newbie to FTA

[narok90]

I am on a budget and i was thinking about getting a FTA system (Receiver, dish, and ect.) i now have directv and i was wandering what channels you get on fta. i have checked out lyngsat channel list and it looks like you can get a ton of channels but can you really get all of the channels it list? Also i was wanting to know some suggestions on the type of equipment to purchase remembering im on a budget and any other help would be great as well. Thanks in advance.

[Admin]

See this list:
http://sadoun.com/Sat/Channels/Ameri...V-Channels.htm

and this

http://sadoun.com/Sat/Channels/Chann...tellite-TV.htm

[ChristianTV]

Admin,

I'm a newbie/greenhorn - just learned of FTA - primarily interested in receiving Christian programming - live just west of Minneapolis - no obstructions looking S & W.

is motorized needed - should i upgrade to a different dish or go with a bundle package - what other accessories should I consider.

already have digital TV - any sharper/better tramsmission with an 8000HD or 9000 HD over Mercury II or is the extra receiver expense pure overkill for receiving just Christian channels? PLEASE help me out before I call so I know what other questions they may ask me. If you know of another thread(s) that will help get me up to speed--please give link.

Is the extra $20 (Mercury II vs Classic) money well spent? I can spend the extra money on a better receiver if it will provide improved picture quality and/or improved performance & extended life than say the Classic receiver. In other words will I regret that I didn't purchase a more expensive receiver even though I'm only interested in receiving Christian digital channels.

[rainman]

I would go with the Mercury II when hook up through the component cables it's hard to beat the picture. as for your other questions check LyngSat - Lyngemark Satellite to see what channels interest you and what sat they are on to determine if you need a motor or not.

[pmb1010]

Some info for the new users:

Lynsat lists 2 sets of data - sats with 4 digits (top section) and 5 digits (bottom section)
The sats listed with 4 numbers (example: AMC4 at 101Degrees) note that Daystar TV is shown at 3773V TP3. This means you need a C band (6 foot to 12 foot) sized dish. If you scroll down, you'll find LLBN at 12020H TP16. This means Ku band, and can be picked up with the dish size of 30" to 36".

Lyngsat also lists a lot of stuff thats in different formats. DVB is the type thats received by the Fortec Lifetime series and similar products.

And, they also list stuff that's encrypted. If it is shown in the very light tan color, most often with the "F" indicator, it's "Free" and viewable.

Don't worry about HD. There are so few transmissions in HD (1 or 2) that it really doesn't pay yet (IMHO) to spend up on a HD receiver at this point. Get a more reasonably priced MercuryII to start. The signals you're looking for (Christian broadcasting) are only sent in digital standard definition anyway. I think only PBS is in HD in unscrambled format. So yeah the HD reciever box would be overkill, but would in fact also recieve the SD channels just fine.

You will want a motorized system. There are only a handful of channels on each satellite up there, and it's fun to switch to each one to look and see whats there.

If you're looking for recommendations, go up in dish size to 36" over the 30". Those few inches make a big difference in reception and signal quality especially during rain (rain fade). Transponders on the satellites vary in signal strength (similar to FM radio stations on your dial as you tune in your car for example) so having a bit bigger dish helps grab the weaker transponders.

Hope this helps. Please come back and report your progress, install progress and results. good luck

[wejones]

Some info for the new users:

Lynsat lists 2 sets of data - sats with 4 digits (top section) and 5 digits (bottom section)
The sats listed with 4 numbers (example: AMC4 at 101Degrees) note that Daystar TV is shown at 3773V TP3. This means you need a C band (6 foot to 12 foot) sized dish. If you scroll down, you'll find LLBN at 12020H TP16. This means Ku band, and can be picked up with the dish size of 30" to 36".

Lyngsat also lists a lot of stuff thats in different formats. DVB is the type thats received by the Fortec Lifetime series and similar products.

And, they also list stuff that's encrypted. If it is shown in the very light tan color, most often with the "F" indicator, it's "Free" and viewable.

Don't worry about HD. There are so few transmissions in HD (1 or 2) that it really doesn't pay yet (IMHO) to spend up on a HD receiver at this point. Get a more reasonably priced MercuryII to start. The signals you're looking for (Christian broadcasting) are only sent in digital standard definition anyway. I think only PBS is in HD in unscrambled format. So yeah the HD reciever box would be overkill, but would in fact also recieve the SD channels just fine.

You will want a motorized system. There are only a handful of channels on each satellite up there, and it's fun to switch to each one to look and see whats there.

If you're looking for recommendations, go up in dish size to 36" over the 30". Those few inches make a big difference in reception and signal quality especially during rain (rain fade). Transponders on the satellites vary in signal strength (similar to FM radio stations on your dial as you tune in your car for example) so having a bit bigger dish helps grab the weaker transponders.

