hi Everyone, We have a near new flat screen tv, booster, aerial, and set top box but can't get the main channels at Bribie Island. we have decided to buy the satelite dish. Does anyone have one they can recommend? thanks.
If you have a new TV why would you need a set top box I would have though only digital TV could be sold now ', Have you ask your people next to you are they getting reception would be a good start , Then you would comparing apple with apple
Good question Brickies - why do you need a set top box with a modern TV - most of them are digital, so no need for set top box - maybe that is the problem? Fighting each other or something????
Wherever you go - the VAST is the way to go - we have the larger dish, but have been informed that with the smaller dish, we wouldn't get reception in places like WA - don't know the truth of it, but not that much difference in storage space taken, so no problem - would rather be safe than sorry.
__________________
jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
The satilight system you need is called the " VARST " System and is used for people who have very poor reception and are unable to get good quality television service.
What do you need , well there is only on sattilight reciever for the vast system at the moment and is made by Altech and is made in south Africa. Model DSD4121. and the cost i think is about $250.00 give or take a few dollars.
Next is the sattilight dish and lmb. I use a old Austar dish and lmb, works fine and have never had a problem, Austar and Vast use the same sattilight for there programs , but have differant polaritys. I got my dish from the local recical yard ( tip ) for about $5.00.
Some sort of stand to mount the dish on and also to lock the dish to stop it from moving.My stand cost me about $60.00 and once the dish is remove fron the pole the stand colapses down and i can store the stand in the boot of my caravan.
You will also have to have some sort of satilight meter, This is the only hard part, trying to find the satilight, very small inculments are what is needed as trying to find the satilight and is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. This will take some time.....but will get better with more practice. The cost of the meter can be anything from $50.00 to a couple of 100 dollars for a basic meter. Even with a meter it can sent the air blue and also be a good time for your wife / partner to leave the campsite till you have found the satilight.
Coax cable from the dish to the satilight reciever and fitted of with 'F' connectors . Coax cable works out at about $1.50 per meter + fittings ( $2.00 each )
The varst system works very well and i have not had a problem.......so far. I run my coax cable through the vinal window of my caravan ( i have a Jayco pop top ) and to the satilight reciever.
If you want to free camp you will need a inverter to run the satilight reciever, but i have heard that there are 12 volt model, other than that you will need a 12 volt to 240 volt inverter to run you reciever. Inverters well here is a can of worms. i use a small 12 volt to 240 volt inverter just for my satilight reciever and was able to get a 300 Watt, 600 Watt pure sine wave inverter of E-bay for about $57.00 including P&P.
One other thing that needs to be taken into account is current draw... In you have a 12 volt television, this alone will draw about 4 Amps and your inverter will draw about the same ,if not a bit more current , say about 5~10 Amps . So we are looking at about 10 to 15 Amps out of your house battery, + lighting. Better see if your house batterys are up to the current draw.
The vast satilight will need to be authorised every 6 months if you have registered as a caravan, and the best part......cost. It costs nothing to register your satilight set up in the first place or at it's 6 monthly re registration.
One thing that a lot of people do not know is while you are traveling and are useing you satilight set daily, not a problem. BUT when you have finished traveling for a short while, your satilight reciever need still to be connected to a dish and alighted correctly to the satilight for it's up dates. If their are no up dates your satilight reciever may shut dound and you will need to get re regested again, at no cost.
So us caravaners have a win win great television, at a resonable cost, my set up worked out at under $500.00 all up and that includes the second dish on the roof of my house fot when the van is at home.
We haven't had our VAST system very long, and we are getting pretty good at getting it set up now - but we have noticed that it does use a bit more power from the batteries - makes sense really - previously we just had TV - now we have TV and receiver box - probably both take about the same - then the inverter for the receiver - actually got a "low battery" signal the other night - right at the crucial part of a movie - damn, drat!!!!!! We are getting another solar panel put up top shortly - hope that helps.
__________________
jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
Another vote for Satplus QLD, good quality products, great service and backup if you need it.
from experience you will need a 65cm dish for the east coast only or an 85cm dish if you are travelling anywhere else. The larger dish is easier to point to the correct satellite and performs better in rain as it gathers more signal.
