prince paris:

@ALL. I have this sony dvd recorder/player sent from the UK. It comes with an integrated DVB, Freeview and digital tv turner/receiver. Of what use are all these to FTA or Nigeria.

you can view digital terestrial transmission if there is one in naija. The last time i check, naija has not started. However, there might private service provider transmiting unencrypted signal. You only need a uhf antenna connected and start search. Antenna must in line of sight with the transmitter to receive signal, ie u will have to search for the signal using ur uhf antenna. Ghana is switching to digital from the analouge transmission. There has been a pilot project "since".

the credit to this diagram goes to a nairaland member by name[b] solarfob[/b], who made contributions to the same thread I created under technology forum.

good job microgiant!

@pofolo
just as said by micro, it will do a lot good if you state the power ratings of the appliances you have and the duration for which you will use them. an example is TV1 - 100W, time duration - 6hrs; TV2 - 400W, duration 8hrs; fan - 70W, duration - 6hrs and etc. Even though I know the power rating of strong decoder that is not enough. But if u supply the requested information, I will be able to offer an advise, however, if you enjoy fair "longer" period of electricity supply on the national grid, you can store energy in batteries for use with an inverter whenever there is power outage.

a system diagram of a solar panel

@baba_egun,olatiler,kcben,microgiant and all
thanks to all of us for inspiring each another in various ways.

@twinstaiye
thanks for correcting that mistake. I also found the first thread "SOLAR ENERGY - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW" under TECHNOLOGY.

@captain

a 300 watt inverter costs arround GH¢150 it may be cheaper
a deep cycle battery costs GH¢ 200
80watts solar panel costs GH¢800, this is way too expensive where as the cost of solar cells that can produce 200watts costs $250 from taiwan. with this, you can build your own solar panel - as a do it yourself project.

there are charge controller circuits you can build if you are electronics inclined, because of this, I have never bothered to find out the cost of one.
1yrd of 10mm² cable is GH¢ 1.20p
a multi meter (small sized analogue) costs GH¢5

I should be able to give further info that will inspire us to go the DIY way for solar panels.

@Aique
I live in Ghana and that will make it difficult to tell, where in exactly Nigeria to get these materials. But, I have friend in the FTA who knows where to the materials in Nigeria. It’s not difficult to get battery and if you know some electronic you can build your own charge controller and solar panel - there is a lot of resource on that. As a hobbyist, it’s good to start building your solar panel using wafer solar cell some of which are of the broken type. You can get the broken / whole solar cells from ebay and there good deals there.
You can get cables from electrical shops and meters from electronic shops.

@Solarfob
Thank you for the contribution which I believe will help us liberate ourselves. I think with your experience in the profession, you will continue to contribute to throw more light in the technical areas.
Yes, I mentioned everyday 7 – 8 hours of sunlight as just a rough estimate for those of us here on the equator.
I live in Ghana which is also close to the equator, so if you state the average sunshine period (this may be the effective sunshine to generate electricity) is around 5 hrs, though I am a bit sceptical, then it means one must have more panels to compensate the 2 or 3 hours.
I also think you should be of great assistance to Aique who will need materials as a hobbyist, by linking him to your contacts in Nigeria who deal in solar.

@Blog2010
Thank you, (I believe it’s sir ) – I am a “he” lol. You have said it all, though my inspiration is coming from the Free to Air satellite Technology section of nairaland, you have really said it all about solar energy and I advocate that we all have it, not only solar but wind energy too. This is all what renewable energy is about and you have said it. At the end of the day we liberate our planet from the natural disasters we are experiencing.

Thanks to all of you for the diverse way to help liberate ourselves when energy (electricity) is mentioned.
Originally, this thread was created under Free to Air Satellite (FTA) forum to help its members enjoy FTA to the fullest. Some few minutes after I posted the topic and its content, the whole thing disappeared. Honestly, I considered it lost or deleted I never knew the thread was relocated here and has received some attention. I came across it this afternoon when I clicked on updated topics button because I wanted to make a correction in the same topic I re-posted to the FTA forum. I really appreciate your contributions very much. I am glad to make replies to a few questions and comments put across.

@twinstaiye thank you for making the thread a success. Could u pls edit the subject title "complement to fta" not "compliment to fta" as wrongly spelt by me? @george thanks bro! I still dey 'there", i am doing all i can in support of total liberation

@twinstaiye
I have sent a copy of the thread contents to your mail in the form of attachment, please check.

