Please help a newbie before I waste my money!!

[jcwyatt1]

So, I'm trying to get into FTA. I have moved into a house that already had DirecTV installed. I know the DirecTV was HD when it was in service.

So, here is my question... What do I need? I had a friend tell me that the DirecTV dish and LNB's would not work for FTA. Is this true or do you just need different LNB's for HD vs. SD? PLEASE CLARIFY!!

As far as a receiver, these are the features I want:

-HD
-PVR
-Dual Tuner
-Ability to watch two TVs would be nice
-At least 2 USB ports for hard drives

I know there is something called an "8psk" that I will need for HD, but I have no clue what it is or what it does. I have tried to do my research, but I am at wits end and I am afraid of wasting my money.

I am getting back my tax refund soon and want to spend it wisely.

Thanks for your help.

 

[USDownlink]

You have quite a feature-heavy wish list for someone just "trying to get into FTA". And 8PSK transmissions are still far and few between, not to mention most receiver's inability to blind scan them. I find plenty of HD with QPSK.

 

[jcwyatt1]

I guess you are right, that is a feature-heavy wish list, but why spend the money to dip my toe in the water if I'm just gonna have to upgrade later? Seems like a waste of money.

And on the 8spk issue, I must not know what that is. I thought you had to have 8PSK to have HD. I've never even heard of QPSK.

 

[pedrogarcia]

And on the 8spk issue, I must not know what that is. I thought you had to have 8PSK to have HD.

8PSK (8 Phase Shift Keying) is a phase modulation algorithm.
Digital modulation is no new concept. Programmers and people working in today's technological know it for sure, as they have been using certain modulation techniques to transmit data digitally. Athough several techniques are available for techies to choose from, and out of three popular digital modulation options, the PSK or Phase Shift Keying tops the list of the most valuable.

PSK, as it is commonly known, works to modulate or adjust certain parts of the reference signal, which essentially is the carrier wave. This signal is changed in response to the data signal, which in turn is represented by the modulation itself.

Phase modulation is a version of frequency modulation where the phase of the carrier wave is modulated to encode bits of digital information in each phase change.
Phased Shift Keying is a form of phase modulation which is accomplished by the use of a discrete number of states. 8PSK refers to PSK with 8 states. With half that number of states, you will have QPSK.
As the symbol rate is the rate of state changes on a communications circuit.
8PSK can carry more tones and effectively a higher symbol rate.Using more tones allows more bits per second (bps) to be squeezed out of every symbol, but this also requires higher quality circuits. If the circuit is not high enough quality, the number of retransmissions will cause the circuit to be slower than with a lower number of tones
8PSK is less tolerant of link degradation than QPSK, but provides more data capacity.
There is some HD currently using QPSK but generally 8PSK will become a standard for HD.
A good quality 8PSK receiver with PVR and all your requirement is going to be expensive. I would not buy a FTA version but one that has a conditional access module so that should you wish to include a subscription package in the future it can be done.
Hope that is helpful

 

[N6BY]

...
As far as a receiver, these are the features I want:

-HD
-PVR
-Dual Tuner
-Ability to watch two TVs would be nice
-At least 2 USB ports for hard drives

With those requirements, I don't think you will be happy with only an FTA receiver.

You'll get mostly SD channels. I like FTA for getting prime time networks (abc, nbc, cbs) 3 hours early on Galaxy 16 C-Band, which requires a big dish (6 to 10 foot diameter). I also like hunting for live news feeds.

If you want premium channels on C and KU band, I think you have to have an old 4DTV receiver which is not HD, dual tuner, or PVR capable. ANd of course you'll need to subscribe through Skyvision or NPS.

So if I were you, I would get a Dish Network PVR 722 and one of their Turbo HD programming packages that would meet all your requirements. And to add FTA to that, you could start out with a low cost receiver and a 90 cm dish with a linear KU band LNB. Give it a try first before you go all out and get a big motorized C-band dish and expensive FTA receiver. Thats the path I took.

I have subscribed to Dish Network since 1997, and I use FTA just as a supplement for the channels that are not available on DN.

 

[jcwyatt1]

I don't want to have to pay for TV. That's what commercials are for.

I am interrested in FTA because I don't need much more than network channels, but where I live, I can't pick them up with an antenna. I am also very interested in the things you can pick up with C-band, but I'll move into that later. Just want to get into KU right now.

So you think I would be better sticking with SD if I want FTA? I can deal with that. Can I use the same dish and LNB's that are on that DirecTV system that is installed in this house? They were previously used for DirecTV HD service. I don't know if that matters. Thought you may need different LNB's for SD versus HD.

Thanks for all your hep. You guys rock.

 

[empiretc]

no, you need a bigger dish with a linear LNB.

How far away are you that you cannot pick up your OTA channels?

 

[jcwyatt1]

So I can't use the DirecTV equipment for anything? I thought I came across a freebie there!

I live between 60 miles from Atlanta and 60 miles from Chattanooga. I have a powered antenna that I can only pick up IonTV and PBS with. ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC would be awesome! I thought I could pick that up on KU band.

 

[empiretc]

Build yourself an antenna out of a coat hanger and put a good bidirectional amp on it. I get channels from ~100 miles away.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw"]YouTube - Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna![/ame]

My friend and I built an omnidirectional one for his house. OTA + Galaxy18 provides a good alternative to a pay service- granted, no premium content but you do get the FREE HD.

