My Free-to-Air Experiment has begun !

[Todd Wiedemann]

Thanks to Malamute for bringing the topic up here I have placed my order for a complete MPEG2 Free-to-Air satellite system !

I purchased #3 on the list here from Sadoun Satellite Systems. My reasoning for purchasing from Sadoun ?? Good help forums on their site and pretty good package deals. I was not successful finding such nicely packaged systems elsewhere.

Did I do this for HD content ? No. I'm looking for out-of-market local news and backhauls/wildfeeds.

Of course with everything, there is a downside. XM radio is not happening in my near future. The beauty of the FTA system is the Free part. Happy wife == no more monthly fees ... even if I pre-payed for a year, there's still next year ... sigh.

Please post here if you're interested in my posting the continued adventure.  For that matter post here and tell me to shut up about it !!

[The Law]

Please, continue to post your saga.  Though I, personally, will probably not undertake such an endeavor (well, at least until my kids are grown up and out the house - thereby rendering me with boredom  ), I'd certainly enjoy a well spun technical yarn - or maybe even a comic misadventure ;P

oh, and don't forget (if you don't mind) to post a running tab of what the "free" to air project actually costs.  As we all know, cheap hobbies always somehow ending up more than we think...

and...boy is it raining hard today....good job it ain't snow - cause that would mean winter's round the corner and inhd on TW (oops, sorry, wrong thread :eek: )

[StarvingForHDTV]

Will your system pass through HD to you if you find it?  If so, how?

Thanks in advance, and good luck.

Starving

[Tom Snyder]

I'll definitely be interested in hearing about your advnetures!

[Todd Wiedemann]

Starving asked:

Will your system pass through HD to you if you find it? If so, how?

[/SIZE]

Back in the thread that started this, Malamute posted his method:

Todd, I have it set up this way.
Receiver to Dish with RG6
Receiver to Dish Mover with RG6
OTA Antenna to set top box with RG6 but ?
Receiver to set top box are mixed with a dixplexer
before ant in on set top box then STB to TV with RG6
I use the compression type F-connecters on the RG6 cable, cause they don't crush the cable.

My receiver has an output for dish mover coax cable so you will need two coax cables up to the dish and dish mover.
At skyvision you can but a satellite aming chart that is set to your local area so it very easy to follow and will get the dish pionted right and cost about $13.00 but worth IT!!!!

The Set Top Box/Decoder does fine to decode local digital and from my receiver mainly for PBS HDTV and HD Net & Movies.

[/SIZE]

So, I don't know, for sure yet, since I have yet to receive the hardware. It looks as though the box I am getting has similar outputs, so we'll see !

[uplinkguy]

no hd net or hd net movies.  they are on c-band. you're only getting a ku lnb.


need bigger dish, c band lnb, acceptance from wife......


sorry for the bad news...
andy

[Todd Wiedemann]

Hmm ...

Hey, Andy, I know you're a satellite guy and all, but check out the link to Lyngsat. They show HDNet as digital in the clear ??

Am I reading it wrong ?

Are you a potentially good source for wild-feeds ??

I'd be happy to set up a secure area on this site !! :bow:

[Malamute]

Todd  
        they broadcast from the c-band but the FORMAT is what you look at! DVB means MPEG-2.  If it says Digichiper 2 then you will need to the big dish to get them because its 4DTV by Motorola (If they use this they must pay to royalty to Motorola).
       
        Also, they encrypted the FX channels on Galaxy 11 at 91.0W  right now, they did this same thing earlier this year then unencrypted them. So that is why Lyngsat.com is so important to look at each day to see what's going on.  I'll give FX a couple weeks and they will be back to FTA.

        Now welcome to the World of Free TV (aka DXing):rock:

        Now that I've had my system for about 3 year now it will be fun to have someone to talk about the FTA systems.  Did you by the dish mover unit with your system?

        Maybe we should make a new forum just for us?

