questions and help needed

[satman3671]

Hi
I have a c-band system I bought back in 1992, 10 foot wire mesh dish and a GI 450 receiver with built in VideocipherII. This is now basically useless unless I buy a 4DTV receiver.

Will these FTA receivers work on my BUD system? Also I have a old prim star dish , it was working when they went out or got bought out, and a satellite I was using to home school my daughter with BJU, maybe these are a option?

If any of these will work, which FTA receiver would you recommend? On would it be better to purchase a 4DTV receiver?

P.S. What kind of lnb does this unit require (or what kind did you use?) Just though maybe could modify the BUD to work and then it could be moved to other satellites?

Thanks so much for your time and trouble. I just joined and love what I have seen so far!

 

[Lak7]

What you do is "Slave" an FTA receiver to the Analog receiver.
Look up "Slave Kit" on Sadoun.com

 

[boomer_106]

"Will these FTA receivers work on my BUD system?"

Absolutely.

"What kind of lnb does this unit require"

You can probably use the LNB you have currently on your dish. I would try it first and if the results are unacceptable then you can buy a good low noise LNB pretty reasonable.

"If any of these will work, which FTA receiver would you recommend?"

You could get alot of different answers here. They all seem to have some pros and cons. I have a Pansat 9200 HD. I like it alot. It's not perfect mind you but, it does a pretty good job. The first decision I would make here is... do you want HD or not? If the answer is yes then you can eliminate alot of receivers on the market and just read up on the HD boxes. If not, then you have alot of choices. It would proabably be best to figure out how much you want to spend on a receiver and go from there. Your C band system is far from useless. Keep in mind though with a FTA receiver you will not be able to get channels like CNN or ESPN.

 

[satman3671]

thanks for your help

"Will these FTA receivers work on my BUD system?"

Absolutely.

"What kind of lnb does this unit require"

You can probably use the LNB you have currently on your dish. I would try it first and if the results are unacceptable then you can buy a good low noise LNB pretty reasonable.

"If any of these will work, which FTA receiver would you recommend?"

You could get alot of different answers here. They all seem to have some pros and cons. I have a Pansat 9200 HD. I like it alot. It's not perfect mind you but, it does a pretty good job. The first decision I would make here is... do you want HD or not? If the answer is yes then you can eliminate alot of receivers on the market and just read up on the HD boxes. If not, then you have alot of choices. It would proabably be best to figure out how much you want to spend on a receiver and go from there. Your C band system is far from useless. Keep in mind though with a FTA receiver you will not be able to get channels like CNN or ESPN.

Thanks so very much for you help. I understand no espn but from my understanding there is quite a bit of variety to choose from - right? I only have c-band lnb on the BUD, what kind of KU lnb do I need to add?

I'm not that interested in HD - only standard TV at this time - UNLESS with the switch in the future it would be better for me to buy HD now ???

Thanks again

 

[boomer_106]

There is a variety. Lots of sports feeds if you like sports. You can check some of the always up channels to see if you like them here

SatelliteGuys.US - TheList

Galaxy 18 at 123* W is very popular. Here's it's channels

SatelliteGuys.US - 123.0°W Galaxy 18 Ku

Since you have C band only you will need to get a new feedhorn also to add KU. Something like this Chaparral Corotor II+ C/Ku Feedhorn model 11-5000-1 - eBay (item 180302538394 end time Nov-04-08 03:29:39 PST)

As far as LNB you will have plenty of choices. Alot of people like Norsat LNB. My sig line shows you the one I have. It's an eagle aspen. It works ok. No complaints here. Just check with whatever dealer you're buying from and make sure it's for a Big dish. You could get the model number of one you like and ask here if it's suitable.

Finally, I wouldn't say it would be better to get HD now. Since you aren't interested in HD at the moment, I would look for a good reasonably priced SD unit. One with a good blind scan feature. You can find some receiver reviews around these parts. The Traxis DBS 3500 seems popular. I've been told the blind search works good. You can get it for around $100 bucks. Hopefully by the time you are ready for HD they will have made a super nice box that does 4:2:2, DVBS-2, has a good blind scan, and any other nice features a person could want

 

[phlatwound]

...........Also I have a old prim star dish , it was working when they went out or got bought out, and a satellite I was using to home school my daughter with BJU, maybe these are a option?......

hi satman, yes the Primestar and/or the BJU dish is an option for Ku reception, also.

Either of those can be motorized as well, although the BJU may be easier as it is probably lighter (depending on which P* dish you have) and wouldn't require as much (maybe none at all) modification to adapt to a motor.

You've got a lot of options...either your BUD with a C/Ku setup, or one of your smaller dishes.

And I agree with boomer, nothing at all wrong with starting with an SD receiver to get started with, there's a TON of SD FTA stuff up there to watch.

 

[Mr Tony]

phlatwood
Isnt your C-Band dish just for C-Band(no KU option on it)?

(on a semi ot but on the topic I remember when you came here in the same boat...C-Band dish/analog box....you kinda expanded on that simple setup huh?

guess schlever was right

LOL watch out this hobby can be addictive ....... especially once you start blindscanning

 

[Anole]

Few additional comments:

- Today, I wouldn't suggest an HD FTA receiver for everyone . . .
Of course, if you live so far away from a local PBS station that it would be attractive in HD, that is much easier.

- here's a short list of good/popular/inexpensive FTA receivers, all of which have the Blind Scan feature (under some name)

- the LNBs on your Primestar and BJU dish should be ready to go.
Get us a model number, mold number off the back side, and/or picture of your Primestar for better info.
They came in lots of sizes, from several manufacturers, and with many different LNBs.
It's certainly fine for fixed-aiming at one bird (maybe 123°?)
Great idea above about maybe motorizing the BJU, or set it up fixed at the beginning

- it may be a little early, but if you're not overwhelmed, you can look in our FAQ section for a tutorial on switches.
Something like: Switches Simplified
It shows how easy it would be to hook several dishes to one receiver

- while you will want to come back to our own TheList for technical info, and recent updates...
Another site might give you a beginner's view of Ku band FTA.

 

[Tron]

Satman3671, you're all set... Fix the Primestar on G-18 123w for the Equity channels, buy a motor and mount your home schooling dish on it for the other satellites, and keep your BUD for C-Band! :up

 

[phlatwound]

phlatwood
Isnt your C-Band dish just for C-Band(no KU option on it)?

(on a semi ot but on the topic I remember when you came here in the same boat...C-Band dish/analog box....you kinda expanded on that simple setup huh?

guess schlever was right

Yes Iceberg, my old BUD is still C-band only, but when the Birdview goes up I will almost definitely go with a CoRotor for a C/Ku combo.

Ah yes, I remember that thread well. I stumbled into this forum not even being able to spell "PhTA enthusiast".......and today I R 1!!!!!!

schlever was quite the sayer of sooth, he nailed it!

satman3671, your mission is now (semi-) clear, you've got a lot of the basic building blocks needed to put together a great system, it's time now to read and ask and learn.

My progress is proof of what you could do, and all the credit goes to the patient/generous/learned members of this forum, thank you all.

 

[satman3671]

BJU receiver???

Hi, thanks again for everyone's help. I was wondering if the BJU receiver's firmware can be updated to receive the FAT channels like a regular FTA receiver. It has a serial port on the back, just wondering if I could save myself some money or if I had to buy a new receiver.

Thanks again
satman

 

[Larobpra]

Hi, thanks again for everyone's help. I was wondering if the BJU receiver's firmware can be updated to receive the FAT channels like a regular FTA receiver. It has a serial port on the back, just wondering if I could save myself some money or if I had to buy a new receiver.

Thanks again
satman

Which model BJU receiver do you have? I have a ADTH 6600ir and can get to the menu screen to manually enter different satellites but can't get any further because I don't have the remote to enter numbers. (if anyone has a spare remote that will work w/it, please PM me. Most universals I've found won't)

Others here have old BJU receivers, but you would have to do a thread search to see what they've done..

 

[phlatwound]

satman, I have the Homesat 8009-BJU receiver...I only spent about 30 minutes one day a couple months ago playing with it but it can be used as an FTA receiver. No blind scan, manual entry tp info entry only, but it worked. I would think whatever firmware you have installed in the box now will probably work, no change necessary.

 

[satman3671]

Hi thanks so much for the replies. but it only show 4 channels - the BJU channels and says no signal when I try to go to another satellite. Wish I had a remote for you Larobpra. What do I need to do?

 

[Anole]

You can certainly get the BJU receiver to pick up another satellite, or other programming on the one it's currently pointed at.
However, without a blind-scan capable receiver, and one known to operate a USALS motor, I would eventually relegate it to the back seat.
Might still be fine for the kids or maybe bedroom, where you only need limited capability.
I suspect it'll be frustrating to set up.

 

[phlatwound]

Hi thanks so much for the replies. but it only show 4 channels - the BJU channels and says no signal when I try to go to another satellite. Wish I had a remote for you Larobpra. What do I need to do?

You have to get into the menus and enter the correct frequency & symbol rate for a live transponder on whatever satellite you are pointing to.

I can't remember how the menu is structured in my 8009, but I do remember it was rather crude and cumbersome.

As Anole said, it is probably possible to get it to do what you are trying to do but the functionality of those receivers (if it is similar to mine) is very limited.

For $30-$40 shipped you can probably pickup a Coolsat 4/5/6K off of the 'Bay and have something that is a lot more capable and easier to work with.