satellite dish system

[deaner]

I am located in Mississippi and I am considering purchasing a complete free to air system. I want this to be a one shot deal so I do not have to do it over once it is installed. I have two 18 inch dishes on my house which I would amagine are too small. I desire c and ku bands. Should I have a larger dish and how large with what motor? I would appreciate your suggestions for the entire system. I am 74 years old so I want to enjoy it to the complete. thanks
deaner

[rainman]

you can receive some c band on a 1.2 meter dish but if you want all c band you will need at least a 8.5' dish and a 24 in actuator arm.

[deaner]

With the 8 foot dish should I also have a motor to move the dish?

[wejones]

What you get depends a bit on what you are trying to view on the system. Ie are you looking for something to receive cable type channels, movie channels, foreign language channels, network channels, PBS, sports feeds, or do you want to watch raw news feeds and other network feeds, etc, etc.
Ie cable type channels are usually scrambled. If you want to subscribe, then you need either a Dishnet or DTV system, or a big C-band system with a 4DTV type receiver (not available at Sadoun). One of these FTA systems with a 3' Ku dish will get a lot of foreign language channels, network news feeds, PBS, and some 2nd teir network channels (UPN, RTN, WB/CW, Fox type channels). A C-band dish powered by a FTA receiver can get you more of the above. A C-band dish with a 4DTV gives you analog channels plus DCII subscription channels. If you want everything, then the big dish/4DTV {edit: Plus a FTA receiver slaved to it) is the only way to go, but if you don't need the subscription channels or can get them via a Dishnet or DTV or cable system, then you can get by much cheaper with a FTA system, either Ku, or a smaller C/Ku system. So it all depends on what you want out of it.
Re your question, the actuator rainman mentioned is a motor that will drive a big dish. The smaller 3' dishes are driven by small H-H motors.

[William Eng]

deaner

You should realize installing a C dish is a massive undertaking. You'll need to dig a big hole and lots of cement to hold it. Unless, of course, you can always hire someone. On the other hand, a Ku dish is a weekend project. You should also survey your backyard so see if it is even feasible. Take a look at the tutorial at the Saudon site. Make sure you got a clear view of the southern sky. You would hate to set up a whole dish only to discover something is blocking the reception.

[rainman]

Originally Posted by deaner

With the 8 foot dish should I also have a motor to move the dish?

that is what the acuator arm is it moves the dish.

[deaner]

What size hole would the average 8 foot dish need ? I was trying to figure out the work involved.

[rainman]

Originally Posted by deaner

What size hole would the average 8 foot dish need ? I was trying to figure out the work involved.

mine is 3 feet deep and approx 3 foot square and use 1 bag of cement per 1 foot of dish size been there since 92 and hasn't moved yet.

[deaner]

Thanks for your answer.

[elgemcdlf]

Not sure what they charge where you are but I had my first dish installed by a professional and their total charge for install including setting up the 4DTV receiver and all wiring which was 85' buried was $500.00. That included pole and concrete. So I would imagine if you eliminated the wiring and receiver setup along with dish alignment. In other words just plant the dish it could be had for much less. Might prove a better choice. I should have thought about that when I planted my second one They also brought the dish and assembled it onsite. It is a 8.5' mesh dish with C and Ku lnb's that they sold me for $125.00. Talk to Rainman about Corotor and lnb prices. He just purchased both lnbs and a Corotor II.

[rainman]

Originally Posted by elgemcdlf

Not sure what they charge where you are but I had my first dish installed by a professional and their total charge for install including setting up the 4DTV receiver and all wiring which was 85' buried was $500.00. That included pole and concrete. So I would imagine if you eliminated the wiring and receiver setup along with dish alignment. In other words just plant the dish it could be had for much less. Might prove a better choice. I should have thought about that when I planted my second one They also brought the dish and assembled it onsite. It is a 8.5' mesh dish with C and Ku lnb's that they sold me for $125.00. Talk to Rainman about Corotor and lnb prices. He just purchased both lnbs and a Corotor II.

around these parts if you could fine someone to set it up I would'nt let them i've seen some of the so call professional setups around these parts and most of them ended up face down in the ground a small hole and a bag of cement won't hold a 8 ft dish. the co rotor ran me about a 150 dollars and the 2 lnb's which were norsats ran around a 250 dollars.

