Newbie with lots of questions

[canadaguy]

Hi,

I'm moving to satellite for the first time, and live in Canada. I've got a lot of questions and have been trying to find somewhere with a good tutorial for them, but haven't had a lot of luck (everywhere uses lots of technical-jargon). If anyone knows the answers, or where to find them, help would be greatly appreciated. A friend of mine just gave me an expressvu 3120 dish/receiver so i'm looking to use that if it works, or pick up whatever else I need to.

-In canada, we have bell expressvu and starchoice. I believe that both have 2 satellite signals? Is it possible to have both coming in on one dish with different receivers inside?

-From canada, can I get Direct TV, Dish or any european satellite signals? Do I need their receiver for this? Could I run say a expressvu and direct tv through the same dish?

-How can I get the regular dish to work with HDTV? Do I have to have a different receiver for this? On Ebay I saw references to LNB's for sale to 'convert' to HDTV.

-What is the difference between the elliptical dish and round dishes?

-What is the difference between rg-6, rg-10 and rg-59 coax cable?

-Difference between Rom 3, 10, 11 cards?

Thanks very much for the help!

 

[Mr Tony]

Hi,

I'm moving to satellite for the first time, and live in Canada. I've got a lot of questions and have been trying to find somewhere with a good tutorial for them, but haven't had a lot of luck (everywhere uses lots of technical-jargon). If anyone knows the answers, or where to find them, help would be greatly appreciated. A friend of mine just gave me an expressvu 3120 dish/receiver so i'm looking to use that if it works, or pick up whatever else I need to.

welcome! I'll try to answer the best I can

-In canada, we have bell expressvu and starchoice. I believe that both have 2 satellite signals? Is it possible to have both coming in on one dish with different receivers inside?

no. EVu and SC (ExpressVu & StarChoice for short) use 2 different technologies to scramble the signal. You would need one line from each dish setup to the receiver. Also, since the satellites are at different spots, 2 dishes is necessary

-From canada, can I get Direct TV, Dish or any european satellite signals? Do I need their receiver for this? Could I run say a expressvu and direct tv through the same dish?

each system needs its own specific receiver. technically, DirectTv & Dish are illegal in Canada. Do people have it there? yes. But you cannot legally subscribe to DirectTv from Canada

-How can I get the regular dish to work with HDTV? Do I have to have a different receiver for this? On Ebay I saw references to LNB's for sale to 'convert' to HDTV.

SC has an eliptical dish able to receive both satellites. EVu has 2 satellites, but the dish only comes with one LNB (which picks up the signals). The new 6100 series receiver has both LNB's so you can get HD

-What is the difference between the elliptical dish and round dishes?

nothing much. EVu uses higher powered satellites, so the round dishes is all they need. SC has lower powered satellites, so they need a larger dish to collect the signal. These are eliptical dishes

-What is the difference between rg-6, rg-10 and rg-59 coax cable?

the size of the cable. RG6 is a minimum. RG11 is the bigger cable. I have never heard of RG10

-Difference between Rom 3, 10, 11 cards?

Hackers ask about these. I don't know what each one means, and frankly, since hack talk is not allowed here, it's irrelevant

SC and EVu are both good systems. SC is a little harder to aim, but being in Canada you would get free install. The EVu 3100 receiver you have (3120 is the package with receiver and dish) is a nice unit. Have one myself.

 

[canadaguy]

Thanks

Thanks for the replies. That helps a lot. I was looking around on ebay today for satellite things, and saw the mention of rom cards, so I thought I would ask.

I guess I would need a dish for each signal then, which makes sense since they have to be aimed differently anyway.

So with the Expressvu dish, if I had 2 LNB's, I could pick up both the 82 and 91 signal? Do the differnet signals give different channels, or is it just for HD content? HD content I would assume needs the 6100 receiver?

Thanks again!

 

[Mr Tony]

So with the Expressvu dish, if I had 2 LNB's, I could pick up both the 82 and 91 signal? Do the differnet signals give different channels, or is it just for HD content? HD content I would assume needs the 6100 receiver?

Thanks again!

The 6100 and 6000 are the only HD receivers right now for EVu
91 has most of the channels
82 has some international (no, not French) , HD, and some new channels.

I had a dish at 91 for the longest time, and then got the dual setup for the one package where all the channels are on 82. Since EVu uses Dish stuff, you can get a Dish500 and LNB's pretty cheap on Ebay. The receivers are NOT interchangable. If you have a Dish receiver, it will only work on Dish Network

 

[lee espinoza]

Thanks for the replies. That helps a lot. I was looking around on ebay today for satellite things, and saw the mention of rom cards, so I thought I would ask.

I guess I would need a dish for each signal then, which makes sense since they have to be aimed differently anyway.

So with the Expressvu dish, if I had 2 LNB's, I could pick up both the 82 and 91 signal? Do the differnet signals give different channels, or is it just for HD content? HD content I would assume needs the 6100 receiver?

Thanks again!

rom cards are to hack satellite tv it is illegal to have them.

 

[Mr Tony]

Lee
Thats what I mentioned i the above post. Sinxce hack talk isnt allowed here, I didnt elaborate on it.

 

[canadaguy]

Thanks, I figured that from Icebergs comments. Sorry for posting it, but without much in the way of online tutorials to tell you what they are, it's hard to find that out without asking. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Mr Tony]

not a problem

 

[Mr Tony]

I'm going to move this to the "Other Satellite" area. This has info on SC & EVu.

Also, I just got SC and am getting rid of Evu. I'll have a review of the differences (in my mind) early next week.

 

[Fuct]

for the guy in Niagara Falls... what elevation and azimuth are you using to get your BEV signal with your old DTV dish?

 

[Vice Grips]

for the guy in Niagara Falls... what elevation and azimuth are you using to get your BEV signal with your old DTV dish?

Around 37 degrees for initial pointing. Fine tune it after you lock onto the 91 bird.

 

[Fuct]

37 degrees elevation or azimuth? if elevation, what is the azimuth? or vise versa.
Thanks

 

[Vice Grips]

Yes elevation as indicated on the scale on the dish itself. It isn't all that accurate, just a guide so a degree or two up or down may be required.

You will be pointing in a south south west direction. Azumuth 197 as indicated by a compass. I don't even bother using a compass any more, have a look at the sun and have a guess where SSW is. Do a sweep moving the dish a tiny bit and waitig a few seconds before moving it again. After a complete sweep in that general direction and still no signal, I adjust the elevation up or down a degree or two and try again. Still no signal, adjust elevation again and so on. Never failed me yet.

 

[Fuct]

thanks, is there a chart or a website that has that info? and is that info accurate for St. Catharines Ontario? Weather is too crap to try today

 

[Vice Grips]

It's fairly close. There are loads of dish pointing sites on the web. Type "dish pointing" into a search engine like google and you will find lots. The info is also in the bell instruction manual that came with your reciever. Don't worry about what the exact measurements are. Set the elevation up for 37-38 and do a sweep. Fine tune till you get the strongest signal you can get off the 91 bird on transponder 11. Should be in the 90's to high 90's on a clear day. Tighten every thing down and you are all set.