need help with my setup

[Sparky7]

Another newbe, where do I get installation instructions for dish alignment, including which would be the best satillite to aim at for fta broadcasts. I am in the Jackson Michigan area.

 

[turbosat]

sparky, best to start your own thread>perhaps it'll get moved later.
Welcome in, what kind of dish do you have, and what type programming are you interested in?
You can check The List, above link, to get an idea of some of the channels that are available.
There's several satellites you can view from the US, if you have unobstructed view of the southern sky, from southeast to southwest. Many of us like G18, formerly called Galaxy10 at 123degrees W.
Here's a link to one of our sponsor's sites, has some very good information for first-timers:
http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/FTA-Systems/Page-1-Choosing-Free-to-Air-FTA-satellite-system.htm
You can learn about installation on that page, it's very handy.

 

[Sparky7]

Thanks turbosat; I'll check that link out. The dish I ordered is the 1000.2 but I'm now hearing about switch problems on the 129 lnb. I selected this dish because all my sets are hd. But until I joined this forum I have had little exposure to satillite information, I'm not even sure fta broadcast hd, so I have a lot of learning to do.

 

[Sparky7]

I check the link looks like I will have to cancel my dish order, that site says the dish needs to be bigger with different lnb's. Darn I wanted to buy the right stuff the first time. I guess I should have joined sooner. You got enough room for me to put my 10' dish when I get it?

 

[Mr Tony]

broke off to new thread

 

[gillham]

I check the link looks like I will have to cancel my dish order, that site says the dish needs to be bigger with different lnb's. Darn I wanted to buy the right stuff the first time. I guess I should have joined sooner. You got enough room for me to put my 10' dish when I get it?

You might want to post what you're thinking about buying and get suggestions / confirmation it'll work before ordering. A dish 1000.2 is pretty much worthless since all you can get FTA from a Dish Network satellite is NASA & Angel One on 119°. You only need a small 18" dish for that, or you can get an Invacom linear/circular combo LNBF for a motorized dish.

If you want a fixed dish setup, generally 123° is the most interesting for English/Spanish channels and 97° for a number of International channels. (with some English as well) Checkout FTAList.com - The easy list of North American free-to-air TV channels for a slightly simpler list than "The List" here.

Sponsors above have good 90CM dish combos. Both SatelliteAV & Sadoun sell on eBay. They both have a 90CM dish + LNBF combo for about $95 shipped. I would give the edge to SatelliteAV since the GEOSATPro 90CM has side braces for the LNBF arm. But they are on the West Coast and Sadoun is in Ohio, so you might want it from the closest person as well.

That would get you a dish and a basic linear LNBF. Check the reviews and older threads for receivers. Also google the program "Channel Master" (not the antenna company) and look at the support receivers for it. That might influence your decision some as it is easier to use a Windows box to edit a lot of transponders and channels.

You can also just buy a dish + LNBF + receiver combo from one of the sponsors at the top of this site and save some money that way.

Regardless I would still suggest tossing out your ideas here and get people's opinions.

 

[turbosat]

what fta is not

Sparky,
Don't waste money on dishnetwork dishes for use with free-to-air receivers.
There are a lot of people, some of them satellite dealers, who believe that fta means
"ok to steal dishnetwork programming". The List, has some good information on it about the channels that are up there for free (legal) viewing. There is no free ride to pay programming.
If you want all HD channels, then pay-tv is one way to obtain it, as there aren't many full-time HD channels that are 'free to air' right now. PBS channels , I believe, will be soon, and they've just moved to a new satellite with good signal levels.
You may have been misinformed about the type of programming fta offers. A small investment will bring some great tv for free, with the right dish and receiver, but it
won't include free HBO and such. High-def occasional feeds pop up, but you have to look around for them. (sports and newsfeeds etc). Feel free to ask if you have more questions (but we don't condone or discuss hacking or signal theft here).

 

[Cadsulfide]

Welcome Sparky, I'm kinda of a newcomer too, got into FTA about two years ago. It's amazing all the cool programming that is out there. Local news broadcasts from all over the US. Lyngsat has all the TV sat info on every bird we can see on planet earth.
Two ways to get started, get a motorized dish, or set up a small array. If you ask around, discarded dishes will rain upon you for free or nearly so. Since this is a DIY hobby where the enthusiasts are scattered hundreds of miles apart, read, read, read. You'll get a feel for what can be done, and what others are doing.

As far as the piracy stuff, don't let anyone sh*t you, it is way more trouble than it is worth. A subscription to Dish or Direct is only $30/month.

For the cost of only 8 to 10 months of Dish or Direct, you can get a pretty decent starter system that you never have to pay monthly fees to watch.

Only one (two?) drawback(s), it really helps if you are handy and a problem solver, and it could prove addictive. An understanding spousal unit is a great asset.

 

[Sparky7]

Thanks Cadsulfode, I can pay for mine quicker "comcast cable 100/mo" already did my math. I will do much more reading and thanks again don't want to break to another thread, now I have to study threads.