[deaner]

I now have my dish installed --had some problems. I ordered a Fortec Star Platinum receiver which should arrive about Tuesday. I have the wire , ground block and I wondered what I need to operate the dish motor and how many valves I need ? please give me a brief way in which I should wire. Also will I need a instrument for setting the various satellites or will this receiver cover this area? I would appreciate as much information as possible.
The 10 foot dish gave me fits and I had to repair some damage.
I have read and reread, copied much information and I still feel I know so very little. I appreciate the attitude of the ones that are helping all as I realize it is repeating--but it is much appreciated.

[bill190]

I like having the best too! Here is what I recommend...

I have a big 12 foot C/Ku wire mesh "prime focus" dish and am glad I got the largest dish I could.

So get the largest C/Ku dish you can and be sure it will receive both C and Ku. This will be shown in the specifications and rated as db for C and Ku. Smaller dishes are Ku only. Some larger dishes are C only. And with a larger dish, wind is a problem.

Wire mesh will allow the wind to pass through, but smaller holes in the wire mesh will allow for better Ku reception.

Note that I dug a 3 foot deep and 3 foot round hole to anchor my dish pole and filled this with 36 bags of concrete. Also I have a schedule 80 pipe which has thicker walls and have filled my pipe with concrete to minimise "wobbling" during windy conditions.

I have a BSC621-2 C/Ku LNBF mounted on my big dish. This is basically the only C/Ku LNB setup which will work with modern FTA receivers. Traditional "feed horns" for large dishes have a 3 wire servo for polorization (H/V) and there is no connection for this on modern FTA receivers. The BSC621-2 uses 13/18 volts for polorization and this will work fine with FTA receivers.

I have a Fortec Star Mercury II FTA receiver. This is a great receiver, but if purchasing one, request that the most recent software be installed if you don't know how to do this yourself.

I have a VBox II positioner to move my big dish back and forth and a 36 volt 36 inch actuator on my big dish. They just came out with the "V3000 Sadoun PowerTech" positioner to control a big dish actuator and this looks like it would be the best. This should work fine with the Mercury II.

Shopping list...
-12 ft. C/Ku wire mesh dish.
-BSC621-2 C/Ku LNBF
-36 inch 36 volt actuator to move big dish. Von Weise brand is best because these have more "magnets" on the position sensor and will allow you to adjust your dish to more precise adjustments. This can mean better receprion for some weak satellites.
-Fortec Star Mercury II FTA receiver.
-V3000 Sadoun PowerTech positioner.

Then I would hire a local satellite company to install all this for you. Look in yellow pages under satellite. They should be able to hire a contractor to install big dish. And adjust your big dish so it is pointing to all the satellites as it moves back and forth. Also they should be able to install the wiring for you or subcontract it.

So far as setting up the receiver, might want to ask here for someone in your area to help.

Note this is a "one room" set-up. This system as is will only allow viewing of the FTA channels in one room. Not like cable where you can get "hook-ups" for several different rooms. Your big dish can only point at one satellite at a time. It is possible to have multiple dishes or to have your one receiver also connected to another room, however this gets to be quite complex and you would need to find a very smart cookie to design/install such a system. Someone who is familiar with "multi-switches" and understands the various connections at this link...

Toroidal NZ - T90 Switching Solutions

Actually you might want to print the above page and show this to people you want to hire to install/set-up your system. If they understand the above, they would know what they are doing. Also ask them if they know what "FTA" is. (Free to Air)

[wejones]

?!?!? He tells you that he has already installed his dish, and you're telling him to go out and buy a 12' dish a new pipe and 36 bags of concrete, and a bunch of equipment that may or may not match what he intends to receive???

I'm still waiting to read just what he intends to watch with this dish, because that determines what additional equipment would be suited. Like if in addition to FTA, perhaps he wants to watch analog/DCII? Then the LNBF recommended above wouldn't be appropriate.

I did find the comment about the dish having "some damage" that had to be repaired of some concern. That damage may or may not affect how well it will work, particularly on Ku. Might be best to keep the system as simple as possible until it is determined whether the dish actually works.

It was also not mentioned whether the dish came with a feedhorn, and if so, are there lnbs installed? I assume that it must have come with an actuator or H-H motor, or else it would be flopping to the ground.

I think that before more suggestions are made re what is needed, there needs to be some comment about what is there already, and what is intended to be received with the dish.