[mythtv-users] Using a large satellite dish (8-10 feet) with MythTV?

[Brian Wood]

On Mar 31, 2008, at 5:20 PM, David Brodbeck wrote:
>
> On Mar 31, 2008, at 2:25 PM, Chad wrote:
>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I've read about a hundred different articles on the topic, and am
>> still very lost.  So I've got a 2-part question.  Does anyone use a
>> large dish (from what I've read it's called C-Band) to tune channels
>> ala-cart instead of forking over a ton of money for a bunch of
>> channels from the local Cable-Co (or small-dish satellite like
>> DirecTV) that you don't want?  If so, any info on how that works, how
>> to set it up, etc would be helpful.
>
> I don't have much information myself, but the term hobbyists use for
> this is "TVRO".  That might aid your web searches.  There used to be a
> Usenet group devoted to it; don't know if it still exists or not.

"TVRO" means TeleVision Receive Only, it was used to refer to an  
antenna not used for transmission. In the old days even a receive-only  
dish had to be licensed (at least in the USA).

Dishes of the size you mention are generally C-band (3.7-4.2 Ghz.  
downlink) as opposed to the Ku-Band used by DISH and DirectTV  
(12.9Ghz. downlink). Some antennas like that have dual-band feed horns  
that can receive C and Ku.

(No, the Ku Band is not a group of musicians who perform at collegiate  
athletic events in Kansas)

But as long as a satellite receiver outputs either baseband or RF it  
should be usable by MythTV. The problems would be getting the correct  
program listings and controlling the antenna aiming device, though  
some receivers take care of the latter for you.

In the worst case you would have to tune the receiver and aim the  
antenna manually.

beww