FM Stations thru DD DTH - finally relieved of reception issues

[sgautam]

Dear friends,

After trying umpteen attempts to get good FM reception at our native place I gave up and went for the softer option.

Installed a DD DTH STB and we are smiling. Seriously, all it took was 1500, some cabling and two hours. The endless experiments I did with tuners and antennas seems so ridiculous now. The reception is crystal clear, obviously and the best thing is that around 10-12 channels seem to be useful. I mean FM channels only. All AIR channels are there and what more can anyone ask.

There's is a HD version also which can be plugged into a DAC for better processing. It's around 700 more but I was not interested since father likes the simplest possible setup.

Probably I may miss my tuners refined signature sound but father will not even bother. He says it reminds of World Space which we had subscribed as long as they were in India. Even now the BPL receiver sits on the terrace.

Anyone struggling to get FM reception can seriously consider this. TV is not needed for changing channels also. Just jot down your favourite FM channel nos and you are set. Best thing is that you can access all AIR channels and Vividbarathi etc without for life free of cost. Should have tried it earlier. Pl let me know if you have any queries. I will be happy to respond.

Cheers

Sent thru mobile

 

[sgautam]

Some pics of the STB and my newly acquired Denon Receiver which is driving the speakers now.

Sent thru mobile

 

[philipreji]

I am using DD DTH at home for the last four years for radio listening. Both AM and FM stations have very good clarity. The setup was DIYed using an old dish antenna and "Solid" make STB. DD DTH is the best option for serious radio listeners, and it is free!

cheers,
Reji

 

[sgautam]

Hi, I thought only FM channels are broadcast. May I know how to access the AM channels. Do u mean the AIR channels - we are getting those. Only Indian ones, no foreign channels at all. That's a bit surprising. Thought that radio Ceylon or BBC / CNN can be accessed.

Can u pl guide


Sent thru mobile

 

[philipreji]

Hi,

I meant only AIR AM channels. A few foreign channels also could be detected, but these were TV channels I think. Don't remember to have seen BBC/CNN/Radio Ceylon in the list. Our interest was just AIR Malayalam, so didn't bother to check the other available channels. The DD DTH dish needs to be aimed towards India's comunication satellite Insat 4B, and we can get only those channels beamed by Insat 4B from the sky (mostly DD and AIR). Apparently there is another satellite located pretty close to Insat 4B, and the foreign channels are coming from that.

cheers,
Reji

 

[Naturelover]

I am using DD DTH at home for the last four years for radio listening. Both AM and FM stations have very good clarity. The setup was DIYed using an old dish antenna and "Solid" make STB. DD DTH is the best option for serious radio listeners, and it is free!

cheers,
Reji

Can you post some pictures and some details?
Thanks

 

[philipreji]

Hi Nature Lover,

Insat 4B is freely beaming all government radio and TV stations to the Indian subcontinent from a geostationary orbit. Get a local technician and ask him to install dish+LNB+cable+FTA satellite receiver for Doordarshan DTH. Connect the output of the FTA satellite receiver (I use a receiver from the company "SOLID" with HDMI and RCA analog outputs) to a good quality desktop stereo amplifier (I suggest the 2.1 stereo model F&D A110). You will get some FM stations, all Akashvani AM stations, and all Doordarshan channels in digital quality. In digital transmission AM sounds as good as FM. I have this digital radio set up for my wife in our apartment kitchen and she absolutely loves it.

I have some photos which I will try to post here. If I fail just PM me your email ID; I will send you the photos by email.

Cheers,
Reji

 

[philipreji]

These are the photos. The dish sitting close to the Videocon dish is used for receiving Insat 4B signals. I had used a satellite finder while installing. Analog audio outputs of the receiver are connected to an amplifier and two speakers as shown (The subwoofer and small satellite speakers shown within the rectangular boarder are just indicative - they were not used in this application).

 

[MaSh]

Wow this sounds interesting? So via this we can catch any AIR channel, say the ones broadcast in another part of the country? How do you tune into an FM channel on a box that I guess is meant for TV channels? Also, is this possible only via the DD box or can any STB from say Airtel, Tata Sky, etc be used too?

MaSh

 

[philipreji]

Hi Mash,

Yes, you will get all radio and TV channels broadcast by AIR and Doordarshan free of cost. A total of 206 channels are available now. See
DD Free Dish Frequency Wise Channels List | DD Free Dish (DD Direct Plus)
for the full list.

