Can MPEG-2 Receivers Pick-up Analog?

[Hueffenhardt]

I am a humble newbie, not only to this forum, but to FTA systems. I will soon be inheriting some satellite equipment from my father-in-law, which he got with a house he bought. I will be taking inventory of all the parts next Monday. I know there is a large mesh dish (~8.5'), a feedhorn cover, and no receiver. I will be looking into whether and what kind of feedhorn, LNB, servor motor, dish mount and mover it has.

Anyway, since I have a big dish, I'd like to be able to receive both C and KU band FTA. I am thinking about getting the BSC621-2 C / KU Band LNBF. I have wanted a MPEG-2 receiver so that I can see the digital channels. But, I have wondered whether a MPEG-2 receiver, such as the Mercury II, can also receive analog wildfeeds, etc. Furthermore, will analog soon be no more? Will it be phased out in Feb 2009, like terrestrial analog in the US?

Thank you in advance for your patience.

[Muad'Dib]

DIGITAL recivers can only recceive and deal with digital signals, nothing else.
There are VERY FEW combo receivers which can receive digital (dvb-s) and analogue (sat) signal too. Nowadays there are more satellite receivers (dvb-s or dvb-s2) combined with a DVB-T tuner.

[rainman]

Originally Posted by Hueffenhardt

I am a humble newbie, not only to this forum, but to FTA systems. I will soon be inheriting some satellite equipment from my father-in-law, which he got with a house he bought. I will be taking inventory of all the parts next Monday. I know there is a large mesh dish (~8.5'), a feedhorn cover, and no receiver. I will be looking into whether and what kind of feedhorn, LNB, servor motor, dish mount and mover it has.

Anyway, since I have a big dish, I'd like to be able to receive both C and KU band FTA. I am thinking about getting the BSC621-2 C / KU Band LNBF. I have wanted a MPEG-2 receiver so that I can see the digital channels. But, I have wondered whether a MPEG-2 receiver, such as the Mercury II, can also receive analog wildfeeds, etc. Furthermore, will analog soon be no more? Will it be phased out in Feb 2009, like terrestrial analog in the US?

Thank you in advance for your patience.

The Mercury II will not receive analog feeds. also there is not to much being broadcast in analog anymore. for the best of both worlds would recommend a Motorola DSR 922 and Mercury receiver to get both digicipher digital and FTA digital but note the bsc-621-2 will not work with the 922 go with the standard version bsc-621 LNBF.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by Hueffenhardt

I am a humble newbie, not only to this forum, but to FTA systems. I will soon be inheriting some satellite equipment from my father-in-law, which he got with a house he bought. I will be taking inventory of all the parts next Monday. I know there is a large mesh dish (~8.5'), a feedhorn cover, and no receiver. I will be looking into whether and what kind of feedhorn, LNB, servor motor, dish mount and mover it has.

Anyway, since I have a big dish, I'd like to be able to receive both C and KU band FTA. I am thinking about getting the BSC621-2 C / KU Band LNBF. I have wanted a MPEG-2 receiver so that I can see the digital channels. But, I have wondered whether a MPEG-2 receiver, such as the Mercury II, can also receive analog wildfeeds, etc. Furthermore, will analog soon be no more? Will it be phased out in Feb 2009, like terrestrial analog in the US?

Thank you in advance for your patience.

In addition to the above, see if your feedhorn has 2 LNBs, ie a C and Ku, and see what brand feedhorn you have. If it's a Chaparral Co-rotor, and is C/Ku, then there is no need to replace everything with a BSC621 (not -2 as mentioned above).
Also, while the 922 receiver is a nice receiver, you might be better off easing into the hobby with a less complicated receiver, then once you get more familiar, you can upgrade. The 922 does analog and DCII digital which is primarily subscription stuff. You can get just a plain analog receiver for much less on ebay, often less than $50, and it will do everything that an expensive 922 will do except for DCII digital, and if you can find a sidecar on ebay, it can be upgraded later to DCII.
I'd say that if you're sure that you intend to pay for subscription cable type channels, then go ahead with a 922, but if you aren't sure, and want to see what free stuff is out there, go with a regular IRD with a FTA digital receiver slaved to it.
Also, re which FTA receiver.... the Mercury mentioned above has very good picture quality but there are some annoying bugs in the firmware of this receiver. Also, if you intend to watch HD signals, you might consider an HD capable receiver as the Mercury is SD only.

The big thing about getting into the TVRO hobby is think twice about investing a lot of money with the intentions of being able to receive something that is viewable today, because that signal may not be there tomorrow. This is a constantly changing media. There is less and less analog, because it is being replaced by digital. There is less and less DCII digital, because it is being replaced by DVB digital, and now the FTA subset of DVB digital is being replaced by 8PSK and DVB-S2, which can't currently be received by consumer receivers. That's why I really recommend spending a minimum while getting into the hobby, because you could getting equipment to receive signals that won't be there in a year.

Oh, and relative to 'will analog be phased out in Feb 2009' , there is no mandated phaseout of analog on satellite. There is less and less analog available on satellite, but that is just because it is much more expensive to transmit analog because it uses more satellite bandwidth. The mandate is for local over the air stations only. Analog satellite signals are higher quality than most SD digital signals, so there will probably be a few analog signals up there for a while, but they will eventually go away. But they will go away because of economics, not because of any mandate.

[Hueffenhardt]

Thank you all very much! After I take inventory (on Tuesday, not Monday as I mistakenly wrote above) of all the equipment I am getting, I will post it on this thread. I am hoping that I can get your thoughts on what I have and what I might need to replace.

