Newbie needs Dish help

[Tron]

Thanks again!

Now, I know you guys don't recommend having newbies convert dishes, but I consider myself pretty experienced with computers (hardware) and other electronics; I'm just a newbie to satellites. From what I understand, if I were to get a hold of a cheap DirecTV dish, I could simply buy an LNB and a receiver from one of the sponsors and install it on the disc so I could receive linear signals.

Is this correct?

Mostly ... There are a couple of caveats... First, the normal DirecTV/Dish Network dishes are undersized for most FTA up there. You will pick up many transponders, but only the strongest ones with a 20" dish. Secondly, you will usually have to fabricate an LNBF holder for the dish, since the DirecTV and Dish Network dishes are designed to hold their LNBFs. This is not very hard, and has been done with great success using conduit hangers as LNBF clamps.

The DirecTV International (DirecTV World) dishes are large enough for most FTA transponders, but are harder to find. They also include a linear LNB. The same holds true for the Dish Network Superdishes, although the linear LNB they use is stacked (which introduces a few complications on your receiver setup).

 

[Roseph]

I'm very thankful for the responses!

I realize the problem with small DTV/DiSH dishes, I was just thinking of jacking an LNB from one of them. I could have worded it better, but I've yet to sleep in a long time.

And I think I ran into another problem on the motorized dish setup... I do believe I need to put the dish on top of my house because of all these freaking trees. Most videos show them as on the ground. I don't think I would be able to get anything from the ground. Should I just get the stationary setup?

 

[Lak7]

You could do a Temp Ground Install, try to get your True South Sat (or one close to it)
Just to save the trouble of going up n down a ladder Ten Thousand times
Then, once you have a feel for things and locked a few Sats, try the Roof.

 

[Anole]

My comment above included the phrase: " So long as you are subscribing... " (to a pay service).
If you are not, that's a whole 'nother matter, as Tron pointed out.

Since you are installing a motor, below is a recent and pretty comprehensive how-to.

Go ahead and buy the motorized kit , if that's what you want.
But I'm with Lak7, and would first suggest setting up as a fixed dish on the ground to get some basic experience.
Then, go for motorized on the ground, to learn the in's 'n out's of motor setup.
Then and only then, would I send a fellow up a ladder with a motor! -

AcWxRadar does an in-depth, and step-by-step motor setup:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/170861-motor-setup-questions.html#post1778160

 

[Roseph]

Thanks a lot, Anole!

Now I have some other questions... these ones need to be answered before I can make any purchases, because I'm trying to make this as legal as possible.

Some of the FTA channels are listed as "encrypted", as in they have Nagravision, Digicipher, Digicipher 2, DVB, DSS Video Guard, etc... will the receiver I listed in the motorized setup decrypt these? Or is it illegal to do so? I assume if they're on the Lyngsat list, that they are legal. I just want to make sure.

 

[Tron]

On Lyngsat, only the beige colored channels with 'F' are free. If they are orange, pink, or dark green, they are encrypted. There is a key at the bottom of the page for the color codes. Lyngsat lists all channels, encrypted or not. If a channel is encrypted, it is illegal to decrypt it. Anything listed with Nagravision is encrypted, such as Dish Network (with the exception of a handful of channels such as NASA on 119w that are in the clear).

Digicipher II is a totally different system. A FTA receiver will not tune these signals at all, as FTA receivers will only tune DVB signals. DVB is not an encryption, it is a stream type which all FTA receivers are designed to receive. Digicipher II is the "other" stream type, and is proprietary to General Instruments/Motorola receivers. Digicipher II may be encrypted or in the clear, depending on how the uplinker encodes it. Zero Key DCII is completely in the clear. Fixed Key DCII is encrypted, but a previously subbed receiver (and many commercial receivers) can legally receive it.

DSS is a proprietary stream type used by DirecTV, and only their receivers will work with it.

So, to sum this all up, if your DVB FTA receiver has factory software, it will not receive anything its not supposed to. It will only receive legal, in the clear DVB programming. Actually, even if it has hackware, it will only receive what is legal, since Dish Network has secured its system for the time being, and the hackware no longer works to descramble content.

 

[Roseph]

Thanks!

Looks like I will need to subscribe to DiSH (it's cheaper, offers more international programming than DirecTV) and forget the FTA thing for now. The stuff on Galaxy 3C is in english, french and spanish (other than the one station actually broadcasting in Mandarin). I specifically want Mandarin programming for learning the language. Kinda disappointing that I didn't look into this and assumed each CCTV channel was automatically broadcasted in Mandarin.

 

[Roseph]

So we took the plunge and went with DirecTV. They gave us some crazy discounts for some really nice packages, and we'd be saving tons over what we currently pay for cable.

FTA is still on the agenda, but it will need to wait a little. I'm gonna go full blown c/ku band when it's time.

 

[turbosat]

There may still be some channels in the language you seek, on free to air satellites. There are around 210channels of mostly foreign language programming on 97w, some of those may be helpful. You'll find a lot more uses for fta than learning a foreign language, should you decide to get a system in the future.