Well, great people of FTA, I think I should start this on behalf of George_D because of the request made by others who have expressed interest in alternate electricity, especially solar energy. Our FTA independence is not complete if we are to suffer frequent power outages and been dependant on the nation’s electricity grid system always. I have read in this house many times, from members “PHCN don go off, so I will track later when they come back”. No one can run away from power outages in the main electricity grid – not even the west, it happens. Hence, we all should have alternate electricity and using renewable energy is, to me, the best. This means one can enjoy their FTA fully by being totally free and not “dom” (dominated).

Look at some advantages
• Lower or no electricity bills
• Compared to generator users, there is no fuel cost and stress of getting it and no fumes.
• People living in the remote locations where power is unavailable or too expensive to hook-up too can have electricity.
Just to mention but a few.

Without going into detail, one can enjoy electricity by means of using solar energy (energy from the sun), wind mill (using energy from the wind). Don’t forget, where there is frequent electricity supply from the utility company, you can store some energy for back up.

You will need the following to complete a solar project or back up.

1. Solar panels
2. Power Inverter
3. Charge controller
4. Batteries to store energy
5. wires and cables
6. Monitors/meters

The solar panel consists of cells called photo voltaic cells and these, covert the energy received from the sun to electricity in simple terms (this electricity is a direct current
d.c). The panels can last up to 20 years plus. The panels can be fixed, adjustable or of the tracking type. You can decide to go for a complete panel from manufacturers (already made) or build panels by yourself using solar cells- the latter is for the hobbyist. The panels are rated in watts eg 80w solar panel supplying 12v continuous at a given time

The inverter
Power Inverters are available in 3 basic designs, two of which I remember very well now – the one that out sinusoidal waves and those that are modified sign wave type (meaning not pure sine waves and do have limits when it comes to its application) . The power inverter converts your storage battery power into the 240 volts AC that runs your appliances. It is the heart of your solar energy system. Unless you only run 12 volt DC appliances you will need a power inverter to supply your AC. This is just the basics.

The Charge Controller
A Charge Controller is necessary to protect the batteries from over charging and supply them with the proper amount of energy to promote long battery life.

Batteries
Without Storage Batteries to store energy you would only have power when the sun was shining. There is a lot more to batteries than just the ordinary car battery. Yo may need to change batteries over the years.

Wires and Cables
Without the right size of cables, you are likely to experience inefficient transfer of power (greater losses) and overheating.

Meters
This is required to monitor the performance of your solar system.

Firstly, it is very necessary to know what gadgets you will be using (eg.tv, sat. receiver) and how long you will use how long you would have them on the solar power and how much energy your battery can store and which solar panel (rating in power) will supply the required energy.

A lot goes into calculating the cost of setting up a solar system. First one has to consider the period of usable sunlight available at their location to do this calculation. For us here close to the equator, we get about 7 to 8 hours or more of sunlight during dry season, just a rough estimate.

How do I know I need 100w or 80w or 300 watts solar panel for my project?

The power consumption of appliances is given in Watts. To calculate the energy you will use over time, just multiply the power consumption by the hours of use.

Eg. If I have 90W tv set which I want to use for 6hrs, 25W satellite receiver for the same period, and a 50W fan for 3 hours. What will be the energy required from the solar panels for the period?

1. the energy for each appliance is Watts x time (hours) = Wh

So, the watt hours for the tv = 90 x 6 = 540 Wh (watt hours)

Watt hours for sat. receiver = 25 x 6 = 150 Wh

Watt hours for fan will be = 50 x 3 = 150 Wh

2. sum the watt hours for the individual appliances ie. 540 + 150 + 150 = 840 Wh (watt hours)

This means that the solar panel will need to supply 840 watt hours of energy to the battery each day to cover the total power required by these appliances.

3. since there are bound to be losses in the system However, to account for natural losses, we multiply the result by 1.2 (this factor allows for natural system losses, assuming 85% efficiency). Therefore, we will assume the panels will actually need to be able to supply a total of
840 x 1.2 = 1008Wh

4. so, to supply 1008Wh of energy the panel we assume to receive 7 hours of sunlight will be rated at 1008 Wh / 7 h = 144W
So, I will need 144W solar panel to supply energy to my appliances above at the given time.

