Okay, if you're gonna be a quitter . . . it's off with his head ! 
. . . thought maybe you worked on this at night 'cause it was cool(er). -
. . . thought maybe you worked on this at night 'cause it was cool(er). -
Newbies Gone Wild
- Thread starter CenterFreq
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CenterFreq, I've been watching this thread for cues on setting up my own FTA system. Kids are getting old enough to know that rabbit ears ain't where its at lol. Enjoyed your previous thread. Thanks to the members out there that make it possible for the newbiew to get TRUE, FACTUAL, LEGAL information on the hobby. I can't wait to hit find a local dealer (so I can avoid shipping).
Carry on!!!!
CenterFreq, I've been watching this thread for cues on setting up my own FTA system. Kids are getting old enough to know that rabbit ears ain't where its at lol. Enjoyed your previous thread. Thanks to the members out there that make it possible for the newbiew to get TRUE, FACTUAL, LEGAL information on the hobby. I can't wait to hit find a local dealer (so I can avoid shipping).
Carry on!!!!
It is amazing the help you can get from so many guys on this site!
And yes, it is cooler to work up there at night. I have moved the ladder to the back of the house, and we pretty much leave it out there all the time now. It's funny... before I got involved with FTA, I'd go up on the roof maybe once *a year*. Now I'm up there nearly every night. Is that how it's supposed to be with FTA?
Just wait 'til after I get this current project finished, the GeoSat Pro aimed at (hopefully) G18, and the little dish catching the NASA channel at 119.0w. Then I am going to walk over the roof to the other side where the Laser BUD is sitting there waiting for me to bring it back to life. But I'm still having Newbie problems. I am wondering if the GeoSat slightly moves with the wind. Last night and tonight (Tuesday night), I could not get those two channels to come back, one called "default channel" and the other weaker one. Even though they're in Spanish, we are still fascinated by how much more clear a satellite signal is compared to our old rabbit ears. So we stare at the picture and the Spanish words just blow past us. I tried resetting the receiver to default this evening, and then reinstalling the antenna through the menus. Again, I wonder why, when I try to set up for the satellite at 125.0w, the receiver suddenly jumps awake and proclaims that I am seeing 119.0?
And yes, it is cooler to work up there at night. I have moved the ladder to the back of the house, and we pretty much leave it out there all the time now. It's funny... before I got involved with FTA, I'd go up on the roof maybe once *a year*. Now I'm up there nearly every night. Is that how it's supposed to be with FTA?
Just wait 'til after I get this current project finished, the GeoSat Pro aimed at (hopefully) G18, and the little dish catching the NASA channel at 119.0w. Then I am going to walk over the roof to the other side where the Laser BUD is sitting there waiting for me to bring it back to life. But I'm still having Newbie problems. I am wondering if the GeoSat slightly moves with the wind. Last night and tonight (Tuesday night), I could not get those two channels to come back, one called "default channel" and the other weaker one. Even though they're in Spanish, we are still fascinated by how much more clear a satellite signal is compared to our old rabbit ears. So we stare at the picture and the Spanish words just blow past us. I tried resetting the receiver to default this evening, and then reinstalling the antenna through the menus. Again, I wonder why, when I try to set up for the satellite at 125.0w, the receiver suddenly jumps awake and proclaims that I am seeing 119.0?
With a motorized system, I will go to the roof several times during the first week to adjust and peak. Once it is dialed in, you won't be up there very much....
I would always advise a newbie to first install the dish in a fixed mode without a motor to familiarize themselves with basic receiver operation and also to mount motorized dishes on the ground for easy access and adjustments.
While the dish mounting solution may be allowing the reflector to move and cause the loss of signal, another explanation might be that the channels might actually be off of air. Many channels are occasional use and only are active if a customer has rented time on the bird.
After the factory reset of the STB, the receiver may not have been set for the DiSEqC switch and was seeing the connected 18" dish that is aimed at 119W for NASA TV. Is the antenna set-up menu for the G10r DiSEqC switch setting correct?
