New to the FTA sat. scene

[Ultimate Noise Man]

Hey guys,

I've been casually looking into the FTA satellite scene for about a year. Now I've finally taken the plunge, I've ordered a system online (now I just have to play the waiting game 'til it arrives.) Anyway, you guys have an awesome site here, and there are so many people that seem to be such a wealth of knowledge. I look forward to getting to know all of you.

Later

 

[turbosat]

Good choice for a first system. I'm 2 counties south of ya! Post away here ifyou run into problems, first-time install can be tedious.

 

[Ultimate Noise Man]

I want to get a motor for my dish eventually. I'm waiting on my first system and decided not to get a motor right away. I guess I was scared off by all of the "hobbyist item" and "no technical support" talk. My question is, are the motors that much harder to set up? I just have the feeling that I'm gonna get it set up, and then a short time later turn around and have to do it over again (on account of having the motor fever.) Anyway, what do you guys think?

Thanks.

P.S. Any suggestions on a motor for the set up in my signature.

 

[Mr Tony]

setting up a motor isnt that hard.

To set up a motor you need 3 adjustments
-your true south satellite. This is the satellite at the same longitude as you are. So here in Minneapolis (93.2W) our true south satellite is Galaxy 26 (IA6/T6) at 93.0 west and when you set up a motorized you start there. This is the highest satellite in the sky for your location
-motor setting is the same as your latitude
-dish setting is lower than a fixed dish due to the motor being involved.

Once you get a dish set up on your true south satellite the rest usually fall into place

 

[Ultimate Noise Man]

Thanks Iceberg. I think I'll go ahead and try out a motor after all.




Hey Turbosat, is AMC-6 the most eastern satellite you pick up in Bama? (just curious)


Thanks again for the kind words and helpful info, fellas.

 

[Mr Tony]

There are a couple satellites over the atlantic you should be able to get. I can get Hispasat at 30W here in Minnesota

 

[turbosat]

Yep AMC6 is as far as I worry with going, there's good feeds during the day, and on the c-band side (big dish) is where NASA tv is located. Nothing east of that interests me much, too much to watch already lol!

 

[Ultimate Noise Man]

Do you guys know off the top of your heads of any NBC channels on FTA Ku band. I've been browsing the sat's listed on lyngsat but haven't seen any NBC channels yet (other than feeds). My TV antenna just tries and tries but cannot get a decent signal for the local NBC, and I'm DESPERATE to watch The Office. Just thought I'd ask...maybe that will be my first mission when I get my system, to scan the heavens for The Office.

Later

 

[turbosat]

I'll PM you (check private message)

 

[Ultimate Noise Man]

Thanks turbosat. I'll let ya'll know how things are going once I get my system.Later

 

[november]

I'm in Huntsville too. I have been trolling here a while. I just moved into my house and am ready to take the fta plunge . I am looking at the viewsat pro for the pvr function. Please post or PM your adventures.

 

[turbosat]

Hello,
Welcome in, can't give you much on that vs-pro yet, it's pretty new, and I don't know of anyone here who has posted about having one. I read on another site that there was still some bugs to be worked out of the software, but didn't mention the problems. Given Viewsat's general slowness to fix things ( I have an ultra) I'm not too sure I'd go for one until I was sure it was doing everything they said it's supposed to do.. Read our equipment reviews section here too, sev members have gotten to test out some different ones, maybe a pvr or two also.

 

[Ultimate Noise Man]

Well guys, I won't be starting a career in satellite dish installation any time soon.I got my system, but have been completely unsuccessful in finding a satellite. I have 90cm geosatpro dish / gs-120 geosatpro motor / fortec mercury II receiver.I'm temporarily in Waco, TX (lat-97.1 long-37.1). I'm pretty sure I set my receiver up correctly (taking into consideration my lnbf(std), my location, and the usals motor.) No matter where I point the dish the receiver reads 40 signal strength and 0 quality. Anyway, I think my problem is my inability the aim the dish correctly. I pointed pretty much due south with a magnetic declination of just over 4 degrees east. From my information the dish elevation for galaxy 25 is 53.1 deg. However, since I'm using a motor, I set the motor angle as my longitude and then according to my longitude I set the dish angle around 24.85 deg. The problem is, I'm not sure the angle scale on the dish is right because 24.8 deg is pointing slightly down (relative to the motor's mast) this didn't make sense so I went out and got an angle finder at home depot. Then leaving the motor angle as it was I changed the dish elevation to equal 53.1 deg (but still no luck...on a side note this looks really high when compared to neiboring subscription dishes.)Despite my confidence going into this project I now just feel like a bumbling idiot when it comes to dish installation. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks a lot.

