Newb looking to get started

[rephormat]

My name is Seth and I'm looking to get started in FTA satellite TV. I have a couple of questions though. I found this site and it got me excited about the concept of free TV so after work I went into my attic and found an old Channel Master dish P/N 3041124 with 3LNBs (??) attached with a 4x4 switch on the back. I was wondering if I could reuse this dish with a FTA receiver. I'm not sure I will be able to use the mounting bracket as it says the degrees on the holder for the LNBs(??) are 103,101, and another I can't remember right now. If this is the case can I reuse the LNBs with a Magic Bracket and "aim" them to the satellites I want? BTW the satellites I want are 125,123, and 101.

Thanks for all your help!

Seth

 

[Skyscanner]

Welcome to Satellite Guys. It sounds like your dish might have been used for FTA in the past, and if everything was put away working, it should still work for FTA with a proper receiver. Without pictures, it would be difficult to say for sure. You may be able to reposition the lnbs to get other sats. 123 and 125 are going to be too close together to get on 1 sat dish, and 101 too far away from the others you want, so you certainly have some challenges ahead of you. Probably best to concentrate for now on getting just 1 bird and see how it goes.
Sky

 

[Wescopc]

Seth, the dish is to small to get PBS reliably on 125W. You won't be able to get 2 degree spacing for 123W and 125W. In addition you will need linear LNBs to replace the circular ones.

BTW to Satellite Guys

 

[rephormat]

Welcome to Satellite Guys. It sounds like your dish might have been used for FTA in the past, and if everything was put away working, it should still work for FTA with a proper receiver. Without pictures, it would be difficult to say for sure. You may be able to reposition the lnbs to get other sats. 123 and 125 are going to be too close together to get on 1 sat dish, and 101 too far away from the others you want, so you certainly have some challenges ahead of you. Probably best to concentrate for now on getting just 1 bird and see how it goes.
Sky

Skyscanner, Thank you so much for your quick response and your encouraging words. I will be heading home for lunch today so I will get photos of the dish and all the particulars on it (at least what I think is relevant). Can you explain why gaining 123 and 125 would be difficult from the same dish because of how close they are. BTW you made me think I have an ADDITIONAL dish in my attic from previous owners of the house. I will get pictures of that too and may be able to use both on the house for gaining access.

 

[rephormat]

Seth, the dish is to small to get PBS reliably on 125W. You won't be able to get 2 degree spacing for 123W and 125W. In addition you will need linear LNBs to replace the circular ones.

BTW to Satellite Guys

wescopc, Thank you for the warm welcome. What size dish am I needing to get 125W? PBS is really the highlight of the system so it is definately a "must-have" and if you don't mind while I'm researching on my own, What is the difference between the linear and circular LNBs? And how many sats can I gain on one dish with a multiple lnb mount? Got any suggestions on both the dish and LNBs to use?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[turbosat]

Seth, circular polarization is the method most of the pay-tv providers use to send their signals from the satellite. The free-to-air satellites use linear polarization, that is, some channels will be vertical, others horizontal polarity. A search on google would probably find you a better explanation than I can give. The lnbs mostly look the same, just the internal parts are different, and use different frequencies. A small dish, under 1m or so would not be big enough to allow two satellites that are only 2 degrees apart-the lnbs would have to be so close together it wouldn't be possible. A bigger, wider dish might do it, look up the toroidal dish (T-90) which can hold multiple lnbfs. Most of us have a 1m size dish, or similar, with a motor that moves the dish from satellite to satellite. Naturally since we are all tv crazy, many of us will have a separate dish or two aimed at popular sats, and have them all wired together with a coax switch (see DISEQC) to allow switching between them all.

 

[Skyscanner]

Rephormat,
The physical size of lnbs used for FTA, even when placed close enough to touch each other, at best will generally only allow about 4 degree spacing.
Sky

 

[hwm]

(What size dish am I needing to get 125W? PBS is really the highlight of the system so it is definately a "must-have" )

I can get 125W reliably during decent weather on a 24 inch dish. Heavy rain will kill the signal with this size dish. I had a 31 inch dish on 125W for a while, and it was good even during heavy rain or snow.

Since I am in Idaho, and you are in Texas, your results may be different, since the satellite signals will be stronger or weaker in different locations. But this gives you an idea of what is possible.

 

[updatelee]

I would not recomend a torodial to a newb. It's not a user friendly dish by any means.

