[rickytk]

it looks like nagra3 coming in soon to my area so my current system will be lost so i'm looking at the best free to air system at the cheapest outlay !

i've been looking at this :

FORTEC STAR|90CMMOTORKIT|MOTORISED FTA SATELLITE KIT | CPC

only looking at free to air broacasts and not just english ones,

has anyone had/installed/got one of these systems and if it's poo any suggestions would be really appreciated along with url's :-)

cheers

ricky G0LZX/G1VWL

[Ghostleader]

The supplied mount is UTTER garbage, apart from that its not to bad for the money.

[rickytk]

ta for that, just one more before i splash out...

on setting up, is a sat finder required or is it just the elevation that is critical as i think the dish sweeps from east thru south to west and i'm thinking locks onto the sat automatically?

i'm lucky pointing directly south here so i'm hoping it's an easish job

cheers

ricky G0LZX/G1VWL

[Ghostleader]

Originally Posted by rickytk

ta for that, just one more before i splash out...

on setting up, is a sat finder required or is it just the elevation that is critical as i think the dish sweeps from east thru south to west and i'm thinking locks onto the sat automatically?

i'm lucky pointing directly south here so i'm hoping it's an easish job

cheers

ricky G0LZX/G1VWL

Sat beepers are better than nothing, but portable T.V. linked up to your receiver in turn linked up to your dish is a 100 times better.

[pedro2000uk]

Looks cheap but I don't like any of it.

[Ghostleader]

Originally Posted by pedro2000uk

Looks cheap but I don't like any of it.

True mate, but a FTA receivers £40 on its own, If it were me and I had a strict £100 budget I would buy Technomate 3000 for £47.45 & a 80cm dish & mount & play with that first, then get a motor at a later date.

[rickytk]

i think the pic is only for illustrative purposes ????

[Ghostleader]

Originally Posted by rickytk

i think the pic is only for illustrative purposes ????

Yes & no, thats the dish & receiver you would get, but the dish can either dark slate or White in colour.

[rickytk]

i WAS thinking of a fixed dish but the amount of channels i would miss out on would be VAST...

is there any reasonable alternative with a motorised system i've got abt 150 that i can scrape together...

cheers

[rickytk]

TECHNOMATE TM-3000 D FREE TO AIR BLIND SEARCH BLACK NEW on eBay (end time 10-Aug-10 13:58:55 BST)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/80cm-MOTORISED...item53d60f0c67

would this be a better alternative???

[rickytk]

or maybe at a push???

COMPLETE MOTORISED SATELLITE SYSTEM TM5200D USB PVR on eBay (end time 31-Jul-10 17:46:19 BST)

???

[pedro2000uk]

Originally Posted by rickytk

i think the pic is only for illustrative purposes ????

Yes that's right.. the dish doesn't have its characteristic uneven rim & lumps on the face ... or is that after you have had it a bit and it's seen a few drafts- I forget.. or maybe it's airbrushed out, but I do think you can have them pre distorted if you ask nicely at a certain retailer.

[pedro2000uk]

Originally Posted by rickytk

or maybe at a push???

COMPLETE MOTORISED SATELLITE SYSTEM TM5200D USB PVR on eBay (end time 31-Jul-10 17:46:19 BST)

???

That looks all quite good stuff for a starter pack except I don't know the dish or bracket but the stb, motor, LNB & cable have been chosen well as a budget but good package.. we usually offer the TM5400 Super as a good SD starter and usually use Triax dishes or Orbital now. The bracket could be a good one or not- they all look the same in a photo but if the rest is anything to go on then could be OK too.