Hope this helps. Please come back and report your progress, install progress and results. good luck

I agree with what PMB said, with a couple comments:
first, re the 5 digit=Ku, there are also some sats that are 5 digits that are Ka, not Ku, however there isn't any FTA on these. You recognize these because the freqs are up around 18000 instead of 11000-12000 range.

Re which channels are free and viewable, what was said is correct, but it is still confusing. Ie you need both the DVB AND the light color or "F". There are many channels listed with an "F" for free that you can't get with an FTA receiver because they are Digicipher (DCII), ie you need a different receiver. Also, most feeds are free, but they aren't colored light tan, and don't have a "F", but if you see the dark grey feed color and DVB, then it's viewable, however these usually aren't 24/7, they are just up occasionally.

Also, Ku transponders that are less than 11700 need a universal lnbf, however if you ever intend to use the lnbf for DCII, or analog, then you don't want a universal, so you have to decide which way to go there.

Re HD, it depends upon what you intend to watch. I use my FTA just as much for HD as for standard. However on Ku, about the only HD you'll find is PBS-HD. However if you watch a lot of PBS, I think getting HD capability is well worth it just for PBS. If you get a C-band capable dish, there is more HD available, some network stuff, a lot of sporting events, and the outdoor channel, and NASA-TV during shuttle launches (it may be well worth it just for the shuttle launches, as that was awesome).
One big caveat about HD, and for that matter all of the FTA stuff we watch, and that is, that while it may be viewable today, it may not be viewable tomorrow, because it's not intended for us, and the uplinkers can, and often do encrypt, or change to a format that we cannot view. This is particularly true of some of the HD channels. It is very likely that the ones that are there today, may well switch to an 8PSK format that our FTA receivers can't tune. You can pretty well count on the PBS and NASA HD signals remaining viewable, but the other ones may not stay viewable. Basically, what is viewable changes on a day to day basis.

If you decide to get HD capability, there are a few options. There are several new HD set top boxes available at other vendors. Most of these are relatively new, so it is unclear as to which is best yet. Another option is to get a PCI card receiver. Sadoun used to sell Twinhans, but apparently not anymore, but other vendors do. The advantage of the PCI card receivers is that they are quite cheap. Usually less than $100, and often you can find them less than $50. The problem is that you either need to stream it to a box like a Roku HD1000 to view on a TV, OR, you need a VERY FAST computer, in which case you can view on the computer, and if your computer has a video card with TV outputs, also view on the TV.
To view HD on a computer, the computer needs to be a minimum of more than 2 GHz to view slow or medium bitrate HD (PBS and NASA is medium), but to view high bitrate (network and sporting events) HD, you'll need a computer up in the 3 GHz range or faster. If you stream to a Roku, you can get by with a slow computer. Unfortunately, the Roku boxes are no longer produced, so you'd have to find a used one, and there isn't anything currently available that does the same thing.

[ChristianTV]

Thanks for all the helpful info.

Being that Daystar is broadcast on both IA5 and AMC4 is it cost effective to mount a 6’ dish that is more susceptible to wind damage? I understand that where I live in Minnesota IA5 is about at a 38 elevation and AMC4 is about at a 37 elevation. Channels are stronger on AMC4 so if I aim the dish at IA5 then AMC4 should still be strong enough. So, do I really even need a motorized setup? My other question is whether to use a 36” dish, 39” dish or a 6’ dish. It would be nice to get a sharp/clear signal from the NASA channel (AMC6-7) and a couple other sat. channels with a 6’ dish, but maybe a 39” dish would suffice or even a 36” dish. For my particular interests with IA5 & AMC4 would the extra cost of a 39" dish be a better investment. What size dish will be best for HD?

[rainman]

the thing to remember is the dish is a relector so the bigger the dish the more of the signal is reflected to the lnbf which means better picture.the 39 inch dish should work just fine for KU HD reception. if you are wanting c band(nasa) also you will need at least a 6 foot dish with a 8.5 foot dish being even better.

[schlever]

Thanks for all the helpful info.

Being that Daystar is broadcast on both IA5 and AMC4 is it cost effective to mount a 6’ dish that is more susceptible to wind damage? I understand that where I live in Minnesota IA5 is about at a 38 elevation and AMC4 is about at a 37 elevation. Channels are stronger on AMC4 so if I aim the dish at IA5 then AMC4 should still be strong enough. So, do I really even need a motorized setup? My other question is whether to use a 36” dish, 39” dish or a 6’ dish. It would be nice to get a sharp/clear signal from the NASA channel (AMC6-7) and a couple other sat. channels with a 6’ dish, but maybe a 39” dish would suffice or even a 36” dish. For my particular interests with IA5 & AMC4 would the extra cost of a 39" dish be a better investment. What size dish will be best for HD?

Daystar is also over on G10KU, and I get it just fine up here in Saskatchewan with a 36" dish.