Your 18" or 20" dish with DTV/Dish/XVU LNB will not work! For one thing, the dish is too small to pick up the lower frequency signals from the FTA sats. Secondly, the Dish/XVU LNB is for 12.2-12.7 GHz circular (right-left) polarity. Ku FTA sats require 11.7-12.2 GHz linear (horizontal-vertical) polarity. C-band sats require a C-band LNB. Using your Dish Net LNB for FTA is like trying to tune into AM stations on an FM radio.

Some satellites, such as Galaxy 10R and Telstar 5, have both C-band and Ku-band capability. This does not mean that you can use a Ku dish to get C-band signals or vice-versa. Listed below are the dish requirements for each satellite and/or band allocation.

Here's the lowdown on various FTA sats and what's needed to get them:

30" Dish, Ku Linear LNB (4-foot dish in Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean) :
LOF1/2 = 10750

Galaxy 10R (123W) : UPN , Fox, ABC Affiliates from Little Rock, Cheyenne, Burlington, and others; Univision and Telemundo affiliates; The Tube; Mas Musica; Veterans Affairs; radio stations

AMC-1 (103W) : NBC feeds (these are sporadic and you'll need a blind search receiver to find them)

AMC-4 (101W) : Religious channels; Chinese Channels; Lawyers TV; RTP

Telstar 5 (97W) : Daystar TV; Globecast; hundreds of Foreignese TV and radio channels.

Telstar 6 (93W) : CBS and ABC feeds (need blind search receiver); Bush Propaganda Network (aka FoxNews); IRS Satellite Network; Lord & Taylor

AMC-3 (87W) : PBS stations (requires AC3 audio capability)This sat is not available in Alaska/Hawaii

AMC-5 (79W) : Utah Educational Network; Empire Sports Network This sat is not available in Alaska/Hawaii

SBS-6 (74W): NBC affiliate from Lake Charles, LA; Ohio News Network This sat is not available in Alaska/Hawaii

AMC-6 (72W) : NBC affiliate from Virgin Islands; Fox affiliate from Beaumont, TX; Comcast Southeast This sat is not available in Alaska/Hawaii



C-band 7 to 12-foot dish and LNB :
LOF1/2 = 5150

AMC-8 (139W) : PBS affiliate from Juneau; Alaska Rural Communications System; Gavel to Gavel Alaska This sat is not available in Canadian Maritimes

AMC-7 (137W) : Anchorage local stations This sat is not available in Canadian Maritimes

AMC-10 (135W) : California Channel; Tech TV (requires AC3 audio capability) This sat is not available in Canadian Maritimes

Satcom C3 (131W) : Fox Movie Channel; Bloomberg TV This sat is not available in Canadian Maritimes

Telstar 7 (129W) : Fuse; Loral Skynet; TV Washington; Sportsman Channel; Q TV Network This sat is not available in Newfoundland

Galaxy 13 (127W) : Azteca; RFD-TV; Asian Channels This sat is not available in Newfoundland

Galaxy 10R (123W) : Outdoor Channel

Anik F1 (107W) : CTV network; ASN; Newsworld International; Green Channel; French channels

AMC-1 (103W) : Pax feeds

AMC-4 (101W) : NBC network feeds; religious channels, UCTV

Galaxy 4 (99W) : Religious channels

Telstar 5 (97W) : TCT World, Urban America TV; BYU TV

Galaxy 3C (95W) : WorldNet; Horse racing channels

Telstar 6 (93W) : CBS Network Feeds (blind search required)

Galaxy 11 (91W) : WB network feeds; Independent stations from L.A.; Fox Movie Channel; EWTN

AMC-3 (87W) : !!!ociated Press; Michigan Gov't; TVU This sat is not available in Alaska/Hawaii    

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1. Dish mis-alignment causing a lower signal strength than max avaiable at
your location. Re-align dish for max signal strength.

2. There is an INTERNAL electronic difference between how the LEGACY LNBs
and the PRO LNBs work.

LEGACY LNBs are designed to pickup only one satellite's signals at a time.
Under the "old" LEGACY LNB method, if one wanted to view 2 satellites,
you'd use 2 separate LEGACY LNB's and combine their signal with an
EXTERNAL SW-21 or the like so that 2 satellite's signals could be sent
down one cable to a receiver. THESE HEADS WORK WITH VIEWSAT and other FTA
boxes because of the ability to REMOVE the SW-21 from the cabling.

