# Few questions?



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

I thought before I jumped in and tried to get pbs hd, I would play around a little. Set my 3' dish up, got a .4 lnbf, and a cheap Fortec Mercury II. Galaxy 10 KU is 89-91 strength and 62 quality... all the channels look pretty good using component out.

Now my questions...

What happens if I try to tune in pbs hd channel with non-hd receiver, Get a 480 pic, no pic, garbage? Just curious.

Second ?...Long time ago I had a fta tuner card in my computer for WB HD (C band) but it seemed to freeze up a lot. Had a slower computer then too. Would a computer card be a viable option, or would I be better off with a Pansat HD receiver. Is there any other free HD available that's not on Directv besides PBS?

My local PBS has most of the shows in HD except Soundstage and Nova, both of which I would really like in HD.

Thanks for the tips. G10's fta channels from Equity look kind of bandwidth starved, but it may just be the cheap receiver I'm using to play around with, which I'm going to eventually put in the bedroom.


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

Generally speaking, when you tune in a HD channel with a SD FTA receiver, you may get the audio, but nothing else. Depending on how the receiver sees it, you might get garbage, but more often it's just a blank screen.

AFAIK, PBS HD is the only real HD channel available on FTA Ku-band. There are plenty of HD sports feeds, which is the real benefit of an HD receiver at the moment. But it's hard to imagine that all of these SD channels will stay SD five or ten years from now.

Tuner card vs. standalone receiver has no clear answer. The HD tuner card will require significant computing resources, but computers are cheaper all the time. I would suggest considering initial cost (which varies depending on whether you have a speedy computer already free) and eventual obsolescence. What will that computer be worth three years from now when you decide you need to get a receiver that handles (insert new feature)?

I've always thought those G10R channels have looked a little scratchy no matter what receiver I've used. But in true FTA spirit, I try to focus more on how happy I am to have them available at all.


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## unclehonkey (Jan 3, 2008)

Davenlr said:


> What happens if I try to tune in pbs hd channel with non-hd receiver, Get a 480 pic, no pic, garbage? Just curious.


most boxes will show a nice green screen...maybe audio too but a green screen. Older boxes would lock up the box on a HD channel



> Second ?...Long time ago I had a fta tuner card in my computer for WB HD (C band) but it seemed to freeze up a lot. Had a slower computer then too. Would a computer card be a viable option, or would I be better off with a Pansat HD receiver. Is there any other free HD available that's not on Directv besides PBS?


PC card would be the cheapest alternative



> Thanks for the tips. G10's fta channels from Equity look kind of bandwidth starved, but it may just be the cheap receiver I'm using to play around with, which I'm going to eventually put in the bedroom.


[/quote]
they are. Even on the 9200 some look like mush. They have 15-17 video channels on a transponder. That's tough to keep the pic the best


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Sports feeds in HD? Like Major league baseball? Is it like the old C Band days, never know where they will pop up, or are the pretty much on the same sats? In the woods here, can only hit a few without physically moving the whole dish and mount around the yard.

I see several companies sell HD FTA receivers but the new ones being announced are mpeg4 also. I'm assuming pbs HD is mpeg2? Worth waiting and spending $200 more? I was looking at the Neusat HD, which from the description would let me plug a external USB drive in the back and let it record. Would be nice to be able to record Nova and the music shows on PBS. Anyone have any experience with Neusat? Its $130 less expensive than the Pansat...


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

To see the feeds that are out there, try the Yahoo backhaul group http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/backhaul/, or Ricks Satellite Wildfeed and Backhaul Forum http://www.websitetoolbox.com/mb/rickcaylor. I haven't done a lot of searching there lately, so you might check to see whether the feeds are MPEG-2 or -4.

Yes, PBS HD is MPEG-2. In the long run, I expect to see more MPEG-4 as more HD gets added. Then again, as John Maynard Keynes put it, "In the long run, we're all dead." What you want to buy (and when) is a decision you get to make. If you get HD going, be sure to let us know how it's working for you.


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## unclehonkey (Jan 3, 2008)

Davenlr said:


> Sports feeds in HD? Like Major league baseball? Is it like the old C Band days, never know where they will pop up, or are the pretty much on the same sats? In the woods here, can only hit a few without physically moving the whole dish and mount around the yard.


various satellites but some sports will stay on the same satellites



> I was looking at the Neusat HD, which from the description would let me plug a external USB drive in the back and let it record. Would be nice to be able to record Nova and the music shows on PBS. Anyone have any experience with Neusat? Its $130 less expensive than the Pansat...


