OTHER New to FTA

[cocconutwireless]

Hi all. New here. New to FTA as well. I live in Hawaii on the big island. As ive found out over the years, satellite in Hawaii is very different being we are out here in the middle of the ocean and a lot of things arent available. Im interested in FTA and been wanting to get something set up for some time now and been trying to research as much as I can. I have a few questions that I really havent found any answers to if anyone can please help me out.

First is I been looking at receivers. Ive decided on this one for price and availability plus seems is more modern. will this work? Are they easy to program? Thank you.

Second question is that I have a Directv dish, 1.2m dish, which from reading will work well for Ku band. Hopefully my research is correct?

I have a factory LNB that is still set up on the dish, but from what i was reading, it is specific to Hawaii and Alaska only for Directv. Im not sure what the degree means on it. I also have the switch that came with this setup. Ive read that some directv lnb will work, but they are polar and not linear so will only pick up usa channels? Any help or advice with this would be greatly appreciated!

Im sure that i will have more questions once I get more into this, but this is it for now. Thank you in advance!

 

[FTA4PA]

Hi all. New here. New to FTA as well. I live in Hawaii on the big island. As ive found out over the years, satellite in Hawaii is very different being we are out here in the middle of the ocean and a lot of things arent available. Im interested in FTA and been wanting to get something set up for some time now and been trying to research as much as I can. I have a few questions that I really havent found any answers to if anyone can please help me out.

First is I been looking at receivers. Ive decided on this one for price and availability plus seems is more modern. will this work? Are they easy to program? Thank you.View attachment 163744

Second question is that I have a Directv dish, 1.2m dish, which from reading will work well for Ku band. Hopefully my research is correct?

I have a factory LNB that is still set up on the dish, but from what i was reading, it is specific to Hawaii and Alaska only for Directv. Im not sure what the degree means on it. I also have the switch that came with this setup. Ive read that some directv lnb will work, but they are polar and not linear so will only pick up usa channels? Any help or advice with this would be greatly appreciated!
View attachment 163745
View attachment 163746

Im sure that i will have more questions once I get more into this, but this is it for now. Thank you in advance!

Welcome to Satellite Guys! I can't comment as to reception in Hawaii but in general, yes, that receiver will work for fta. Here is another you might consider: Amiko Mini 4K UHD S2X H.265 HEVC FTA Receiver STB 2X USB Port NTP DVB-S2X USALS | eBay

Not exacty sure what dish you have - need a pic - but 1.2 meters is a decent size for ku. If it is usable you'll likely need to swap out the current lnbf for a standard fta one making sure keep the location and focus of the new one where the old one is pointed. This would require adding a bracket to mount it correctly. Check here for those: LNB Brackets

 

[cocconutwireless]

Welcome to Satellite Guys! I can't comment as to reception in Hawaii but in general, yes, that receiver will work for fta. Here is another you might consider: Amiko Mini 4K UHD S2X H.265 HEVC FTA Receiver STB 2X USB Port NTP DVB-S2X USALS | eBay

Not exacty sure what dish you have - need a pic - but 1.2 meters is a decent size for ku. If it is usable you'll likely need to swap out the current lnbf for a standard fta one making sure keep the location and focus of the new one where the old one is pointed. This would require adding a bracket to mount it correctly. Check here for those: LNB Brackets

Thank you for your response. I will look into that receiver as well. Are they easy to program, or do you need technical knowledge to do so like transponder info and such?

Here is pictures if the dish i have. Sorry it got lost in the jungle.

 

[cocconutwireless]

Welcome to Satellite Guys! I can't comment as to reception in Hawaii but in general, yes, that receiver will work for fta. Here is another you might consider: Amiko Mini 4K UHD S2X H.265 HEVC FTA Receiver STB 2X USB Port NTP DVB-S2X USALS | eBay

Not exacty sure what dish you have - need a pic - but 1.2 meters is a decent size for ku. If it is usable you'll likely need to swap out the current lnbf for a standard fta one making sure keep the location and focus of the new one where the old one is pointed. This would require adding a bracket to mount it correctly. Check here for those: LNB Brackets

I can also take more detailed pictures if you let me know what you are looking for!

 

[FTA4PA]

Thank you for your response. I will look into that receiver as well. Are they easy to program, or do you need technical knowledge to do so like transponder info and such?

Here is pictures if the dish i have. Sorry it got lost in the jungle.

View attachment 163754View attachment 163755View attachment 163756

I can also take more detailed pictures if you let me know what you are looking for!

You're welcome. A far as I can see that dish should be good for fta. If you manually scan then you would need transponder info and such. If you do a blind scan then no, the receiver will find and log the frequencies it finds.

 

[cocconutwireless]

Welcome to Satellite Guys! I can't comment as to reception in Hawaii but in general, yes, that receiver will work for fta. Here is another you might consider: Amiko Mini 4K UHD S2X H.265 HEVC FTA Receiver STB 2X USB Port NTP DVB-S2X USALS | eBay

Not exacty sure what dish you have - need a pic - but 1.2 meters is a decent size for ku. If it is usable you'll likely need to swap out the current lnbf for a standard fta one making sure keep the location and focus of the new one where the old one is pointed. This would require adding a bracket to mount it correctly. Check here for those: LNB Brackets

Thank you for the info on the dish!

