a couple questions

keebs · #1 (**permalink**) 01-22-2007, 02:21 PM

my fta receiver recognizes the c band signals but are scrambled. why? from what i understand about sats and stuff is that you need a bigger dish to draw in the signal for c band. so i guess a c band receiver would not work on the smaller dishes? second question: how many free channels are there with c band? roughly. like anywhere else theres a ton of c band dishes sitting in peoples yards around here. what is a fair price for an older working dish? seems like alot of work, just wanted to know how many free channels vs. price and sweat. thanks all.

rainman · #2 (**permalink**) 01-22-2007, 02:31 PM

c band channels probally runs in the 100 range across the arc.

crankbooster · #3 (**permalink**) 01-22-2007, 03:24 PM

Actually a lot of the time these people will be glad for you to take the BIG UGLY DISH out of their backyard for free and my even help you with moving logistic just for taking it out.
Like it is said in TEXAS "BIGGER IS BETTER"

rainman · #4 (**permalink**) 01-22-2007, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crankbooster

Actually a lot of the time these people will be glad for you to take the BIG UGLY DISH out of their backyard for free and my even help you with moving logistic just for taking it out.
Like it is said in TEXAS "BIGGER IS BETTER"

exactly don't think i could do with out my c band dish will be putting another 8.5' dish up in the spring this one has a HH mount so should be able to get more sats and channels.

keebs · #5 (**permalink**) 01-22-2007, 06:36 PM

what are some things i should look for in a used c band dish. a h to h mount? what else?

be236 · #6 (**permalink**) 01-22-2007, 07:03 PM

I dont see any really good "in-the-clear" NTSC (analog) or DVB (FTA) channels on there on C-band... d'oh!

The good stuff requires a subscription or 4DTV receiver.. shucks...

crankbooster · #7 (**permalink**) 01-22-2007, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keebs

what are some things i should look for in a used c band dish. a h to h mount? what else?

things like the motor or whatever you can change but look out for things you cannot change easily. like:-
1. The dish itselt is it still a perfect parabola?
2. check if the dish has warpped
3. IS it with an actuator? You might not be able to check it the actuator is funtional untill you can power it with any dc output of between 12-36volts.
4. Will the owner want you to remove the pole from the ground with the dish if it is concreted to the floor. Try and talk yourself away from this cause this might turn out to be the toughest job of all.
5. Try and minimally take the dish apart. Just enough for you to transport it. You will spend twice or more enrgy putting it together than taking it apart.
I hope these helps.

rainman · #8 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by be236

I dont see any really good "in-the-clear" NTSC (analog) or DVB (FTA) channels on there on C-band... d'oh!

The good stuff requires a subscription or 4DTV receiver.. shucks...

not much ntsc analog any more but on the dvb side there is several channels outdoor network. sportsman channel,RFD,plus alot of spanish and french speaking channels you just got to be willing to move your dish arround to find them.

wejones · #9 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by be236

I dont see any really good "in-the-clear" NTSC (analog) or DVB (FTA) channels on there on C-band... d'oh!

The good stuff requires a subscription or 4DTV receiver.. shucks...

Depends on how you define "good stuff". If you're talking about foreign language stuff and locals from the non-big-3 networks, then yes, there is more of that on Ku, but there is a lot of stuff on C-band that you won't find on Ku. You will also find that people are reluctant to talk about what they do find there, so you often won't find it mentioned on Lyngsat either. Anyway, if it weren't for PBS, given the choice between the two, I think I'd choose C-band over Ku. Anyway, if you "dont see any really good "in-the-clear" NTSC (analog) or DVB (FTA) channels on there on C-band", it could just be that you aren't watching C-band.

be236 · #10 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 01:40 PM

Hmm.. what do you mean by stuff that people are reluctant to talk about on C-band? I mean if there are free channels on C-band, why dont people talk about it or post it on Lyngsat? What's the big deal? Is there something I'm missing?

As for "good stuff," I do mean foreign stuff (the only French channels are 1 or 2 on Anik F<something>) which is kinda few... the other ITC (in-the-clear) stuff is shopping or religious stuff or wild feeds (which I can never get the right time/schedule to know what's where, etc)....

so... can you tell me more about these "elusive" channels people dare-not-speak-of (sound like "The Village?" heh)...

wejones · #11 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by be236

Hmm.. what do you mean by stuff that people are reluctant to talk about on C-band? I mean if there are free channels on C-band, why dont people talk about it or post it on Lyngsat? What's the big deal? Is there something I'm missing?
.....

In general, there are some things on satellite, that if the uplinkers know that people know about their signal, they scramble it. Other signals, the uplinkers don't seem to care. Some people will post details about anything they see, which often ends up in the signals immediately getting encrypted. Other people are paranoid, and refuse to post any information about any feed they find, which often ends up in good channels that few people know about, which is also bad. I'm kind of in the middle of these extremes, in that I think there are some channels that we need to be very careful about posting about, while other ones don't really matter.
There are several restricted forums where such things are discussed, some more restrictive than others. There is a new finds area here on the Sadoun forum, which is only slightly restricted, mainly restricted enough that posts there won't pop up on a Google search done by the president of some satellite uplink company.
But related to the C-band vs Ku thing, since there aren't as many C-band hobbiests out there anymore, they aren't as prone to encrypt things that are on C-band. For the most part, stuff on Ku, the uplinkers don't care who watches. On C-band, you'll occasionally find some stuff that they definately don't want people watching, but figure that there aren't enough C-banders to matter.

slotzero · #12 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 02:26 PM

Here's a newbie question - what would you guys consider to be the smallest dish that can be used for C-Band?

rainman · #13 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slotzero

Here's a newbie question - what would you guys consider to be the smallest dish that can be used for C-Band?

some people are getting some signal on 1.2 meter dish but would'nt go below 6 ft myself then it still is marginal for best results use a 8.5 ft dish or larger.

be236 · #14 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 04:54 PM

So how can I get into this somewhat exclusive group to see the "good stuff?" hehheh.

rainman · #15 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by be236

So how can I get into this somewhat exclusive group to see the "good stuff?" hehheh.

just applie for it and the admin. will take your application under consideration.

be236 · #16 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 05:42 PM

okey dokey .. sounds good.. I wonder if I need my fellow users here to "vouch" for me... hheh....

keebs · #17 (**permalink**) 01-23-2007, 05:51 PM

to the regular guys: do you guys use your