# Help the Planetarium get NASA TV (Digital C-Band) to a DVR that we can download from?



## unithom (Jun 1, 2006)

Hello, I work for the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum here in Chicago, IL.

We would very much like the ability to grab NASA TV's digital signal, record it to a DVR, and then be able to transfer it directly to a computer for use in our video editing and live production / videoconferencing.

(NOTE: This IS a C-band question! Read on!  )

I just created thread 590625 about our current setup, which involves a DishTV DVR... and my frustration that we cannot transfer recordings to a computer. Even though the newer model DishTV DVRs have a USB port built in, they apparently don't work at this time. (One of our model 501 DVR/receivers just crapped out on us and we're trying to decide what to replace it with.)

So, I dug up the info we'd need if we wanted to pull down the signal ourselves, but thought I would run it by you folks to see if it sounded like a good idea or not, and to try and get an idea of how much it would cost.

As I mentioned in the other post: we're out on a man-made peninsula that juts out into Lake Michigan. There are some extremely high winds, year-round. Our first inclination is to avoid putting up another big dish, because our last one (which was larger than 6' in diameter, I am told) blew off of our building and into the lake.

Here's the info given by NASA's site:
(Apologies for reposting, but as I haven't hit the five post limit, I can't just copy the URL)



> *I already have my own C-band-sized satellite dish. What else do I need to get the digital NASA TV Public Channel?*
> 
> If your C-Band-sized satellite dish is capable of receiving digital television signals, you'll still need a Digital Video Broadcast (DVB)-compliant MPEG-2 Integrated Receiver Decoder, or IRD, to get the new Digital NASA's Public Service "Free to Air" Channel.
> 
> ...


Whew, that's a mouthful. With that in mind, can anyone advise us on the following questions:

1. Are there any smaller dishes that are capable of pulling in the signal described above? What's the smallest type (and DIAMETER) of dish we could safely use to receive NASA TV? Based on my research it looks like 7.5 to 12 feet is the norm for this band. Any recommendations on equipment suppliers, Chicagoland C-band contractors, and rough costs for purchasing a new dish and having it installed? Any advice or resources for folks dealing with very high winds?

2. Given NASA's recommendations for receivers, if we WERE to get a new receiver, are there models out there that have decent integrated DVR's? Ones that would let us copy programming as MPEG files (or whatever), directly to a computer?

Or, would it be smarter to just get a brain-dead simple receiver, and plug the highest quality analog connection (component or S-Video, I'm guessing) into a dedicated, computer-based 'DVR'? (I'm trying to avoid that 'generation loss' going from digital to analog and back again.)

Or... should we just stick with DishTV, tough it out there, and try to find a solution for transferring our recorded programs to the computer?

Thanks for any advice!

Thom Brooks
Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum
Chicago, IL USA


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

Thom, I answered you briefly on the other thread, but I was talking about the Ku-band DSS signal, not the presumably higher-quality "NASA Digital" signal.

Otherwise, the answer's largely the same. Sounds like ND will work on any ol' DVB PC card, and then it's in the computer already.

As far as the cost of C-band equipment, some people are paying to have large dishes removed, and many others are happy to give them away. But if you talk to a dealer, there's no telling what he'll steer you to. If you're never, ever going to want another channel, you don't need a motor, so installation ought to be fairly simple.

Since the size of C-band equipment makes shipping prohibitive, and since you don't sound like a disassemble-and-haul-away kind of guy, you'll probably need to get with a local dealer. Look in the phone book under Satellite Television. When you call, ask how many C-band installations the dealer's done -- that'll weed out the Dish Network installers. A good dealer will tell you just how small a dish you can get by with, and he'll know all about your wind loads. Good luck!


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