Hi fellows.
Anyone experienced in the field of free-to-air television ? Got one good working system laying around the spider webs for sale or trade ?
Is there any High Definition reception or it is only NTSC ?
I would like to play with one of those to see if it works on a remote rural location.
Thanks,
Miguel
FTA satellite television reception...
FTA satellite television reception...
- Abolish the deciBel ! -
Re: FTA satellite television reception...
There are some HD FTA receivers but I have not seen what channels are available.
Some terms:
FTA Free To Air
Analog The old style of satellite broadcasting. VERY few stations left in analog.
Digicipher 2 - Encryption standard used by some broadcasters. This is a proprietary system.
DVB - Digital Video Broadcasting. This is the standard used by the majority of digital signals. It can be open (free) or encrypted by a number of standards.
Powerview (and variants) - Encryption method.
Niagaravision - Encryption method.
As far as getting started that depends on what is available local and online. The dish is something you can ususally find local for next to nothing. You do not want to go with an 18" dish as that only works for Dish Network and Direct TV. If you are only after Ku Band you need at least a 36" dish IMHO. If you want CBand then you need a 10' dish. (You MIGHT be able to get away with a 7.5" dish but even with analog I had great difficulty getting digital channels to lock.)
So what is out there? Lots, but not premium. Much like the FTA that used to be on analog C Band many of the channels that used to be free the providers have started encrypting. (The loss was when Equity went bankrupt.) You will find tons of religous, Middleeast, and Asian channels. There are lots of small market affliates that uplink their signals unscrambled so that "local" cable companies can get the signal and resend. Think of Wyoming, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, etc. trying to link their signal to surrounding areas. They use satellite and don't scramble so anyone can get it. (For quite some time I received my network stations from what is now Galaxy 16. It was a mixture of Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico stations.)
Refer to this site: http://www.lyngsat.com You will need this site to know where to point the dish, what symbol rates etc. to program into the receiver and so on. It will give you the best listing for what channels are available as well.
You will need a DVB FTA type receiver. (In my opinion AVOID getting a Digicipher II system as there is very little out there for this and it is almost always subscription. Digicipher systems also are much more expensive.) EBay has LOTS of receivers for sale. But be wary; there are a number of sellers that are providing devices that can be modified to pirate Dish Network signals. Avoid these. You can spend hundreds of dollars on a receiver but I paid something like $35 including shipping for my first one DVB receiver. (On eBay you can get a basic used model for about $20 + shipping.) The one feature that you might find useful is the "blind scan" ability. This is a method scanning a particular satellite so that channels are discovered automatically. Not all receivers have this.
Use high quality RG-6/U coax. DO NOT use RG-59! Some people have claimed that this works. I don't like it even for terrestrial broadcasts. The U in the cable designation is important! It means its jacket is ultraviolet resistant. Since the dish will be outside you want this type of cable.
When I setup my first dishes I did not own a signal meter. I could get away with peaking the dish by watching the analog signal. There is no way to do this with digital as you must have the signal in order for the receiver to discover the digital feed.
The "antenna" part of a satellite system is the LNB or more specifically the LNBf or Low Noise Block converter and the f is the "feedhorn". In the "Big Dish" the feedhorn was a separate device. In the smaller dish this is all one unit. You want a LNBf that is made for FTA systems and NOT one that was made for Dish Network/DirecTV. They use different Local Oscillator (LO) frequencies in the different systems. The LNBf for FTA use different LO. Why is this important? You will need to know the frequency when you setup your receiver. You program the receiver with the LO so it can tune in the received signal.
The most important part about undertaking a FTA adventure is patience! When I put up my first analog C Band antenna I connected a receiver and hooked up a monitor. I had NOT done anything but the pure basic positioning of the dish. I hit POWER on the receiver and was greeted with a STILL black and image of two horses at a finish line. Puzzled I continued to watch. I turned the channel selector (yes, a mechanical tuner receiver) and found other stations. It turns out the first thing I found was a photo finish image from a race track that was being sent to Off Track betting sites. (It was not even on the channel listing I had.) Getting the 10' dish tuned to track the arc took some time but eventually I got to the point where I could peak a dish in about 15 minutes from nothing. When I ventured into FTA DVB it took me hours to get all the gobblets stacked to where I had the LNBf, symbol rates, etc. programmed correctly and get my first digital signal. I did this all without a signal meter when it was analog only. Digital is not as forgiving and a cheap $15 meter is worth it. (You can buy the meter for tuning a dish from Walmart. The ones for tuning up Dish Network and DirecTV work fine.)
I hope this helps.
Some terms:
FTA Free To Air
Analog The old style of satellite broadcasting. VERY few stations left in analog.
Digicipher 2 - Encryption standard used by some broadcasters. This is a proprietary system.
DVB - Digital Video Broadcasting. This is the standard used by the majority of digital signals. It can be open (free) or encrypted by a number of standards.
Powerview (and variants) - Encryption method.
Niagaravision - Encryption method.