Malamute

[uplinkguy]

yep, it's in the clear, but...
galaxy 9 is a c-band only satellite.  your dish and lnb won't receive c-band frequencies.


I do know where all the affiliates send their wild feeds back to their stations and networks, but all the info is posted on lyngsat anyway.  Mostly Telstar 6 now that telstar 4 lost its brain.

On busy news days such as last week with the fires or court cases before that,  the top of every hour that newscasts occur in the east and central time zones and  to a smaller extent, the west coast, are loaded with signals for remotes.

so in the early am before the today show, good morning and the early show, there are a bunch of lives.  Then again at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm and 10pm there a lot of quick 5 to 15 minute windows. then again when sports hits in a newscast.

college sports are everywhere available directly from the venue.  Most professional venues use fiber to get back to the network.


There are lots of free and in the clear signals to watch out there.  I would have the toys myself at home, but I find that usually I am in my office with wheels at the site or somewhere when most events that I'm interested in are happening.

Watching news from other affiliates is well worth the effort.


enjoy the new toy.
andy

[Malamute]

uplinkguy:: you wrote galaxy 9 is a C-band only satellite, your dish & lnb won't receivce c-band freguencies::

Galaxy 5 satellite is right next to G9, as you say A "C-BAND ONLY SATELLITE"  then why do I get CNBC US with my system? Because they broadcast both a C-Band & DVB signal to the same transponder.

Todd, talk to me and not uplinkguy about the FTA system cause he dosen't have this system, I do.

Malamute

[Todd Wiedemann]

Now that I've had my system for about 3 year now it will be fun to have someone to talk about the FTA systems. Did you by the dish mover unit with your system?

[/SIZE] Indeed ! It's just been ordered, so it'll be awhile before it gets here and installed. And yes, I did get a dish mover.

Maybe we should make a new forum just for us?

[/SIZE]That can be done. Let's see how participation in this thread goes ... If we're discussing encrypted / non-encrypted stuff, I'd like to hide it so "they" don't find out and take it away !

Malamute, can you comment on how you're viewing HDNet ?? Andy says,

galaxy 9 is a c-band only satellite. your dish and lnb won't receive c-band frequencies.

This is going to be fun !!

[Todd Wiedemann]

Cost tally, so far: $354[/B]

Will need ~200' of RG-6 (recommendations anyone, donations ?? )

Probably some RG-6 ends and cable staples ...

Endless patience to aim, I'm sure !! :rofl:

What am I missing ?? :confused:

[uplinkguy]

sorry malamute, I was going by the info that you had stated in the other thread that you only had a ku-band lnb.


The specs in Todd's new package mention that it is also a ku-band lnb.  If these are both accurate statements, then the frequency range the receiver will get is between 10.7 and 12.75 ghz.

The c-band range is 6 ghz lower.  Obviously something was posted incorrectly on either lyngsat or the specs page or you do have a c-band capable system.  If so, great.  Hopefully Todd will too.


btw, you sound like a ham, do you have a call sign?

[Todd Wiedemann]

Not C-band capable, here Andy. Check out the "old" thread once. It appears that he's Ku only, especially since he's using an old PrimeStar dish.

Like I said, as much as I'd LOVE more HD content, this purchase indulges my other hobby, being nosy. :blush:

I love out-of-my-market news and the idea of picking up on news feeds ... I tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to get newscasts from around the country using my ReplayTV Internet Video Sharing abilities. I posted on a national board, but only ONE person sent me a 1/2 hour newscast. I'm an information junkie, I guess ...

It's much like getting a Region-free DVD so I can watch my 'Six Million Dollar Man' DVD's from Europe.

There, I did it, I'll save you all the time:
"Hello, my name is Todd, I'm a complete nerd."  :wave:

[Malamute]

Todd,  
     If you want a Code FREE DVD Multi-system player (NTSC/PAL) goto //www.dvdcity.com and go WILD:guns:
     They have many different models to choose from.:drink: