Basic info request - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

scotsman1 · 2011-04-21, 08:28 PM

I am absolutely ignorant of the subject of FTA and have read as much as I could on the subject but it's so large that I have to ask for help.
I live in a medium rise apartment building in Burlington ON, on the 5th floor, and face approx. SW. What is the absolute minimum equipment I need to buy to try FTA tv? Since it is a condo I am not allowed to mount any hardware on the building so any antenna or dish that's required would have to be temporarily installed on my small balcony. Does anyone have any advice on what I should buy?

Yagi · 2011-04-23, 08:56 PM

When I started FTA, I bought a 76-cm antenna with no rotor, a cheap LNB and a basic Pansat receiver. The antenna was pointed at 97 W which is the satellite with the most FTA channels. That would be a basic set-up. You probably can see 97 W from your balcony but it is easy to check with a compas. Of course you need to be sure that there is no building or tree in the way. If you can see the sun between noon and 3 PM from your balcony, you should be OK.

majortom · 2011-04-24, 11:37 AM

hey scotsman,
a while ago Trip of rabbitears.info, and also a member here, did this nice little writeup in his blog.
Give it a read, might give ya some ideas.

http://www.rabbitears.info/blog/inde...A-Home-Edition

HDTV101 · 2011-04-24, 05:06 PM

scotsman, what kind of channels are you after? 97* has lots of international channels mostly from the Middle East.

DrSat · 2011-04-24, 09:34 PM

Since you are not allowed to attach anything to the building, your best bet is to mount your dish on a tripod. In order to secure the tripod, get 3 patio stones as heavy as possible from the hardware store, one for each leg and use tapcon screws and a hammer drill to attach each leg on the stone. Assuming the stones are heavy enough, the weight from all 3 stones should prevent the tripod from falling over under heavy winds.

So to receive a single satellite, you will need at least a 30 inch dish, tripod, 3 stones attached to the tripod for support, RG6 coax to connect the LNBF to your satellite receiver and a FTA satellite receiver. To receive all 28 Ku-band satellites, you will also need to get a motor as well which automatically rotates your dish when you tune to a different satellite.

If you don't want to receive any HD channels, any FTA satellite receiver will do. However, to receive HD FTA channels, make sure you get a HD FTA satellite receiver that supports DVB-S2 as more and more HD channels are using this format.

ogorek · 2011-04-25, 07:33 AM

Before investing in any equipment go to dishpointer.com insert your address and desired satellite, on the map find your building and see if from your balcony you will have clear line to the satellite. The tripod suggestion by DrSat is very good and it should work well for stationary dish (no motor). To add few channels to your OTA setup 97w and 101w are the best and they are both doable on one 30" dish. I would peak for 101w as SES1 is not as strong as Galaxy 19. Since you are not allowed to have any antenna or dish visible I would not go for more than 30". If you decide to get 30", get Winegard DS2076 as it has very good reviews for a dish of this size. For available channels check lyngsat.com. As always in situations like this my suggestion is to try to get as many channels as possible with ota tv antenna, and consider fta as supplement with few extra channels. If you can not get any PBS stations over the air, 125w might be good place to aim. It is a strong bird and it is doable with 30" dish. Have fun.

ScaryBob · 2011-04-25, 07:47 AM

I wouldn't recommend FTA for an apartment. The best stations are all on C-band and the dish needed will be too large. Ku-band might be possible for mostly foreign language and religious channels but will require a dish significantly larger than Canadian DTH satellites. In Burlington, you might want to check out OTA. It might be possible to pick up stations from Buffalo (to the side.)

ogorek · 2011-04-25, 08:04 AM

I agree over the air (OTA) tv is the best and there is wide choice of home made or store bought antennas to have them placed on small balcony without being noticed. However the two fta channels on 101w are nice addition to ota setup. If you like news 97w is good too. Both are doable from one stationary 30" dish, but the dish has to see the satellite so it might be visible from the street. Also 125w has PBS stations: Montana PBS, PBS Create, PBS World so if you can not get this over the air you can get it there.

DrSat · 2011-04-25, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScaryBob

I wouldn't recommend FTA for an apartment. The best stations are all on C-band and the dish needed will be too large. Ku-band might be possible for mostly foreign language and religious channels but will require a dish significantly larger than Canadian DTH satellites. In Burlington, you might want to check out OTA. It might be possible to pick up stations from Buffalo (to the side.)

There are 82 English channels available on Ku band which is still a fair amount even without C-band. As these channels are spread across various satellites between 15W to 125W, a motorized dish is the only way to receive all of these. You may also receive up to 40 degrees of arc using a Toroidal fixed dish and multiple LNBF's. Going with a Toroidal dish would be more expensive and difficult to setup however which is why motorized is the way to go.

As the OP stated he is facing SW, he might not be able to receive the lower Atlantic satellites such as 15W. However, most English channels are on satellites located between 63W and 125W so this is not really a big issue. Lots of people limit themselves with a fixed dish aimed to 97W or 97W/101W and miss out on the other good channels available on other satellites.

scotsman1 · 2011-04-28, 04:23 PM

Many thanks for all the information and suggestions guys, I learned a lot from your replies.
It seems it would be better. initially, to buy an OTA antenna and mount it on a tripod on my balcony. I would like to fit a motorized rotator to it so I can change the direction it is facing remotely.
I am considering a ChannelMaster 4221HD antenna mounted on a 3ft. tripod, (weighted down, of course). Does this sound reasonable to you more experienced members?