I would always advise a newbie to first install the dish in a fixed mode without a motor to familiarize themselves with basic receiver operation and also to mount motorized dishes on the ground for easy access and adjustments.
While the dish mounting solution may be allowing the reflector to move and cause the loss of signal, another explanation might be that the channels might actually be off of air. Many channels are occasional use and only are active if a customer has rented time on the bird.
After the factory reset of the STB, the receiver may not have been set for the DiSEqC switch and was seeing the connected 18" dish that is aimed at 119W for NASA TV. Is the antenna set-up menu for the G10r DiSEqC switch setting correct?
I'm not sure. It is my first time through all of this, and I believe that the ViewSat documentation may not be as good as some of the other brands. But now I have made things a little simpler. I have belatedly taken everyone's advice and removed the motor from the setup. Of course, this meant that I had to remove the butterfly bracket from the back of the GeoSat Pro and reinstall it to the "right-side up" position. BTW: Thanks for packing the GeoSat Pro dish so well. It arrived here in great shape. As far as ground mounting, our house sits on the South edge of our 0.17 acre house lot, so the roof was our only option.
After removing the motor and repointing the dish, a blind scan brought back all of the pay channels, but no FTA channels at all. Maybe the two of them, which I described in an earlier post, just went down at the same time... as in a coincidence. I'm going to go back up for some more tweaking.
My son has a question: He wants to know if the Cartoon Network is available as an FTA channel somewhere out there? If it is not, he wants to know if he can pay one of the pay services for only one or two channels per month? I know we must sound like dummies, but we are crossing over straight from 26 years of rabbit ears... longer if you count that my parents had rabbit ears on one set and a rooftop herring bone on the other.
After removing the motor and repointing the dish, a blind scan brought back all of the pay channels, but no FTA channels at all. Maybe the two of them, which I described in an earlier post, just went down at the same time... as in a coincidence. I'm going to go back up for some more tweaking.
My son has a question: He wants to know if the Cartoon Network is available as an FTA channel somewhere out there? If it is not, he wants to know if he can pay one of the pay services for only one or two channels per month? I know we must sound like dummies, but we are crossing over straight from 26 years of rabbit ears... longer if you count that my parents had rabbit ears on one set and a rooftop herring bone on the other.
Cartoon Network is not available FTA. Other than getting a package deal with Dish Network or DirecTV, you could probably pay for that channel a-la-carte with a 4DTV system. You'd need a C-Band dish (at least 6 feet in diameter)...
Once you get that "Laser BUD" up and running, pick up a 4DTV reciever and you can can subscribe to lots of the 'cable' stuff a-la-carte in addition to having a whole bunch more FTA stuff
As I recall, the trailer park is about a quarter mile from the lake, on the main street through town. I don't remember seeing a park right "on the lake", but it's been about 10 years since we've been there.
Latest: Now #1 son wants a 4DTV receiver, even though technical obsolesence is in the near future. Anybody know where I can get one without having to sell my left leg?
Latest: Now #1 son wants a 4DTV receiver, even though technical obsolesence is in the near future. Anybody know where I can get one without having to sell my left leg?
Hi CF,
Linuxman has some 4DTV receivers listed in the classifieds, looks like he has put them on eBBBBeigh:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/satelliteguys-classifieds/149407-4dtv-receivers-sale.html
You may be able to get one from one of the 4DTV programming providers also, but they may want a left leg and part of your torso.
progress ?
So . . . are we getting any Ku on that 4 foot dish, yet?
Either 123°, or maybe some NASA @ 119°?
So . . . are we getting any Ku on that 4 foot dish, yet?
Either 123°, or maybe some NASA @ 119°?
What we get is this:
Our receiver seems to think it is picking up Echostar 7 and all it lists is 41 channels with the dollar sign symbol next to each one. We assume this means that they are pay TV type channels.
