Bitting the bullet

[tazman]

Well I bit the bullet.  Not only did I order the INTEGRA it912s receiver, I also ordered a dish and LNB from Sadoun.  Now I have to spend some time on Lyngsat and learn where the sats are that have the channels I wish to view and then evaluate the 3 possible locations on my property for setting up the dish.  Boy all those trees I thought I needed to plant in my yard years ago are now going to haunt me.

[Todd Wiedemann]

Hey, if you don't mind, mention this site and my name to Sadoun. He has a bit of a referral program and I'd like to see the board benefit !!

Thanks.

[Malamute]

Tazman::   Glad to read that you order one, but I am having a little problem with the OTA side and the multi casting, Sorry:confused:   I get 4-1 but nothing else (4-2 to 4-6). Its mainly set up for europe tv but have been in contact with Integra about the problems i'm having.

They said they might have an update late this year but they hinted about next year with a new model made just for us.  It will have a better ATSC tuner along with newer chips and faster processing and will come with DisEqc 2.0 control for even newer dishmovers that are coming out.  

The other thing is you should check out this web site :
//www.global-cm.net  but you might want to put on some Depends first:p  when you down load the main page look at the picture!:eek:

Todd you too need to check out this web site.   Let me know what you think about the picture?

Malamute

[tazman]

Malamute

When you say

I get 4-1 but nothing else (4-2 to 4-6).

Do you mean WTMJ 4  or are you refering to 46.1 through 46.3 that WDJT 58 and WMLW 41 and Telemoundo uses?  How about PBS's 8.1 through 8.6?  The only other multicast is PAX 40 and that only shows a multicast of audio channels of which their only using one right now.  Those are the one's I can tune from the popup menu of my Hauppauge card's software.

 I didn't get a motor for the dish yet, being that the receiver only has DisEqc 1.0 right now.  I thought about the stand alone motor controller for $80 but decided to wait for now.  I want to get the basic setup going and get used to that.  Then evaulate my desire for further improvements.  I'll just pick one sat for now that I think will have some programming on it that is of interest to me.  As time goes on maybe they will have a firmware update for the receiver or I'll just order that controller.  Possibly I'll find another receiver real cheap that has USUALS or DisEqc 1.2 or higher on it and use that for moving the dish.
  Another question Malamute.  Now that you have the INTEGRA HDTV receiver, how does the FTA HD feeds look comming off of that compared to the setup you were doing before when you were passing the RF from your Pansat box to your OTA digital HDTV STB?  That always confused me as to how that would work, but you should know because you did it.  I'm gonna try it between the INTEGRA box when I get it and my Hauppauge card.  If it works like you say, then I'll be able to record FTA  HD programming to my hard drive.  If I can't pass the HD stuff, at least I'll be able to record the programs that I get off of the FTA side.

My main goal for right now was to get an OTA box to be able to free up my Hauppauge card for recording so that I could watch a program with sound while recording it.  That is a limitation of the Haupauge software, being that I get no sound while recording to the hard drive.  I can view the program while recording but without sound.  The FTA side of the INTEGRA intrigued me as well and I wanted to get involved in that, and of coarse the many other features that the INTEGRA box has.
  Compared to the Sammy OTA box with DVI that I was looking at for $690, the INTEGRA is still a great deal.

Todd

The next time I have correspondence with Sadoun I will do that.  You may have mentioned that way back in an early thread, but I forgot.

  I don't mind the fact that FTA is hit and miss as far as programming is concerned,  I like to experiment anyways.  The plus side to it is that these are first generation sat signals as compared to Direct TV or DISH or something like those that have been repackaged.

PS I checked out that site.  Thats how my yard would look if I were not married.

Yet another edit:  What I do like about the site is the avialability of the multi LNB brackets.  That might be just the way to go for me with the INTEGRA receiver, since DisEqc 1.0 is for LNBF switching anyways.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Originally posted by Malamute
The other thing is you should check out this web site :
//www.global-cm.net  but you might want to put on some Depends first:p  when you down load the main page look at the picture!:eek:  

Is that Gregg's back yard?

[tazman]

Is that Gregg's back yard?

You would think from the way Gregg talks it just might be?  No actually I looked Plain ,WI up on the map.  It is west of Baraboo.  My folks live just outside of Portage and that would be about 30 miles west of them,  I should check it out the next time I go by Ma and Pa.:cool:

[Gregg Lengling]

Originally posted by StarvingForHDTV
Is that Gregg's back yard?

Actually it looks more like Todd's back yard...all my stuff is on a big tower....Steel not Wood!

[Gregg Lengling]

Actually this is my tower...so it's nothing like that picture.

[The Law]

Nice tower...but...wow, you guys are geeks.  And, believe me, I mean that as a complete complement!

Now I see why you guys have these in depth discussions.  I read through many of these threads and think to myself - man - why don't they just get cable.  I have to do absolutely *nothing* to get what I want - no tweaking, no rotors, no towers, no need to hack,  no aiming at particular things orbiting around the planet- just program my remote.

But now.....I fully understand why you geek out on all this stuff.  

You get to.....

tweak, have rotors and towers, hack and aim at things orbiting around the planet

and....

pick up channels due to troposcopic skips (ok, I don't even know if that's true, but I swear I read something on this forum to that effect ),  intercept programming that you're not supposed to and get to have handles that end in "guru" - that are completely deserved.

Man, it took a while for the light bulb to go on.

