Getting started: Fortec Beta and Sky Minidish

[argonaught]

Hi everyone, thanks to those who helped with my earlier post.
At my University house, we've inherited a Sky Minidish already pre-mounted facing east on a pole in the back garden. I'd like to try and get some of the foreign channels I've been reading about here - particularly the Dutch/German ones. But there's so much information! I just wanted to ask some basic questions:
1. If I were to buy the Fortec Beta box from Maplin and connect it to my MiniDish, would I be able to manually line up satellites using a compass/satellite finder?
2. I understand the Beta doesn't have a card slot - does this matter?
3. I keep hearing about patching recievers - why is this important/what does it do?

Thanks so much, can't wait to take the plunge

[Analoguesat]

Hi argonaught and welcome to the forum

1. Yes - if you can safely reach the dish - & with a bit of trail and error you wont need the compass
2. Not really unless you want to watch foreign pay tv services
3. patch involves modified software for the box which you load up and it will open some pay channels not Sky UK before anyone asks! The channels vary from week to week as the pay tv providers fight back against the software compilers

[argonaught]

Thanks very much - very helpful answers.

The dish is on a six foot pole in the back garden, so I can easily and safely reach it. I'll order one of the Beta boxes from Maplin as they've got some B-grade clearance stock. I also need to put a connector onto the end of the satellite cable coming from the dish, as it's currently unterminated. As I understand it, you just need to line up the vertical axis depending on your location in the UK (I'm located in Reading, Berkshire) then adjust the horizontal axis to find each satellite? Which are the best/easiest satellites to locate for a newbie (and for someone with a small minidish)?
Cheers!

[Analoguesat]

19E 13E 7E, 5E, 5W for starters then a hatful of others really. Have fun & let us know how you get on

[BGonaSTICK]

Have a play with this:

http://www.ses-astra.com/consumer/az...p?locale=en_GB

The dish will probably already be at Astra2 - 28.2E, and you probably want to start playing on Astra1 - 19.2E.

Good luck, and stay safe.

If you can scrape together £60, get a Technomate TM1000D which is patchable - loads of movie channels open on 19.2E periodically.

The Fortec box you mention isn't patchable AFAIK (I may be wrong). Have a look on the al7bar forum.

[argonaught]

Thanks for all the tips. I've ordered the stuff from Maplin, just have to wait for it to arrive.
I couldn't see any info about patches for the BETA on that forum, but according to the Fortec site it does have a serial port. The only download on the Fortec site though is for a firmware update.
http://www.fortecstar.com/estore/sto...6&CategoryID=4

[Unknown user #1]

There is some info here

[argonaught]

Thanks Rookie, looks promising, if very complicated!
Do you basically install the loader software on your PC, then use it to upload the latest Software (PAL)? Does each software release break the encryption of different channels?

[Analoguesat]

Yup that sums it up nicely

It normally brings back the ones the encryption tweaks have taken away.

[BGonaSTICK]

All the patches and updates on that site are out of date and of no use to man nor beast