2011-04-21, 08:28 PM	#1
scotsman1 Rookie Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 2	Basic info request I am absolutely ignorant of the subject of FTA and have read as much as I could on the subject but it's so large that I have to ask for help. I live in a medium rise apartment building in Burlington ON, on the 5th floor, and face approx. SW. What is the absolute minimum equipment I need to buy to try FTA tv? Since it is a condo I am not allowed to mount any hardware on the building so any antenna or dish that's required would have to be temporarily installed on my small balcony. Does anyone have any advice on what I should buy?

2011-04-24, 11:37 AM	#3
majortom Veteran Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2,564	hey scotsman, a while ago Trip of rabbitears.info, and also a member here, did this nice little writeup in his blog. Give it a read, might give ya some ideas. http://www.rabbitears.info/blog/inde...A-Home-Edition __________________ uhf/vhf combo rotor chimney mount homebrew vhf hi hpf ap-8700 preamp 4way split lg lcd dtt901 pctuner mythtv

2011-04-25, 07:47 AM	#7
ScaryBob Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: The Dandelion City Posts: 7,133	I wouldn't recommend FTA for an apartment. The best stations are all on C-band and the dish needed will be too large. Ku-band might be possible for mostly foreign language and religious channels but will require a dish significantly larger than Canadian DTH satellites. In Burlington, you might want to check out OTA. It might be possible to pick up stations from Buffalo (to the side.) __________________ At 20 I had a good mind. At 40 I had money. At 60 I've lost my mind and my money. Oh, to be 20 again. --Scary

2011-04-28, 04:23 PM	#10
scotsman1 Rookie Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 2	OTA info req, Many thanks for all the information and suggestions guys, I learned a lot from your replies. It seems it would be better. initially, to buy an OTA antenna and mount it on a tripod on my balcony. I would like to fit a motorized rotator to it so I can change the direction it is facing remotely. I am considering a ChannelMaster 4221HD antenna mounted on a 3ft. tripod, (weighted down, of course). Does this sound reasonable to you more experienced members?

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2011-04-23, 08:56 PM	#2
Yagi Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Montréal (Rosemont) Posts: 231	When I started FTA, I bought a 76-cm antenna with no rotor, a cheap LNB and a basic Pansat receiver. The antenna was pointed at 97 W which is the satellite with the most FTA channels. That would be a basic set-up. You probably can see 97 W from your balcony but it is easy to check with a compas. Of course you need to be sure that there is no building or tree in the way. If you can see the sun between noon and 3 PM from your balcony, you should be OK.

2011-04-24, 05:06 PM	#4
HDTV101 Veteran Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2,000	scotsman, what kind of channels are you after? 97* has lots of international channels mostly from the Middle East.

2011-04-24, 09:34 PM	#5
DrSat Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Oakville, ON Posts: 664	Since you are not allowed to attach anything to the building, your best bet is to mount your dish on a tripod. In order to secure the tripod, get 3 patio stones as heavy as possible from the hardware store, one for each leg and use tapcon screws and a hammer drill to attach each leg on the stone. Assuming the stones are heavy enough, the weight from all 3 stones should prevent the tripod from falling over under heavy winds. So to receive a single satellite, you will need at least a 30 inch dish, tripod, 3 stones attached to the tripod for support, RG6 coax to connect the LNBF to your satellite receiver and a FTA satellite receiver. To receive all 28 Ku-band satellites, you will also need to get a motor as well which automatically rotates your dish when you tune to a different satellite. If you don't want to receive any HD channels, any FTA satellite receiver will do. However, to receive HD FTA channels, make sure you get a HD FTA satellite receiver that supports DVB-S2 as more and more HD channels are using this format.

2011-04-25, 07:33 AM	#6
ogorek Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 178	Before investing in any equipment go to dishpointer.com insert your address and desired satellite, on the map find your building and see if from your balcony you will have clear line to the satellite. The tripod suggestion by DrSat is very good and it should work well for stationary dish (no motor). To add few channels to your OTA setup 97w and 101w are the best and they are both doable on one 30" dish. I would peak for 101w as SES1 is not as strong as Galaxy 19. Since you are not allowed to have any antenna or dish visible I would not go for more than 30". If you decide to get 30", get Winegard DS2076 as it has very good reviews for a dish of this size. For available channels check lyngsat.com. As always in situations like this my suggestion is to try to get as many channels as possible with ota tv antenna, and consider fta as supplement with few extra channels. If you can not get any PBS stations over the air, 125w might be good place to aim. It is a strong bird and it is doable with 30" dish. Have fun.

2011-04-25, 08:04 AM	#8
ogorek Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 178	I agree over the air (OTA) tv is the best and there is wide choice of home made or store bought antennas to have them placed on small balcony without being noticed. However the two fta channels on 101w are nice addition to ota setup. If you like news 97w is good too. Both are doable from one stationary 30" dish, but the dish has to see the satellite so it might be visible from the street. Also 125w has PBS stations: Montana PBS, PBS Create, PBS World so if you can not get this over the air you can get it there.