These are "Free to Air" (FTA) channels, which means the signals can be captured by any generic FTA digital satellite receiver (STB). Please note that the STBs used by the usual DTH service providers (TataSky, Videocon etc.) will not work. You can buy FTA receivers from Amazon/Flipkart etc. They cost upwards from Rs. 1000 or so, depending on the features available on the instrument.

cheers,
Reji

 

[MaSh]

Hi Mash,

Yes, you will get all radio and TV channels broadcast by AIR and Doordarshan free of cost. A total of 206 channels are available now. See
DD Free Dish Frequency Wise Channels List | DD Free Dish (DD Direct Plus)
for the full list.

These are "Free to Air" (FTA) channels, which means the signals can be captured by any generic FTA digital satellite receiver (STB). Please note that the STBs used by the usual DTH service providers (TataSky, Videocon etc.) will not work. You can buy FTA receivers from Amazon/Flipkart etc. They cost upwards from Rs. 1000 or so, depending on the features available on the instrument.

cheers,
Reji

Thanks could you post some links to preferred stb? I can set one up for my parents to listen to some non regional stations.

 

[philipreji]

I would recommend FTA receivers from the "Solid" brand. Since The following model has both HDMI and analog RCA outputs I would recommend that:

SOLID HDS2-1740 Dolby Digital DVB-S2, Full HD 1080p, MPEG-4 Set-Top Box

If you are in Bangalore you can also try buying directly from Purohit Electronics, SP Road, who usually stocks Solid brand receivers. He also has technicians who will come to your home and install the whole setup if necessary.

Cheers,
Reji

 

[jsbhavsar]

Biggest question is where to buy the DD Dish TV equipment in a metro city like Mumbai? There is no website with dealers for the same. People are ready to spend one time Rs 1500 to Rs 1800 for this one time setup but who sells that? And where is the information on who sells that?

 

[sgautam]

I too thought that no one will sell it due to low margins but was surprised to know that it was available with my neighborhood installer also. For Hindi speaking public DD offers fairly good package. Many entertainment channels, a few film channels, 2/3 music and even one English music. Ofcourse all the DD channels which come with it. For a casual TV viewer it seems sufficient. It seems it's popularity is growing increasing the marketing reach hence many channels are getting added as FTA. Recently I saw an article talking about its phenomenal reach - around 30 crore people. It's serious business for many. Suggest you check any low profile neighborhood electronic store, if they don't have, atleast they should get it for you. Solid is a good brand seemingly, since it offers HDMI and spdif output.

You can use any brand leftover antenna and coaxial cable and I remember seeing solid selling it thru net. The internet offers the configuration settings also. You can very well configure it, I had to do so when I mistakenly wiped off the settings. Its fairly easy.

We are extremely pleased with the results. The setup should complement your SW / MW radios.

Sent thru mobile

 

[arun_kumar7810]

I am using Solid 6069 aligned manually to EUTELSAT 70B around 10 tamil TV channels receiving all FTA. To direct the satellite use lyngsat.com to get the transponder frequency and manually tune the station. Like wise can easily hunt many satellites beaming over Asia. But signal block when monsoon.

 

[Vinod.R]

Can someone recommend me which Solid receiver to buy from their website?

I would like to have access to all available HD TV channels and FM radio stations. One will feed my AVR for video and the other will route the same audio for FM listening.

Also a good LNB, dish etc also.....

Any recommendations for a good model among all and rough street pricing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[arun_kumar7810]

Hi Vinoth

Many satellites beaming asia, you can direct the dish to GSAT-15 for DD channels and FM. If you like to direct more than 1 satellite use 2 dish, connect both to DiSEqC switche and then to STB. Am using SOLID 6069 STB very latest 2 usb & 1 HDMI, good user interface. But I am currently directing to EUTEL70B for tamil and Malayalam channels.

 

[Vinod.R]

Hi Vinoth

Many satellites beaming asia, you can direct the dish to GSAT-15 for DD channels and FM. If you like to direct more than 1 satellite use 2 dish, connect both to DiSEqC switche and then to STB. Am using SOLID 6069 STB very latest 2 usb & 1 HDMI, good user interface. But I am currently directing to EUTEL70B for tamil and Malayalam channels.

Hello Arun Kumar,

There are 11 FTA receivers in the solid website. I liked the HDS2-6150. Seems to have the most connectivity options.


Any thing you would recommend based on my preferences of FTA TV channels +FM radio stations? Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

Vinod

 

[arun_kumar7810]

All have the basic technical spec. Cost goes higher if wifi, iptv blah blah... included, that's all up to you. Just check for DVB-S & DVBS2 support. DIseq 1.2 or 1.3 based on multiple dish installation. Solid 6069 doesn't have inbuilt wifi chip, that have wrongly printed mentioned in web site.

 

[anuragn]

Are private FM stations are also available through this?