When we select one of those channels, the screen goes black, which further tells us that they are not FTA. As to why we cannot see any FTA channels, we are guessing that the dish is not truly pointing at Echostar 7, or any other satellite for that matter. We (my #3 son and I) think we are a couple of degrees off, and that the dish is so wide that we are just catching some slop. We are noobs though, and therefore we may be playing deep left field.
I have not posted more about that fine dish and receiver combo lately, because I am waiting for the mailman to bring me the 4.5" compass I ordered a few days ago. I need a large compass so that I can read the degree scale without using a magnifying glass. I need at least one hand free for tweaking.
Thoughts/suggestions?
Our receiver seems to think it is picking up Echostar 7 and all it lists is 41 channels with the dollar sign symbol next to each one. We assume this means that they are pay TV type channels.
When we select one of those channels, the screen goes black, which further tells us that they are not FTA. As to why we cannot see any FTA channels, we are guessing that the dish is not truly pointing at Echostar 7, or any other satellite for that matter. We (my #3 son and I) think we are a couple of degrees off, and that the dish is so wide that we are just catching some slop. We are noobs though, and therefore we may be playing deep left field.
I have not posted more about that fine dish and receiver combo lately, because I am waiting for the mailman to bring me the 4.5" compass I ordered a few days ago. I need a large compass so that I can read the degree scale without using a magnifying glass. I need at least one hand free for tweaking.
Thoughts/suggestions?
Spent hours up there last night, with my wife running back and forth between TV set and the driveway, updating me on signal strength. She finally gave up and went to bed. #3 son will no longer help unless I threaten to cut off his allowance. #1 son gave up last week. I slept in sitting up position on the couch, with the receiver gently beeping through the TV set. We are hundreds into this now, and I can't hit a satellite to save my hind end.
I should go back to nice, safe target acquisition radar, with it's oh so uncomplicated pulses and nice clean J band environment.
I should go back to nice, safe target acquisition radar, with it's oh so uncomplicated pulses and nice clean J band environment.
Is there any way you can bring the tv and receiver up on the roof with the dish? That reatime feedback makes things SO much easier.
I think you said you took your motor out of the equation? Are you skewing your LNB for the satellite you are trying to hit?
I think you said you took your motor out of the equation? Are you skewing your LNB for the satellite you are trying to hit?
White Springs TV
Once you get going and can hit 127 you can find cartoons on WhiteSprings tv quite a bit.
Once you get going and can hit 127 you can find cartoons on WhiteSprings tv quite a bit.
I haven't been following this thread since day one, so I'm jumping in kinda late. But let me reassure CenterFreq that he is NOT trying to do something impossible. About 2 years ago, I had no idea what FTA was, let alone own a system. I had no nearby friends who were into this hobby, and no local dealer. I relied 100% on info obtained through boards such as this.
After reading for 6 months, I decided to take the plunge, and in the Spring of '07, I started purchasing hardware. Viewsat Ultra, 76cm Winegard, QPH031, and against the advice of others telling me not to start with a motorized system... an SG2100.
From the very start, I installed it, motor and all, on a rooftop over a screened in porch. My initial challenge was to mount the vertical post. I knew enough from my reading that I wanted this post to be perfectly vertical, and extremely rigid. There were some challenges to do this because of my roof and an additional overhang. But once I got past this, it was easy sailing from there.
Once the dish was physically mounted and ready to be pointed, I was able to find my first sat in under 15 minutes. If you are attempting to aim your dish and you are not using one of those $10 sat finder boxes that mount in-line at the dish and produce signal tones, you are crazy.
With another 3 hours of my time and about 8 trips to the roof top, I was able to get everything aligned to the proper arc, picking up sats from 72W to 129W, and many in between.
I'll admit that I was having some issues getting the USALS motor functions to operate correctly so I temporarily started using the manual user setting that Viewsat has to store the sat locations. It worked well, and gave me no problems, so I never really went back and implemented the USALS.
