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Old January 16th 14, 07:24 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.homebrew
Geoffrey S. Mendelson Geoffrey S. Mendelson is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jun 2006
Posts: 487
Default Can anyone recommend a radio?

Nnaemeka David wrote:
I live in Lagos, Nigeria and want to receive stations in the french language from countries like Benin republic, Togo etc. During a google search, I stumbled on satellite coordinates for free stations from african countries from the http://www.lyngsat.com/ site. The problem now is:
What radio do I use to receive this satellite broadcasts?
1worldspace I was made to believe is dead or bankrupt (wikipedia?). Is this true? Can I trust it living in lagos, Nigeria to receive this free channels?
Else, can anyone recommend me any alternative that is workable and practical?
Please, I do appreciate, greatly appreciate your help.
Yours sincerely


Lyngsat lists satellite broadcasts. You need a sattelite receiver for the
specific band and and type of broadcast. A better description of the
signal, or a specific Lyngsat link would help.

There are some satellite broadcasts which use small receivers, but they
are mostly in populated areas such as the US or UK.

Most are audio channels hidden inside TV broadcasts. For those you need
a dish capable of "seeing" the satellite and a receiver. In between you
would need to run a coaxial cable.

You also need to determine if what you want to listen to is available
"FTA" (free to the air) or encrypted. If it is encrypted you have to
pay someone to listen to it.

Here in Israel we have a direct satellite broadcast which we pay for,
most of our neighbors use "private" satellite dishes to receive FTA
broadcasts, there are many many signals here for them to receive.

A private dish and receiver, including installation, brackets for the dish,
cables, connectors, etc, costs about $300. If you shop around, you can DIY
it, including buying the specialized tools needed for about 1/2 of that.

However before you buy anything, you need to determine if the signals
you want are FTA, what type of receiver is needed, where the dish (if needed)
has to be aimed, etc.

You also have to double check that if you have anything, there will be
signals for you to receive. For example, the UK TV satellites use a
"spot beam" which only covers the UK. I can put up a dish which will
receive signals from those satellites, but not the ones I want. :-(

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379