I've read reviews and they are not good at all (I assume we are talking about the Neusat 9000). The factory software is bunk. Won't lock even PBS. You have to use old "third party" (ie: hack) software to lock PBS in. Also the blind scan is as useless a comb is to a bald man. It doesn't work. If you want to manually type in all the transponder info, then by all means get one.

Also there is no OTA tuner in it and it wont let you record to a zip drive.


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## PTown (Aug 18, 2007)

Davenlr said:


> I see several companies sell HD FTA receivers but the new ones being announced are mpeg4 also. I'm assuming pbs HD is mpeg2? Worth waiting and spending $200 more? I was looking at the Neusat HD, which from the description would let me plug a external USB drive in the back and let it record. Would be nice to be able to record Nova and the music shows on PBS. Anyone have any experience with Neusat? Its $130 less expensive than the Pansat...


Agreed that the Neusat/Captain HD receivers are not note worthy and from what I understand mpeg2 only.
If you are concerned about future mpeg4 conversions go with a Sonicview 8000, Viewsat 9000, or Pansat 9200 as I believe their chipsets are mpeg4 capable. Coolsat 8100 might be also.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

Just for grins I pointed my 24" dbs dish at AMC3 with my old KU linear LNB, but couldn't get a pip of a signal. I'm not sure if the lnbf even works its so old. So, if I need a new dish/lnbf, should I get another 90cm like I'm using on Galaxy 10, or a bigger one, for AMC3. I'm getting 80 signal, ~55 quality on G10 with the 90cm.

Lastly, shouldn't I at least get some signal with a 24" dish if the lnbf is working? 

Edit: I answered my own question. I put my old LNB on the G10 setup and it worked perfect, so guess 24" is not enough for a pip. Guess Ill order another 90cm unless I need bigger for AMC3 in Arkansas... This is fun. Something to do besides yardwork.


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## unclehonkey (Jan 3, 2008)

Davenlr said:


> Just for grins I pointed my 24" dbs dish at AMC3 with my old KU linear LNB, but couldn't get a pip of a signal. I'm not sure if the lnbf even works its so old. So, if I need a new dish/lnbf, should I get another 90cm like I'm using on Galaxy 10, or a bigger one, for AMC3. I'm getting 80 signal, ~55 quality on G10 with the 90cm.
> 
> Lastly, shouldn't I at least get some signal with a 24" dish if the lnbf is working?
> 
> Edit: I answered my own question. I put my old LNB on the G10 setup and it worked perfect, so guess 24" is not enough for a pip. Guess Ill order another 90cm unless I need bigger for AMC3 in Arkansas... This is fun. Something to do besides yardwork.


did you skew the LNB? The PBS stuff is weak and you would need at least a 30" dish. But there is a arab mux of channels that are very strong

11736 V 6102 (freq/polarity/symbol rate)

That would get you in the ballpark and then you can tweak from there


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

11736 did it, Zeroed right in and got Arab tv, and a very breaking up Bloomburg tv so far, still tweeking. Thanks. Definantly need a bigger than 24" dish for this one 

I do wish I understood this better. After a power scan there was still no sign of pbs, so I edited and changed the symbol rate to 30000 to match lyngsat, and it then scanned all the PBS X and schedule channels. I was tuned to CREATE while putting away the tools, and it started breaking up, then just disappeared. No signal. The rest of the channels are still there on that sat. Do they raise and lower their power on the fly?

In any case, They all just started coming in around 5pm again. PBS World is great. PQ is excellent too for a SD feed. Can't wait to upgrade this dish and get a Pansat HD. Thanks for the tuning tip Unclehonkey. It was a combination of a small dish, wrong transponder trying to tune, and the skew was about 5 degrees off. Kinda cool pulling this stuff in on a 24" dish


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## unclehonkey (Jan 3, 2008)

yep a 24" dish would work but not reliable. The satellite is kinda old (AMC3) so its possible that there are issues. Lets put it in comparison..AMC18 is working at another location in the sky.

PBS has always had issues as the footprint is not the best. Northern states almost need a 36" dish to get reliable reception. They dont raise and lower power but the satellites move and that can disrupt reception.

The arab dude I've picked up on a 18" dish and KU LNB..they are very strong signal


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

PBS was a no go today, so I ordered another 90cm dish/lnb. since I already had the 24" mounted, I thought I'd see what I could use it for. Bounced it over 2 degrees, and added Galaxy 28 to my receiver (It wasn't listed), and got ABC News Now and several feeds. Strength is great, so I'm just gonna leave it, and buy another coax run for the new dish. Might as well use those disq switch positions up  Thanks for the tips.


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