[rickytk]

you guys seem to know your stuff, may i say thanks for your opinions and i think i've just saved 109 quid rather than spent just over 150 :-)

i'll let you know how i get on

cheers for ALL your help

regards

Ricky

[rcaudwell]

Originally Posted by rickytk

ta for that, just one more before i splash out...

on setting up, is a sat finder required or is it just the elevation that is critical as i think the dish sweeps from east thru south to west and i'm thinking locks onto the sat automatically?

i'm lucky pointing directly south here so i'm hoping it's an easish job

cheers

ricky G0LZX/G1VWL

If you use USALS positioning it should work kind of like that, you put your latitude and longitude into the receiver and it does the rest. You just have to make sure the mount is absolutely vertical and the dish/bracket square onto it. Then you just have to find 1W and keep adjusting the elevation on the dish and motor until you track the arc properly.

[rickytk]

i got the system yesterday and have installed it,

i'm just in the process of fine tuning it now, the sat finders arent THAT good though, so gonna get a small lcd up the ladder with me and try and sort it that way, i think the hardest part so far is finding tthe initial 0.8w thor sat to get a reference to start from. i'll keep posting my exploits till i have it sorted tho :-) hopefully this afternoon if the weather stays ok

cheers

Ricky

[Ghostleader]

Good luck mate, and I just thought I'd point out, you dont need to use Thor, you could use hotbird if you wanted.

[rcaudwell]

Originally Posted by Ghostleader

Good luck mate, and I just thought I'd point out, you dont need to use Thor, you could use hotbird if you wanted.

You can use any position to set up using usals - but I`d always use Thor as if you`re planning on moving to sats to the east and west it makes it much easier to fine tune the elevation if you start at the highest point of the arc and (almost) due south, as you can see where it`s dropping off and whether it`s going over/under etc, making troubleshooting much easier.

[rickytk]

well it's 100% better now than last night but there's still some satellites that i don't seem to be able to get??

it's strange cos i sweep east and get ome or two then miss out a few then along comes a full scale signal on the next one???

if i'm getting an 85% on Thor and then sweepind across and getting say astra 28 at full scale too then i can't be far off??

and going the other way is similar but i'm getting 30w Hispansat??? at a good 70% so i'm not sure if i'm just missing the sats in between or if they are on another elevation i just don't know it has me baffled??

anyway i can't be that far off now..

made sure the pole was dead straight, made sure the motor was lined up with the pole etc and got my elevation to my long-lat so if i'm doing something wrong it's passed me by??

maybe someone else can shed a bit of light?

cheers

ricky

[Ghostleader]

LNB skew? You never mentioned it mate..

[rickytk]

as far as i was aware there was no need to skew the lnb as it was a motor systemand as the dish turned the skew was automatically compensated for???

am i wrong (again lol )

[rcaudwell]

Originally Posted by rickytk

as far as i was aware there was no need to skew the lnb as it was a motor systemand as the dish turned the skew was automatically compensated for???

am i wrong (again lol )

LNB shouldn`t be skewed, which sats are you struggling with?

[pedro2000uk]

What kit did you end up getting... receiver/ motor/ dish/ bracket/s pole?

[rickytk]

got this one, as it seemed to be the best for my budget

COMPLETE MOTORISED SATELLITE SYSTEM TM5200D USB PVR on eBay (end time 31-Jul-10 17:46:19 BST)

cheers

[rickytk]

Originally Posted by rcaudwell

LNB shouldn`t be skewed, which sats are you struggling with?

after a lot of messing round yesterday this is the best i have come up, any help appreciated

