Pre-Purchase Advice

[baldylocks]

Hi all

I have read loads of posts and now hope I now know roughly what to buy to self install Freesat.
Please can you confirm and advise..:-worship

1. Humax HD Foxsat Freesat Box
2. Triax Td64 dish (for South Cumbria)
3. Quad Lnb (Which one??)- to power PVR when realeased
4. Dual Satallite Coax (Which grade?)

Together with cable clips and brackets are there any other tips/kit you think are good for either easy set-up or clearer signals

I plan to use dishpointer & compass so do I need a Sat finder as well? -

Also is it possible to get ofset LNB's or brackets at 15 degrees spacing that will allow me to get Freesat on Astra @ 28.2E and Hotbird @ 13E?

Thanks in anticipation.....

 

[Robbo]

For multisat on one dish, the Triax 64 may not be large enough in your location. The TD88 ot TD110 would be better.

Triax do a bracket for their dishes fairly cheaply, and 13E,19E and 28E shouldn't be a problem at all. Focus the dish on 19E.

The Humax Hd Freesat box should do the job, there is plenty of info on the forum.

Any universal quad LNB would be OK, I have a Silvertech Twin, and a Smart Titanium and they seem to fairly good.

A satfnder may be useful, but not 100% necessary, as you can use the meter built into the receiver if you can arrange it so that you can see your TV.

Robbo

 

[satelliteman]

Hi all

I have read loads of posts and now hope I now know roughly what to buy to self install Freesat.
Please can you confirm and advise..:-worship

1. Humax HD Foxsat Freesat Box
2. Triax Td64 dish (for South Cumbria)
3. Quad Lnb (Which one??)- to power PVR when realeased
4. Dual Satallite Coax (Which grade?)

Together with cable clips and brackets are there any other tips/kit you think are good for either easy set-up or clearer signals

I plan to use dishpointer & compass so do I need a Sat finder as well? -

Also is it possible to get ofset LNB's or brackets at 15 degrees spacing that will allow me to get Freesat on Astra @ 28.2E and Hotbird @ 13E?

Thanks in anticipation.....

Re the Quad; as you will be installing a Td64, you require a standard 40mm Quad LNb.

Dual coax such as Wf100 or CT63 (although ct63 for short runs only)

Triax do a multi -LNb bracket for thier Td78, Td88 & Td110 dishes. Not sure if you would get away with a quality signal from boths sats with a Td64..... then again I haven't tried, LOL

SM

EDIT: just repeated what Robbo has basically said, not quick enough LOL ...

 

[Robbo]

Obviuously, the most imprtant thing to get spot on with regard signal quality is the dish alignment. Once you get it roughly right, very careful tweaking and ensuring that the signal dips away from its current postion is necessary to get it perfect.

 

[baldylocks]

Thanks for you help guys - Ok looks like I need the Td88 then!

If I have to focus the dish on astra19 presumably this means I need a bracket that holds 3 lnb's to get signals off 13, 19 and 28? (I've seen a photo of this somewhere), do I need 3 dual or quad lnb's?

So the next question is - would I now need a disequ switch to choose between the lnb's, yet still only need 1 dual cable run to the sat box (/Freesat HDpvr when it becomes available)

Can a reasonable competant "diy"er get it all set up & focused or should I call in the pros.....?!

Ta

 

[Robbo]

For a single tuner/receiver you just need single LNBs, for a twin tuner or 2 receivers you need twin LNBs, etc up to a QUAD LNB (4).

So if you just want a single twin tunered receiver then you just need Twin LNBs.

Yes you need a bracket, the Triax one does up to 20 degrees separation total I believe. That will do the job for you. The LNBs move along the rail so you can put them where you need to.

Yes, I would say have a go yourself. Once you have the central LNB set up and getting the best signal on that, you are half way there. having the correct bracket would make the job easier.

Yes you do also need a DiSEqC 1.0 switch , a 4 x1 would do nicely, and are fairly inexpensive. For a single tuner you just run one cable to the receiver.

For a twin tuner, you would need two Diseqc switches, and two cable runs.

 

[baldylocks]

Ok, fantastic, Thanks! :-worship

Can these forums reccommend suppliers for kit? If so, then who, please?

Is there a site on these forums or elsewhere showing wiring diagrams for the switches as I do not (yet) understand how they work?

 

[satelliteman]

Should look something like this here although it's a different manufacture of dish / bracket. Should give you the general idea

 

[Robbo]

Ok, fantastic, Thanks! :-worship

Can these forums reccommend suppliers for kit? If so, then who, please?

Is there a site on these forums or elsewhere showing wiring diagrams for the switches as I do not (yet) understand how they work?

You should be able to get what you want from one of the site sponsors, see my signature. For the Diseqc 4 x 1 switch, ebay is the cheapest.


The wiring for a 4x1 diseqc switch is extremely simple, it doesn't really need a diagram.

It has four inputs and one output. The ouput goes to the receiver.

The four inputs each go to the relevant LNBs on the dish/es

If you really need a diagram and can't find on, I can scrawl one for you, for 3 -sats ,2 diseqc switches, 1 twin tuner.

Edit:- how's this?

 

[satelliteman]

I think the problem most ppl have is setting the receiver to switch ports on the Disc switch although for the Techomate, it couldn't be any easier

 

[baldylocks]

Thanks a lot guys for all your help.

Just bought a Humax Freesat - read all the threads and seems most appropriate for a beginner - I hope. There's a post on Digital Spy that gets you £15 off at Comet, just hope they're not flogging off problem stock....

Goin out to buy the rest of the kit this avo, to start playin around with it all tomoz. Wish me luck!

HD on my Sony in time for the olympics !! - wait for all the HD broadcasts to fall over now!

I'll let you know how I go on..