Regarding point 3, it also means, if I have a solar panel rated at 100W receiving sunlight for 7 hours a day, the total energy supplied considering 85% efficiency will be 100x7x0.85= 595Wh and not 700Wh

5. Your battery should be able to store 1008Wh of energy. Since batteries capacities are rated in Ah (Ampere Hours) you need to multiply Ah by the Volt rating to know the Watt Hour. Power(W) = Voltage (V) x Current (I) ; Watt hour = VxIxHour

Therefore Ah (which is I x h) = Wh / V = 1008 / 12 (the number 12 represents a 12v battery)
= 84 Ah

So it means you will need not less than a 84Ah, 12V battery (deep-cycle batteries, not ordinary car batteries) to do the job.

NB. Another way of calculating battery capacity is explained in this example. Should my battery be rated at 84Ah, 12V the watt hour (energy) will be 84Ah x 12 V = 1008Ah

It implies that the battery can supply a 150watt appliance for 1008/70 = 14hours

Pls don’t just play around with batteries they are dangerous.

@twinstaiye
I started a topic on solar energy and FTA this afternoon and it appears to have vanished. I want to find out if you know about that, maybe it is not appropriate here so, I will find another place for it.

Well, great people, I think I should start this on behalf of George_D because of the request made by others who have expressed interest in alternate electricity, especially solar energy. Our independence is not complete if we are to suffer frequent power outages and been dependant on the nation’s electricity grid system always. I have read in this house many times, from members “PHCN don go off, so I will track later when they come back”. No one can run away from power outages in the main electricity grid – not even the west, it happens. Hence, we all should have alternate electricity and using renewable energy is, to me, the best. This means one can enjoy their independence fully by being totally free and not “dom” (dominated).

Look at some advantages
•Lower or no electricity bills
•Compared to generator users, there is no fuel cost and stress of getting it and no fumes.
•People living in the remote locations where power is unavailable or too expensive to hook-up too can have electricity.
Just to mention but a few.

Without going into detail, one can enjoy electricity by means of using solar energy (energy from the sun), wind mill (using energy from the wind). Don’t forget, where there is frequent electricity supply from the utility company, you can store some energy for back up.

You will need the following to complete a solar project or back up.

1. Solar panels
2. Power Inverter
3. Charge controller
4. Batteries to store energy
5. wires and cables
6. Monitors/meters

The solar panel consists of cells called photo voltaic cells and these, covert the energy received from the sun to electricity in simple terms (this electricity is a direct current d.c). The panels can last up to 20 years plus. The panels can be fixed, adjustable or of the tracking type. You can decide to go for a complete panel from manufacturers (already made) or build panels by yourself using solar cells- the latter is for the hobbyist. The panels are rated in watts eg 80w solar panel supplying 12v continuous at a given time

The inverter
Power Inverters are available in 3 basic designs, two of which I remember very well now – the one that out sinusoidal waves and those that are modified sign wave type (meaning not pure sine waves and do have limits when it comes to its application) . The power inverter converts your storage battery power into the 240 volts AC that runs your appliances. It is the heart of your solar energy system. Unless you only run 12 volt DC appliances you will need a power inverter to supply your AC. This is just the basics.

The Charge Controller
A Charge Controller is necessary to protect the batteries from over charging and supply them with the proper amount of energy to promote long battery life.

Batteries
Without Storage Batteries to store energy you would only have power when the sun was shining. There is a lot more to batteries than just the ordinary car battery. Yo may need to change batteries over the years.

Wires and Cables
Without the right size of cables, you are likely to experience inefficient transfer of power (greater losses) and overheating.

Meters
This is required to monitor the performance of your solar system.

Firstly, it is very necessary to know what gadgets you will be using (eg. tv, sat. receiver) and how long you will use them on solar power and how much energy your battery can store and which solar panel (rating in power) will supply the required energy to be stored or used.

A lot goes into calculating the cost of setting up a solar system. First one has to consider the period of usable sunlight available at their location to do this calculation. For us here close to the equator, we get about 7 to 8 hours or more of sunlight during dry season, just a rough estimate.

How do I know I need 100w or 80w or 300 watts solar panel for my project?

The power consumption of appliances is given in Watts. To calculate the energy you will use over time, just multiply the power consumption by the hours of usage.

Eg. If I have 90W tv set which I want to use for 6hrs, 25W satellite receiver for the same period, and a 50W fan for 3 hours. What will be the energy required from the solar panels for the period?

