Returning to Satellite TV after a 7 Year Hiatus!

[UncleMurphy]

G'day all,

I've recently been fiddling around with my satellite system that was installed by some installer that has long gone ran away to a better place I have very limited knowledge of the satellite system installed as it was purchased as a package where it was basically 'turn key ready' to watch Vietnamese television (VTV3, HTV7 etc...) This was all back in 2005 also!

From reading around the internet it seems that the days where I had to pay $650/year to watch 2-3 Vietnamese TV channel are over and it is possible to watch Vietnamese channels for free (provided the necessary equipment are installed) without any subscriptions with a much larger TV channel base. I was wondering if it is possible with my currently installed equipment whether it is currently usable to do so or even a small upgrade so we can enjoy Vietnamese TV at home.

As pointed out the system was installed in early 2005 comprising of;

- Satellite dish - gutter mount (the smaller type used for foxtel(?))
This picture demonstrates pretty much what it is like now;



- XSAT CDTV410 receiver (Which I think is probably out dated)
- The receiver also has something like a massive sim card installed that is white in colour with "Viaccess" on it.

The system is installed in Canley Vale, NSW 2166

The installation was fairly dodgey with the installer actually drilling straight through our FTA TV outlet on the wall so he can feed the satellite coaxial cable straight to the receiver (avoiding having to purchase a faceplate, cut two lengths of coaxial and the fittings) nonetheless we were able to have paid Vietnamese TV for 2 years which was paid to a company called Pacific Media Group.

I've recently discovered a website called Lyngsat which highlights all the weird terms such as "C" and "KU" etc... would anyone be able to direct me in the right direction for the possibility of being able to watch all these Vietnamese Channels?

Thank you very much for your time reading,

Victor

[mtv]

Victor,

I think most (if not all) FTA Vietnamese channels are on C-Band these days, which requires a dish of 2.3m or bigger.

Someone please correct me if there are any FTA Vietnamese channels available in Australia.

You may find some Vietnamese channels listed on Lyngsat that are on Ku Band (which is what you existing dish is suited to) but the beams may not be focused on Australia.

Many satellite signals are now encoded in DVB-S2 MPEG4, which your old receiver may not be compatible with.

There are Vietnamese channels on Vinasat1 and Thaicom5 which are both C-Band.

[LeroyPatrol]

MTV is correct. You need a large C band dish to get the free channels on vinasat1 (I don't know about Thaicom5 but this sat is quite low on the horizon for some hence hard to get). You need a HD DVB-S2 MPEG4 receiver as well.
There is another thread on receiving these channels on vinasat1.

Leroy

[apsattv]

There is also Vietface tv Australia fta on D2 12644H sr 22500 Fec 3/4 which should be available by repointing the dish to 152E.

[UncleMurphy]

Hi everybody,

Thank you very much for the replies so far (I apologise for the delay as I've been down in Canberra with the ADF). I've thought of an idea, and want to know of your thoughts regarding having the dish installed in the roof cavity? (2 storey house)

Any websites where I can get the necessary equipment at a reasonable cost? And are there any DIY Write-ups regarding installation? I'm fairly handy with the DIY work

Thanks again,

Victor

[mtv]

.. I've thought of an idea, and want to know of your thoughts regarding having the dish installed in the roof cavity? (2 storey house)

If you mean IN the ceiling.... no.... unless you have RF pass-rated material for a roof.

Any other roofing material will block the signals.

[UncleMurphy]

If you mean IN the ceiling.... no.... unless you have RF pass-rated material for a roof.

Any other roofing material will block the signals.

Cool, that answers my question! Plenty of space in the backyard, but was just a little bit scared that a dish can fly away from heavy gusts (I think the large dishes are mesh, not solid?)

mtv, would you know of a link/how to in doing an install (DIY)?

Regards,

Victor

[mtv]

Large mesh dish = C-Band. (don't know how you would have fitted one of those in your ceiling anyway)

Here's a tutorial on C-Band dish installation.

[Thala Dan]

Any websites where I can get the necessary equipment at a reasonable cost?

Victor,

I have just purchased a 2.3m dish, actuator, and V-Box from this crowd - service was good, and prices around market average. They have quite a range of C-band dishes - I bought the Super Heavy Duty unit because of environmental conditions in my area:



Also just bought a Satking DVBS-250A MPEG4 receiver from this crowd in Hobart - $99.95 + $10 Express Post - ordered Thursday, arrived Monday in NE Vic.



Have played with it today - not as flexible as my Strong box, but works OK - no card slot or any other goodies, just a basic HD receiver with AV/HDMI output - has a Blind Scan, which is handy - would get your Vietnamese FTA channels OK.

Alternatively, Strong have a new HD box with a card slot - SRT4922A - $199 from Strong (Strong.com.au), and LeroyPatrol, on this site, has the Ultraplus HD receiver for $169.
Probably the best all-round supplier for bits and pieces I have dealt with is Satplus (Satplus.com.au) - they are in Qld and Vic - I've always had excellent service from John in the Qld office.
And if you need a quantity of RG6 Quad shield coax, Masters have it for $39/100m, which is pretty hard to beat.
You should be able to set up a basic C-band system capable of DVB-S2 reception for around the $500 mark if you do the work yourself - that would be dish, LNB, receiver, coax and fittings, and a simple sat-finder.
Have fun.