Will Dish/Direct TV dish work for FTA?

[misskoby]

Hello from a new member;

I've just gotten a Traxis 3500 reciever and am wondering about which dish antenna is best for FTA broadcasts through this unit. I'm totally new to the satellite subject and thought I'd "just jump in", if that's OK.

Being a retired machinist I am somewhat "detail oriented" so please bear with me for my maybe lengthy entries here. I'll try to be brief in the future.

Thanks and I'm looking forward to the learning I'll be doing.

 

[Tron]

A Dish Network or DirecTV DBS dish will not work for most FTA (except for a handful of clear channels on the pay satellites). The reasons why these dishes won't work are that they are too small for reliable Ku reception (30 inches is considered minimum for Ku-Band) and they have the wrong type of LNBF on them (a circular DBS LNBF). Most FTA requires a Ku-Band (not DBS) linear LNBF.

 

[rv1pop]

Welcome fellow RVer.
What usually works for me is a GEOSATpro (90 cm) from SateliteAV, the tripod mount designed for the little dish, (some time the little top part from the smaller tripod clamped to a pinic table), along with a short length (6 foot) and a long (50 foot) length of GOOD RG6 to set up the system. Have a receiver and TV you can take out to you dish to set it up. The Pizza pan dish from subscription networks will not get the true FTA signals.
Get the tripod as solid as possible, then as level as possible - with RVing solid is safer than level! I can usually set up and find the Satellite I want in less than 20 minutes from pulling the dish out of the basement to watching the TV from the captains chair! I give lengthy answers, so I do not mind lengthy Question!
POP