Sattelite dish basic

[StraightSix]

That is your actual antenna. It is at the focal point or focus of the parabola....

The rest of the parabolic dish structure is your reflector.

This is geometry at work. The focus is equidistant from any point in the parabola and therefore, all the signals that are caught in the parabola are fedback to the focus, which is the location of your antenna...

Neat isn't it?

7606:mobile1:

No offense, and I mean it, but the dish reflector is an integral part of the antenna ... the very reason why it's called a parabolic antenna. Without it, you won't have a focal point. The reflector is the passive element of the antenna. The passive and active parts are the actual antenna array.

Guess what the resulting antenna will be called once you take away the dish reflector.

[CVT]

No offense, and I mean it, but the dish reflector is an integral part of the antenna ... the very reason why it's called a parabolic antenna. Without it, you won't have a focal point. The reflector is the passive element of the antenna. The passive and active parts are the actual antenna array.

Guess what the resulting antenna will be called once you take away the dish reflector.

I am not offended bro., because that is exactly what I meant....

Many people misconstrue the parabolic structure as the antenna itself......

7606:mobile1:

[StraightSix]

Would any one know if there are HD signals you could get using a satellite dish?

Meron, on both subscription and Free-To-View ... pero sa EU at US lang sigurado ko.

Mind you, you still need an HD satellite receiver (pref with HDD) and the choices aren't that much.

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Here's a nice resource site for satellite TV and radio:
http://www.lyngsat.com/

[moejun2]

mediaquest is in the process of launching a new sat cable service called Cignal. it'll initially have 20 channels then in june they say they'll include 2 HD channels. not sure though.

[Horsepower]

Straightsix, what's the best sat receiver can you recommend? thanks

[moejun2]

the dmbox dm90-s is a decent receiver. nothing fancy, it just works. i heard that the guys over at filsat are in the process of reverse engineering an HD sat receiver with a HDD. now that sounds interesting

[kinyo]

The focus is equidistant from any point in the parabola ..

Nope ... the focus is NOT equidistant to any point in the parabola. But yes, any ray that is parallel to the axis of the parabola will be reflected to the focus.

I notice that small dishes are using a parabolic dish which is cut non-symmetrical about its axis. A typical offset seems to be 20 degrees, so that if it used to be that a symmetrical dish would be pointing up some 57 degrees for Agila2, the non-symmetrical dish would just have an elevation at 37 degrees.

[StraightSix]

Straightsix, what's the best sat receiver can you recommend? thanks

Sorry, I can't ...

I've bought only 2 so far ... a portable FTA-only (which wouldn't work on any subscription network) and the other one is a Fortec Passion+, the only FTA HD receiver available in the UK last year that has HDD support. For subscription networks it has a slot for a Conditional Access Module.

I've got 4 other boxes but they're all proprietary boxes from British Sky, supplied by Panasonic, Pace and Thomson.

[OldSchoolHack]

Google mo Sky Box ng British Sky Broadcasting ...

I don't know when they first used the system but I've been in the UK since 2001 and the subscription SIM card hasn't changed yet. AFAIK, hanggang ngayon hack-proof yung card. Without a subscription card, the proprietary satellite box will not function even for FTA (Free-To-Air) broadcasts. Furthermore, the activation gets done thru data link (via phone line) that should be left connected to the sat box. The subscription is tied to your phone number. Kaya hindi umubra yang pre-programming sa card.

Kaya mahirap kahit may extra Sky receiver ka ... you need another active card to use it, which costs £10/month more. Kung deactivated na yung card (like canceled subscription), Free-To-Air channels lang mapapanood mo, pero naka-lock naman yung satbox sa Astra satellite.

BTW, when we visited relatives in Australia, I saw the same type of system in use by their cableTV provider ... same box, same remote ... cable nga lang instead of satellite.

Medyo wala me alam sa satellite dish pero yung card ba na sinasabi mo yung Smart card (sa iba Virgin card)? Kung hindi ako nagkakamali e matagal na din ito sabi ng naginstall FTA daw channels lang ang nakukuha ko pero duda ako kasi HBO? Star? etc.

eto ok pa rin naman di pa napuputol.

[StraightSix]

IMO that's a hacked card ... the likes of HBO aren't free. Free-To-Air channels don't require a card nor module for you to view them.

I hope I'm wrong ... so you can enjoy it longer.