Based on your responses, I now understand that MPEG-2 receivers cannot deal with analog signals. I don't have a strong desire for analog, so I am not likely to buy an additional receiver just to get it. I was just curious as I am trying to calculate which channels I will be able to pick up if I get a digital receiver.

Also, based on your responses, I understand that the bsc-621 LNBF will be a better choice as it works with a wider range of receivers. And just to be sure that I understand, the bsc-621 LNBF is both a feedhorn and LNB. I gather that the Norsat feedhorns and LNB's (especially the commercial quality ones) are superior to the bsc-621, but I don't have the money for them. But, I am wondering about the durability and reliability of the bsc-621.

Now, as for subscription services, I know this is the FTA section of this forum, so this is off topic. I am not sure if I should start a new thread to discuss this, or if the moderators will allow this tangent. I think I'll start a new thread in the 4DTV forum, as I have a lot to ask.

[Hueffenhardt]

Oh, wejones said,

"Also, re which FTA receiver.... the Mercury mentioned above has very good picture quality but there are some annoying bugs in the firmware of this receiver. Also, if you intend to watch HD signals, you might consider an HD capable receiver as the Mercury is SD only."

I understand that you have concerns with the Mercury II. Do you have a recommendation for another receiver of the same type? I understand the advantage of a receiver that can receive HD signals, but I cannot afford one at this time. I intend to upgrade later. My tv's are regular CRT's, so they cannot take advantage of HD. The HD receivers I find are in the $460 range, whereas the SD receivers are in the $100 range.

[rainman]

The bugs in the Mercury are minor so wouldn't be afraid to buy one and they will most likely have a software fix for the bugs before long in my opinnon any of the Fortec receivers are good.

[wejones]

Originally Posted by Hueffenhardt

Oh, wejones said,

"Also, re which FTA receiver.... the Mercury mentioned above has very good picture quality but there are some annoying bugs in the firmware of this receiver. Also, if you intend to watch HD signals, you might consider an HD capable receiver as the Mercury is SD only."

I understand that you have concerns with the Mercury II. Do you have a recommendation for another receiver of the same type? I understand the advantage of a receiver that can receive HD signals, but I cannot afford one at this time. I intend to upgrade later. My tv's are regular CRT's, so they cannot take advantage of HD. The HD receivers I find are in the $460 range, whereas the SD receivers are in the $100 range.

If your TV has component input (3, red/green/blue video lines), then the Mercury is probably worth living with the firmware bugs, as the video is very nice, but if you just have regular composite video (yellow plug) (both component and composite also come with red/white audio lines), then there isn't a lot of advantage to the Mercury. You could probably pick up an inexpensive receiver on EBAY that will perform just as well. I have a Fortec Lifetime and a Lifetime Ultra, both of which you could probably find for less than $50 on EBAY, possibly even new. The lifetime doesn't have blind search, but the Ultra does, but the video isn't quite as good as the lifetime, but it's hard to tell the difference. There are other Fortec receivers like Classic that I'm not familiar with, plus a dozen other brands, any of which are probably of similar quality.

[Hueffenhardt]

Thank you, rainman and wejones.

[Sadoun]

The Mercury II or CLASSIC NA receivers are excellent receivers to have. The user interface is easy to use, plus the receivers are rich with features.

[Hueffenhardt]

As promised, I took inventory of the equipment I am inheriting from my father-in-law and am posting it here in hopes of gaining insight into these products.

8' - Perfect 10TM micromesh dish

Drake ESR 1624U Earth Station Receiver Videocipher RS Descrambler

California Amplifer Mini-Mag LNB 140011-30; Input 3.7-4.2 GHz; Output 950-1450MHz; Gain 65 dB Typical; Noise 30k

Chaparral feedhorn - not much writing on it. On the inside of the feedhorn was written "NOlO 4-94", and one hook shaped wire. (Am I missing something or is that what it is supposed to look like?) The servo motor contained no writing and had its own dedicated power wire.

There is a dish mount, but no dish mover.

The above items were stored in a cold, damp location, so I fear that the electronics may not be fully functioning. What theoretically should I be able to receive with this equipment?

One more question: Would I need to buy a separate servo motor if I bought the BSC621 C/KU Band LNBF?

Edit: It looks like the LNB is C-band only.

[rainman]

Originally Posted by Hueffenhardt

As promised, I took inventory of the equipment I am inheriting from my father-in-law and am posting it here in hopes of gaining insight into these products.

8' - Perfect 10TM micromesh dish

Drake ESR 1624U Earth Station Receiver Videocipher RS Descrambler

California Amplifer Mini-Mag LNB 140011-30; Input 3.7-4.2 GHz; Output 950-1450MHz; Gain 65 dB Typical; Noise 30k

Chaparral feedhorn - not much writing on it. On the inside of the feedhorn was written "NOlO 4-94", and one hook shaped wire. (Am I missing something or is that what it is supposed to look like?) The servo motor contained no writing and had its own dedicated power wire.

There is a dish mount, but no dish mover.

The above items were stored in a cold, damp location, so I fear that the electronics may not be fully functioning. What theoretically should I be able to receive with this equipment?

One more question: Would I need to buy a separate servo motor if I bought the BSC621 C/KU Band LNBF?

as you only mention 1 LNB you have a c band only system so all you can receive with this system is the channels on c band. you will not need a servo for the BSC-621 it uses voltage to change the polarity not a servo.
and Drake was one of the best analog receiver going so if it works you will have a nice receiver for the analog side.