Worth PC based giving Non-Sky Sat a go?

Mark Falsebeard

Hello, new here and on a mission for research.

I known NOTHING about non-Sky Satellite TV but fancy a look around.

Due to a change in plans for the location of our SkyHD Dish I find myself with 2 individual cores of high quality co-ax cable out to a wall that is just crying out for something to be connected to it.

Ideally I'd like other HD content, Sports and the odd "late night" channel or two. Stuff I can't get on Sky basically.

The dish will have to go on the wall and shouldn't really be more than around 60cm. Fixed would be ideal but I won't rule out motorised, although getting power to it may be beyond my abilities. It can point in a similar direction to the SkyHD Dish, but not a lot further west, but has quite a bit of range further east than that. It's in a back garden and not visible by the neighbours.

Is a on a 60cm dish (fixed dual LNB or motorised) in Kent up to what I want to achieve?

What satellites should I be aiming for?

I'd like to build a PC based solution so that I can save to network storage. I've built loads of Windows HTPCs over the years, and have played a bit with Linux with some success.

If it is possible could anyone recommend the best Decoder/Receiver Cards, Dish controllers & Cams for my purposes please? Alternatively, are there Lan enabled Sat Receivers that I can transfer recordings to network storage later?

Could someone point me in the direction of where to start please? I guess I'll need to identify the satellites I want to receive and work out what kit will be needed to do that? Which Sats you'd recommend would be a big help.

Thanks,

Mark.

rolfw

Have a look at the Dreambox section Mark, Linux based receivers with network capability.

Dish wise, a 70cm Raven Gemini dish would get you Astra 28.2, 19.2 and Hotbird 13E, using an offset bracket and DiseqC switch.

Rolf If you enjoy our site, you can help support it by wearing our unique branded merchandise, you can do this by clicking on my baseball cap, making a direct donation with Paypal by clicking on the Donation button below, or using our site supporting advertisers, to do this, click on the central image below. Follow us on Twitter, click on the twitter image.

Mark Falsebeard

Spot on, thank you. Will do some research on the Dreambox. I take it these will taken the necessary Cams/Cards for channels I may require?

Is that Raven Gemini and DiseqC a Fixed or Motorised solution?

Thanks,

Mark.

rolfw

That would be a fixed dish, not sure whether a motor is that useful, given your lack of access to much West of Astra 28.2.

Dreamboxes use software emulators, but you'll get to know about those from that section.

Rolf If you enjoy our site, you can help support it by wearing our unique branded merchandise, you can do this by clicking on my baseball cap, making a direct donation with Paypal by clicking on the Donation button below, or using our site supporting advertisers, to do this, click on the central image below. Follow us on Twitter, click on the twitter image.

Mark Falsebeard

Thanks for the reply,

Would this dish & DiseqC need more than 1 run of co-ax from the Dreambox?

Dreambox does seem like a great solution, I'm quite adept at hacking/modding Tivos so any tweaking shouldn't be too scarey. Any point in the Dreambox 800/8000 with the limited range of Satellites I can see? Any HD broadcast in that region?

Also, could anyone recommend a good Kent installer that could assess whether I could get further west than Astra 28.2?

What Dreambox version would you recommend?

Thank you,

Mark.

rolfw

DiseqC switching only requires a single cable feed to the satellite receiver, but if you have a receiver with a twin tuner, then of course you need to use twin output LNBs and two DiseqC switches, one for each tuner.

The upcoming Dreambox 800 and 8000 are the only ones with HD capability, so you may want to hang on for their release if you go the Dreambox route.

Rolf If you enjoy our site, you can help support it by wearing our unique branded merchandise, you can do this by clicking on my baseball cap, making a direct donation with Paypal by clicking on the Donation button below, or using our site supporting advertisers, to do this, click on the central image below. Follow us on Twitter, click on the twitter image.

Mark Falsebeard

Hehe! I've just been reading a When/IF the 800/8000 will ever appear thread.

Robbo

It is not too difficult to do it yourself, just keep adjusting the dish round until you can no longer pick up any satellites. Also have a look to see if there is a better place to put the dish to get more of the arc.

Robbo

Mark Falsebeard

I've been thinking... My current Sky dish is in a better location really.

Would it be possible to replace my existing Sky dish with a fixed installed 70cm Raven Gemini and run to my current SkyHD box and 2 cables to a Dreambox and/or PC for the other channels?

The signal would need to be at least as good as the current skyHD strength though.

Thanks,

Mark.

Robbo

Yes it would be possible.

Assuming you currently have a zone 1 minidish, I don't think the signal level from the 70cm dish is likely to be be worse. It is a common configuration used by others without problem.

Mark Falsebeard

Just so I understand what I need to run here... I already have twin cables running directly to a SkyHD receiver .... Do I need 3 additional LNBs (1 Each for Astra28.2, Astra19.2 and Hotbird 13E) with a single co-ax cable from each LNB to the DiseqC and then 1 Coax cable from the DiseqC to the Dreambox/PC?

Could I pinch an additional feed from the SkyHD LNB (I'm currently using 2 of 4) and feed that into the DiseqC as well?

Would this mean that the Dreambox/PC could recieve (Free)Sky and the additional 3 Satellites?

Thanks,

Mark.