New Guy, Advice

[northgeorgia]

You'll find Christian broadcasts all over 97W (along with Islamic, Buddhist and other programming). The news programming that I'm aware of is Jewish News 1 (Headline news with Jewish interest slant); CNC World News (China -- and pretty good); Russia Today (you can figure it out -- but for a North American audience); Al Etejah (Iraq -- but surprisingly good, especially for Middle East events). Ebru TV also has a news hour, as does Kuwait TV 2 (not so good in my opinion), and I'm sure Pat Robertson's CBN can be found on various stations. All of these are in English and all on 97W.

Regular NBC feeds can be found on both 72W and 103W, but can be irregular. Reuters has a feed on 113W. ABC has their NewsOne feed on 91W. As a news junkie, you'll love FTA, because there are daily unpublished feeds that can appear from a few minutes to several hours. The top things broadcast are sports and news! So you'll see the first generation picture of satellite uplinks from major (and not so major) news stories. These can appear anywhere, but great places to try are 72W, 87W, 91W, 99W, 103W, and 123W (in my experience) for news feeds.
For more reliable network transmissions, you'll have to go C-band (big dish). Although after experimenting with Ku-band, you may be able to pull in some of the major networks through the PR/VI mux on 99W by using a 1 meter dish with a conical scalar and a C-band lnbf. But save that until you've wet your feet with Ku-band.

 

[WillyV]

Hello again Northgeorgia and thanks for responding,

Sounds like there's a good bit of news to view. I sort of felt that way after peeking at the satellite program schedule but wasn't sure I was interpreting it correctly. By the way, could you alaborate a bit on your reference to "FTA (free to air, right?) unpublished feeds"? What exactly are these?

Just currious..... since forum replies indicated that north american viewers need to have a clear view of the "southern sky" (from south east to south west etc.), yet all the schedules I've seen make references to "West" (ie. your reference above to "ABC News One at 91W and Christian News 97W). Is this implying I need to look in the western sky or is that actually a satellite?

Secondly, I noted that the Galaxy 28 schedule included several refferences to "Baltimore" channels (I presume) with 117V 26660 (3/4) encrypted. Do you have any idea what this means? Guess I need a crash course on reading the schedule data. Is that covered anywhere on this forum?

Lastly, an fta satellite tv internet article (www.mindworkshop.com) stated that KU band dishes were pretty much restricted to pull in AMC 9, Galaxy 28, 19, 3, AMIKF1, SESI, AMC1 and AMC21. Bases on your experience does this sound accurate? If so, would a clear view of the "southern sky" mean that I should be able to receive most of these with the right equipment? Just trying to determin exactly what I can pull in before I take my first step. Thanks again for your responce.

 

[FaT Air]

unpublished feeds"? What exactly are these?

Raw, straight from the truck, at the scene. On their way to the station/service to be edited and packaged for the evening news or 'breaking news' special report. They could also be a 'live' insert during the evening news or a sporting event.

I noted that the Galaxy 28 schedule included several refferences to "Baltimore" channels (I presume) with 117V 26660 (3/4) encrypted. Do you have any idea what this means?

Encrypted means it's not viewable via FTA, but may shut off encryption due to technical faults/glitches 'on their end' for short periods occasionally. That's part o' the hobby, finding them when that happens. The rest is 117(11700?), the frequency in MHZ. V, vertical polarity. 26660, The SR(Serial rate of the stream). 3/4, the FEC value(Forward Error Correction) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Video_Broadcasting

"ABC News One at 91W and Christian News 97W). Is this implying I need to look in the western sky or is that actually a satellite?

www.dishpointer.com input your address, select satellite, zoom in - will display the E-W azimuth and the elevation of the satellite. 97W - the satellite is located above the equator at 97 west longitude. If you're at 72W it would be west of you. For me it's very close to straight south, and therefore the 'highest' in the sky. A satellite at 72W is east of me and lower than 97W satellite.

