New To FTA...Some Questions

[Greensky1]

Hi guys. I've been reading some of the posts from this site and I am interested in the topics that I've seen. Probably should not admit it but I know very little about the satellite TV and communication industry.
I'm sure that I'm not the only one interested in fta tv. So...here's my first uneducated questions. Do the Freesat brand recievers work in the US?

 

[KE4EST]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys Greensky1!!

Do the Freesat brand recievers work in the US?ps; sorry for interupting.

Yes....sorta. Those receivers are currently marketed toward the hacking market and we do not condone hacking on this site.
To answer your question, yes they will for the most part. You will not get any NA support and some features will not always work correctly on those units.

 

[Titanium]

Greensky1!

Tons of great information here and a great group of hobbyists willing to help!

 

[Shicks4]

Having some experience with some of the cheap receivers Id reccomend looking at one of the receivers Sold at satelliteav or hypermegasat or Ricks. If you have any issue with the receiver youll be able to call one of those guys and they will help you out and if its the receiver will take care of you. Further more any of the products sold by the guys here in the states like Titaniums items youll get excellent support. I had a couple of problems and those guys stepped right in and helped me out. You wont get that from the china boxes, in most cases if it goes bad your out the cash and buying a replacement. That being said if you are just looking to see whats up there for free and dont want to spend the money on expensive equipment i can certainly understand that. But be warned the hobby is addicting and youll soon find you have several dishes laying around and youll be scheming on where to put the next one.

 

[Greensky1]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys Greensky1!!

Yes....sorta. Those receivers are currently marketed toward the hacking market and we do not condone hacking on this site.
To answer your question, yes they will for the most part. You will not get any NA support and some features will not always work correctly on those units.

 

[Greensky1]

Oh wow!I thank you for the info. I've been considering one of the receivers to possibly get a channel or two from the air.(just what's available)By no means do I want to get into the hacking crap. Thanks for the heads up on that.
So does anyone have any suggestions for me for a particular satellite that might have as many channels as possible.
Next,should I use a ka or ku LNB?

 

[Greensky1]

By the way I'm in the western part of Texas in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Greensky1]

Having some experience with some of the cheap receivers Id reccomend looking at one of the receivers Sold at satelliteav or hypermegasat or Ricks. If you have any issue with the receiver youll be able to call one of those guys and they will help you out and if its the receiver will take care of you. Further more any of the products sold by the guys here in the states like Titaniums items youll get excellent support. I had a couple of problems and those guys stepped right in and helped me out. You wont get that from the china boxes, in most cases if it goes bad your out the cash and buying a replacement. That being said if you are just looking to see whats up there for free and dont want to spend the money on expensive equipment i can certainly understand that. But be warned the hobby is addicting and youll soon find you have several dishes laying around and youll be scheming on where to put the next one.

 

[Greensky1]

Yes I can see what you are saying about the bug. Just from reading the posts over the past few months. Some of you guys should work for nasa.
And you are correct again about don't want to throw a lot of money at this.
So many different things that we have tried have been fruitless. Can't even get a decent signal for anything digital with a antenna. I've tried signal amps bigger antennas and all versions of stupid things.
So now im down to this.
I have some random dish parts from abandoned systems,if I start putting this together...what length lnb arm works best with what size dish reflector? I might have to fab one if I don't have it already. I have lots of junk ya never know what might save your butt.

 

[KE4EST]

what length lnb arm works best with what size dish reflector?

This will be different dependent on the dish design. I assume most of the dishes you have are DISH or Directv. They may be too small and most of the LNBF's you have will not work for FTA properly.
You will want to get a linear LNBF like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181269477814?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
It will not properly illuminate an elliptical dish, but it will work with an FTA receiver and give you a starting point.
You will want to takes measurements with the stock LNBF in place and fabricate a mount so that the new LNBF will match where the face of the feedhorn aligns.

Let's start with telling us what exactly the dishes are you have and size. Pictures are nice to.

 

[Shicks4]

Hard to say for an offset dish if it didnt already have the parts. Other thing is I noticed on the repurposed dish network and direct tv dishes is if they are out of whack even a little they are useless. Takes a little patience to get everything right. Once you get the first satellite signal though you start figuring out what to do and it gets a lot easier. If you have the space once you get your feet wet youll probably want to tackle a c-band dish which is different then a ku dish but the rewards are greater since most of the best stuff to watch is on c-band. Probably lots of c-band dishes around if you look.

 

[spongella]

Welcome to the FTA hobby Greensky1. Great folks on this forum with oodles of knowledge and willing to share it. Hope you get a station set up soon.