completely fresh and new deciding on satellite tv options

the dish I already have has been on the house for more than 10 years at least.. it is a very small about 60cm by 70cm grey dish fixed in the position . It isnt circular but of elliptical shape overall.. It has many little holes on it.whilst to me it seems that it is offset rather than prime with one arm to hold the gizmo box I could not guarantee this observation.
I am assuming that it was installed at some point to pick up 28E and UK content via sky.. therefore I am also assuming that I could get a very cheap old sky receiver or one that combines freesat and the rest of FTA channels and have that as one system... I think this would be good cost wise as I can utilise the dish thats already there..

I am not sure about the duo or quad or octo options and what those would do for me? Pressumably it would be some multi receiver multi something functionality.. Can someone explain this to me in detail please?


On the subject of a motorised or switched dish the jury is still out (would a motorised one be able to catch all satellites in range whereas switched would catch the ones predetermined?) because I do not want a flimsy set up.. In order to catch BADR4 badr6 and so on 16E 13E 19.2E 0.8E etc..I would need a good bit of kit.. with 20 degree something (on uncertain ground here if you havent noticed).. I have understood that working the motor (power supply of 5A combined with 36V to it etc)..and preventing slippage is of concern with flimsy set ups.. thus it might be better if in the end I go for decent fixed dish but a switched option on multi level something something (there is that shaky techy bit again).. And then I will possibly be well advised to invest in a decent receiver to mop up those signals and present them very nicely with all the modern functionality .. internet connection to it pvr, etc..
not to forget sling gizmo stuff so I can watch it all abroad too (namely iPlayer match of the day stuff on my iPhone)
Dreambox 8000 seems to come on top in the forum arguments as far as receiver is concerned..

what would be recommended dish options set ups and mounts.. for say this octo functionality?
 
the dish I have seems to be fixed in 170 deg direction.. would that be right?
 
the dish I already have has been on the house for more than 10 years at least.. it is a very small about 60cm by 70cm grey dish fixed in the position . It isnt circular but of elliptical shape overall.. It has many little holes on it.whilst to me it seems that it is offset rather than prime with one arm to hold the gizmo box [lnb] I could not guarantee this observation.
I am assuming that it was installed at some point to pick up 28E and UK content via sky..[probably sky analogue on 19.2e] therefore I am also assuming that I could get a very cheap old sky receiver or one that combines freesat and the rest of FTA channels and have that as one system... [yes if you ensure it is aimed at 28.2e] I think this would be good cost wise as I can utilise the dish thats already there..

I am not sure about the duo or quad or octo options and what those would do for me? Pressumably it would be some multi receiver multi something functionality.. [receivers in other rooms options] Can someone explain this to me in detail please?


On the subject of a motorised or switched dish the jury is still out (would a motorised one be able to catch all satellites in range whereas switched would catch the ones predetermined?)[yes] because I do not want a flimsy set up.. In order to catch BADR4 badr6 [badr6 needs a 5-6m dish in UK] and so on 16E 13E 19.2E 0.8E etc..[they're OK] I would need a good bit of kit.. with 20 degree something (on uncertain ground here if you havent noticed).. I have understood that working the motor (power supply of 5A combined with 36V to it etc) [Not unless you want a dish over 1.1 or 1.2m+ [1.8m or 2.4m or 3m?]- all it needs is a diseqc motor [ideally a darkmotor superior]- no extra wires - very easy to use / fast & quiet]..and preventing slippage is of concern with flimsy set ups.. [yes.. (we get paid to put a lot right tbh) .. but not if done properly - ours don't slip in 100mph+& a lot of fixed dishes can at that] thus it might be better if in the end I go for decent fixed dish but a switched option on multi level something something (there is that shaky techy bit again).. And then I will possibly be well advised to invest in a decent receiver to mop up those signals and present them very nicely with all the modern functionality .. internet connection to it pvr, etc..
not to forget sling gizmo stuff so I can watch it all abroad too (namely iPlayer match of the day stuff on my iPhone)
Dreambox 8000 seems to come on top in the forum arguments as far as receiver is concerned..

what would be recommended dish options set ups and mounts.. for say this octo functionality?

mosty answered in bold text ..

for freesat use a sky dish & quad or octo -very not dear due to the quantities manufactured.

DM8000 = very good but not cheap & uses Linux images that are very good at doing some things [card share mainly] but not the most easy to use
 
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I am assuming that it was installed at some point to pick up 28E and UK content via sky.. therefore I am also assuming that I could get a very cheap old sky receiver or one that combines freesat and the rest of FTA channels and have that as one system.
I am not sure about the duo or quad or octo options and what those would do for me? Pressumably it would be some multi receiver multi something functionality.. Can someone explain this to me in detail please?
From the description that's almost certainly correct, and it has been there all the time to solve part of your equation! You could get a very cheap old Sky machine and cheap can be as low as free. You can also get a new one at a very low price. Without a subscription that would not be a good choice though.
The better choices would be a Freesat or generic PVR. That's where the quad - usually not either dual or octo - LNB comes into the picture. In this case it probably wouldn't be for a multi receiver setup but it would have multi functionality, in the sense that it would let you watch one channel while recording another.
Pedro: You're even more versatile than I thought or guessed, as I certainly hadn't considered the possibility that there are any travelling satellite experts! You push me a little further towards the motorised option. :)
 
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