A year and a half later, the system is operating great. We still have our cable subscription, but the FTA receiver gets regular use as well.
Bottom line: I started out with no previous knowledge, had only my 14 year old son to assist, and installed a motorized system similar to yours. IT CAN BE DONE!!
After reading for 6 months, I decided to take the plunge, and in the Spring of '07, I started purchasing hardware. Viewsat Ultra, 76cm Winegard, QPH031, and against the advice of others telling me not to start with a motorized system... an SG2100.
From the very start, I installed it, motor and all, on a rooftop over a screened in porch. My initial challenge was to mount the vertical post. I knew enough from my reading that I wanted this post to be perfectly vertical, and extremely rigid. There were some challenges to do this because of my roof and an additional overhang. But once I got past this, it was easy sailing from there.
Once the dish was physically mounted and ready to be pointed, I was able to find my first sat in under 15 minutes. If you are attempting to aim your dish and you are not using one of those $10 sat finder boxes that mount in-line at the dish and produce signal tones, you are crazy.
With another 3 hours of my time and about 8 trips to the roof top, I was able to get everything aligned to the proper arc, picking up sats from 72W to 129W, and many in between.
I'll admit that I was having some issues getting the USALS motor functions to operate correctly so I temporarily started using the manual user setting that Viewsat has to store the sat locations. It worked well, and gave me no problems, so I never really went back and implemented the USALS.
A year and a half later, the system is operating great. We still have our cable subscription, but the FTA receiver gets regular use as well.
Bottom line: I started out with no previous knowledge, had only my 14 year old son to assist, and installed a motorized system similar to yours. IT CAN BE DONE!!
It would be tough to take a tv set up on the roof, but another member said something about taking a $10.00 satellite finder up there. You know, I bought one of those little guys about two months ago. I better dig it up and try that.
I will console my oldest son with the news about cartoons being on WhiteSprings, he just missed out on two 4DTV receivers on ebay. One went in a "Buy it Now" deal, and on the other, we underestimated another sniper's determination in the last minute of bidding. It's a shame, because those receivers were being offered by member LinuxMan, and he said that they were good.
Those WhiteSprings cartoons... any idea if they include Japanese anime stuff? That's what my son is looking for in particular.
Oh yes, I did take the motor out, and Monday night, for the first time, I did try skewing the LNB first one way, then the other. My wife called up to me that it didn't matter, we still had no Quality, only 71% S. So I set it back to the middle before giving up.
I will console my oldest son with the news about cartoons being on WhiteSprings, he just missed out on two 4DTV receivers on ebay. One went in a "Buy it Now" deal, and on the other, we underestimated another sniper's determination in the last minute of bidding. It's a shame, because those receivers were being offered by member LinuxMan, and he said that they were good.
Those WhiteSprings cartoons... any idea if they include Japanese anime stuff? That's what my son is looking for in particular.
Oh yes, I did take the motor out, and Monday night, for the first time, I did try skewing the LNB first one way, then the other. My wife called up to me that it didn't matter, we still had no Quality, only 71% S. So I set it back to the middle before giving up.
CenterF, sorry to say, your son will prob be disappointed with the old old cartoons on Whitesprings, I've seen stuff from the 40's and prob older, lol. Betty Boop and old WB cartoons.
That channel shows mostly old public domain stuff, movies etc. The strange looking anime stuff they show on some channels these days is alien to me, maybe he can catch it on Fox early Saturdays.
That channel shows mostly old public domain stuff, movies etc. The strange looking anime stuff they show on some channels these days is alien to me, maybe he can catch it on Fox early Saturdays.
If I can offer up a suggestion...
1) Take your big dish mounted on the motor, and reset the motor to zero.
2) With power completely off at the back switch of the receiver, or better yet unplugged, install the sat signal finder meter out at the dish.
3) I might also be inclined to remove the switch from the equation and attach the coax directly to the proper LNBF connector (through the motor).