30.0W HISPASAT @61% SIG
27.5W INTELSAT 907 11.052(H)/12.600 NO SIG
24.5W INTELSAT 905 11.458(V)/1.1770 NO SIG
22.0W NSS 7 @70%SIG
18.0W INTELSAT 901 11.002(H)/3.000 NO SIG
15.0W TELSTAR @79% SIG
12.5W ATLANTIC BIRD 1 @79% SIG
11.0W EXPRESS 3A 11.514(V)/2.712 NO SIG
8.0W TELECOM 2D 10.972(H)/27.500 NO SIG
7.0W NILESAT 101/102 10.758(V)/27.500 NO SIG
5.0W ATLANTIC BIRD 3 11.544(H)/17.577 NO SIG
4.0W AMOS 1/2 10.722(V)/27.500 NO SIG
1.0W THOR 2/3 @85%SIG
4.8E SIRIUS 2/3 @69%SIG
7.0E EUTELSAT W3A @ 92% SIG
9.0E EUROBIRD 9 @93% SIG
10.0E EUTELSAT W1 @64% SIG
13.0E HOTBIRD @97% SIG
16.0E EUTELSAT W2 10.957(H)/2.821 NO SIG
19.2E ASTRA 1 10.773(H)/22.000 NO SIG
21.6E EUTELSAT W6 10.972(V)/2.532 NO SIG
23.5E ASTRA 1D3A 10.862(H)/22.000 NO SIG
26.0E ARABSAT/BADR 34 11.727(H)/27.500 NO SIG
28.2E FREESAT/ASTRA 2 @97% SIG
30.5E ARABSAT 2B 12.505(H)/2.892 NO SIG
31.5E OPTUS A3 12.281(H)/22.000 NO SIG
33.0E EUROBIRD 3 11.082(H)/1.400 NO SIG
36.0E EUTEL_SE W4 @67% SIG
39.0E HELLASAT 2 @ 84% SIG
40.0E EXPRESS AM 1 10.981(H)/26.585 NO SIG
42.0E TURKSAT 1C2A @ 89% SIG
45.0E INTELSAT 12 11.451(H)/3.254 NO SIG

Thats the lot????

should i be getting these other sats? is there some i should be looking for not on the list?

can anyone make head or tail of my post lol

cheers

ricky

[rcaudwell]

Different satellites have different areas of coverage, so many of the sats on your list just don`t come in in the UK (especially the further north you get), so you`re never going to get the likes of 7w, 4w. The standout problems on your list are 19e and 5w, both of which should be booming in. On the likes of 23.5e i can get some transponders but not others. From your list you should be able to get a signal from 8w, 5w, 16e and 23.5e. I`d try a different frequency, esp for 19e, I suspect the one your looking at is on the 1KR spot beam (here Foot Prints on Astra 1KR :: TrackSat.com ) which doesn`t come anywhere near the UK. It looks like your tracking the arc pretty much spot on, so 19e really shouldn`t be a problem.

[ChorleyMatt]

Originally Posted by rickytk

...16.0E EUTELSAT W2 10.957(H)/2.821 NO SIG
19.2E ASTRA 1 10.773(H)/22.000 NO SIG
21.6E EUTELSAT W6 10.972(V)/2.532 NO SIG...

On 19'E I don't think that's a "live" TP according to Lyngsat. Try 10836H or 10954H - see what that gives you.

[logiciel]

Originally Posted by rickytk

can anyone make head or tail of my post lol

Yes, it must have taken ages to work that out!
The problem is that you did choose the one TP for 19E that has nothing on it.

[rickytk]

thanks guys, it did take me ages but as you see i wanted to give as much info as possible and it seems to have helped.

TP ? is this an acronym for something? is the the frequency that i have posted next to the sat name on my list?

is it possible that it is just the frequencies that are incorrect?

wher can i find a list of uptodate "tp" freqs as these are just the ones that are preset into the receiver.

i really do appreciate all the time you guys are taking to help me sort this out, i'm only a plumber by trade but am a radio amateur too which helps somewhatr but like the saying goes , a little knowledge can be a bad thing :-)

thanks

ricky

[rcaudwell]

TP is short for transponder (I think). Your right that it`s the frequencies on your list. Up to date lists can be found on Europe, Africa & Middle East - LyngSat It is just your frequencies that are incorrect. You could get a channel list from one of the sat forums (satpimps has them for your receiver) which would be easier than trying to add everything manually.
You`re welcome re the assistance, we`ve all been there. Nice to see another sat enthusiast in sunny Southport