Thinking about getting a FTA setup

[JAWheat411]

Hey,
Been a member of the forums here for a while. But mainly only posted in the DTV section. I have a nice setup with DTV now. So I do know some about satellites. Also my dad used to have the huge dish at his house years ago. I knew more about the thing than he did. Anyway, I have some questions, since this is a new arena for me.

1) Which would be better a DVB or a plain receiver. I am very experienced with computers so that wouldn't be a problem.

2) Any recommendations in systems I would like to purchase everything in one bundle. In that case, is it that much better to have a motorized dish?

3) Is it really worth the investment for the channels that you can get? I have seen the lists of channels but it is confusing. Since there are some premium channels on there. Is that list of channels so much different than what is in the "FTA/MPEG2 - Whats up there?" section.

Again I am not a newbie to satellites per se. Just new to FTA. And I have been reading posts all over this section. These are just the questions that I still have.
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[techno935]

1) Which would be better a DVB or a plain receiver. I am very experienced with computers so that wouldn't be a problem.

By saying plain, I assume you mean analog. Would be fun to start off with a DVB receiver. DVB is the MPEG-2 compression algorithim. There are plenty of explainations of DVB in the FAQ section.

If you are good in computers, I recommend getting a PCI DVB card or a USB box. (PSB/Pete has one, he'll chime in soon) Most of the PCI DVB cards are capable of HD video. A good investment if you have a good HD monitor.

2) Any recommendations in systems I would like to purchase everything in one bundle. In that case, is it that much better to have a motorized dish?

Personally, I love my motorized setup, and that is actually what I started with in terms of FTA. Others on here recommend a stationary setup to start with, although I started right out with my motorized setup. One of our gold sponsors, Sadoun, offers motorized kit bundles/packages. In fact, as of now, (10/19/06) they are offering a 5% discount for satelliteguys members like us.

3) Is it really worth the investment for the channels that you can get? I have seen the lists of channels but it is confusing. Since there are some premium channels on there. Is that list of channels so much different than what is in the "FTA/MPEG2 - Whats up there?" section.

Where to start. Everything you see on Lyngsat that is listed as DVB in the light yellow is FTA/free. Some will say "Digicipher" but have the light yellow color. (meaning free). Digicipher is another animal discussed in other forms. Digicipher can only be received with 4DTV (expensive) receivers. If you ever do get a 4DTV receiver, and subscribe to the packages, all those free "digicipher" channels are truly free with that receiver.



Difference in channels? Yes. The list of things in the "whats up there" forum are private and meant to stay that way amongst members. They are things we love to watch. If other discuss them out in the open, guess what, stuff gets scrambled. We don't like scrambled stuff. Only our eggs are fun when scrambled.

Anything listed on Lyngsat can be discussed in these forums freely. Whether or not you like the channels you see on FTA is your decision. I enjoy the G10 channels personally. I'm all about newsfeeds and backhauls otherwise. Once in a while I'll watch ABC News Now, Russia Today, or CCTV to see what's going on in the world we live in.

Again I am not a newbie to satellites per se. Just new to FTA. And I have been reading posts all over this section. These are just the questions that I still have.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[PSB]

1/ All FTA receivers are DVB receivers.

2/ Good idea to get the full system from one vender (Check all out gold sponsors at the top of the page)

3/ There are no real premium channels on FTA, but still well worth it. There is NOTHING in the WUT area that you can't find your self with a Blind Scan receiver.

 

[Sadoun]

1) Which would be better a DVB or a plain receiver. I am very experienced with computers so that wouldn't be a problem.

I think you meant "Which would be better a PCI card or a plain DVB receiver (system)?"

I would recommend the DVB receiver motorized system. It is much easier and faster to setup your dish using the stand alone receiver vs. the PCI card. Once you get your motorized dish alignment and have some experience in blind scanning the satellites with your DVB receiver, then you may opt to add a PCI card to the mix.

The PCI card does not have BLIND Search capability. That takes the fun out of FTA scanning. But the PCI card has other advantages such as recording and timeshift.

 

[zazu]

hey Jaw, the premium channels you were referring to , like the HBO-w, if you click and go further into the sat list from Lyngsat you will see they are HD & mpeg-4, so as PSB said there are no premiums( i am not sure if he meant for Set top box units as they are mpeg2 dvb at current time.. i am not sure but he may chime back, i think that a computer PCI dvb-s card may be able to look at those with the right codecs? but i am not that far in yet myself....

 

[JAWheat411]

Yeah so I think I have some of the terminoligy mixed up. But basically I was referrring to a usb plug in reciever vs a stand alone receiver. Doesn't matter to me either way. I guess it comes down to which one is easier to setup and mantain. Does the usb boxes work on linux? I have an extra linux box just sitting here.
Also while I am thinking of it. Can an old DTV dish be used? No big deal really just save the price of a new dish. Which I might be buying a whole system anyway.

 

[zazu]

JAW, the DTV dish is prob about 18inches, i would suggets buying a dish like the geosat pro 90cm, you will need something bigger than 30 inches for KU band,, the DTV dish is made for thier DSS signa aswell a 18 inch dish can be used by echostar both i believe are KA band) and the LNB is Circular, for KU you will need a Linear LNB....( hope i have it right myself)

 

[drhydro]

Well, heres my .02...
Pick up the biggest dish/ motor combination you can afford/ have space for. Dont skimp on your dish size, this really is an example of bigger is better.

If you are really into finding new channels that may be up there (and I am) I would also recommend picking up a good stand alone STB, since none of the dvb cards/usb devices currently have a blind scan function.

As far as what STB to buy, take a look in the reviews area, lots of good info there.

 

[Trevorm7]

hey Jaw, the premium channels you were referring to , like the HBO-w, if you click and go further into the sat list from Lyngsat you will see they are HD & mpeg-4, so as PSB said there are no premiums( i am not sure if he meant for Set top box units as they are mpeg2 dvb at current time.. i am not sure but he may chime back, i think that a computer PCI dvb-s card may be able to look at those with the right codecs? but i am not that far in yet myself....

They are scrambled now, plus they use 8vsb turbo that requires the 8vsb module and an interface to the pc.

 

[PSB]

I would have to disagree with the bigger is better philosophy, yes a bigger dish WILL collect more signal. But there is more to it than that, QUALITY of the dish really matters I have found.

Recently I replaced a 36" dish with a 31" Winegard dish, I took signal readings before and after and the results were VERY similar!

Its all about Quality and dish size!

All satellite dish are not created equal!

 

[drhydro]

I agree Pete, guess I should have phrased my response better, and said:
Get the biggest quality dish you can afford/fit in your space