 

[TimLones111]

JC:
Speaking only of KU Band, You'll only get Fox and ABC affiliates in the Mountain States from Galaxy 18 that I know of..I just started into Ku Band Recently and am only on one Sat for the time being-Galaxy 18 West..Just to get an Idea, here is what I get on Galaxy 18-123 West

Galaxy 18 123 West Satellite Channel List (Ku Only)

(Channel Numbers represent The numbering system on my Fortec Dynamic Receiver)

1 KBTZ Fox Butte, Montana

2 WNYI Ithaca New York

4 KKTU ABC Cheyenne, Wyoming

5 KPBI MyNet Fort Smith, Arkansas

6 KMMF Fox Missoula, Montana

7 KXUN Univision Fort Smith Arkansas

11 WNGS ThisTV Springville, New York (Buffalo)

12 KWWF AMG Waterloo, Iowa

13 KFDF ThisTV Fort Smith, Arkansas

15 KEGS AMG Las Vegas, Nevada

16 KLMN Fox Great Falls, Montana

17 KUWF Univision Wicita Falls, Texas

18 KTVC AMG Eugene, Oregon

19 KQUP AMG Spokane, Washington

20 WMQF Fox Marquette, Michigan

21 WUMN Univision Minneapolis, Minnesota

22 KKYK Camden, Arkansas

23 KARZ MyNet Little Rock, Arkansas

24 KDEV-LP Aurora, Colorado

25 KWKO Univision Waco, Texas

26 WGMU MyNet Burlington, Vermont

27 WPXS Mount Vernon, Illinois

28 KUTF Telefutura Price, Utah

29 KATV ABC Little Rock, Arkansas

30 KCBU AMG Salt Lake City, Utah

31 KWBM MyNet Hollister, Missouri

32 Daystar

34 KTWO ABC Casper, Wyoming

45 3C-TV California Educational

46 3C Bulletin Board

48 Peace TV English/Arabic

54 Research Channel

55 UWTV University Of Washington TV (State of Washington)

This is a simple list I made for my wife..There are lots of good places to get more complete lists of this and other Satellites..Hope this helps you..

There are other channels not listed some are blank, others have picture and no sound which you will learn more about as you go along..

 

[N6BY]

JC:
Speaking only of KU Band, You'll only get Fox and ABC affiliates in the Mountain States from Galaxy 18 that I know of..

Yes. So if you want NBC and CBS you will need C-Band equipment and will have to aim your Dish at Galaxy 16 (99W).

The cool thing about Galaxy 16 C Band is that there are 2 NBC affiliates in different time zones -- WVGN (eastern) and KCWY (mountain). So you have a choice when to watch. And it also has WVXF (CBS), WPRU (ABC), and WSJX (FOX).

There is a combination C/KU band LNB available -- its the BSC621-2. I have one mounted to my 10 foot motorized Unimesh dish.

I picked up the dish used for only $75, but the motor, controller, and BSC621 LNB cost me about $300 additional.

Add in the cost of the receiver and you are looking at about $600 plus installation for a motorized C-Band system -- assuming you find someone who wants to get rid of a C-band dish. Otherwise, they're much more than $75 new.

Brett

 

[eurosport]

(Channel Numbers represent The numbering system on my Fortec Dynamic Receiver)

1 KBTZ Fox Butte, Montana

2 WNYI Ithaca New York

4 KKTU ABC Cheyenne, Wyoming

5 KPBI MyNet Fort Smith, Arkansas

6 KMMF Fox Missoula, Montana

7 KXUN Univision Fort Smith Arkansas

11 WNGS ThisTV Springville, New York (Buffalo)

12 KWWF AMG Waterloo, Iowa

13 KFDF ThisTV Fort Smith, Arkansas

15 KEGS AMG Las Vegas, Nevada

16 KLMN Fox Great Falls, Montana

17 KUWF Univision Wicita Falls, Texas

18 KTVC AMG Eugene, Oregon

19 KQUP AMG Spokane, Washington

20 WMQF Fox Marquette, Michigan

21 WUMN Univision Minneapolis, Minnesota

22 KKYK Camden, Arkansas

23 KARZ MyNet Little Rock, Arkansas

24 KDEV-LP Aurora, Colorado

25 KWKO Univision Waco, Texas

26 WGMU MyNet Burlington, Vermont

27 WPXS Mount Vernon, Illinois

28 KUTF Telefutura Price, Utah

29 KATV ABC Little Rock, Arkansas

30 KCBU AMG Salt Lake City, Utah

31 KWBM MyNet Hollister, Missouri

32 Daystar

34 KTWO ABC Casper, Wyoming

45 3C-TV California Educational

46 3C Bulletin Board

48 Peace TV English/Arabic

54 Research Channel

55 UWTV University Of Washington TV (State of Washington)

...What? ...No RetroJams???

 

[TimLones111]

...What? ...No RetroJams???

As I said above, this was a simplified list for my wife..Any blank or no-souind channels I didnt put on our list, though it just so happens that WNYI Ithaca, NY went fulltime Retrojams this week..

 

[eurosport]

Yeah, I forgot about that channel being AC3 since my receivers play it anyway.

 

[boomer_106]

Might wanna go dish hunting. See what you can find then, go from there.