Later versions combined 2 LEGACY LNBs into a single unit (LEGACY Twins and
Quads) AND added the required SW-21 switch INTERNALLY inside the case so
that 2 satellite's signals could be sent down one cable to a receiver.
THESE HEAD DO NOT WORK WITH VIEWSAT and other FTA boxes reliably because
of the presence of the SW-21 which cannot be removed.

PRO LNBs (twin or quads) are actually 2 LNBs built into a single box.
Instead of using a SW-21 to switch the signal from 2 satellites, a DiSEqC
switch is used and 25,600 oscillator is installed INTERNALLY so that it
can "stack" one polarity signal on top of the other polarity signal in
order to send the both satellite polarities from one satellite down one
cable to a receiver.

Note: there are also DP single(or dual) LNBs used for 61.5 or 148 these
are for one satellite only and are usually used in conjunction with a DP34
switch in DN setups, these will work fine with FTAs following DP
guidelines.

These DIFFERENCEs are the reason those of us helping folks with their
ViewSats constantly ask what TYPE of LNB are you using. You need to know
your LNB type because the setup procedures are slightly different between
the two--LEGACY and PRO.


And, YOU NEED TO TELL US "LNB TYPE" (LEGACY OR PRO) WHEN ASKING FOR HELP!


PRO heads "internally" stack the "H" Horizontal TP signal and the "V"
Vertical TP signal in order to use only ONE CABLE to the STB/IRD. This is
done with an oscillator in the LNB.

Hence, without the "H" HORIZONTAL TP conversion to a "V" VERTICAL TP
frequency, PRO LNB's will NOT receive "H" TP frequencies and you may be
MISSING 1/2 the channels.

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With an 18" Dish/Circular LNB you can get the following (30" dish Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean):
Echostar 1/2 (148w)
Echostar 7 (119w)
Echostar 8/10 (110w) - requires 1.2m dish in Alaska/Canada/Carribbean!
Nimiq 1 (91w)
Nimiq 2 (82w)
Echostar 3 (61.5w)

With an 18" dish and Circular LNB in Alaska/Hawaii/Puerto Rico, you can get the following:
Echostar 7 (119w) - Spotbeam only!
Echostar 10 (110w) - Spotbeam only!

A 30" dish and Linear LNB is required for the following (1.2m Alaska/Hawaii/Canada/Carribbean):
Intelsat Americas 7 (129w)
Horizons 1 (127w)
Galaxy 10 Ku-band (123w)
Echostar 9 (121w)
Anik F2 Ku-band (111w)
Anik F1 Ku-band (107w)
AMC-15 (105w)
AMC-1 Ku-band (103w)
AMC-4 Ku-band (101w)
Galaxy 4 Ku-band (99w)
Intelsat Americas 5 Ku-band (97w)
Galaxy 3 Ku-band (95w)
Intelsat Americas 6 Ku-band (93w)
Galaxy 11 Ku-band (91w)
Intelsat Americas 8 Ku-band (89w)
AMC-3 Ku-band (87w)
AMC-5 (79w)
SBS-6 (74w)
AMC-6 (72w)

A 30" dish with a special Dish 500+ circular LNB is required for the following:
AMC-16 (119w)

A 6ft dish and C-band LNB is required for the following:
AMC-8 (139w)
AMC-7 (137w)
AMC-10 (135w)
Galaxy 15 (133w)
AMC-11 (131w)
Intelsat Americas 7 C-band (129w)
Galaxy 13 (127w)
Galaxy 14 (125w)
Galaxy 10 C-band (123w)
Intelsat Americas 13 (121w)
Anik F2 C-band (111w)
Anik F1 C-band (107w)
AMC-1 C-band (103w)
AMC-4 C-band (101w)
Galaxy 4 C-band (99w)
Intelsat Americas 5 C-band (97w)
Galaxy 3 C-band (95w)
Intelsat Americas 6 C-band (93w)
Galaxy 11 C-band (91w)
Intelsat Americas 8 C-band (89w)
AMC-3 C-band (87w)
AMC-6 (72w)    

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