Satellite newbie looking for advice

[razinboy]

Hi,

I'm collecting information as I will likely be acquiring a satellite system when I move in the May/June time frame. Ideally, I would like to have a system that will receive the Free to Air Arabic channels on Telstar 5 and will also work with either Directv or Dish Network. Questions:

1 - Does such an "All-in-one" system exist?
2 - Can it be done with one rotatable small dish (how small?) or will it require two dishes? (Two dishes - or a big dish - might be a problem in some of the apartments I want to move to)
3- Can anyone recommend dealers/installers in the San Jose, CA, area?

Thanks!

[dtsexpert]

1 - Does such an "All-in-one" system exist?

No. Any DVB FTA receiver is able to receive DVB FTA and DishNetwork/BellVu. Unfortunately, most of DN/BV channes are encrypted. The audio channels are FTA

2 - Can it be done with one rotatable small dish (how small?) or will it require two dishes? (Two dishes - or a big dish - might be a problem in some of the apartments I want to move to)

YOu can get a H-H mount to move the dish. I recommend you start with a 90cm if possible. If not, 76cm is OK but you might face the "rain-fade" problem when it rains hard. If you only insterested in T5 and DishNetwork, you can set up a fixed dish for T5 (76cm will be OK since T5 is a strong bird), a 18" dish for DishNet. Then use a Diseqc switch to switch between these 2 dishes.

3- Can anyone recommend dealers/installers in the San Jose, CA, area?

I don't know if there are any dealers/installers in Bay Area. But I am confident to say that you can install the dish by yourself. Lot of great folks here are expert. Plus, Sadoun has a very nice instruction of how to set up fixed dish as well as motorized one. I recommend you place your order here. Jamal Sadoun is a very nice person, he treats his customers professionally.
Michael

[Todd Wiedemann]

But I am confident to say that you can install the dish by yourself. Lot of great folks here are expert. Plus, Sadoun has a very nice instruction of how to set up fixed dish as well as motorized one. I recommend you place your order here. Jamal Sadoun is a very person, he treats his customers professionally.

Yes. I agree with Michael completely. If you search my name, you'll see that he and Jamal worked patiently with me as I installed my 90cm dish and LifeTime receiver.

You can buy with 100% confidence from Sadoun.com.

[razinboy]

Thanks, Michael, Todd.

Checked out the FCC regulations and it looks like as long as the dish is less than 1 meter, landlords can't forbid it. So 90 cm should be doable.

I'm really glad I found this site. Come April/May I'll be asking for system recommendations and installation help.

Thanks again!

[toto_834]

Do you recommand any FTA system that comes with card slots. Actually I want to have both dishnetwork programs and T5 channels. So, if someone get a membership with dishnetwork can he use the dishnetwork card in the above FTA system.

Thanks,

[bobkat]

Originally Posted by toto_834

Do you recommand any FTA system that comes with card slots. Actually I want to have both dishnetwork programs and T5 channels. So, if someone get a membership with dishnetwork can he use the dishnetwork card in the above FTA system.

Thanks,

No... the DishNetwork cards will only work in the DishNetwork receiver they are authorized for -- in other words the cards are "married" to the receiver. Nor are there any combo DishNetwork/FTA receivers available.

kat

[razinboy]

Any recommendations?

Like I said before, I'm totally new to this. But I do know this much: I'll probably spring for a motorized system 'cause once I get a toy like this, I know I'm going to want to play around alot with it. Telstar 5 will be my main target, so y'all recommended a 75cm - 90 cm dish. What about the system? Keep in mind that I will follow others' advice and try to install it myself, so ease of use would help a lot.

Thanks!!!

[pictureon]

I do installation in Sacramento Area and I can travel to san Jose on the weekends. Please let me know if you still need installer.

sat@pictureon.com

www.pictureon.com