Newbie Equipment Questions

[dogstar1313]

Hello all,

I am soon to be new to the FTA community and I have a few questions about equipment before I purchase my first FTA rig. If anyone would be nice enough to give me their input it would be greatly appreciated.

Looking at the specs and reviews of several receivers It looks like the best one in my price range would be the CoolSat 4000 Pro with 1.3 firmware. I was really leaning toward a Dreambox DM500 until I read that they can't supply adequate voltage and current to properly drive a rotator motor. After finding that out I decided the CoolSat looked like the next best thing. Does anyone know of any reasons not to go with a CoolSat 4000 Pro?

For the dish/motor setup I'm considering going with a 90cm dish and STAB HH100 motor. Will the HH100 be able to easily handle this dish or should I think about going with a HH120 instead? Also, how much difference reception wise is there between a 90cm and a 100cm dish? Is it really worth the extra cost and shipping charges to go with a 100cm dish over a 90cm? Are Winegard dishes really that much better or is a Fortec dish just as good?

As for the LNB, well I'm not sure about that. I'm considering either the Invacom universal LNB or the Invacom circular/linear LNB. I'm not 100% clear on the pros and cons of each one. I have gathered from reading other posts in this forum that you need a circular LNB to get some FTA feeds, but most are linear so I can clearly see the benefit of the circular/linear combo LNB, but I'm not so clear on the benefits of a universal linear LNB. Can someone please enlighten me on the subject? Also, is it possible to mount a circular LNB beside the normal linear LNB? For example, could I buy the Invacom universal LNB with my FTA rig and then somehow mount an old DTV or Dish circular LNB beside it to pickup the FTA feeds that require a circular LNB?

Sorry for the lengthy post, but as the saying goes - inquiring minds want to know . . .

Thanks in advance for any advice/input.

 

[PSB]

Hello and WELCOME to the SatelliteGuys.US FTA forum

Don't have a Coolsat (I use a Fortec)

I use the Invacom QPH-031 and it the best LNBF I have ever used, there is simply no way back! Sure you can strap a DBS LNB to your KU LNBF but there is nothing like having your LNBF in the exact focal position that the dish was designed for (99% signal quality) (IMO)

The only real benefit of a universal LNBF was the Cubavision channel, but it can now be picked up with a standard KU LNBF since it is now on 2 satellites.(QPH-031)

Like the avatar!

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

Hello all,

I am soon to be new to the FTA community and I have a few questions about equipment before I purchase my first FTA rig. If anyone would be nice enough to give me their input it would be greatly appreciated.

Looking at the specs and reviews of several receivers It looks like the best one in my price range would be the CoolSat 4000 Pro with 1.3 firmware. I was really leaning toward a Dreambox DM500 until I read that they can't supply adequate voltage and current to properly drive a rotator motor. After finding that out I decided the CoolSat looked like the next best thing. Does anyone know of any reasons not to go with a CoolSat 4000 Pro?

For the dish/motor setup I'm considering going with a 90cm dish and STAB HH100 motor. Will the HH100 be able to easily handle this dish or should I think about going with a HH120 instead? Also, how much difference reception wise is there between a 90cm and a 100cm dish? Is it really worth the extra cost and shipping charges to go with a 100cm dish over a 90cm? Are Winegard dishes really that much better or is a Fortec dish just as good?


Thanks in advance for any advice/input.

The only glaring feature missing from the Coolsat (with 1.3) is full AC3 support. The 1.3 update seems to provide at least partial support. See:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=80565

Probably not alot of difference between a 90 and a 100 dish although there is bound to be some. I think the HH100 would be fine with either. The Winegard are usually considered a little sturdier than Fortec but members here use both with good results.

 

[bigOleB]

Welcome dogstar,

I have been using the Invacom for almost a year now and nothing else I have tried has even come close. I also use a 90cm dish and have no problems getting all the Ku birds up there.

 

[Mr Tony]

welcome

 

[dogstar1313]

Thanks for the warm welcome and information guys!
I've been lurking in this forum for a few weeks off and on and I can say that it is far and above any other FTA forum I have found on the net, hence my decision to lurk no more.

From what PSB has said it sounds like there is not really any benefit to having a universal LNBF, so it looks like I'll be getting an Invacom QPH-031 for sure.

As far as the Coolsat goes I guess I could live without AC3 audio for a while as long as I can still get plain old stereo output for those stations. I don't have an audio rig yet that can do AC3 anyway, just Pro-Logic for the time being.

Also, based upon the great feedback you guys gave me, it looks like the 100cm dish may not be worth the extra cost, at least initially anyway. Questic, do you have any problems with rain fade from you 90cm dish?

Thanks again for all the info!