As far as getting started that depends on what is available local and online. The dish is something you can ususally find local for next to nothing. You do not want to go with an 18" dish as that only works for Dish Network and Direct TV. If you are only after Ku Band you need at least a 36" dish IMHO. If you want CBand then you need a 10' dish. (You MIGHT be able to get away with a 7.5" dish but even with analog I had great difficulty getting digital channels to lock.)
So what is out there? Lots, but not premium. Much like the FTA that used to be on analog C Band many of the channels that used to be free the providers have started encrypting. (The loss was when Equity went bankrupt.) You will find tons of religous, Middleeast, and Asian channels. There are lots of small market affliates that uplink their signals unscrambled so that "local" cable companies can get the signal and resend. Think of Wyoming, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, etc. trying to link their signal to surrounding areas. They use satellite and don't scramble so anyone can get it. (For quite some time I received my network stations from what is now Galaxy 16. It was a mixture of Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico stations.)
Refer to this site: http://www.lyngsat.com You will need this site to know where to point the dish, what symbol rates etc. to program into the receiver and so on. It will give you the best listing for what channels are available as well.
You will need a DVB FTA type receiver. (In my opinion AVOID getting a Digicipher II system as there is very little out there for this and it is almost always subscription. Digicipher systems also are much more expensive.) EBay has LOTS of receivers for sale. But be wary; there are a number of sellers that are providing devices that can be modified to pirate Dish Network signals. Avoid these. You can spend hundreds of dollars on a receiver but I paid something like $35 including shipping for my first one DVB receiver. (On eBay you can get a basic used model for about $20 + shipping.) The one feature that you might find useful is the "blind scan" ability. This is a method scanning a particular satellite so that channels are discovered automatically. Not all receivers have this.
Use high quality RG-6/U coax. DO NOT use RG-59! Some people have claimed that this works. I don't like it even for terrestrial broadcasts. The U in the cable designation is important! It means its jacket is ultraviolet resistant. Since the dish will be outside you want this type of cable.
When I setup my first dishes I did not own a signal meter. I could get away with peaking the dish by watching the analog signal. There is no way to do this with digital as you must have the signal in order for the receiver to discover the digital feed.
The "antenna" part of a satellite system is the LNB or more specifically the LNBf or Low Noise Block converter and the f is the "feedhorn". In the "Big Dish" the feedhorn was a separate device. In the smaller dish this is all one unit. You want a LNBf that is made for FTA systems and NOT one that was made for Dish Network/DirecTV. They use different Local Oscillator (LO) frequencies in the different systems. The LNBf for FTA use different LO. Why is this important? You will need to know the frequency when you setup your receiver. You program the receiver with the LO so it can tune in the received signal.
The most important part about undertaking a FTA adventure is patience! When I put up my first analog C Band antenna I connected a receiver and hooked up a monitor. I had NOT done anything but the pure basic positioning of the dish. I hit POWER on the receiver and was greeted with a STILL black and image of two horses at a finish line. Puzzled I continued to watch. I turned the channel selector (yes, a mechanical tuner receiver) and found other stations. It turns out the first thing I found was a photo finish image from a race track that was being sent to Off Track betting sites. (It was not even on the channel listing I had.) Getting the 10' dish tuned to track the arc took some time but eventually I got to the point where I could peak a dish in about 15 minutes from nothing. When I ventured into FTA DVB it took me hours to get all the gobblets stacked to where I had the LNBf, symbol rates, etc. programmed correctly and get my first digital signal. I did this all without a signal meter when it was analog only. Digital is not as forgiving and a cheap $15 meter is worth it. (You can buy the meter for tuning a dish from Walmart. The ones for tuning up Dish Network and DirecTV work fine.)
I hope this helps.
No trees were harmed in the creation of this message. But billions of electrons, photons, and electromagnetic waves were terribly inconvenienced!
Re: FTA satellite television reception...
Thanks very much for educating me, jollyrgr.
Unless I miss something hopeful, there is a little chance to put my 7.5 feet dish into operation for the purpose of receiving free european and/or US news with no service contracts from any TV provider; as I have nothing available at a rural KY location.
Seems Ku band would be more convenient; but my LNB is for C band; so I have to discard that and replace. Then would be finding a used functional receiver; and then aiming the contraption. Lastly, praying for some reception. Lots of steps for a who knows result. Will digest plans and try to find cheap equipment so the attempt would not hurt that much.
Thanks,
Miguel
Unless I miss something hopeful, there is a little chance to put my 7.5 feet dish into operation for the purpose of receiving free european and/or US news with no service contracts from any TV provider; as I have nothing available at a rural KY location.
Seems Ku band would be more convenient; but my LNB is for C band; so I have to discard that and replace. Then would be finding a used functional receiver; and then aiming the contraption. Lastly, praying for some reception. Lots of steps for a who knows result. Will digest plans and try to find cheap equipment so the attempt would not hurt that much.
Thanks,
Miguel
- Abolish the deciBel ! -
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