Hey guys, I'm new to the whole fta satellite thing and would like some guidance. I just bought a Viewsat Ultra vs2000. I already have a current dish installled on my roof, a DirecTV Phase III (3 LNB w/ 4 outputs). Before I had Dish Network and stopped using it because lost progamming and has no signal. So yeah, I have no experience of installing satellite whatsoever because I didn't install the dish. Is the current dish I have installed on the roof in the right position to receive fta? I want to install using one fta receiver for one tv for now and later purchase a second one for another room. The there are 3 LNBs on the dish w/ 4 outputs. What output do I connect to? Also the receiver came with a 4in1 DiseqC switch. What is it for? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
New to fta...using old dish for fta?
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The dish could possibly be modified for use in FTA, but the lnbf's are useless. Directv uses a different scheme in there process, where most FTA is mpeg2, Directv uses something different. I'm not sure what it is, I think it might be mpeg1.5 or such, but I know the Viewsat or any other receiver won't work with those lnbf's. I would recommend getting a larger dish, at least 30"s and a motor, if you can afford it. You will also need a FTA ku lnbf, I would recommend one with a dual output, since you plan to get more receivers, in the future. The Diseqc switch is not necessary for one dish (one lnbf), but it will be good to have if you get more lnbf's in the future. Good Luck!
Al
I almost forgot. Welcome to the Forum!
Al
I almost forgot. Welcome to the Forum!
I'm also new to FTA, but not new to Satellite TV in general, and I can tell you that that dish is no good for FTA use. You need at least a 30" dish (depending on where you live) and a linear lnb for the Ku birds. The lnbs on that dish are circular. They will only be able to pick up subscription DBS satellites (ie. Directv, Dish, ExpressVU from Canada).
The Phase III dish is one of the most useless dishes out there for what we're doing. Besides it being only suitable for DBS, it has an internal, non-removable proprietary switch, rendering the 110 and 119 LNBFs useless. The 110 LNBF is useless anyway, since it only sees certain transponders.
You can aim the 101 LNBF at Dish 119 and get the free music and NASA, that's about all its good for.
You can aim the 101 LNBF at Dish 119 and get the free music and NASA, that's about all its good for.
I have one of those dishes aimed at 119 for NASA but overall they're no good for FTA use other than that. I put mine up just because I had it and wanted to play around with it. I already had an Invacom Quad up and running so there really was no point to setting up the 18" dish, because the Invacom does both linear and circular polarization. I like the Invacom quad LNBF and I would recommend it, but I'm pretty new to FTA myself so take that for what it's worth.
Until your real dish arrives you could play around with the other dish and try to get NASA or the music channels but I think that's about all they're good for. If you get an lnbf that is linear only then you could use a diseqc switch to switch to the 18" dish for NASA, but if you really have to have NASA I think the Invacom quad would be a better idea. Since you already have a switch you could use it to switch between the linear and circular side of the Invacom. If you decide to try the 18" dish, the LO should be set to 11250. I used the output that is to the far right when looking at the lnb from behind but I don't know if that's absolutely necessary. There are other threads on here discussing that issue which explain the quirks of those dishs and their lnb's. They helped me quite a bit.
Until your real dish arrives you could play around with the other dish and try to get NASA or the music channels but I think that's about all they're good for. If you get an lnbf that is linear only then you could use a diseqc switch to switch to the 18" dish for NASA, but if you really have to have NASA I think the Invacom quad would be a better idea. Since you already have a switch you could use it to switch between the linear and circular side of the Invacom. If you decide to try the 18" dish, the LO should be set to 11250. I used the output that is to the far right when looking at the lnb from behind but I don't know if that's absolutely necessary. There are other threads on here discussing that issue which explain the quirks of those dishs and their lnb's. They helped me quite a bit.
To clarify, I meant looking at the LNB from behind the dish, not behind the LNB.
If the dish is already connected to coax into your building you could just connect to that and see what happens.
If the dish is already connected to coax into your building you could just connect to that and see what happens.
also in some of the newer Phase III the 119 LNB is only tuned for TP22-32 (the DIrecTV ones). Even some of the older Phase II had those too (I got a Phase II a while back and the 119 LNB had the frequencies from 12.53-12.75 instead of 12.2-12.75
Didn't know that. The dish LOOKS really useful, too bad it isn't
I wonder why they're bothering to cripple the LNBF that way...
I think IceBerg posted some good info about using those little dishes, outfitted with linear LNBs, some time back.
(the DBS-style linear LNB just bolts right on)
I was all excited about it, 'till I realized how hamstrung you'd be.
By pulling off the 3-LNB from the Phase III, and mounting the above LNB right in the middle where the assembly had been, all you'd have to do to secure it is drill one hole in the arm.
If you wanted to put one of the above LNBs on a Phase II, it'd drop right in.
Since it's a larger dish, that might be a bit more interesting.
I even tried to start up a thread listing what birds/channels you could get with that lashup, but it didn't seem to go anywhere.
Search back a few months, if you are interested.
ICE - isn't it about time you wrote the definitive FAQ about what those P2/P3 dishes are good for?
Seems we're getting that question asked once or twice a month.
(the DBS-style linear LNB just bolts right on)
I was all excited about it, 'till I realized how hamstrung you'd be.
By pulling off the 3-LNB from the Phase III, and mounting the above LNB right in the middle where the assembly had been, all you'd have to do to secure it is drill one hole in the arm.
If you wanted to put one of the above LNBs on a Phase II, it'd drop right in.
Since it's a larger dish, that might be a bit more interesting.
I even tried to start up a thread listing what birds/channels you could get with that lashup, but it didn't seem to go anywhere.
Search back a few months, if you are interested.
ICE - isn't it about time you wrote the definitive FAQ about what those P2/P3 dishes are good for?
Seems we're getting that question asked once or twice a month.
The Phase II dishes are far more useful, since the LNBFs can be removed as well as the switch. Unfortunately, they're getting very hard to find. I have one in storage, but the LNBF holder assembly is broken
it might have something to do with the combining of the 110/119. 110 sat c converts the TP's to like 8,10,12 and combines it with the 119
thread on using a Phase II for something like AMC4 for the really strong TP's
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=83729
http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=83729
Thanks for the reply guys, seems like this website is more friendly gives me more response then other websites. Well yeah I'm looking to buy the 30" dish like a winegard. That is the best dish right? If I'm going have the dish motorized, how do I share the motor with additional receivers if I want to receive from more then one satellite? Also what lnb do I need for like say 3 receivers?
The best way to send a signal to three receivers is to use a multiswitch. You must have a dual output LNBF to do this, but all you have to do is connect it to a standard DirecTV-style 2 x 4 or 3 x 4 multiswitch.
If you want to get fancy and go with the Invacom QPH-031, which will give you both circular and linear satellites from the same dish, you could use a 4 x 4 multiswitch (which has a built-in 22k switch) to select between circular and linear and send the signal to your three receivers.
The downside to all of this is that only one receiver will be able to control the motor on your dish. The others can only see the satellite which the master receiver has pointed the dish to (which only makes sense, since the dish can only look at one orbital position at a time)...
If you want to get fancy and go with the Invacom QPH-031, which will give you both circular and linear satellites from the same dish, you could use a 4 x 4 multiswitch (which has a built-in 22k switch) to select between circular and linear and send the signal to your three receivers.
The downside to all of this is that only one receiver will be able to control the motor on your dish. The others can only see the satellite which the master receiver has pointed the dish to (which only makes sense, since the dish can only look at one orbital position at a time)...
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