Got my First Satellite Dish

[Richard Cranium]

Since we now have running water and electric lights in the City, I thought I'd jump on one of these new fangled things they call a Sat-E-Lite dish..

I have a question, does it work on other days besides on Sat ?

I mean, what about the rest of the week ?

Seriously, I cut off the cable TV when it went to $40 for 40 channels of BS

That is Too Much, I pay less for 150 CLEAR channels and don't worry about the cable going off every time it rains.. for real..

My pal owns the TV Doctor here and he loaned me the signal strength meter to set it up(and save $50)

What surprised me is the wide swing in degrees that the signal was still strong, you DON'T have to aim it within 1 degree to get 100% signal, boy the output must be something else to saturate this area so strongly.

It's a Digital 500 by Dish Network, any users ?

[Admin RR]

I've got a DirecTV system with Tivo built-in (Philips DSR6000).. I don't know how I lived without Tivo .. Now I'm not a slave to the TV schedule.. I record the shows I want, in advance, and play them back when I feel like it.

[brandon184]

TiVO used to be quite expensive. Now I see the prices have gone down quite a bit...

I've got a DirecTV Dish (minus the TiVO.. ). I DID have Digital Cable, which I was sort of partial to - but turned out to be QUITE expensive. Cable companies always seem to "conveniently" leave out large, hidden costs...

- Brandon
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[bigblue77]

I have Direct TV(no TIVO). Had cable, but now I pay the same amount for 100 more channels. Plus they are all clear as a bell now, with my cable provider I only had three channels that had a clear picture.

Jer

[I_W]

I'd like to cut my cable bill and get more channels BUT my wife is a TV addict. She is almost always recording one channel and watching another and if I want to watch something (though I watch very little TV) I have to have a third set available with a choice of channels. Yeah, I know, she doesn't ever view 3/4 of what she records or she'd be spending more than 24 hours a day watching TV rather than the excessive number of hours she already does -- afraid she'll miss something.

If I could figure out a reasonably inexpensive way to have 3 different receivers and have them in the right place at the right time I'd be all set. As it is now I have TV in 4 rooms in the house and sets and VCRs in 2 of them and just TVs in the other 2. Can't do that easily with satellite where you have to have specific dedicated receivers.

How easy is it to record (to a standard VCR)? I assume you have to somehow command the receiver to the right channel along with turning on the VCR. My wife hasn't been able to figure out how to work, let alone program, the Mitsubishi VCR that we got when I took back the RCA for a head cleaning on the extended warranty ($20) that I had bought and they said OH, we just give you a new VCR nowadays and we don't carry RCA anymore so it was a Mitsubishi or Panasonic and this one looked easier to program. Since my wife has been a VCR addict since the days of the $600 top loading VCRS that lasted nearly forever she at least knows how to program RCA ones but as the old saying goes, "You can't teach and old d.... - oops better not say that! .... a new trick."

Any bright ideas?

[bigblue77]

Its easy to record to a VCR. I have the A/V cables running into the VCR and then to the TV. Just tune the dish to the desired channel, and hit record.

I remember those top-load VCR's, My parents had one when I was a kid. I was always getting in trouble for playing with my matchbox cars on top of it. I was always hitting eject to watch my cars roll off the VCR cover onto my orange track I had setup in the living room. Ahhh the memories.

Jer

<EDIT> actually, one of those TIVO equipped recievers might be just what you need. Better yet, you could get a dual LNB dish and two TIVO recievers so your wife could REALLY satisfy her TV addiction.

[ClubMed]

Well I'm not sure how the technology in the USA differs from that here in Europe. I have been using satellite television for about 6 years now. A few months ago I upgraded to digital satellite.

The quality both in audio and video is amazing (in comparison to analog).

However it is extremely sensitive. If not tied down any slight wind will cause your dish to shift and you might lose quality or signal.

My current set-up consists of a large bucket, filled with cement, and a metal rod in the middle to which the dish is attached (not very elegant ). Once I figure out where exactly I wish to keep the dish I will find a better and more secure method of installation.

How many channels do you receive? At moment I get about 300 free channels, of which about 40-50% are interesting, the rest are BS.

the output must be something else to saturate this area so strongly

That's exactly why we should all be wearing hats made of tin foil!

I agree that the clarity is breathtaking, but you need a good TV too. A HDTV is so good with a satellite, the resolution is like a good printed photograph.

I'm thinking of upgrading too but they need a South facing area in the apt. to mount the dish.

[I_W]

I understand how to record MANUALLY. You don't think a REAL TV addict is going to do it manually do you? Since my addicted wife records probably 6 or 8 hours a DAY the darned thing is programmed days in advance sometimes.

I'm interested in the logistics of doing the automatic control of a cable box and the VCR. I'm not sure that even my addicted wife will be able to manage it and I refuse to be a party to the nonsense but have to keep peace.

Yeah, I'd like the TiVO or similar but even 40 hours or more wouldn't be enough for her. Why, that's only a handful of tapes and my wife will often have several DOZEN tapes that she just won't let be recorded over because there's something on them she absolutely must see.

(Yeah, I know obsessive compulsive disorder.) I took over a 100 tapes of hers to Goodwill a few weeks ago. She never missed them!

OK, OK, it might be cheaper and easier to get a different wife!