reception options

[truckracer]

Hey guys,
I have a cousin who is having a bit of a hard time financially. He can no longer afford to keep his satellite subscription with D*

He does know what free to air is since he visits my house quite a bit.
I was trying to think of an option for him to help him out.

Here is what I came up with. I don't think he would be able to get the hang of a motorized dish system if it got out of sync on position. I live over 40 miles away from him so it would be hard for me to keep his fta system going.

I thought about doing the skyvision W5 package for him.
buying the dsr-410 and using a 1.2 M prodelin dish on W5. Do you guys think
I could get a good lock on w5 with a 1.2M dish?

The other option I thought of was pre-paid dish network. Those receivers are on ebay for dirt cheap. I have an old dish 500 dual lnbf dish here he can have that I would install. I could just buy a 30 or 40 dollar card each month for him.

I would much rather go with the skyvision deal, the only dish I have laying around even close enough is a 4 foot prodelin that I can rig a c-band lnbf on.

Do you guys think the 1.2 would cut it on W5?

 

[Anole]

alternate suggestion

What about a 90cm on G10?
No motor, just fixed.
No recurring monthly charges.
Not all he might want, but a big step up from nothing.
Beggars can't be choosers.

 

[Corrado]

What about OTA ? Any locals available? Nothing beats that. I get 16 channels here in NY crystal clear. Best of all it's free.

I've been thinking about a small C band dish project myself just to see what it can do. I'll keep everyone advised when I get it going with pics.

 

[truckracer]

I got him two OTA converter boxes. He lives on top of a mountain and should get 14 or more local digital channels with a couple of good UHF antennas.

I did think of doing a fixed dish on G10R Ku.

I have three dishes he could use. Here's what I have and you guys chime in tell me where I could point them for the best variety of FTA for him:

76 cm Ku dish - G10R Ku (of course)
1.2 M prodelin with a bsc-621 lnbf - which sat?
Super dish 105 FSS Lnbf (can you get standard fta with that 105 lnbf? Lo freq?

I have a sadoun 4x1 diseqc switch and a fortec ultra lifetime he can use.

 

[Mr Tony]

1.2m is a little small on the C-Band side. You would need a 6 footer for the W5 package. You could hook it up and see if it works on a 4DTV (like the 905 that is in your sig) to see what the Ebno #'s are

Super dish 105 FSS Lnbf (can you get standard fta with that 105 lnbf? Lo freq?

yes you can. Its weird as the H side is "stacked" above the V side...LNB LO is 13850 and scan just V side

If I had 3 dish option (all KU) and we're working with someone who wants it set up and that's it, I would do
G10 (duh!)
AMC3 (for PBS)...unless he gets it OTA
3rd one is a toughy just because I would want to scan

Is he into anything specific (sports, religious channels,. Int'l, mainly network stuff)??

 

[truckracer]

I think he would enjoy news and religious programming the most.
Maybe do the 1.2M on g10 R KU for less rainfade , I know he likes RTN channels, he has watched those at my house.

Do the 76cm on amc-4 ku for Gospel music channels, etc.

dish net 105 dish with the fss lnbf on amc-6 ku

Between those and over the air he may never really want to go back to pizza dish anyway.
I think the only reason he had D* was for locals. He never got perfect reception with analog vhf. I don't think he ever properly installed his antenna.

He didn't sub to movie channels or anything like that.

If all goes well this weekend I will load the old Fortec ultra, dishes, lnbs, some poles, and stop by the hardware store and get some concrete - get him set up.


Ideally I would like to just set him up a full C and ku band dish.
I have a spare V-box 4, BSC-621 lnbf, 18" actuator arm(superjack HQ).

I just need to find a 6' or larger mesh dish with polar mount.
I told him to look around and if he sees one in someone's yard see if they want rid of it. or offer them a few dollars (not a lot).

I could teach him how to use it and keep the motor in sync with sat positions. He is decent with electronics, he just needs some coaching.

 

[Anole]

I like that digital OTA idea !
I get a lot of what we think of as Ku FTA channels, OTA, here in LA !

But since he may not be as close to a large source of programming, do consider getting him a decent UHF antenna.
There are even some build-your-own-antenna projects I've seen on youtube, %&#@ ATSforum, and maybe even here.
Build it for $5 worth of cheap parts, aim it and get the digital feeds clearly.
Or , install whatever antenna he has now, and do it right.
No point in leaving it half-assed, as this can be a super source of clean-signal viewing!

You said in your first post you didn't want to motorize him and have to maintain him.
Just as I suggested no recurring monthly would be wise, let me hint that you want a no-maintenance install, too.
Don't oversell it.
Make it work without support.
Doesn't have to be a super-satellite install.
No motors, no C-band, no hassles.

Then, if over the next months he decides to join SatGuys and learn some of the support solutions, you can aid him with 'em.
I'm trying to make sure you don't have what I call "a project person" when you are done.
That's a private joke with some of my friends, meaning someone who's always relying on you for help.
Give him a medium, stand-alone, no-support-required install, and see if he rises to the occasion.


I have made the mistake of selling the full-monty idea to some friends, and then they won't lift a finger for a beginner system!
They insist on fancy dishes, motorized, and a PVR right from the start.
So, now I just mention what they can get off a single bird with a simple receiver, and don't tell them the expansion possiblities.
It reduces the grey hair syndrome, and that's a good thing!

Well, that's one reptile's recommendations.
Good luck.

 

[rv1pop]

If he is intrested in the religeous channels, G25 has a mix, AMC4 is mostly SDAdventist. G25 also has several news, but as you said G10R/G18 has several stations with ABC news that we check out regularly.
POP