What is the best system I can get, as cheaply as possible, that will get me all FTA in USA & Englan

[mikeskysoldier]

Hi everyone, thank you in advance for all of your input. I am new to this, and would like to get away from Comcast, and the satelite providors huge fees, can anyonetell me what I should get to make life as simple as possible, and, of course during theses hard times, as cheaply. I would like to recieve all FTA USA, and other english speaking countries. I' believe I must have a 6 foot dish minimum (I live in Florida,) a motorized shaft, a, hopefully, pre programmed HD receiver, AND, if they make such things, some kind of a DVR capable of recording shows I'd like to watch, especially NFL and college football.
Also, I have 4 TVs, and wonder if I can run that many off a single dish, otherwise will just live with one at a time. Again, thank you or your information!

 

[Bongu]

Welcome to the forums here. If you are new to this hobby, and that is what FTA should be considered, a hobby, then there is a lot of reading that you should do on these forums. I wont be the only person to say that FTA IS NOT A REPLACEMENT for subscription services, but it complements one nicely.

You will not likely find NFL football widely available FTA. A Pre-Programmed receiver is also going to be a challenge. The nature of FTA means that signals come and go with little to no notice. What really helps is to have a receiver with a good "blind scan" function. There are several out there. Your location is pretty good as far a satellite footprints go. The main issue may be Line of Sight. Do you have a clear unobstructed view of the southern sky? As far as a dish goes, serious feed hunters usually have a dedicated C-band motorized dish and a dedicated Ku-band motorized dish. For either band, bigger = better. For C-band, a 6 foot dish will not likely serve your needs if you dont want to be tinkering with it all the time. Most people recommend at least an 8 foot dish. For Ku, a lot of us are happy with a 76cm motorized, but most recommend at least a 1m or a 39 inch. The dishes will need feed setups. These can be as simple as a voltage switched LNBF that is mostly suited for one receiver, or they can be complex like an orthomode feedhorn using two LNBs. There are some switching strategies that you can search for regarding multiple receivers and multiple TVs.

You are in the right place to get your questions answered, if there is something you dont understand, ask away. The folks here are eager and willing to share their experiences with you.

 

[bobvick]

You will also NOT be able to get any programming from England. The satellites that broadcast to Great Britain and western Europe are too low or over the horizon to be seen in North America. Not to mention that the beam for most of the ones that broadcast British programming is focused in pretty tight on the UK and Ireland. In Florida, as far east as you could go would probably be around 12-14 degrees west.

 

[mikeskysoldier]

Thank you for the info, so is it practical to think there is anything worthwhile, FTA wise, to invest in an 8 foot dish?

 

[avenger]

Thank you for the info, so is it practical to think there is anything worthwhile, FTA wise, to invest in an 8 foot dish?

Most defenitely, I own a six foot dish, and it just get some of the satellites.

An eight foot or bigger dish are the ideal sizes. In this FTA hobby bigger is better.

Also if can wait about a month for a receiver, there is a new North America supported (microHD) reveiver that will be selling like Hot cakes. The price is right, and will have all kind of things that other receivers are not offering at the present time. The following was a shameful plug for one of our Golden sponsor.

 

[rv1pop]

Not shameful -- SHAMELESS THANKS to Brian

 

[freezy]

If you want to dump cable a Over The Air antenna is a must.

Ft Myers has a good selection of Channels



Also consider online TV like Netflix or Hulu

Ku motorized is cheap but the English programming is sparse. The PBS satellite is good. Over Cuba is a good satellite. there are a couple other channels that you can rely on day to day.

The biggest selection is still on C-Band

 

[Bongu]

To add to what Freezy stated, the best quality programming for English speaking viewers is on C-band. I agree that the Ku sat over Cuba is a great resource, being closer to the full footprint, you may find it of much greater value than those of us that are well West of your location. With C-band, you also have a shot at some of the circular signals on the Atlantic satellites that I couldn't dream of sniffing out.

The receiver to get is the one that will be coming out soon. I will probably pop for 2 of them and end up in the doghouse

 

[Gordon Corbett]

Thank you for the info, so is it practical to think there is anything worthwhile, FTA wise, to invest in an 8 foot dish?

Dear MIKESKYSOLDIER,

From what I have read, an eight-footer is the absolute bare minimum. I live in south-coastal Oregon. I use a ten-footer, and it sometimes cannot bring in some broadcasts. A sound and dependable twelve-footer would probably show me everything FTA.

Sadly, new dishes' prices rise much more than one might think. So, presuming that you would not need permission to use a twelve-foot dish, I recommend that you keep your eyes peeled. Due to municipal regulations, homeowners' associations' rules, and our current economic mess, people are discarding their dishes. On this forum, I have read of members' obtaining dishes for a hundred dollars or so, or even free of charge. Twelve-footers are rare. Ten-footers occur much more frequently. Setting up a dish is not easy, but you might be able to pay someone to do it. We bought ours in 1994, when buying the dish and a 4DTV receiver let us quit paying eighty-five dollars per month to our local cable company. We are glad we did. The outfit paid for itself in two and one-half years.

You are about to have a great adventure. Many of the broadcasts will interest you; others, you will discard. You will watch "local" stations far distant from your home. You will learn about the mechanics of watching and about the programs available. Welcome to FTA.

Gordon

 

[freezy]

103w has the Pentagon channel. Thats a good one.