Locating my dish.

[JustWannaBetterPicture]

I found the nifty dish angle tool, and I understand azmuth, elevation, etc.

My goal is to install a dish mainly for American network TV and PBS. My site has a lot of trees, so it will take some effort to locate a dish properly. Which satellites should I make sure I can see?

I'm near Atlanta, GA (more or less), if that matters.

Thanks

[elgemcdlf]

PBS is on 87 and that is about all on that sat for Ku. They are also AC-3 audio so you will need a surround sound receiver with at least one optical input to be able to listen.

As to American channels on Ku probably best look to 123 but no PBS there. If you go motorized you could get both plus much more with no problem.

[boz]

Just to throw in my 2 cents.

You don't necessarily need a surround sound receiver to get sound on PBS anymore.

When I was shopping for plasma sets, I found a Philips that had a built-in digital sound input. Since I had several source devices (FTA receiver, Myth DVR, 2 DVD players), I found a switch box that switched SVideo, Composite, and L+R audio. I used SVideo for video (obviously), the Composite video jacks for digital audio, and L+R audio for backup audio since the Myth DVR doesn't haven't digital audio.

Works like charm. I have digital sound, but not surround sound, and it works seamlessly, as the TV seems to auto-select the best audio source.

[wejones]

Both these responses seem to assume specific receivers. Ie for some receivers, like the Mercury, you only get PBS audio via an optical port, while other receivers like Lifetime and Ultra you only get PBS audio via a coaxial spdif port, while other receivers, like the Twinhan PCI receivers, the computer does all the AC3 processing so you don't need any special AC3 decoder.

I assume that "boz" is referring to a computer card like the Twinhan, otherwise I don't know how he's getting any audio. And for the STBs like "elgemcdlf" is referring to, there are other options besides a surround sound receiver, ie as mentioned in other threads there are converters available on ebay in the $5-$20 range that work well.

Anyway, since the first poster never specified a receiver, I think it might be useful for him to know that his choice of receiver affects what he'd need to get AC3 audio from the PBS channels.