4) Once connecions are completed, go back to the receiver and power it up. Configure it to look for the sat at 119. Most of the channels are scrambled subscription channels, but we are only looking to pick up a few really strong unencrypted ones (channel guides, NASA). Make sure you port/switch setting is off (or correct port if you left it in place). Turn motor control off.
5) Head to the roof. Spin the dish/motor mount on the pole to face due south (using your new compass). Since Vegas has a longitude of 115 degreeW, the sat at 119W will be one of the strongest sats roughly due south from you. You should have your sat facing 180.
6) Now shift your sat roughly 10 degrees to the east (a heading of 170 degrees) This is to correct for the magnetic north / true north compensation, as well as the 119 sat not being exactly south of you. You can go to websites and find more exact measurements for all of this, but you are using a handheld compass and wrestling a dish on a roof top so there is a practical limitation on how accurate you can be.
7) Tighten down the mounting bolts so that the dish doesn't move left/right. Slightly loosen the up/down bolts so that you can move the dish by hand but it will hold it's own weight when left untouched.
8) Adjust the volume of the sat finder meter to just below the point where it gives you an audible tone.
9) Slowly move the dish up and down to see if you can get an audible signal and meter movement indicating a sat signal. If you find one, adjust the height to maximize it. Next, push gently and slightly on the sides of the dish to see if a left or right movement will increase you signal strength. If it does, reposition the dish slightly, either using the mounting bolts or giving the motor a "bump". Play with the height and left/right locations until the signal is maximized.
10) Go to the receiver and see if you are indeed picking up 119. Does the display show "119"? What is the "Q"? Can you pull in Nasa? Are you pulling in a bird other than 119?
The answers to #10 determine your next steps from here. If you don't reach #10, how far did you get? If your receiver displays 119 with a solid Q, we have established your hardware is working and we can progress from there.
1) Take your big dish mounted on the motor, and reset the motor to zero.
2) With power completely off at the back switch of the receiver, or better yet unplugged, install the sat signal finder meter out at the dish.
3) I might also be inclined to remove the switch from the equation and attach the coax directly to the proper LNBF connector (through the motor).
4) Once connecions are completed, go back to the receiver and power it up. Configure it to look for the sat at 119. Most of the channels are scrambled subscription channels, but we are only looking to pick up a few really strong unencrypted ones (channel guides, NASA). Make sure you port/switch setting is off (or correct port if you left it in place). Turn motor control off.
5) Head to the roof. Spin the dish/motor mount on the pole to face due south (using your new compass). Since Vegas has a longitude of 115 degreeW, the sat at 119W will be one of the strongest sats roughly due south from you. You should have your sat facing 180.
6) Now shift your sat roughly 10 degrees to the east (a heading of 170 degrees) This is to correct for the magnetic north / true north compensation, as well as the 119 sat not being exactly south of you. You can go to websites and find more exact measurements for all of this, but you are using a handheld compass and wrestling a dish on a roof top so there is a practical limitation on how accurate you can be.
7) Tighten down the mounting bolts so that the dish doesn't move left/right. Slightly loosen the up/down bolts so that you can move the dish by hand but it will hold it's own weight when left untouched.
8) Adjust the volume of the sat finder meter to just below the point where it gives you an audible tone.
9) Slowly move the dish up and down to see if you can get an audible signal and meter movement indicating a sat signal. If you find one, adjust the height to maximize it. Next, push gently and slightly on the sides of the dish to see if a left or right movement will increase you signal strength. If it does, reposition the dish slightly, either using the mounting bolts or giving the motor a "bump". Play with the height and left/right locations until the signal is maximized.
10) Go to the receiver and see if you are indeed picking up 119. Does the display show "119"? What is the "Q"? Can you pull in Nasa? Are you pulling in a bird other than 119?
The answers to #10 determine your next steps from here. If you don't reach #10, how far did you get? If your receiver displays 119 with a solid Q, we have established your hardware is working and we can progress from there.
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