Amiko A3 FTA Setting

[achex]

Hi, I need a big hand on setting up my A3 to receive FTA, have no clue about KU or C-band or any of the satellites(which is good or which isn't). I need a step-by-step help to get all the FTA channels there are for me.
Las Vegas, NV, USA

 

[Magic Static]

to the forum achex. You have found the right place to learn FTA. It's a lot to take in. And you'll meet a lot of nice helpful folks here. Start with some basics and do some reading in this forum. http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/forums/fta-mpeg2-faqs.29/
Look at some of the signatures of the posters here. They often list the equipment they use.

 

[. Raine]

Welcome to SatGuys, Achex!

It sounds like you already have an A3, dish and LNB? If you do, list what you have, what size/model dish, LNB, etc, and that will help out.

I don't have an A3 [yet!] so I can't help you with that, but there's some people on here that do that will probably lend a hand.

 

[achex]

Thanks A Raine, yes I do have the A3 and I have a DishPro 1000 Plus with 3 LNBs.

 

[Magic Static]

First thing you will need is a dish, LNBF and motor for FTA. Dish and DTV dishes/lnbfs are of little use for FTA viewing. They are circular polarized and FTA is linear polarized. And you need a bigger dish for FTA

 

[. Raine]

Thanks A Raine, yes I do have the A3 and I have a DishPro 1000 Plus with 3 LNBs.

As Magic static said above, a DishPro 1000 wouldn't work well for FTA and the LNB on it is pretty much useless for FTA.

This dish is a decent one to get for KU band and comes with a decent Ku LNB:
Amazon product ASIN B00507CJZM
There are smaller dishes you can get cheaper, you can get a 76 cm for around $40 -50 and $20-30 shipping, but it's best to get a 90 cm or bigger. The smaller dishes don't perform as well, a 76 cm will work for a lot of channels but it's well worth spending a little more to get the 90 cm.

You could get a dish first and set it up as a fixed dish on one sat just to get used to using it and then buy a motor later on so you can move it across the arc to all of the sats. Setting up a motorized dish isn't all that hard really, but for a first install it's much easier setting up a fixed dish than a motorized one.

If you want C band channels, you'd have to get a big dish, 6' or bigger, 10' - 12' is recommended, biggest is best. Here's a thread of dishes from Craigslist, Ebay, etc that members post up that you might be able to find a C Band dish in if you're interested in C Band, I just got a 12' one from one of the posts on here a week or so ago, there is Ku dishes here and there within this thread too:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/thr...to-take-a-look-at.327363/page-78#post-3541647

When you get a dish, if you need help, just post up either a new thread or within this one and there should be tons of people willing to help.

If you're on a real tight budget, you could mount a FTA LNB like this:

Amazon product ASIN B0087OTUJI
with a bracket like this:

Amazon product ASIN B002NHEZZ4
onto the dish that you have now and receive a few channels off of a few sats but I wouldn't really recommend it because with a small dish it can be very hard to setup, especially if you don't have a decent meter and it's the first dish you've ever setup. If you don't get it spot on it won't be at all reliable. If you do try this and don't get any results, don't let it deter you away from FTA, the small dishes are night and day compared to larger ones performance wise!

 

[achex]

Hello guys,
After a very long search for satellite dish, i finally ordered a 8' mesh dish, should arrive in a week. Also bought the suggested FTA LNB, so far I have those two and the AMIKO A3. Now my question is,
1. is there anything else that I should get?
2. what satellites should I aim my dish to/any favorites?
3. is internet connection needed?
4. is there a better FTA LNB(which one is the best)
5. any other suggestion? I'm just a newbie being myself lol.

Thanks in advance.

PS: Anybody know a good Black Friday deal on 4K TVs?

 

[FTA4PA]

Hello guys,
After a very long search for satellite dish, i finally ordered a 8' mesh dish, should arrive in a week. Also bought the suggested FTA LNB, so far I have those two and the AMIKO A3. Now my question is,
1. is there anything else that I should get?
2. what satellites should I aim my dish to/any favorites?
3. is internet connection needed?
4. is there a better FTA LNB(which one is the best)
5. any other suggestion? I'm just a newbie being myself lol.

