History and Biography channels still available on KU-band FTA?

[Gillez]

Hi Everyone,

Some time ago, I bought a KU dish and motor. I already had a Coolsat 7000 receiver.

I started playing around with OTA and my FTA project was put on the backburner.

Now that my OTA setup is working really well, I'd like to know if the History and Biography channels are still available on KU band FTA? If they are, I might hook up my dish and try to get it going again.

Thanks in advance for you help

[dtvinvictoria]

I can confirm that the Biography channel is running, the History channel is black right now, but was working last night.

[DrSat]

The History Channel is having technical difficulties right now, just showing a still frozen image with the History Channel logo. BIO and other channels are fine.

[ogorek]

History is not working for over a week. I don't know if it is technical issue or it will be off fta.
I am using 36" stationary dish pointed at SES1 (101w), with lnb for 97w squeezed next to it. Over the weekend I installed third lnb for galaxy 28 (89w). ABC news now is coming in with good picture quality. Motor would be nice, but with our cold winters it might create issues. I use fta dish as supplement of few extra channels to my OTA setup.

[Gillez]

Thanks for the info everyone.

Could you let me know if History comes back on the air? I don't want to set up my FTA dish to not have the History channel which I really want. Thanks again.

[gretzky]

Could you let me know if History comes back on the air? I don't want to set up my FTA dish to not have the History channel which I really want. Thanks again.

someone will probably post if it come back but thats what FTA is ...we don't know if and when

[manteiv]

Interesting Ogorek! are you saying you have 3 LNBS with no motor?

so if you stand behind the dish, the centrer LNB is pointed to 101W, on the left, the 97W and further left, the 89W ?

how is the signal strength on the 97w? I have tried experimenting before and could never get more than one LNB on the same dish for those FTA satellites.

My location is Montreal too.

[trckr]

The center LNB would be pointed at 101, then the LNB for 97 would be on the right, and the LNB for 89 would be further to the right.
If you imagine the signal from the sat to the lnb in reverse, it would leave the LNB, bank off the dish, and deflect to the left.
All from standing behind the dish of course.
The signal strength will depend on factors like the size of the dish, the type of bracket you are using, and the strength of the transponder you are trying to receive.

[Installer]

I've had an sg2100 and a heavy qph-031 lnb on an old 42" *choice dish for 4 years now and the winter weather has had no effect, I do have it mounted low to the ground to protect it from some of the wind.
the old 33" *choice dishes work great for fta as well.

[HDTV Junkee]

Good afternoon,

I have been a reader of both the FTA Forum and the OTA Forum for quite some time. I think that this is one of the most complete forums that I have ever seen. No doubt, we can all continue to learn and share our ideas.

I have decided to respond to this post -- because -- I too, can confirm that it is fairly straight forward to attach 3 LNB's to one dish.

In my case -- I have a 31 inch dish (3 Universal LNB's -- 2 are 9750 - 10600 and 1 is set up on a 9750 - 10750). Of course, depending on the receiver that is used you may utilize different settings (10750 by itself etc.)

All three LNB's are run through a 4 by 1 port switch (1 TV and about 60 ft of RG6 cable). Each LNB is attached to the switch through its own RG6 cable - each -- approx. 3 feet in length.

I recently upgraded my receiver to handle the HD (DVB and DVBS2). Previously I was using a 2500 clone which worked well for me for the past 4years.

On my dish is SES1 Ku (101 -- formerly, AMC 4Ku), Galaxy 3C Ku (95), and one other that I use for either news or sports feeds.

As a footnote, I picked up a pizza pan dish from someone's garbage and have it set to the ABC news channels on Galaxy 28 (89).

--------------------

Obviously, if you have the dish located near a window, it is a lot easier to find signals. Just hook up your laptop and satellite receiver (through the computer digital tuner card -- composite) and then move the dish to your main signal. Then tune it by either skewing the dish and/ or the LNB to the strongest TP. Then do the same for your other two satellite signals -- leaving your main signal "in tact". SES1 is my main signal -- and while quaility bounces around during the 24 hr period -- it is always above 70 (mostly between 70 and 75).

In the case of 101, a lot of people in Ontario or in Quebec forget to skew their LNB's which can increase their quality by as much as 20 points. Because of my eavestrough, I have also had to skew my dish, so it is a little harder to find signals, but it can be done.

Home Depot sells some pretty good metal pieces with holes that can be bent or attached directly to the dish arm / main LNB bolt. When necessay, you may have to re-drill the holes to make room for laonger / larger bolts.

Of course, satellite parts stores would sell the complete attachment packages for about $13.00 to $15.00 plus tax. For me, I was able to buy the LNB holders separately for cheap.

Enjoy.

[HDTV101]

History and Biography channels are now both encrypted.

[DrSat]

No they're not... Both History and BIO are still unencrypted as usual. However, the History feed is currently showing a still image for some reason. This had happened already in the past and the channel eventually returned back to normal.

[majortom]

looks like History is back to normal now.

[DrSat]

Yes, History is now back to normal as I predicted in my last post.

[dtvinvictoria]

I can also confirm that the History channel is back up and running as of 8:50am PT