Captain Jack
Retired human
- My Satellite Setup
- See signature
- My Location
- North Somerset
Hey guys,
Newby, so be gentle
After a year in a "limbo", I am thinking of getting back into the satellite TV hobby again.
A little background: I used to live in Somerset and had a 1.2m Gibertini dish on a "Stab" DiSEqC motor, which worked well for many years and received a good range of satellites. This was coupled with many receivers in its years but the last one was a Dreambox 7020, which, for me, was the best one but couldn't quite power the Stab motor, so I had an inline power "supplement" for it.
Now: I live in North East London and would like to receive a similar range of satellites as I did in Somerset. My main interests are Scandinavian satellites and perhaps some Russian Express sats. The new Sirius 4 satellite was very strong in Somerset on a 1.2m dish - will a 1m dish in London be sufficient for its reception? What about the new Thors 5/6? Thor 3 was notoriously weak for me and I never had reliable reception from it. Again, will a 1m (or even 90cm) dish be sufficient? I can't put a 1.2m up as I am now living in a block of flats and don't want such a huge dish hanging off the wall.... (the old one was ground mounted)
Also, due to power problems with Dreambox, I was thinking of getting a Jack-type 36v motor and feed it to whatever receiver I choose via a V-Box of some kind. However, maybe doing this for a 1m dish is an overkill?
Also, what receiver would be recommended? I would like a Linux type box for their versatility and preferably something that will receive MPEG4 broadcasts. HD would be preferable but not essential. Would prefer to have a hard drive and network so I can get recordings off the receiver.
Another question is regarding the installation. I live on a northern facing side, which is annoying and also on the top (3rd) floor. My options are to either mount the dish at the front of the flat somewhere (south facing) and lower down so I don't fall off the ladder installing it or placing it above the roofline. However, I don't want the second option as it's quite high and if I fall off, I will probably break things in my body. Any suggestions?
Last question: promise! Does a make/model of the dish matter? I know Gibertinis are very good and so are Andrews/Channel Master, but if I go for a no-name cheaper branded dish, will I get less efficiency from it?
Many thanks for any replies!
Newby, so be gentle
After a year in a "limbo", I am thinking of getting back into the satellite TV hobby again.
A little background: I used to live in Somerset and had a 1.2m Gibertini dish on a "Stab" DiSEqC motor, which worked well for many years and received a good range of satellites. This was coupled with many receivers in its years but the last one was a Dreambox 7020, which, for me, was the best one but couldn't quite power the Stab motor, so I had an inline power "supplement" for it.
Now: I live in North East London and would like to receive a similar range of satellites as I did in Somerset. My main interests are Scandinavian satellites and perhaps some Russian Express sats. The new Sirius 4 satellite was very strong in Somerset on a 1.2m dish - will a 1m dish in London be sufficient for its reception? What about the new Thors 5/6? Thor 3 was notoriously weak for me and I never had reliable reception from it. Again, will a 1m (or even 90cm) dish be sufficient? I can't put a 1.2m up as I am now living in a block of flats and don't want such a huge dish hanging off the wall.... (the old one was ground mounted)
Also, due to power problems with Dreambox, I was thinking of getting a Jack-type 36v motor and feed it to whatever receiver I choose via a V-Box of some kind. However, maybe doing this for a 1m dish is an overkill?
Also, what receiver would be recommended? I would like a Linux type box for their versatility and preferably something that will receive MPEG4 broadcasts. HD would be preferable but not essential. Would prefer to have a hard drive and network so I can get recordings off the receiver.
Another question is regarding the installation. I live on a northern facing side, which is annoying and also on the top (3rd) floor. My options are to either mount the dish at the front of the flat somewhere (south facing) and lower down so I don't fall off the ladder installing it or placing it above the roofline. However, I don't want the second option as it's quite high and if I fall off, I will probably break things in my body. Any suggestions?
Last question: promise! Does a make/model of the dish matter? I know Gibertinis are very good and so are Andrews/Channel Master, but if I go for a no-name cheaper branded dish, will I get less efficiency from it?
Many thanks for any replies!