 

[northgeorgia]

, an fta satellite tv internet article (www.mindworkshop.com) stated that KU band dishes were pretty much restricted to pull in AMC 9, Galaxy 28, 19, 3, AMIKF1, SESI, AMC1 and AMC21. Bases on your experience does this sound accurate? If so, would a clear view of the "southern sky" mean that I should be able to receive most of these with the right equipment? Just trying to determin exactly what I can pull in before I take my first step. Thanks again for your responce.

If I found the article you referred to, Disclaimer #4 reads, "Specific details of the availability of programming, and of the functionality and availability of the hardware and other products discussed at this page may vary between the time it was written an the time you read it. You agree that none of the parties listed in the foregoing paragraph will be responsible for any inaccuracies or incorrect information included herein." In other words, stuff changes all the time.

What they were saying in the article were just the major TV channels in English that may be of interest. If a provider does not want you to see content, it will not scan in at all if you set your receiver to "Free to Air only." Even if you set the receiver to scan all the channels, you'll just get "Scrambled" on a black screen on those channels that are encrypted. Your only limitations are: 1. How much of the Southern sky you can see, 2. Your equipment, 3. The "footprint" of the satellite. The first two are obvious. A footprint is the beam of a satellite. I have a clear view of the Venezuelan satellite, but unfortunately cannot receive anything off of it for Ku-band. Why? Because it's footprint is beamed for northern South America and the Caribbean.


I try to keep the 97W guide updated here, but for the other satellites, check out the numbers that start at around 11500 and go up to around 12200 on Lyngsat.com Some of those channels are gone, and some new ones have come, but overall, it will give you a good idea of what's up there (you can also click on "The List" at the top of the page and select Ku-band). Again, notice if the beam is for North America or not (and also if it's "F"ree or encrypted (usually colored in orange if it is), if you use Lyngsat.

Just for reference, the satellites with some "channels," slates, or full time feeds on them include 15W, 30W, 45W, 50W, 53W, 58W, 72W, 83W, 85W, 87W, 89W, 91W, 95W, 97W, 99W, 101W, 103W, 105W, 113W, 116.8W, 121W, 123W, 125W.

 

[danristheman]

Also you can check out satbeams.com it can tell you what dish size you need for what area you are at.

Dan Rose

 

[FaT Air]

Also you can check out satbeams.com it can tell you what dish size you need for what area you are at.

Dan Rose

I'd say the recommendations are to be taken with a 'grain of salt'. The eirp and recommended dish size is based on a full transponder at full power. Few wild feeds employ a full transponder and full available power. There is today many variables to consider: FEC, SR, DVB-S or S2? High FEC streams, S2, and high SR may require a larger dish. . So in essence: YMMV. (up to a 1 meter dish are protected from being banned by HOA's or other local authorities)
Example: Ku@99w, for me, the recommended dish size is 65cm. My 75cm dish doesn't see anything on that sat but my 100cm (1 meter) dish does excellent. The satellite dish "adage": Bigger IS Better.
HOA free here:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=92886&d=1385240196

 

[WillyV]

Although I haven't done too much research, based on this forum's feed back, I was considering either a 90 or 100 cm dish.

 

[WillyV]

OK northgeorgia, I'll keep this in mind. Much appreciated!

 

[northgeorgia]

In the satellite world, "bigger" is usually better It may come down to money, or if you're looking on craigslist, what's available locally. Personally, I haven't had many problems with a 90 cm dish.

 

[WillyV]

OK, I understand that 97W and Galaxy 19 (G-19) are one satellite but I'm still foggy on the latitude / longitude. For example, dishpointer.com indicated that my position is lat 39.7867 / long 78.5947. That said, which is east west? My guess is that 78.5947 is West, right? How do I apply the longitude and latitude to determining a compass reading?

Secondly, your reference to "97west longitude" is confusing to me.... Is 97 west longitude a compass reading? I ask because if it is, 97 west isn't in the "southern sky." I know, I know, yes, I am a little slow at times. Anyway, enlighten me, please. Thanks

 

[Balock]

Simply put, latitude is a measurement of how far north or south of the equator (0 degrees) a location is, while longitude is a measurement of how far east or west of a north/south line through Greenwich, England (0 degrees, known as the Prime Meridian) a location is. The Americas are in the "western hemisphere" (the half of the Earth that is west of Greenwich), therefore our longitudes are considered to be west. Eastern longitudes may also be shown as positive values, while western latitudes may be shown as negative values. It is similar for north (positive) and south (negative) latitudes.

