Receivers: 4000 vs 6000 channels

timhan

Hi, I'm new to the fta world. I am looking at receivers and I see some say 4,000 channels, some 6,000 and some only 2,000. I'm interested in getting English programming (live in Germany and getting tired of only having CNN). My thoughts are I would want programming at 19.2 and 28.8. Finally getting to my question...

If I do not have a motorized dish, does having a receiver with 4,000 channels cause me to lose out on anything that I would get if I got one with 6,000 channels? Would one with 2,000 channels be sufficient?

Thanks very much!

HB13DISH

Hello timhan,
Although you say that you are new to the FTA world, I think that you should consider the encrypted world.
When you scan a satellite for channels, for example Hot Bird 13E or Astra 19.2E, the receiver will add thousands of services namely TV channels, Radio channels and data services.
With two LNB's on the same dish (even if not motorized), the receiver might exceed the number of channels that can be stored and any future scan will be more difficult, to say the least.
I had this problem with a Nokia receiver and I had to delete channels every now and then in order to accomodate the new channels.
If you restrict the scan to FTA only, then you will miss on all the interesting channels and you wouldn't even know that they exist until you hear about them.
So my advice is to look for a receiver with unlimited channels storage as this will not be a major factor on the price of the receiver.
To summarize, don't buy an FTA receiver. Consider a receiver which can give you more flexibility in the future and also to enable you to insert a smartcard with official subscription.
I think that you will find the Dreambox models very popular.
And since your location is Germany, you might get it cheaper than anywhere else in Europe and also there are a lot of German forums which can give you excellent support.
This forum has a lot of information, so if you ever decide to buy the DM600PVR or DM7020S, you can start looking for solutions here.
Good Luck

dasteelman

when you say 4000, 6000 or even 2000 channels...that just means the receiver can pre set them amount, however there are a few receivers out there with unlimited channel storage. you wont need at least 40 percent of the channels.

for two sats as u want, 2000 channel storage will be fine, more sats more channel storage you will need

Nice but Dim

Robbo

2000 channels would be plenty for 19E and 28E FTA

6000 channels might not be enough if you got motorised and wanted encrypted channels too.

Robbo

timhan

Thanks Everyone, all the replies are very much appreciated. After reading these replies, I am convinced... I'll check out a receiver capable of getting the encrypted channels too.

I like cheaper, but my German is too horrible to be able to read German forums.

I'll go search on dreambox now...