Receiver recommendations

[macksat]

Having perused these forums for the past couple years, finally took the plunge
and set up a 7.5' mesh dish which someone was giving away free. It has an
AJAK H to H positioner and a Chaparall Diamond Cband LNB with markings of temp K 20degrees.
Located a Toshiba 1820 C/Ku band receiver,but without a remote. Having gotten
everything hooked up, was pleasantly surprised to receive crystal clear FTA
from F4, G1, & F3. Also tried a dual C/Ku LNB but didn't receive any Ku band
possibly on account of not having a remote for the receiver.

My question is, can someone recommend a FTA analog/digital receiver that would drive this dish and give the most bang for the buck?
Secondly, is there a receiver that would do all that and have the option
of adding subscription programming at a later date?
What about upgrading the LNB?

Couldn't have gotten this far without the excellent info. & links from this site.

Still new to this so hope this is posted in the correct forum.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mr Tony]

My question is, can someone recommend a FTA analog/digital receiver that would drive this dish and give the most bang for the buck?

The only receivers that do analog & digital are 4DTV boxes. They allow you to subscribe to programming too. Something like a Motorola 922. You could always add a FTA box for the other free stuff

What about upgrading the LNB?

you could do that too. Usually folks have the theory on the LNB's if it aint broke don't fix it

 

[macksat]

Thanks for the fast reply Iceberg. Wasn't sure if the fancy new receiver needed
a new type LNB or not. Looks like I'll be shopping for a 4DTV, probably the
Motorola 922. All this is quite an upgrade for me since all I've been getting
my TV reception OTA about 50+ miles from any major broadcast stations.
Comes in pretty poorly even on a good day.

 

[phlatwound]

You are correct in thinking that at least part of your not being able to receive Ku is due to not having the Toshiba remote, you need the remote to make the receiver select the Ku input.

Not sure if you could run your Ku cable to the C-band input just to see if you could get the Ku going or not, sounds like you are heading a different direction anyway but it might be worth a try.

 

[Mr Tony]

All this is quite an upgrade for me since all I've been getting
my TV reception OTA about 50+ miles from any major broadcast stations.
Comes in pretty poorly even on a good day.

I owuld highly suggest getting a free to air box then too. There are the networks on Galaxy 4/16 at 99W. They're from Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands but are the New York stations with local commercials.

 

[dem0nlord]

The only receivers that do analog & digital are 4DTV boxes.

Actually, there have been several FTA boxes that do analog also, mostly sold in Europe and Australia. One of them is in my sig.

 

[voomvoom]

Actually, there have been several FTA boxes that do analog also, mostly sold in Europe and Australia. One of them is in my sig.

When I first read this thread the other day, I was trying to remember the name of the one I've seen in the past to respond to this thread. But, I couldn't remember it, so I let it slide. Now I see it in your signature, just like you say...
Satcruiser

 

[macksat]

Thanks to all for the feed back. Just today received a remote for my Toshiba 2220. Spent
more hours than I care to admit reading the manual and programming the few satellites I
know of. I'll be putting the C/Ku LNB back on the dish tomorrow. I have a second RG6 lead
already run into the receiver. Will see what that brings in. Wish me luck ;-)

 

[phlatwound]

If the 2220 is similar to the 1820 you are saving your satellite locations by going to an analog transponder on a known satellite, and then having the Toshiba go through that "auto-peaking/save" routine?

That's what I do with my Toshiba 1820, and I've only done that on C-band as I don't think there is much Ku analog (plus I don't have the Ku RG-6 going to my Toshiba anyway, it goes to my DVB stuff). I could never figure out how to save a sat location without having an active analog transponder on whatever sat I wanted to save, with my 1820.

There is also the issue of the renaming of the sats, my 1820 only allows one lettter and one number to "name" the sat...you just have to use the old designations that are probably pre-programmed in your 2220, no big deal.

You can go to Lyngsat and find out where the remaining analog transponders are on the various sats...or let me know and I will email you a little spreadsheet I made that has them, it may be helpful...good luck!

 

[Mr Tony]

There isnt much left on C-Band analog. Here is what I could find from Lyngsat

http://www.satelliteguys.us/c-band-satellite-discussion/136610-resurrect-old-bud.html

 

[macksat]

Thanks phlatwound & Iceberg, appreciate the guidance. Actually got this dish going with a
Toshiba 1820, and yes, there very similar. Even was able to use the new 2220's remote I got
yesterday but didn't mess too much with it as didn't want to mess up the existing settings.
Have switched it out for the TRX2220 and about to go out and reinstall the C/Ku lnb.
It's very confusing, even following the directions to the letter on renaming the existing satellites
on the 2220 as well. I think I'm gonna try just zeroing in on any satellite and let the receiver
auto scan and zero it in. Then, just keep a hardcopy of the 'actual' satellite ID and let it go at that. (My 63year old gray matter is already stressed to the max) Will post how it works out.

 

[ACRadio]

When I first read this thread the other day, I was trying to remember the name of the one I've seen in the past to respond to this thread. But, I couldn't remember it, so I let it slide. Now I see it in your signature, just like you say...
Satcruiser

I lost my 2040ACE to a lightning strike a couple of years ago...I miss the little booger. It was one of the only analog receivers that could handle a universal LNBF.

 

[phlatwound]

Does the Toshiba 2220 allow you use more than one letter & one number (ex: "G5") when you rename a satellite location?

I wouldn't get too hung up on trying to rename the satellites, especially if you can't use a letter and 2 numbers (ex. "G14")...it's the satellite location that you most need to know anyway (ex. G14, which was formerly known as G5, is located at 125 degrees West).

Have you tried using the "Realign Satellite Memory" function? If you have located and saved one satellite location, this function "allows realignment of the actuator to match the already stored satellite positions without having to reprogram all of the satellites."

I got that from my TRX-1820 manual, I'm assuming the 2220 has the same feature, but it may not. Those old Toshibas come pre-programmed from the factory with most of the locations you will want for C & Ku band sats....remember the new satellites have new designations, but they are in the same orbital slots as the old ones....it don't matter what you call it as long as you are pointing at it.

This info is probably mostly useless if you are going 4DTV, that's a whole 'nother ballgame and I know nothing about it, if you have questions just let us know, there are a lot of guys here that have forgotten more than I will ever know about this stuff.

 

[macksat]

Hello phlatwound,
With the 2220, it appears you have to manually locate each satellite, then lock it to one of the
programmed sat. I.D.'s. Once that is done the "Realign Satellite Memory" function realigns
these satellites should the dish get misaligned due to repairs etc. You still have to find one of
these sats. and the receiver will align the others to that one. At least that's my take on it with
2-days experience with the remote & manual.
Did manage to replace the C-band LNB with the dual C/Ku. Also managed to find a couple
ku band satellites, but it's gonna take a lot more fine tuning of the LNB to do much more.

If I can get this dialed in better, my next step will probably be one of the digital receivers above and later....much later go for the 922 . The saga continues.
Appreciate the pointers.

Don

 

[phlatwound]

macksat, it sounds like you are getting there, slowly but surely. Please let me know if you figure out a way to save a C-band satellite location, without that satellite having an active transponder to lock onto. I think there may be a way to do it if you disable the "Auto Skew/Auto Ant." routine, I just haven't been able to figure it out yet.

If you can't figure out a way to do that there will probably be some desired satellites that you won't be able to save their location. That's not a problem either, when you get your digital receiver you can slave it to the Toshiba and tune it to an active transponder on the satellite you are looking for, then just manually (with the E/W buttons on the remote) bump your dish east or west from one of your known locations until you see your quality bar register the signal.

I don't think the Toshiba has any kind of an actuator "counter" that you can view to estimate the dish position, but after you have a couple of known locations you can use a SWAG to tell how far the dish moves in a given amount of time.

There's a lot of great free tv viewing waiting for you once you get it lined out, good luck!

 

[Mr Tony]

There's a lot of great free tv viewing waiting for you once you get it lined out, good luck!

:up:up AMEN TO THAT!!:up:up

 

[macksat]

Update: Swapped out the C-band LNB on my 7.5' for an A.D.L C/Ku LNB from a 10" dish.
Although the C-band picture quality in on par with what I used to get using one of the small dish companies, haven't been able to lock onto any Ku channels. Probably due to f/D differences.
Tried switching both cables from the receiver to the LNB's with no difference. Still excellent quality on C, but nada Ku.

Phlatwound, haven't figured out a way to lock onto a sat without an active transponders. Having enough trouble finding those WITH active transponders
at this point

Just watched Rudy Vallee music video on the Classic arts channel. Sure beats
NBC shopping lol.

Soon as I find one of the digital receivers suggested earlier, I'll give another go
at the Ku stuff. To Iceberg and all the others, thanks for your support. I no longer
feel like some looney out in the boonies

 

[phlatwound]

I can't help you with the Ku analog stuff but if you want to try and add G11C @ 93W (it might be called "G7" in your Toshiba), there are some feeds on tp 18 every Sunday afternoon from about 12-3 PM EDT.

For some reason my Toshiba keeps "losing" that location but yesterday I got it back. Orbit's website has a schedule for C-band wild feeds, they come in handy occasionally for locking dish locations if there is no 24/7 tp available.

Orbit Magazine - Wild Feeds

 

[Mr Tony]

I no longer
feel like some looney out in the boonies

you're not the only looney out in the boonies

 

[macksat]

Can someone recommend a receiver to get the digital FTA stuff? I think I've
taken the Toshiba 2220 about as far as I can go analog.
The receivers I'm seeing don't seem to have the motor outputs for
the H to H mover. Would be using the A.D.L feedhorn with separate Cband
Ku band LNB's.
(The Motorola 4DTV's a bit pricey for me right now)

Thanks for any inputs.