The satellites we point our dishes at orbit the earth more or less directly above the equator. By design (a lot of math behind it), their orbit keeps them in the same position above the equator all the time (called geosynchronous or stationary satellites). We describe this position by its longitude value. If we say that a satellite is at 97W, that means that satellite is at 97 degrees west longitude above the equator.

Because North America is north of the equator, these satellites appear in our southern sky, which is why we say you need a clear view to the southern skies to see these sats. The compass direction and elevation to which you aim your dish to point to a particular satellite from your location are determined by math formulas. The websites mentioned already in the thread do that math for you. I think that www.n2yo.com can show you on a map where a particular satellite is (above the equator).

I hope this helps!

 

[WillyV]

Hello Balock,

Your explation clears up things pretty good. Although I'm reasonably sure that I could hook-up a basic satellite system to receive 97W, the inclusion of a motor to tune in 3 or more sats seems a bit intimidating. At least it appeared that way after reading a very in-depth explanation at http://www.mindworkshop.com/fta.html . Any words of wisdom regarding the latter? Thanks for your excellent comments.

 

[northgeorgia]

Many folks here, including myself, will say to first try a stationary system (pointed at one satellite). You can certainly play around with it and it doesn't HAVE to stay on 97W. You could shift it down to 72W or over to 125W, etc., and in so doing, you will get a "feel" of the arc (Clarke Belt). When you do this, and you decide later on you would like a motor, it will make it slightly simpler to install. The reason being that you now have a sort of "intuition" where the satellites are located, which becomes helpful in an installation. It does take time and practice for a newbie to get a stationary dish setup. It's probably 3x more difficult to get a motorized system running correctly -- but certainly not impossible! Getting the satisfaction and practice of a stationary system increases your confidence for the motorized setup. Trying to do a motor setup all at once might seem overwhelming.

 

[WillyV]

Yea, I'm sort of leaning in that direction. I hoping to mount my dish to two 2x12 wooden beams that form the main support of my porch. In essence the beams would act as a wall that faces the "southern sky." Aside from being a very solid mounting point (which is needed due to frequent high winds etc.), the dish would only be 7 - 8 feet above the ground. Consequently, reaching it to manually change positions would not be that difficult.

On another track, do I need to keep the dish clear of snow for reception? We can get some heavy snows in the area. Just currious.

 

[Mr Tony]

On another track, do I need to keep the dish clear of snow for reception? We can get some heavy snows in the area. Just currious.

yes. snow kills reception especially heavy wet snow. Make sure you have access to the dish to clear it off...dont want something like this to happen (this is from 3 years ago)

 

[FaT Air]

I have to 'broom ' mine off occasionally. Just survived an 8 inch 'event'.(not shown in picture, but didn't get a new pic.) Everything is fine.

 

[WillyV]

So, I guess I won't be watching fta tv while I'm snuggled up by my wood stove, eh? BTW, that's a nice looking dish farm you got there FA. Thanks again.

 

[WillyV]

Yea, I can see that snow could certainly dampen your fta tv viewing. I think my dish location will be manageable. Thanks for the feedback Iceberg.

 

[Balock]

I haven't taken the next step to motorize any of my dishes yet (will probably do so sometime next year), so can't speak from personal experience. However, I would recommend as others here have that you first setup a non-motorized dish and get familiar with aiming it at various satellites. It'll help you to learn how the dish should look when aimed and where the "Tron Satellite Rainbow" is located in your part of the sky (otherwise known as "the arc"). In addition to the article you linked to, there are plenty of excellent threads on the site here discussing setup and aiming of both Ku and C dishes (motorized and not).

 

[WillyV]

Yep, sounds like the most sane approach. Thanks.