I'd recommend a good quality 39"/1m dish and good quality lnb. A single dish is very easy to aim and can be upgraded to a motor for little. The entire combo would be significatly cheaper, better signal, and a much wider arc.

 

[rephormat]

Photos I promised

Let me know if anything looks salvageable or has the possiblilty to be sold.

http://img33.imageshack.us/g/photo3small.jpg/

 

[Skyscanner]

It doesn't look good Seth. I would try to get an inexpensive package for FTA from 1 of the sponsors of this site. Trying to make a frisbee dish work will cause you a great deal of frustration and probably make you quit before you ever get any signal. After you get more experience, a DN Superdish can be made to work for FTA, but generally when it comes to dishes, size matters. In my part of the country there are a lot of abandoned dishes that work well for FTA, especially the larger Primestar dishes, some of them are 1.2 meters, or 4 feet acrpss. and most people are happy to have them removed.
Sky

 

[rephormat]

It doesn't look good Seth. I would try to get an inexpensive package for FTA from 1 of the sponsors of this site. Trying to make a frisbee dish work will cause you a great deal of frustration and probably make you quit before you ever get any signal. After you get more experience, a DN Superdish can be made to work for FTA, but generally when it comes to dishes, size matters. In my part of the country there are a lot of abandoned dishes that work well for FTA, especially the larger Primestar dishes, some of them are 1.2 meters, or 4 feet acrpss. and most people are happy to have them removed.
Sky

Thanks for taking a look skyscanner. I do have another dish up in the attic from directtv as well (maybe?) and I can't remember if it is frisbee dish or not, but I will find out and either post pics or post the response here. BTW I know I'm probably blasheminb by mentioning this, but is there some Ku band programming companies out there that do ala carte programming? Like I would point one of my dishes at their satellite and pay for a card to descramble one of their channels. The wife and I LOVE discovery channels, but hate paying $100s because you can only get them on the super delux variety digital HD package.. LOL!

 

[Skyscanner]

There is no ala carte programming at this time although I think 1 is in the works, but really is a crap shoot if it ever happens. Discovery and Biography are in the clear at least for the present, and can be watched free with regular KU equipment.

 

[rephormat]

There is no ala carte programming at this time although I think 1 is in the works, but really is a crap shoot if it ever happens. Discovery and Biography are in the clear at least for the present, and can be watched free with regular KU equipment.

Do you know which is in the works so I can read up on it? And where can I view Discovery Channel that isn't a foreign language?

 

[Skyscanner]

I'm sorry, I meant History Channel, not discovery. There is a post somewhere in here about the proposed KU service, their web address might be www.freedbs.com if I remember correctly. Nope, i guess that's not it, it's .org, but there is a thread on it a little father down the list titled: New FTA service with 20 english channels that will tell you all about it.

 

[rephormat]

Disappointment.. Turns out the other dish in the attic was another oval directtv dish. So it looks like I am back to where I started. Although I did locate this on craigslist:

Free-to-Air Satellite Dish Receiver System

I am concerned though after finding "dish size" on a different website that I would need an almost 4 foot satellite dish to pick up 125.0 West AMC-21. What do you think community??

 

[Skyscanner]

Seth, I don't know what it would be like where you are, but I can get it strong and steady on a 33" dish. Of course bigger is better, cuts down on rainfade, gives better, more stable signal quality. I like to have as large a dish as I can, BUT I wanted to buy a 4' dish from a supplier once, until I found out the shipping cost was more than the price of the dish itself, so now I just scrounge used dishes.
Sky

 

[rephormat]

Sky, Do you think that craigslist ad would be a good starting point for me? It looks like a good deal. And do you have any recommendations on how I can determine if I have a true line-of-sight without fancy instruments? I have an iphone so I could use the iphone aiming app, but thats $10 for the basic version. Again THANKS for all your help! BTW do you have a ham radio license?

 

[FaT Air]

To check you line of sight, try Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com. you can place a marker where you have an obstruction, and it will calculate the height at which it will affect your LOS.
I have no experience with that model though, but am sure there are others here that do. Looking at the specs at WS Int., looks similar to my Pansat 3500. If the equipment is in good working order, It would be a good deal.
BTW: 30 inch doing pretty decent job here. (48N-97W) .9 meter, 36inch, are probably one of the most popular sizes for FTA.

 

[dan70]

You could also use a inclinometer with a small pipe/tube to check line of sight
or tape the inclinometer to a ruler or flat piece of wood and sight down the top edge.
Take care