Does that sound right?

That said, how does one determine the dish's vertical elevation? Got any idea what this might be for folks in South western Pennsylvania? Thanks very much.

Like turbosat said, get familiar with usage of dishpointer.com.
Since you like Tron's comparison of satellites' arc to a rainbow, the exact location of the imaginary rainbow is shown twice a year by Sun - in the early days of March, and in October.
The Moon also can show the arc, every 16 or 11 days, alternatively. Could be useful to determine if any obstacle (tall tree, a hill...) might obstruct your LOS (line of sight). I figured out you are close to Harrisburg. For this town, the azimuth/elevation for receiving Galaxy 19, 97W, is 209.5 degree/39 degree. The Moon will show position of this sat Nov.28, Thursday, 9.36 AM. The Moon will be at this azimuth, and its elevation will be 38.7, just 0.3 degree lower than sat 97W.
This info can be obtained from US. Navy website, just google "sun moon altitude azimuth" to find it. Use angle measurement in format degrees-minutes on this site.
Almost every dish has a protractor for elevation (altitude) stamped on dish's mounting bracket. Usually the smallest unit is worth 2 degrees, so, you will find 5 spaces between markings of 20, 30, 40, 50 degrees. For 97 W, set up the bracket just half a space below 40 degree. Align the inner metal bracket's edge to this mark, do not use the center of the fastening bolt. Of course, the mast, or "J" pipe, must be vertical. For azimuth 209-210 degree, use compass, or, if Sun is visible, memorize the direction of Sun on a horizon, between 1.50 to 2.00 PM in the next few days. The Sun will have elevation just around 22 degrees, almost half the elevation needed for 97 W. Good luck with finding your programs. Cheers, polgyver

 

[WillyV]

Yeah, I kinda sorta meant to say "high" in the sky with in reason. So, you're saying there is a sort a "sweet spot" to locate. Thanks for pointing that out. If I can jump ahead, does the dish mounting equipment (that comes with dishes) usually come with hardware that is designed for mounting the dish to a wall? Or would I need to look for this myself? My front porch wall is where I intend to mount the dish. Consequently, I wouldn't need a pole or tripod but instead would need a bracket designed accordingly.

 

[WillyV]

Hello Polegyver,

Thank you for responding. Whew! I need to familiarize myself with my compass "schnell." Anyway, I'm really pretty far away from Harisburg unless you're referring to something else. I'm in southern Bedford Co. PA (which is quite a ways west of Harrisburg) in Southampton Township. I'm approximately 6 miles north of the PA / MD border on Beans Cove Rd. 15535. My closest town actually is Cumberland MD which is 15 miles south west of my location. I'm located on a piece of sloping pasture land in a sort of broad high valley. I'm pretty sure I have very good views of the southern sky although I need to scope this out in more detail with my compass.

I hope to mount a dish on the front side of my porch (which contains some heavy timber etc.) and point it south down the valley. To do this, I'd need to turn the dish approximately 90 degreese to the right for starters. Allthough there are mountains, they generally run paralell to my location sort of south west to north east with pretty unobstructed views of the southern sky provided a dish would not need to be pointed to low on the horizon. I certainly will check out dishpointer. Thanks very much for your feedback.

 

[Tron]

When you're ready to aim the dish, be sure to use very slight movements while checking for a quality reading. Very small movements of the dish can make a big difference. An eighth of an inch moves the dish a couple of degrees.

 

[WillyV]

OK, I'm back.... My recent compass view of the "southern sky" from my PA cabin looks pretty good from south east to west. So, unless I'm not thinking this thru, I should be able to receive quite a few satellites.

Currious though, since I am a bit of a news addict (it's a sickness), does ABC, CBS, NBC / hopefully FOX broadcast with any consistancy. If so, what would be the satellite?

Do any of the Christian satellites broadcast news? I ask because while listening to Russian and to a lesser degree some Islamic channels / satellites would certainly be different, their objectivity would be suspect etc. Anyway, just currious to gain insight on this issue before I move forward. I really appreciate all comments.