[Kraven]

Hello all.. Ive been thinking about FTA for a while now and decided to get back into it. Growing up, we had a 10ft C-band dish (videocipher2), and my first experience was w/ WGN on G4 (IIRC)... At the time, I thought it was the greatest channel on earth. Over-time, the wild feeds was what I enjoyed the most.

I'm currently in the Montreal area and am actively searching for a Cband dish. Once I get it, would any C-band receiver work? Or do I need a specific model? Are the original 80's LNBs ok, or is an upgrade required? Also, are their still from paid programming available via subscription?

In terms of KU-Band, is there more programming on KU as opposed to C? Ive seen some C/Ku compatible Lnbs, would this be an option, or is the 2 dish route the best? For wild feed, which band has most or are they both the same?

Thanks in advance and any other help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers, K

 

[Krydor]

1) You'll need a receiver that can do DVB, you can use an old analog receiver to position the dish
2) Your LNB should be fine. I've got one from the early 80's.
3) Yes, you can get subscriptions. Nothing HD
4) Ku Depends on the dish. Older Mesh doesn't work so well. I haven't tried myself

Wildfeeds and sports backhauls are still going strong.

 

[Kraven]

Thanks for the reply. For wild feed and sports backhaul, would this be on the c or Ku signal or both? I located a 6 foot dish mesh dish (missing motor and LNB and im guessing these parts aren't too expensive correct?). Its at my folk's cottage, however, Im not too interested in driving to NB to get it.

Thanks again, K

 

[Installer]

i'd start small..ku. grab yourself a 33"-39" dish the bigger the better if you can find an ols starchoice dish..the origanal was 42" (this is what i use) then came the 33" they also have linear lnb's i've used both with an sg2100 motor (less then $100.00) and you can swap the lnb with a qph-031 if you want (less then $100.00)this handles both linear and circular signals so you can also pick up the few fta channels from the major providers (bell,dn, ect) with any old fta stb ( $30.00....ebay)
33" dish,qph-031,sg2100 packages are sold at a lot of places cheaper.

 

[ogorek]

For true Fta experience and channel availability you need C band dish. You can check lingsat.com, sathint.com, for available channels and satelliteguys.us for available channels and hardware discussion. C/Ku lnb and motorised dish will give you lots of fun. I don't have a C band dish, but I think this and a good OTA antenna is the ultimate in the Free To Air tv viewing hobby and aside from initial equipment investment it is absolutely free.

 

[Kraven]

Ogorek: Being from the same area, would you know anyone with a C-band dish whose looking to get rid of it? Or, any store with them?

Cheers, K

 

[Krydor]

C and Ku for the sports. I've noticed a migration to Ku for a bunch of baseball. The items you are missing aren't that expensive. The expensive things are the dish and, believe it or not, cabling. Depending on where you are, a 6 foot dish should be fine. If it was getting a signal before, it will get one now.

 

[Kraven]

Been reading some more and have a few more questions:

1- What's the point of a conical scalar?
2- Why is a V-Box II DiSEqC Motor Positioner necessary? IIRC, I was able to change sat positions via the receiver directly back in the day. Are currently receivers lacking this feature?
3- On DR Sat's webpage, he offers a 6ft C-Band dish. How would one set up a motor on one of those? Again, IIRC, an Moteck SG2100 DiSEqC motor, for example, will only suport 40" or less.

Thanks again for all your help.

Cheers, K

 

[classicsat]

1. The conical scalar lets smaller diameter dishes, usually larger Ku offset dishes, get C-band better, or at all.

2. V-Box and G-box (same thing, different brands), basically interface a traditional linear or H-H actuator and servo motor to a modern FTA receiver, using Diseq. Most modern FTA receivers do not have the electronics or control for those, like analog C-band IRDs had.