 

[Mr Tony]

a 90cm should be fine...but if you want ot splurge and get the 100, by all means

with FTA, the bigger the dish the better...more signal and less rain fade

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

As far as the Coolsat goes I guess I could live without AC3 audio for a while as long as I can still get plain old stereo output for those stations. I don't have an audio rig yet that can do AC3 anyway, just Pro-Logic for the time being.

Thanks again for all the info!

For the stations that are AC3 only you would not get any output (stereo or otherwise) since the Coolsat does not decode on its own. All it does is pass the audio through and it does not do that for everything. I get all PBS with the 1.3 update but no other AC3 channels. Some members have reported success editing PIDS and channel lists to gain the other stations. Just want you to understand fully before you buy. In my case, I live with it since I mainly wanted PBS to begin with and I can watch other channels if I wish on my PC card.

 

[Shawn95GT]

You might want to double check that the CoolSat is still available at the price you saw it for. It's price has shot up sharply in the last week or so. It is a nice box though!

 

[dogstar1313]

Iceberg, I think I'll stick with the 90cm for a few months until I can get some quality hands on FTA experience under my belt. Then I'll see if I can warm my wife up to the idea of a 4' Micro-BUD or maybe a full blown 6' BUD in addition to the 90cm.

My reasons for picking the Coolsat 4000 Pro were that from what I have read up until now it seems to have the best EPG and blind scan of any receiver in it's price range. Is that a true assessment or is there another receiver I should consider? No audio at all on some channels is definitely not a good thing, but I would hope that would be fixed in a future firmware release.

 

[bigOleB]

The no audio thing is due to AC3. You will need an audio reciever capable of decoding AC3 to hear any AC3 channels.

 

[dogstar1313]

From what I'm seeing it looks like the Coolsat 4000 Pro is going for anywhere between $200-$280 depending on where you look, which is about where it was when I started looking at them. Were they once significantly less expensive?

What would you gentlemen recommend as being the next best receiver besides a Coolsat? I've heard some good things about the Pansat 3500, but I have also read that the EPG and blind scan functions on that unit leave something to be desired. Anyone have any recommendations?

 

[drhydro]

Personally i would go with the pansat, scans are slower than the coolsat but that is the only downside. Full AC-3 support is a good thing, although there are not a huge amount of channels that use ac-3 it sure sucks to find a good feed and not be able to hear it ;-) EPG does NOT work with either unit for most FTA stuff in the US.

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

With the price of the Coolsat going up like it has I would say the Pansat 3500 also. I paid $140 for my Coolsat a couple months ago.

 

[sharris]

I agreee with parnel, get the pansat. I think the fortec also at sadoun has ac3. not sure whether pass thru or not. nothing a 50$ cheap decoder at wallyworld can't fix. I have the digiwave dg700 that has the optical output, so no prob on that.

 

[dogstar1313]

Hmmmm..... Well, now I'm not sure what receiver to buy. Since it looks like the EPG doesn't work for FTA I guess that feature is moot. Is there another receiver that blind scans as fast as the Coolsat?

 

[dogstar1313]

What about the Viewsat VS2000? I read Iceberg's review of it he did back in June and looks interesting. Does anyone know if there has been new firmware released for this unit that enables blind scanning yet? If so, how well/fast does this feature work?

 

[PSB]

I just installed a Viewsat a few weeks ago! Forgetabout it! (IMO)

I use the Fortec Star Lifetime Ultra it has it all......

USALS
Blind Scan
AC3 audio out.

May take slightly longer to scan........... but I can wait!

 

[W_Tracy_Parnell]

Hmmmm..... Well, now I'm not sure what receiver to buy. Since it looks like the EPG doesn't work for FTA I guess that feature is moot. Is there another receiver that blind scans as fast as the Coolsat?

I think the Coolsat has the best blind scan right now. Looks like its either the 3500 or the Lifetime Ultra unless you want to pay "full boat". The 3500 is a great receiver. It "hangs" on a few TPs but you can work around it. I would say odds of an update to fix the scan are pretty good since it's a fairly new unit. Haven't used the Fortec but many here like it.

Another thing to consider is how you use the unit. I like feeds so I do scan quite a bit. If you don't need to scan as often it may not be a big deal to you.

 

[dogstar1313]

After much deliberation I have decided on the Fortec Star Lifetime Ultra. You guys talked me out of the CoolSat

If all goes as planned I'll be ordering my gear from Sadoun sometime next week. I'm going to be mounting the dish on the roof of my shed out behind the house. I'm not sure if I'm going to bury the cable or run it over to the house on a guy wire. If I bury it should I spring for the special burial quality RG6 or will regular RG6 work just as well? Also, how deep would you recommend burying it if I go that route?

Thank you all again for you insight and expertise.