You mentioned i will need a new lnbf? Is there one you would recommend? Single, dual, quad? Or brand? There are so many to choose from and im in the understanding that they are not all compatible with all dishes?

 

[FTA4PA]

Thank you for the info on the dish!

You mentioned i will need a new lnbf? Is there one you would recommend? Single, dual, quad? Or brand? There are so many to choose from and im in the understanding that they are not all compatible with all dishes?

Take a look here. What you need to purchase will depend on whether you will be feeding a single receiver or more than one.

LNBs/LNBFs

LNB's and LNBF's for your Free To Air FTA Dish

hypermegasat.com

 

[cyberham]

If you get a "universal" LNB, it allows you to receive a wider range of frequencies (10700 to 12750 MHz) than will a "standard" LNB (11700 to 12200 MHz). Just so you know. But this only benefits you if there are satellite footprints that cover your area and they are operating on the lower frequencies. A standard LNB will finish blind scanning more quickly which is nice since it has fewer frequencies to scan. Quickly checking, it doesn't look as though the Big Island has those footprints covering it requiring a universal LNB. A PLL-type LNB is also a good idea for stable LNB performance.

Try to receive SES3 at 103W longitude or Galaxy 16 at 99.2W longitude. These have the most interesting programming if you can receive them. Refer to lyngsat.com. Also Galaxy 19 at 97W has many channels though many use foreign languages. Your dish will need to have a good view of the eastern area of the sky to receive these and down to less than 20 degrees elevation to receive Galaxy 19. Your dish face would be approximately vertical to receive these due to its offset design. Refer to dishpointer.com.

 

[cocconutwireless]

If you get a "universal" LNB, it allows you to receive a wider range of frequencies (10700 to 12750 MHz) than will a "standard" LNB (11700 to 12200 MHz). Just so you know. But this only benefits you if there are satellite footprints that cover your area and they are operating on the lower frequencies. A standard LNB will finish blind scanning more quickly which is nice since it has fewer frequencies to scan. Quickly checking, it doesn't look as though the Big Island has those footprints covering it requiring a universal LNB. A PLL-type LNB is also a good idea for stable LNB performance.

Try to receive SES3 at 103W longitude or Galaxy 16 at 99.2W longitude. These have the most interesting programming if you can receive them. Refer to lyngsat.com. Also Galaxy 19 at 97W has many channels though many use foreign languages. Your dish will need to have a good view of the eastern area of the sky to receive these and down to less than 20 degrees elevation to receive Galaxy 19. Your dish face would be approximately vertical to receive these due to its offset design. Refer to dishpointer.com.

Thank you for the info!! What is "interesting programming"?

Ive read about galaxy 19. Seems it has the most channels available? I will have to do some looking around for a good spot to place the dish with less than 20°. Did you notice if the others were about that same elevation? I will check out those sites you sent!

I will probably start with this dish i have and play around with it to see whats what and see if i can in fact pick up stations. Then maybe i will think about getting a motor setup for changing satellites.

 

[cyberham]

Interesting channels include NHK Japan, Voice of Germany, Cozi TV, CGTN China, Reach TV, Loop TV, lots of music audio channels in all genres, 7 different PBS channels, and unscheduled news and sporting events feeds. All channels are in English.

If this doesn't seem interesting, then KU FTA is probably not for you. C-band FTA that requires a 10-foot dish may be a better fit.

 

[cocconutwireless]

Interesting channels include NHK Japan, Voice of Germany, Cozi TV, CGTN China, Reach TV, Loop TV, lots of music audio channels in all genres, 7 different PBS channels, and unscheduled news and sporting events feeds. All channels are in English.

If this doesn't seem interesting, then KU FTA is probably not for you. C-band FTA that requires a 10-foot dish may be a better fit.

Those all sound great!! Living out here i already have NHK Japan. Its on PBS out here. Watch it all the time. Youre getting me very excited to keep moving forward. Im starting with Ku band because i have stuff already to get me started. I would love to get into C band as well, but the dishes are so expensive. Ive been looking around yards hoping to find a used one that people dont want anymore .

I will be ordering a lnbf, mount and receiver this week hopefully and get moving forward with this!!

Thank you guys for your input, advice and help!

 

[mikekohl]

Those all sound great!! Living out here i already have NHK Japan. Its on PBS out here. Watch it all the time. Youre getting me very excited to keep moving forward. Im starting with Ku band because i have stuff already to get me started. I would love to get into C band as well, but the dishes are so expensive. Ive been looking around yards hoping to find a used one that people dont want anymore .

I will be ordering a lnbf, mount and receiver this week hopefully and get moving forward with this!!

Thank you guys for your input, advice and help!

You might want to check out the satellite footprint maps on www.lyngsat.com as well as TVROsat.com
and look for C-band satellites that have beams capable of hitting Hawaii. Keep your search out for at least a 10-foot model, and concentrate on Asian-based satellites with coverage to your location. Ku-band is easy to do, and requires a minimal sized antenna, but there's a lot more to be had on a motorized C-band dish. Unless you can find a C-band antenna with a working Horizon to Horizon motor, it would take two separate antennas; one pointing at the North American arc to your east, and dish pointed westward to Asian satellites. This is a big task for a beginner, so I would concentrate on seeing if you can find a working 10-foot or larger C-band dish in relatively good shaped. Study those two websites to see what might interest you, especially from Asia, and then do some angle calculations to see if you can physically see it. Aloha!