New Member Free-to-Air Satellite Discussion Thread

[tojo]

Hi to all, this is freakin amazing!! I live in Nunavut and am very curious to find out more about this media option.

So please, if I may....

1. How do I find out which unit will work here X0C0G0
2. Which channels will I receive?
3. Is their a monthly bill?

Thank you,

Tojo

[Cham]

Hi Tojo.
Any DVB FTA receiver will work where you are, as long as you can see the Clarke Belt where the geostationary satellites are positioned, but you likely need a larger dish from that far north. If you want HD video then you would want a DVB-S2 capable receiver. Think the sponsor is coming out with a new model in a few weeks.

I suspect you should get satellites from about 50 to 130 degrees west. Check the "stickies" in the FTA section here for channel lists. Be aware the actual channels can change often so no list is really completely up to date.

No monthly bill, there are no subscriptions, but upfront equipment and installation costs.

FTA is sort of like short wave radio was many years ago.

There are two FTA "bands", one is C-band that requires a large 8 foot dish, and the other is Ku that uses a smaller 36" dish. I am supposing you would want these sizes to work at your latitude.

Hope that helps!

[majortom]

not sayin ya wouldn't be able to get anything, but it's gonna take a lot of effort from up there. Look up Danny001 in the shaw direct forum, he was going thru some extreme measures up in Resolute Bay getting his shaw system working up there. I think he needed a 1.2 m dish to receive Shaw up there.

Anyhow, to get an idea what might be possible go thru the drsat.ca channel list, http://channels.drsat.ca/ select Ku band FTA from the sources menu, and search. Within the search results, find something that interests you, and click on the satellite name's link, say AMC21 Ku Band from the first PBS feed that pops up for example. That will take you to a map of it's coverage footprint, and you'll see that one isn't covering Nunavit at all.

On the other hand, try it again but select CBAND FTA, if ya look at 97W C Band, you will see there is a footprint covering Nunavit, minimum 2.1 m dish size. For each that interests you see what the minimum dish size is and then add some to the worst case after you bounced them all.

Ur gonna have to do your research in this fashion to determine if the hobby is gonna be worthwhile for your time & effort. That's what it is to me, a hobby, not a means to free TV.

[larry d]

Hi Guys i live in a town called gore in quebec which is about 15 km north of lachute quebec . Is there anyone you guys can recomend to have a fta system installed as i have no idea how to set up a system or what to buy

Thanks Larry

[Kraven]

I suggest you set it up yourself. First you'll understand how it works and be better prepared to trouleshoot if needed down the road. 2nd, you'll save some $$$ and 3rd once you understand "how" to install it, its really not difficult.

Cheers, K

[hen555]

Hey all, I'm new here and have read most of the posts that are pinned.
Many years ago I used to have satellite that stole from bev using Viewsat Ultra. It was working pretty good for maybe a year and then it went down. Then my satellite guy told me I could get tv using a new box the Nfusion Solaris. Connecting it to the internet allowed it to work he said.

I didn't know how it worked or how to install it or program it, my satellite guy did everything and told me just to install the files if needed. Then that went down within a year.


Years past and I gave up and just threw the boxs in the garage.
Now I find out that I can still use them so I am determined to fix up my satellite!

So I have a small dish still installed (I believe I have 2 ...) so I guess it will only work with Ku-band?

And I have 2 recievers... The Nfusion Solaris and the Viewsat Ultra, will both of these work with FTA?

I am in the Brampton area so will I be able to pickup some channels?

Please help me fix this up and direct me to any thread if needed

[classicsat]

You need at least a 36" dish with a standard Ku LNBF. You might as well get a motor as well.

Get the proper factory firmware. The Viewsat should be good for a start. The Nfusion probably not.

[hen555]

I wont be able to use the dish I already have? It's not big I don't think its 36''.
Also what is this iks stuff? My friend told me he has iks and to look it up to get tv.

Will Iks work with my current setup?

[classicsat]

IKS is piracy. Hacking/piracy discussion is not allowed. We only discuss the mostly hobby, but totally legal reception of services broadcast with no encryption.

The dish you have is no good for legitimate FTA, as there are no real FTA channels on the pay satellites.

[DrSat]

Originally Posted by hen555

I wont be able to use the dish I already have? It's not big I don't think its 36''.
Also what is this iks stuff? My friend told me he has iks and to look it up to get tv.

Will Iks work with my current setup?

Your friend is stealing satellite TV which we don't discuss over here as it's illegal. He could end up paying up to $10,000 if he gets caught. You don't need IKS to receive any FTA channels but you will need a 31 inch or larger dish for Ku-band satellite.

[hen555]

Ohh yea I don't want to do anything illegal, I will need a bigger dish for fta alright thank you guys. How much does these big dish cost? And where can I buy it?

[Pinza]

Click on the link at the top of this Thread for Dr Sat, the Forum sponsor, he is the man to contact. Nice Store Front and very helpful, take a drive to see him.

[Hotshot1]

I am a newbie and have a 60 cm oval dish and a Captive Works CW800s receiver. I would like to key into FTA on the Gallaxy 19 satellite on the Ku band. It would be thrill for me to receive anything with my setup. Do I need any special software for this receiver in order to start receiving signals from that satelllite?

[majortom]

Nothing special. Give it a whirl.

[HeliosQuebec]

You need a linear LNBF, not a circular one.