 

[Anole]

I commend your use of an angle finder.

But, it is important that you follow the instructions for your motor to the letter.

As for the angle of the dish, be aware that with the dish rim vertical, the dish actually looks up 24.6º.

 

[Ultimate Noise Man]

I did follow the motor directions to the T. However, the instructions for the dish had me put the dish bracket on one way, but in order to be able to attach the dish to the motor I had to rotate the bracket 180 degrees. That's why I'm not so sure the angle scale on the dish bracket is correct (thus the reason I got the angle finder.) Along the lines of the 24.6 degree offset angle of the dish; if I'm supposed to have a ''dish elevation angle'' of 53.1 degrees for the top of the clark belt, does that mean the angle finder tool should read 28.5 degrees (53.1-24.6=28.5)?

 

[turbosat]

Stick the angle meter on the front ofyour dish, right in the middle or close as you can, that should read whatever elevation you dish is set on. It's not perfect way to do it, but will get you very close.

 

[Wescopc]

Ultimate Noise Man-
Does your set up look like the attached picture? Can you post a picture?

By the way the link Anole sent you to is broken when you try to download the manual - try this one;
http://www.glorystar.tv/downloads/Install_Mercury_Motor.pdf
Bob

 

[TRG]

I'm in Huntsville too. I have been trolling here a while. I just moved into my house and am ready to take the fta plunge . I am looking at the viewsat pro for the pvr function. Please post or PM your adventures.

I have the Viewsat VS PRO and while it has the potential to be a nice receiver I personally don’t think it’s ready for prime time. The biggest problem I had with mine was the setup. And if you are new to FTA you need the setup as easy as possible. The good news is that once all the setup stuff is out of the way it’s really quite nice. The PVR functions like a dream. The timers are easy to setup and the record on demand works nicely as well. I had an old 80 Gb. Western Digital USB drive lying around. I simply plugged it in, the box recognized new hardware, asked me if I wanted to format, I said yes and in a few minutes it was ready to record. The AC-3 works flawlessly with my Harmon Kardon home theater receiver and I now have a few favorites lists programmed into the box that makes things easier.

OK, now on to the bad stuff. As I mentioned earlier setup is a royal PITA. The transponder list is incomplete or inaccurate. There are other strange bugs with the “edit transponder” menu that are difficult to explain. There is no editing software for the PC like channel master that is compatible with this box. That probably wouldn’t be too bad if the blind scan worked as advertised. In fact it doesn’t work at all. You cannot edit audio PID’s for some of the radio stations that are buried in other carriers. During setup my particular sample would lock up frequently when changing satellites via the motor. Sometimes it would lock up while scanning known transponders. Now that everything on my system is setup the way I want it and I’m just using the tuner normally everything is fine and I haven’t had a lock up since.

I’m hoping that a firmware update will address some or all of these issues. No blindscan is a HUGE downer for me. Especially since I specifically picked a receiver that advertised this feature. I had hoped to be seeking out wild feeds by now. I contacted Viewsat USA several times via e-mail and never once got a reply.

If you are a beginner and want the fewest headaches possible then stay away from the Viewsat VS PRO. If you absolutely must have PVR (and I can understand why you would) take a look here

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-mpeg2-equipment-reviews/101350-visionsat-iv200-pvr-plus.html#post955723

I hope this helps.

 

[Ultimate Noise Man]

Thanks guys. I looked at that link and that is more or less the instructions that were provided with the equipment.

Wescopc
That is exactly how my dish/motor look.

I just got a little satellite signal meter, but I've not yet really gotten a chance to use it. I have to work all weekend, so I won't be able to play with it again until Monday. But I'll let ya'll know how things are going.

Thanks again.