Do I need a motorized dish? Does it work in the loft?

T

trojanfoe

Member
My Satellite Setup
PC
My Location
Waterlooville, Hampshire, UK
Sorry if I've missed these questions already stickied in the forum - if they are then please just post a link.

I am looking into installing a satellite system and was thinking of getting the Technomate TM 6900 as it meets my price range, I want to start as simply as possible and want to receive both HD and SD FTA and encrypted channels (using a softcam). I have some questions:

1) Do I need a motorized dish? If I just pointed the dish at, say, Astra 2D would I get a decent enough range of channels? I would be replacing a cablebox with the sports and movies packages.

2) I would like to put the dish in the loft, to avoid the need for permission from the council and to avoid external clutter. Will it work in the loft?

3) Can anyone recommed a suitable dish?

Once it's up and running and I gain some experience I would probably upgrade the dish in order to see other sats as well, but as already mentioned I want to keep it as simple as possible to start with.

Cheers,
Andy
 
1) You only need a motorised dish if you want access to multiple satellites. If you want Sky UK and nothing else a fixed dish is fine.

2) You cant install a dish under slates, as they absorb the signal totally. If you have a roof window pointing southeastish you *may* get away with an inside dish

Theres plenty of places to discreetly hide any dish if you think laterally.

£) Depend son exactly what you want to watch.
 
Thanks for the reply. I think the channels on Astra 2A-D would be fine. Am I right in thinking these are 4 separate sats that are close together? Could I receive from them all with a fixed dish?

Cheers,
Andy
 
Yes - the satellites are co-located so all appear to be transmitted from one point in space
 
Great stuff. And can you recommend a cheap dish and LNB setup to allow me to receive from Astra? As I say I want to get the Technomate 6900 which has 2 tuners - that affects the LNBs right?
 
trojanfoe said:
As I say I want to get the Technomate 6900 which has 2 tuners - that affects the LNBs right?
Click to expand...


A twin tuner setup requires a twin lnb or quad with a bit of built in redundancy
 
Topper said:
A twin tuner setup requires a twin lnb or quad with a bit of built in redundancy
Click to expand...

Could you explain redundancy? I presume you don't mean the LNB will pack-up?
 
Redundancy suggests spare capacity, so you have four, but only currently use two, ideal for an expanding set up.:)
 
rolfw said:
Redundancy suggests spare capacity, so you have four, but only currently use two, ideal for an expanding set up.:)
Click to expand...

Many thanks. But each LNB requires a cable to the receiver? I think if that is true I would forget redundancy for now as wiring 4 cables seems over-the-top.

Sorry for the retarded questions everyone :-DOH2
 
You only cable two, leaving two redundant outputs for perhaps another receiver down the line.:)
 
Maybe I have missunderstood but when they say the Technomate is a twin tuner isnt one of them a terrestrial digital freeview tuner? Would it still need more than a single LNB.
Can you record one Sat channel whilst watching another Sat channel with the 6900?
Im confused now??
 
trojanfoe said:
Great stuff. And can you recommend a cheap dish and LNB setup to allow me to receive from Astra? As I say I want to get the Technomate 6900 which has 2 tuners - that affects the LNBs right?
Click to expand...

As you can see it was you who said two tuners

If you are buying it surely you would know

I had a look on the web and this suggests it does but other sites suggest it does not only 1 sat and 1 terrestrial

HD Satellite Receiver with Digital Terrestrial Tuner * 2 High Definition Tuners: DVB-S/DVB-S2 Satellite & DVB-T Terrestrial Compliant (MPEG-II/ MPEG-IV/ ....
 
yes technosat web site not so clear. Be nice to know from anyone who has one as Im thinking of getting one too. And I currently just have the single LNB.
May save Trojan foe Andy some money.
 
trojanfoe said:
Could you explain redundancy? I presume you don't mean the LNB will pack-up?
Click to expand...

Redundancy - the addition of components, which are normally critical in the working of a system, multiplied to increase reliability beyond the basic setup.
 
the TM 6900 has 2 HD tuners:
​
1 terestrial, and
​
1satellite

Only the second is connected to your LNB, meaning you can use a single.
The first tuner is connected to an ariel.

I use mine in France, where they have recently launched HD channels on TNT (tyheir equivalent of Freeview), The results are good.
 
harhosk said:
the TM 6900 has 2 HD tuners:1 terestrial, and1satellite

Only the second is connected to your LNB, meaning you can use a single.
The first tuner is connected to an ariel.

I use mine in France, where they have recently launched HD channels on TNT (tyheir equivalent of Freeview), The results are good.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the confirmation harhost, as I have said before the people that do these technical write ups haven't a clue about the technical aspects of what they are writing about so make ambiguous statements to hide the fact
 
Back
Top