Absolute Noob Questions

[Lazarus]

Hello all,

I have got sick of SKY as I don't like all the American culture I am exposed to. I like to think of myself as European, and thus am more interested in my continents culture. I noticed an old satellite dish on the back of this house and have decided to git rid of Sky and get some FTA satellite channels, I see this as a cheap way to learn a foreign language and keep abrest of what is going on in Europe.

The dish itself seems to be an old style Sky analogue kind. It is around 60cm big and appears to be pointing south. It has only the reciever part (LNB?) and not a great deal of cheap looking cable coming out of it.

I'd really appreciate some guidance here. Is it true that I only need to connect one of these SkyStar 2 PCI cards to my PC and I'll be able to watch European satellite programs? If for £40 it seems well worth getting the PCI card for my PC.

Please help, as I really haven't got much of a clue about this but it sounds like a very good idea for what I want.

Thanks in advance.

[RocketMBA]

To answer your question, yes, a £40 card connected to a properly aligned dish will get you lots and lots of stations! However, which stations you get depend on where you point the dish. There's many various satellites up there, each containing lots of things, so you'll need to keep that in mind. A 60cm dish will be able to pick up the most common ones, visibility permitting.

I'm sure you might also be interested in a set-top box - there are some very good low priced models that do a wealth of things. I'm certain somebody will have more suggestions for you!

[Lazarus]

Thanks for the reply.

As I don't really want to invest too much into this until I am properly addicted to exotic television I will point this at one specific location...then maybe look into maybe a motor or something.

I would like to brush up my French and Spanish, and maybe learn a little Italian or German. Is there a all round best location?

Again sorry for the noob questions.

[robbo71]

Hi,

The best all round location for Spanish and german is Astra1 19.2E

For italian and French it is Hotbird 13E I believe.


If it is a Sky analogue LNB it will be no good, because as far as I remember it doesn't cover the hi band.

To get both these sats one dish, a monoblock LNB is the easiest way, and since you will probably have to replace your lnb anyway, you might as well get one of those.

regards
Robbo

[RocketMBA]

Here's a list of channels for you for 13e and 19.2e, listed alongside the language(s) they broadcast in - they're all FTA, and you'll be able to get these no problem:

http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-13E-fta_eng.php
http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-19.2E-fta_eng.php

[Lazarus]

Excellent, thanks for the pointers.

I'll look at the LNB tomorrow and work out if it is no use.

I'll go and have a look at some satellite shops for LNBs and Cable.

[solunauk]

I think you'll find monoblock LNBs cheaper on Ebay than in most shops. Look for one with 6 degrees separation if you want to pick up Astra 1 and Hotbird at the same time. Ebay ones go for about 19 quid.

Good luck

Sol

[robbo71]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

Excellent, thanks for the pointers.

I'll look at the LNB tomorrow and work out if it is no use.

I'll go and have a look at some satellite shops for LNBs and c@ble.

For the cable get the better quality stuff, such as WF100 (foam dielectric) or CT100 (air-spaced dielectric).

I got my first lot from Satcure, as they will sell it by the metre (50p I think), and even put the connectors on for you.

Robbo

[madrat]

Wizard are doing one for £12.50 at the moment

_http://www.wizardsatellite.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_80&produ cts_id=210

[BGonaSTICK]

Very good madrat. That's dirt cheap. Snap one up!