My wife and I (mostly me) have been thinking about adding a FTA satellite, but I don't know where to start. I have looked at the list to see what channels are available and it looks like most of the stuff we would want is on 97.0°W Galaxy 19 Ku; however, I really want all I can get.
: I have looked over some of the receivers available at Sadoun and GOsatellite, but don't know what is the best to get, although I like some of the feature set of the Nfusion receivers. Also how much HD is available in FTA, is it really worth the money to get an HD receiver right now? Also, if I were to get a motorized dish, how hard would it be to set up? We have Dish Network right now, and I know we have a clear view of most of the southern sky... Any recommendations or starter tips would really help!
Adam,
I will give you some information and you can research it on your own time and see what you think and decide from there.
This is what my setup consists of... Equipment-wise:
Coolsat 5000 receiver
Winegard DS-2076 dish
PowerTech DG-280 motor
DN SW-21 switch or a Chieta 4X1 DiSEqC switch
Commscope BrightWire RG6 Quad shield cable
Channel Master channel editor program by SharpC
The Coolsat 5000 receivers are no longer manufactured, they were discontinued about two years ago. But, you can find a Coolsat 4000, 5000 or a 6000 on Ebay, used, for a song! $15 to $50.
A lot of people bought these Coolsat receivers intending to use them for piracy, but once the piracy support went down for them, they want to unload their receivers. They do not understand that these receivers are really excellent as they were designed to work for true (legal) FTA satellites! And I can vouch for the fact that they do work very well! Pansat and Viewsat recievers aren't too bad, but the Coolsat 5K blows them away, in my opinion!
The dish, well that depends a bit upon where you are located, but generally, a 75-90cm dish will suit you well. Anything larger than 90cm is a bit difficult and catches a lot of wind. You also need a good tough motor to drive a larger dish. The Winegard 76cm (DS-2076) dish is a good choice. Even though it is physically smaller, its design makes it comparable to some 90cm dishes for gain, so it has a benefit of small size and good performance all in one.
Motor-wise, an SG-2100 is good and well respected model, but a PowerTech DG-280 is basically an improved model, it is the SG-2100 on steroids. There is also a DG-240 and a DG-380 model, but I don't recommend them. I tested them all and the DG-280 is priced fairly and built well. Out of the SG-2100, DG-240, DG-280 and DG-380 motors, the DG-280 is the one that I have on my motorized dishes.
The switches that I recommend are simple and durable. I recommend that you don't get too fancy here. Get a good, reliable switch. The DN SW21 switch is hard to beat! The Chieta 4X1 DiSEqC switch is also hard to beat.
What is nice about these switches and the Coolsat 5K receiver is that you can cascade these two types of switches if you are so inclined. I can even operate my dish motor through the switch matrix (with a few obvious exceptions).
Well, I have presented some very specific information for you to analyze. You research all of this and then you can decide what fits best for you.
I do want to forewarn you, a lot of the new machines (receivers) are designed for the hackers! If you want to use them for true FTA, you may be disappointed. I bought a few of these and I was not happy, there is a lot of my money collecting dust in my closet. Be careful what you buy. Just because the receiver has a high price and is hyped up does not mean that it functions very well.
I wish you the best of luck in your purchase and I hope you have a lot of fun in this hobby! There is a lot of clear channels out there that will serve you well! Have fun!
AcWxRadar
Still trying to sell my wife on the idea, what are some notable channels that are out there? I already know she is interested in the Glory Star FTA stuff.