[Gregg Lengling]

Did you notice the green growth at the bottom of the picture...the bottom 25 feet of the tower is covered with a Wisteria Vine growing around and up the legs.....it's my wife's version of an Anti-Climb Device.....keeps the neighborhood kids off without an ugly sheet metal protector and makes it look nicer too.

[Malamute]

First:   Gregg, nice picture of your set up:D  I like it!

Second:  The Law,  now you know what you been missing out on:p

Third:  Tazman,  yes the channels that are multicasting like 46.1 to 46.3 for WDJT 58 - WMLW 41 - Telemoundo & PBS 8.1 to 8.6, I only get 46.1 not 46.2 or 46.3  or 8.2 to 8.6.  That is the one flaw in the software that might be updated late this year.
         The Setup that I now use is as followed ::  Dish to the Coship Rec. then out the loop out to the Integra rec. and then I use the DVI-I output off the integra rec into the HDTV I have (Sony 34" 16x9 CRT).
         Choosing what satellites to watch you might want a DisEqc switch 4x1 whichs let you hook up four dishes (if you get 4 more than you can hook up to 16 dishes!!!:eek: and watch 16 different satellites all with out a dish mover motor.) I could picture sixteen dishes mounted up on Gregg tower to Recvie the world into his
Home!:p
         The Satellites that have the most FTA channels on them are:
AMC 3 87.oW (PBS HDTV on this one.)  Galaxy 11 91.oW (FX, Fox Sports Nets, and some LA Local channels) Galxay 10R 123.oW (Outdoor Channel East/West, plus many local channels) Satcom C3 131.oW (Fox Movie Channel, Fox Sports World, Fox Sports Nets) ..  Total there about 60 to 70 channels on these four satellites alone!:eek:
         Also one sat you might want to watch is Intelsat America's 5 at 97.oW, they have Globecast on it and many of there channels are ITC.
         The web site I list in the earlyer post also list most of the channels which you can get satellite by satellite.  I am thinking about there canadian solution offer too. (Star Choice has SIX HD channels that are free if you just get the basic package and a HDTV reciever).

   Malamute

[tazman]

First: Darn I was hoping that there wasn't a multicast problem with that receiver, I'll keep my fingers crossed for an update soon.

Second thanks for the sat info, AMC-3 was one that I was already considering for the PBS stuff.  The others look pretty interesting also, and there all within a total of 30 degrees of each other except Satcom C3 at 131.oW.  I have been studying the pictures of those multi LNB brackets and if I align the dish and primary LNB to Galaxy 11 then mount a second and third LNB for the others.  I would get most of every thing I'm interested in without moving the dish or setting up a second one.  Since I work in the engineering dept. of a tool & die shop and have access to the machines I would need, I should be able to fabricate something.  The brackets I saw on that web site looked to me home made.

Hey Gregg, I still have that 6 element inverted Y configuration beem antenna.  It would make a handsome addition to your antenna farm.:cool:

Now I see why you guys have these in depth discussions. I read through many of these threads and think to myself - man - why don't they just get cable. I have to do absolutely *nothing* to get what I want - no tweaking, no rotors, no towers, no need to hack, no aiming at particular things orbiting around the planet- just program my remote.

Well for most of us that is probably very true.  And if this were a perfect world we wouldn't have a need for this forum and we wouldn't have had the chance to meet all these other fine people who participate here.:hug:

[tazman]

intercept programming that you're not supposed to and get to have handles that end in "guru" - that are completely deserved.

The Law:  I mean no disrespect to you what so ever.   I just wish to make it clearly understood in after my rereading your last  comment.  That the discussion of the means to, or engagement in reception of programming by ilegal means is not condoned here.  The MPEG2 FTA thread was set up for discussion of just that Free To Air satelite programming and related info.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Originally posted by Gregg Lengling
Actually this is my tower...so it's nothing like that picture.

:rofl:   I love it!!!  Yours is much more professional than the other one: http://www.global-cm.net/0704twra.jpg  Thanks for the photo.

I am also impressed at what some people go through to get their signals.  I am also astounded by some of the DVR user's addictions.  DVRs should be included in the list of major addictive substances like crack, nicotine, and heroine.

Starving

[tazman]

Hi Malamute

Hey, since you have your integra receiver already and I don't.  Maybe you can check this out.  I sent a reply email to my order confirmation and this is how it went.

To:      sales@smallear.com;
Subject: Re: order from High Tech Stuff

Hi I just ordered the INTEGRA receiver this past week.  I also belong to
the Milwaukee HDTV forum.  One other fella on there also ordered one
from you a few weeks back and is now using it.  He informs me that there
is a problem with tuning multicast channels with OTA side of that
receiver.  Is it your opinion that there will be a downloadable software
upgrade to fix this problem in the near future?  Also as a owner of an
INTEGRA receiver, will there be a "software updates" page for it and
will I get a password to use it?

This was his reply

DuWayne:
What do yhou mean by ota problem?
We do not have any problem,
You probably have to call
Your local tv engineer and
Ask them to put in normal pid for multi channels.
We have tested in detroit with
No problem, you can get multi
Channels with pbs or abc cbs,
It will say 56-1 for kids
56-2 normal program
And 56-3 for weather doppler map, etc

I understand a little about the pid's but not enough to understand his response to the question I posed.  Maybe our :bow:  resident RF guru could help out with an explanation here.:wave: