Newbie Question

[philbeardmore]

Hi All :-)

I currently have NTL digital with Broadband and phone package for £30 which I'm happy with. Thing is I want to keep the NTL downstairs but install a new system upstairs. This is for two reasons.. 1-I get a lot more channels upstairs and 2-Its a bit of a new hobby. I'm quite technically minded and dont mind giving anything a go so I'm planning on installing the new system myself (its the only way to learn..)

I've read through *longstockings* motorised tutorial and think I will go with the equipment he recommended which was

90cm Dish
Technomate 1500 CI+ Receiver
universal LNB 0.3db
Moteck Digipower 2100A motor
lots of cables etc.

I live in Sunderland with few obstructions - Which direction will I need a good view towards? Also, this may be a stupid question but is it possible to put the dish in the loft of the house? And finally does the above sound like a reasonable setup? I've seen a full beginners kit for £200 at h**p://www.creativesatellite.co.uk/index.html?lang=en-uk&target=p384.html?lmd=38735.361806

Has anyone ever purchased this system from the above company?

Thanks guys and keep up the great support!
Cheers

 

[Sir Bronking]

need a predominatly south facing wall,
you can put dish in loft if you haven't got a roof (in other word's no),
as for the other queries people more knowledgeable about technomate will tell i'm sure

 

[philbeardmore]

OK, cheers for the reply Bronking. The back of the house faces the south so I should be fine on that score. I didnt think you could put the dish in the loft but though it was worth asking.

Has anyone else with very little satellite experience installed a motorised system?

Thanks

 

[twag42]

when i was in your situation i had minimal installing experience with satellites.but with lots of reading,determination and a desire to succeed,i too managed to build my own motorised system.takes plenty of time and patience.but well worth it in the end :-) go for it and good luck!!

TWAG
ps-keep posting and ill help you out along the way,if you get stuck.

 

[rolfw]

Has anyone else with very little satellite experience installed a motorised system?

Thanks

Probably most members on the forum who have a motorised system have done it at least once.

 

[philbeardmore]

Thanks for the replies - I know its a really daft question but I currently have NTL cable with all of the usuall free to air chanels such as ITV, BBC and various others. I plan to keep the NTL downstairs and install a new system (a sort of new hobby..) upstairs. Thing is, if I install a motorised system (without paying any subscriptions - Tight I know.. :-) ) will I receive many other channels? and are they worth watching?

And finally, i've seen a list of satellites on h**p://www.satsig.net/sslist.htm however people only seem to talk about Astra & Hotbird. Is this because the others dont have anything worth watching on, or can they not be accessed from the UK?

Cheers for all of your help - I really appreciate it.

Have a good day.
Cheers. Phil

 

[twag42]

not paying the subscriptions is part of the fun of the world of satellite telly.wait till you start blind scanning,your gonna like feed hunting :-)

TWAG

 

[bk_man]

If your going to tackle a motorised system, there is plenty good free advice around, but don't underestimate the task.. Be sure you know where True South is (not magnetic south) - and to avoid going grey before your time - get a good signal meter, a cheap one at a fiver will throw up too much rubbish and background noise when fine tuning.. You can also dampen the signal with a wet cotton cloth carefully over the LNB when fine tuning..

 

[Topper]

Thanks for the replies - I know its a really daft question but I currently have NTL cable with all of the usuall free to air chanels such as ITV, BBC and various others. I plan to keep the NTL downstairs and install a new system (a sort of new hobby..) upstairs. Thing is, if I install a motorised system (without paying any subscriptions - Tight I know.. :-) ) will I receive many other channels? and are they worth watching?

Well that depends on too many variables. Let me put it this way a reasonable motorised system can receive over 4000 channels and whilst a lot are FTA a number can still be decrypted using cams cards and/or patches. It really all depends on your reasons for wanting to view. Lots of people have a partner who speaks a second language and simply wants to keep in touch or another may be learning a language.

And finally, i've seen a list of satellites on h**p://www.satsig.net/sslist.htm however people only seem to talk about Astra & Hotbird. Is this because the others dont have anything worth watching on, or can they not be accessed from the UK?

Of course they can be accessed from the UK. If they are on the arc from about 60 deg East to 60 Deg West then they can be viewed provided you have a non sky receiver digital receiver a reasonably sized dish 90cm and above and a low noise lnb and of course a clear line of sight of the satellites. Astra 1 and Hotbird simply both contain a large number of channels with quite strong transponders which are receivable in Europe and beyond. e.g currently 16deg East is very good but this hobby changes on a daily basis and what we can view today we may not be able to view tomorrow.

 

[bk_man]

btw in reference to my post - if you get a good USAL's receiver, then the true south is pretty much all you need and a good inclinometer. You'll then need to get the co-ordinates of your home from a good mapping system or GPS, to use the meter and download the software from
http://www.smw.se/FreeSoftware.htm

then you'll pretty much be on the way because the rx will do the rest for you.. so also don't underestimate a good receiver.. I have a humax 5400z and certainly this isn't the box for this task.. I think you'd be better going after something like the dreambox and an external powered positioner motor..

Maplin do a motor for 50 quid, - my point about the receiver is go for one with lots of memory.... USAL for hassle free installation for some people..

I haven't tried it but thought about it.. and would actually give it a go if the missus didn't think that my current setup of 4 dishes and 7 lnb's was too much satellite for one person - I'd never hear the end of it...

Hence my other post about dragon cams - this can just silently slot into the humax and then I can persuade her at later date to allow some other gadgets.. - but to be honest if I had choice I'd go out and get the dreambox tomorrow... bang up a motor and reply to let you know how I got on...

 

[bk_man]

I missed out the crucial bit the powered motor.. - the maplin one isn't powered, be careful that the receiver you choose has the ability to pass enough current to drive the motor.. or you put the receiver at risk.. if you go for external powered motor then you eliminate this risk... you have to balance your choice carefully within your budget so ask for advice on this before taking the plunge.. some of the people on this forum will have been doing this for yrs without problems so copy their setup - I came back and put this reply because I remembered about an issue with certain motors and certain receivers - which was related specifically to the motor making too much demands on the receiver..

 

[philbeardmore]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm currently trying to research into how to find true south from my location. This satellite carry on is like opening a new can of worms but its very intrigueing and interesting.

So far the only really tricky problem seems to be deciding whether to go for a receiver which allos CAMS such as the Technomate 1500 or whether to go for a one which uses patches such as the dreambox. Also another tricky area seems to be the theory behind getting the arc correct when positioning the dish. I'm still trying to piece the information together about elevation and declination etc..

I'm sure I'll get there in the end..

Thanks agin guys. ;)

P.S. Thanks Twag42 for your PM - Top man

 

[philbeardmore]

Hi guys,

I've been looking into getting a dreambox etc when installing my new system but I've decided against it (partly financial and partly I'm just learning so I'm going to take one step at a time).

I'm going to go back to my original suggested setup which is
90cm Dish
Technomate 1500 CI+ Receiver
universal LNB 0.3db
Moteck Digipower 2100A motor
lots of cables etc.

Does this sound like a reasonable first time setup or not? If so does £200 sound okay for the kit?

Cheers again.

 

[Cupart]

Excellent piece of kit there philbeardmore... You'll get enough to play around with and it's easy to use.

We'll help you set up the system when the time comes :-)

 

[twag42]

you might also want to invest in a dragon/T-Rex cam and the cas3 programmer,then youll be set.

TWAG