setting up a new system

[ericsl]

Hi,

Im living in dublin and im interested in getting a sat setup in the next few weeks. Im getting a 1.2 m motorised sat dish. The guy in the shop said it will cover from 30deg west to 30 deg east. There is just a few questions that I have.

Which is the best box to get? I am thinking about technomate so is that the best and whch one.

If i patch that box what packages could I receive at the moment for sport, movies etc or are they all Encrypted.

do i have to buy a cam or cards?

Any help very much appreciated.

[Rick]

Hi and welcome to Tech Watch. First, unless you have line of sight issues you should get a better view of the arc than that 45w - 45e is normal, some get a bit further one way or another eg I get 45w - 62e. Most of what you watch will be within the 30w to 30e anyway. As far as recievers go, Technomates IMHO are very good recievers, the best reciever for you however depends on a few things. Do you want HD, PVR, Twin Tuner, Linux etc. Once we know we can advise you better. You won't go wrong having a word with southern satellite as far as equipment goes. DigiTV on 1w can be opened on a patch, see lyngsat.com for package info. There is a little more on cams but for the time being atleast I would hold off buying a cam or card as their future is a little uncertain.

[ericsl]

Thanks for your reply . I was Thinking about hd and pvr. Im just not sure about cams and cards etc. If I get a box that has a cam embedded do I need to buy a card or if i patch it does it pick up channels. Is it easy to patch the receiver or do you need to buy loads of other equipment.

[Rick]

The technomates can be patched with a USB stick in alot of cases and you don't need a card. There is only limited channels available on a patch, and this probably won't last much longer. They are easy to patch when you know how. I would talk to Ian at Souther Satellite (forum sponsor) about reciever options.