Help...

kmb

Hi all,I am thinking of getting a fta reciever and diseq 2 way switch,extra lnb.

I have a sky system which i want to replace with fta,and a old analogue dish mounted on wall.

question i have is:

If i use astra for sky replacement will i get bbc etc.
And the analogue system with new lnb for "hotbird"?
Is hotbird any good or is it full of foreign channels?

Gonna get all but wanna be clear in my mind that it all makes sense.

Also what is softcam?Can be used for viewing both free to air and pay tv with appropriate card and module or with modified firmware which is an option below (softcam)

What does this all mean?

regards kieran

watty

Hi all,I am thinking of getting a fta reciever and diseq 2 way switch,extra lnb.

>> Get a 4-Waqy switch, use other ports later.

I have a sky system which i want to replace with fta,

>> IF you cancel Sky and put dummy card or upside down card while in Interactive on 501 Sky news it will have all the FTA channels from Sky / 28.2E

and a old analogue dish mounted on wall.

>> There are no Analog dishes. It may point at 19E, with has many FTA in various languages and French and German and Polish Pay TV.

question i have is:

If i use astra for sky replacement will i get bbc etc.
>> Astra 19E (where the old dish points) has only BBC World TV. The Sky box gets all the same BBC a FTA receiver gets see above re UK vs Irish EPG.

And the analogue system with new lnb for "hotbird"?
Is hotbird any good or is it full of foreign channels?

>> It is good for a special definition of good. It is unlikely your existing old dish that was for Sky Analog (19.2E) points at Hotbird 13E.
I watch Arriang TV (Korean TV in English), IBA ch33 (Israeli TV in Arabic, English and Hebrew), Nile TV International (English, French, Hebrew and Arabic), DW TV (English and German), Terranova (German/French some English Nature etc), MEteo (anaimated satellite weather), BBC World TV, VOA/C-SPan TV (American news and propaganda).

Gonna get all but wanna be clear in my mind that it all makes sense.

Also what is softcam?Can be used for viewing both free to air and pay tv with appropriate card and module or with modified firmware which is an option below (softcam)

>> Softcam is CAM emulation on a PC with a 80 Euro Satellite Card such as Skystar2. Often it is used to steal pay TV. It can be used legitimately with an ISO card reader on USB, PCMCIA or Serial port with legitmate card for Pay TV.

In theory you can use a real Sky card with some versions, to get what you pay for, but it is awkward and the card neds "refreshed" in a Digibox. Best to forget about softcam and use PC Sat card as awkward PVR like Sky+ but for FTA TV only.


What does this all mean?

regards kieran


The old dish could have a 2nd LNB added later and the FTA box or PC card can then select one of three satellites.

I'd leave the Sky box alone as a FTA box will not do BBC interactive etc. Do the trick with card to get all the UK FTA Sky platform on EPG (or add them to Irish card via Other Channesl).

You can even add a quad LNB to feed diseqc switch and Skybox or a single LNB for Sky on the old dish too.

see
http://homepage.eircom.net/~watty/satellite/satellite.htm

and
http://homepage.eircom.net/~watty/satellite/sathowto-p6.htm

Note the LNBs are all bolted now. The 28.2Sky is a quad and the other two are now Universal.

The Quad drives two digiboxs (one FTA with no Subscription, the other on 2 mix pack) and PC via 4-way diseqc switch.
A separate dish does Telsar 12 @ 15W on the 4 way switch.

A motorised dish drives a 90 Euro FTA PALCOM DSL4 (moteck motor and Lidl 80cm dish) from www.satellite.ie for abot 1400 FTA TV, 1100 FTA radio from 20 satellites.

Check www.lyngsat.com for "frequencies" in Atlanic and Europe sections, "Clear" / MPEG2 channels.

watty

FTA requires no CAM or card.
FTV is a once payment or annual small payment and needs a card, CAM or both. SWiss, UK, Dutch all have FTV services
Pay TV needs a CAM and card. For Sky the CAM is built in and not available for other boxes.

A receiver with slot for a card or a CI for a CAM is more expensive than a FTA only receiver that can not take a card.

kmb

Jasus Watty,Thanks for making life much easier!!Thanks for the in depth answer,good to get things clear in my head before shelling out money on something i knew little about.

Regards kieran

Pal

Hi all,I am thinking of getting a fta reciever and diseq 2 way switch,extra lnb.

If you're a novice Kieran and looking for a good entry level, you might consider
getting 3 LNBs. That is the two Astras and Hotbird (28,19,13 east)

personally I would avoid a FTA receiver. Something with a common interface does so much more you wouldn't believe.

kmb

Hi all,thanks for the repies.

What do you mean by"Something with a common interface"?

Is it a 6355 reciever like what tony does with a card slot?


regards kieran

watty

Unless you are stealing pay tv (illegal and big penalties and immoral) or taking out a monthly non-sky sub (awkward), there is NO value to paying a LOT extra for a CI (Common Interface).

A CI takes a CAM (more expense) which then takes the forieign Pay TV card. It won't take a Sky card.

It won't do any more for Free To Air Channels.

A Card slot usuallly means a built in CAM thus CI not needed. May Pay TV receivers have CI for a CAM and one or more "built in" CAM (Conditional Access Module) connected to a Card Slot for the Pay TV vierwing card.

I

kmb

Basically what i want is to cancel sky,and get as many free english channels as possible and what i have at hand is one sky dish and one 80 cm dish.

So do i get hotbird or are the fta channels the main ones or is there a second astra satellite?

Mossy Monk

please dont make this thread become closed with any talk of illegal activities please

kmb

No,I dont want to do it illegally,Just to get the best package i can with the equipment i have.
I started with fta in my mind but found that theres other satellites and channels and wondered if they were worth the expense,That all.

regards kieran

watty

There is Astra & Eurobird at 28.2E, (The Sky UK/Ireland platform)

There is an Astra set of satellites at 19.2E that has a few English, (CNBC, Sky News, CNN, BBC World and maybe Bloomberg are all English and FTA). It is mostly for Polish, French & German viewers.

There is a Hotbird group at 13E that also has some English. It is mostly for Arabic and Italian viewers.

There are about 46 languages..

ALL THREE satellite positions have a mix of FTA and Pay TV.

A second LNB on the 80cm dish and it can get Hotbird @13E and Astra @19E

The minidish gets Astra/Eurobird @ 28E

Add a FTA receiver Palcom DSL4 or similar and a 4 way Diseqc switch only using port 1 & 2 for now.

See www.lyngsat.com Europe frequecies 28.2, 19.2 and 13E to see FTA channels.

Not Packages (these are the pay channels).

tapest

Hi
A few of us novices managed to get 3 lnb's on to one 80cm dish with a 4 way switch, receiving Astra 1, Astra 2, Hotbird, Eurosat. Should have gone for twin lnb'b x 3, giving the ability to use 2 fta boxes.
Search under "multiple LNB's"
t
ps only possible with help for the experts on this site
t

Pal

kmb wrote:

No,I dont want to do it illegally,Just to get the best package i can with the equipment i have.
regards kieran

1. You have an old Sky system.
You can get about 100 FTA channels (BBCs etc., ITV soon. No RTEs. lots of crap)


2. You hve an old analogue 80cm dish
You can get nothing with this unless you have an LNB and a receiver.

That's it. Next step is to spend some money.

If you want quantity not quality then get a motorised setup with FTA receiver.
if you want to have access to pay tv services, legally of course, then get a receiver with a CI.
If you want all singing and dancing everything, get a dreambox.