 

[majortom]

conical scaler is for someone with a small size Ku dish, wishes they had room for a full sized C/Ku dish, but either they can't, won't, but mostly folks that know what they are doing and just wanna do it for the sake of doing it. U know the, "..and they said it couldn't be done" factor. Think of it as a compromise, play games with the laws of physics to at least get something on C-band from an antenna that wasn't designed for C-band. Very limited success stories. Not recommended for someone "just learning".

There would be no need for a Vbox with a small size dish, It's meant to simplify the control of a big dish using a linear actuator, letting it accept diseqc commands from the newer receivers, which were not designed to move a full size C/Ku dish/linear actuator.

Don't think ya need to worry about either 1 or 2 at this point, until u decide what antenna ur gonna use. But they are like mutually exclusive. If ya have one, ya wouldn't need the other.

3.) U'd need a linear actuator to move the 6 ft antenna.
I have a 7.5' antenna along with a Saginaw Actuator (nice actuator, not cheap).
Could easily move a 12' antenna with the actuator I'm using.
Having played with C/Ku antennas since the 80's, I'm of the opinion smaller
cheaper actuators are well, just that...cheap.

Here is some reading to get you started if considering a C/Ku antenna installation.

http://www.geo-orbit.org/

and

http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/tuningp2.html#anchor469886

 

[Kraven]

Thanks for the suggestion MT. Would anyone know of a C-Band/FTA vendor in the Montreal or Eastern Canada area?

Cheers, K!

 

[mitigator]

Kraven I picked up my 12 ft mesh dish on Kijiji check it out. Should be lots of people out there trying to get rid of old C/KU Band Mesh Dishes. Usually you can get them for next to nothing just removing them for the customer is usually payment for a reasonable home owner.

 

[Kraven]

You'd think with all those BUDs lying around it be easy. Been checking Craigslist, Lespac and Kijjijji to no avail (even posted a "wanted" ad).

Going to the cottage today (on the US border) and I'll be keeping an eye open.

Cheers, K

 

[Kraven]

Got my paws on a Viewsat ultra receiver; would this work: VS, 4 foot fortec dish, motek motor and C/Ku band lnb w/ conical scalar?

Long story short, just bought a bigger house on a bigger lot in the next town over. Thus plenty of room for a few dishes along w/ my OTA gear.

Cheers, K

 

[Kraven]

Hi all, using a 4ft offset dish and a scalar, how many C-band sats/tps could I realistically receive?

The spouse put her foot down regarding a C-band dish and so far I ain't winning.
Cheers, K

 

[mitigator]

Kraven, with a 4 ft Dish you can pick up lots of Sat Signals on KU Band, C Band will be limited, you really need a bigger dish for good C Band reception. For FTA Satellite listings, see and Google: LyngSat / North America, or Satellite Guys USA - The List, or Mike Kohl's Global Satellite site see MPEG Section for detailed FTA Listings.

 

[majortom]

agree, for C-Band ya really need a big dish. Not so much for the Gain, but for the narrow Beamwidth. The geo-stationary arc is cluttered with satellites 2 degrees apart from each other. If ya go to this parabolic dish calculator, and plug in 4200 Mhz, and various dish sizes, keep varying the diameter until the 3 dB beamwidth is less than 2 degrees. That will be the bare minimum reflector size to avoid adjacent satellite interference. That's the main limitation when it comes to dish size for C-band. i.e. - how much adjacent satellite interference the system can withstand. Unfortunately ya can't get around that physical limitation any other way than by using a large dish. I would say mine is marginal at 2.3m or 7.5 ft...

Just as an example for that link, mine is 230cm dia, 37.5 cm deep, for an F/D ratio of .35. U'll see it's 3dB BW is > 2 degrees, so it's never gonna be the best performing of CBAND antennas, no matter how much I try.

 

[majortom]

Just as an example for that link, mine is 230cm dia, 37.5 cm deep, for an F/D ratio of .35.

typo...Shoulda read F/D Ratio of .38
just so noone's misled...