Get yourself a quality satfinder such as satplus SF3239 about $140, as this will make it much easier to find the correct sat.
frank
__________________
Avagreatday.
Kathy and Frank currently at Home near Quirindi NSW
Yes low battery light can be a problem. Yes buy all means get a nother solar panel, but all this will do is to bring your house battery up to full charge quicker, I wouls also get a nother battery of at leased the same capacity as your other house battery so as to be able to watch your 'who done it movie' with out the low battery light comeing on .
Hi, thanks for your reply. we have tried it with the set top box and without the set top box. we have asked others and some think it may be because of the trees. some people can get every channel, some not 7, some not 9. Strop has been playing with it this morning and has raised the pole higher and now we can get channel 9 but fuzzy and channel 99 broken up. maybe we will try putting the broome handle on it to make it even higher. just hope the pelicans don't decide to sit on our high tv antenna. keep on trying......
I can't believe you can't get reception from Mt Cootha. It's probably within eyesight from Bribie and a straight line at that. Have you tried to retune the TV or alter the polarity of the aerial? It seems that if you have a fuzzy reception you haven't got a digital signal. With digital you get a picture or not.
thanks everyone. i appreciate that lots responded. i will let Strop read all the replies and lets see how he goes. if we can't get it going by tomorrow we will buy a satellite dish. so, thanks everyone.
Yes low battery light can be a problem. Yes buy all means get a nother solar panel, but all this will do is to bring your house battery up to full charge quicker, I wouls also get a nother battery of at leased the same capacity as your other house battery so as to be able to watch your 'who done it movie' with out the low battery light comeing on .
We have two 100 a batteries in house - but sometimes maybe don't get enough sun to the one panel, especially if we are moving place to place that day - hopefully the extra panel will help.
__________________
jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
jules, I have been using a 65cm dish for 9 years in WA and not had a problem, as you say the dish storage is not that big a problem for the larger dish, I have been told it is easier to line up the dish with the bigger dish.
another vote here for SatPlus, great company and very fast at posting items.
you can now get a remote control for the DSD4121 that will allow you to record programs, BUT you can only record one program at a time, $60 from SatPlus you will also need an external hard drive to record to.
Thankyou sooo much for your information on the varst satellite. We have been at Bribie for a month now and the tv reception is driving us both nuts. We are sending the caravan in for repairs tomorrow and that includes the installation of a varst satellite.
We both really appreciate you taking the time to fully inform us.
Kind regards and hope to see you on the road sometime.
Thankyou sooo much for your information on the varst satellite. We have been at Bribie for a month now and the tv reception is driving us both nuts. We are sending the caravan in for repairs tomorrow and that includes the installation of a varst satellite.
We both really appreciate you taking the time to fully inform us.
Kind regards and hope to see you on the road sometime.
Rocket n strop
you will not be sorry, cos now you can have tv where ever you want.
you may get frustrated the first couple of times you setup but keep trying, there is not much to installing it, you just need a plug for power and connect to your tv and then the dish, if you are having it fitted ask them to show you how to setup the dish, then dismantle it and try it yourself while you are at the shop, just to see that you can do it and have a good idea how to do it in 3 weeks time after you have foorgotten about how the setup works.
I agree with Wombat re getting the people who are instlaling your satellite tv stuff to show you how to do it, then dismantle and you do it while you are with them - takes a couple of tries usually, but after a while you get the hang of it.
Best thing since sliced bread!!
__________________
jules "Love is good for the human being!!" (Ben, aged 10)
I agree with Wombat re getting the people who are instlaling your satellite tv stuff to show you how to do it, then dismantle and you do it while you are with them - takes a couple of tries usually, but after a while you get the hang of it.
Best thing since sliced bread!!
I prefer the sliced bread, but the tv keeps Mrs W happy
Hi, thanks for your reply. we have tried it with the set top box and without the set top box. we have asked others and some think it may be because of the trees. some people can get every channel, some not 7, some not 9. Strop has been playing with it this morning and has raised the pole higher and now we can get channel 9 but fuzzy and channel 99 broken up. maybe we will try putting the broome handle on it to make it even higher. just hope the pelicans don't decide to sit on our high tv antenna. keep on trying......
I would check all cabling and joins, cable and joiners really need to be of a nhigh standard for either sat or digi tv
