Newbie Question: best automatic system & channel surfing

[ACE001]

:arrow:
Hi I'm looking at getting a system. I live in Downtown Philadelphia and it looks like I get the AMC satellite among others but how can you tell? The "North american" satellites don't cover the whole country do they?

What is reception like - I've never seen satellite tv.

I want a fully automatci system, that will move the dish according to the channel I want. Is this possible? Or does one have to punch in satellite codes etc.

Also, is there a listing of show schedules or is it a per-channel thing- not like tv-guide.?

I want to be able to record as well and am interested in the pvr recievers. which is the best one. I've seen samsung's website, but it looks like they only support pay-service. What about fortec? Are they good quality and easy to navigate, etc?

Your help is much appreciated.
Craig