Thanks in advance.

PS: Anybody know a good Black Friday deal on 4K TVs?

Hi achex. Which c band dish did you order?

• 1. Coax cable (RG6 sweep tested to 3000MHz (3 GHz), compression connectors, compression tool, cable stripper.
• 2. Depends on your viewing preferences but 87W, 99W, 101W are good ones
  
• 3. Possibly for updates, software installation
  
• 4. For a c band dish, the Titanium C1-PLL: http://www.titaniumsatellite.com/pr...x-and-WiFi-Filter/p/27163780/category=6743545
• 5. Read and study everything you can find about dish installation and setup. Here is some good info: http://www.geo-orbit.org/sizepgs/tuningp2.html

 

[achex]

Hi FTA4PA, thanks for the quick reply,
It's "240cm (8ft) C/Ku-Band Prime Focus Mesh Satellite Dish" from a company called "Satellites Galore" a Canada based seller on eBay.
... so the c-band LNBF you mentioned above, is that for c-band only or for both, is one better than another. I will take a look at the link you provided.

 

[FTA4PA]

Hi FTA4PA, thanks for the quick reply,
It's "240cm (8ft) C/Ku-Band Prime Focus Mesh Satellite Dish" from a company called "Satellites Galore" a Canada based seller on eBay.
... so the c-band LNBF you mentioned above, is that for c-band only or for both, is one better than another. I will take a look at the link you provided.

Thought that might be the one. Believe they also do business on ebay as Tek2000 and they have a website as well. Got mine from Tek2000. Decent dish for the money. Been using mine since about May I believe. Check it out carefully when it arrives as they have had some issues with minor damage during transit and also make sure you have all your parts. Reflector is aluminum so fairly easy to assemble yourself. Mount is steel. Only needed help when I put it on the pole. As far as lnb, C1-PLL is c band only and is top of the line pll and locks signals others have trouble with.

 

[achex]

Is there an LNB that is both C and KU band that works without any quality loss?

 

[primestar31]

Is there an LNB that is both C and KU band that works without any quality loss?

Nope. Big compromises in the dual unit. You are far better off having seperate dishes, even with the added cost.

 

[rsmithwi]

Thanks A Raine, yes I do have the A3 and I have a DishPro 1000 Plus with 3 LNBs.

No FTA on DISH satellites. Get a 90cm KU our c-band, lot's of stuff to watch.

 

[Titanium]

Is there an LNB that is both C and KU band that works without any quality loss?

Agree with Primestar31 that the combined C/KU LNBFs are a compromise. You will have very good C/KU reception without loss on a quality dish if you use a feedhorn like a Corotor with separate C and KU LNBs and servo motor polarity switching.

 

[achex]

Titanium, is this like what you're talking about, would this work?

 

[KE4EST]

That one is designed for C-Band only.

 

[KE4EST]

This is what Brian(Titanium) is talking about:
http://www.tvantenna.com/products/satellite/cband/feedhorns/CorotorII+.html

 

[primestar31]

This is what Brian(Titanium) is talking about:
http://www.tvantenna.com/products/satellite/cband/feedhorns/CorotorII .html

I wouldn't buy it from that link though, as I'm sure you can get it cheaper elsewhere if you look around. They were fairly common on the dishes installed in the late 90's, so you may even be able to find one free once you start looking around.

 

[KE4EST]

I agree, I was just posting that for reference, I didn't see the price at the bottom until prime said something.

 

[achex]

Okay, seams like every time I buy one thing, I'm missing another one that goes with it. Now I'm on the page where I knew I needed an actuator; my question would be: is a positioned a must for the actuator to function or can my A3 receive handle it without a positioned and what else should I get for the rest of the job like wires and stuff? Thanks guys, I hope you don't mind cause I'm still learning.
I'm no quitter lol.