1. the energy for each appliance is Watts x time (hours) = Wh

So, the watt hours for the tv = 90 x 6 = 540 Wh (watt hours)

Watt hours for sat. receiver = 25 x 6 = 150 Wh

Watt hours for fan will be = 50 x 3 = 150 Wh         

2. sum the watt hours for the individual appliances ie. 540 + 150 + 150 = 840 Wh (watt hours)

This means that the solar panel will need to supply 840 watt hours of energy to the battery each day to cover the total power required by these appliances.

3. since there are bound to be losses in the system However, to account for natural losses, we multiply the result by 1.2 (this factor allows for natural system losses, assuming 85% efficiency). Therefore, we will assume the panels will actually need to be able to supply a total of
840 x 1.2 = 1008Wh

4. so, to supply 1008Wh of energy the panel we assume to receive 7 hours of sunlight will be rated at 1008  Wh /  7 h =  144W
So, I will need 144W solar panel to supply energy to my appliances above at the given time.

Regarding point 3, it also means, if I have a solar panel rated at 100W receiving sunlight for 7 hours a day, the total energy supplied considering 85% efficiency will be 100x7x0.85= 595Wh and not 700Wh

5. Your battery should be able to store 1008Wh of energy. Since batteries capacities are rated in Ah (Ampere Hours) you need to multiply Ah by the Volt rating to know the Watt Hour.  Power(W) = Voltage (V) x Current (I)  ; Watt hour = VxIxHour

Therefore Ah (which is I x h) = Wh / V = 1008 / 12 (the number 12 represents a 12v battery)   
= 84 Ah

So it means you will need not less than a 84Ah, 12V battery (deep-cycle batteries, not ordinary car batteries) to do the job.

NB. Another way of calculating battery capacity is explained in this example. Should my battery be rated at 84Ah, 12V the watt hour (energy) will be 84Ah x 12 V = 1008Ah

It implies that the battery can supply a 150watt appliance for 1008/70 = 14hours

Pls don’t just play around with batteries they are dangerous.

@Olofofo thank you

@Olofofo thank u so much for the response

@Olofofo apart from the the performance listed above, do u see the box to b of any benefit to the 90cm and 1.8m hobbiest? Does the box have a special card like echo is to abra tnm work with. Where appropriate, pls provide link to the shop u bought ur box from. I have been browsing this link _www.dreaminthebox.com for phones and video accessories, it also has dbox. Pls check and advise. Respec

@captain

if u do not get one from that shopping mall at E- Legon, then I will get u the address for two shops I know. one in Osu and the other one arround zongo lane, I will get the addy later since I don't have it here with me now.

@kakofo
Pls check your mail. tnx

@olofofo
I once read here about the difficulty in putting the diseqc motor for 90cm to effective use because of some issues with the latitude/longitude values being less. I want to find out from you if there has been a way out in overcoming that shortfall - I still have interest.

@Butoneday
Oneday indeed - just oneday u made it! compliments for the success on that 5m dish project. why compliments, because you had problems with that project on some occasions, I read ur discussions especially with george "Idren"_d (if i'm not wrong), u never gave up the dream and today we are hearing the success story of what u wanted to make out of that bowl.

Respec fi I mon Itinually.

Skew is also location dependent to get the best of the received signal and the position may vary slightly at different locations

@spacevice help on skew: lnb skew is turning the lnb left or right in its holder (like turning the knob on a radio set) in a layman's term. The lnb shouldn't be too tight nor loose in its holder when skewing. I have my lnb skewed to six o'clock position facing the dish.this means the outlet from the lnb is facing down or the earth. Try adjusting lnb in holder by gentle push / pull whilst observing changes in signal strenth bar to where u have a high value and do skewing.

@spacevice I have stv1 62% on 63X and it's very stable using 60cm. You must do some tweeking or fine tuning on the dish. And if u r using ur dish for 3a and sirus then a sacrifice for one is the best bet now.

@Ibaku u r warmly welcome to the liberation house - set urself freeeeeee.

@all
greetz and happy new year to the house. I think what has kept me off the house but the FTA fire burning is now under control. I will be able to make my contributions to house - I am happy for that.
I will extend my condolence to brethren who are/were bereaved and in the same light share the joy of brethren who were blessed with "family top-ups"

massive respec unno

@Abuthaoban
Even though I do not know your current location in Nigeria, the answer is a gentle no. You may need something arround 1.8m (180cm) dish if u r in the north, and 2.4m - 3.0m if u r in the "middle" or south-south of nigergia. I think season 1,2&3 of the thread has lots of info, espescially on nile and badr - just link up.

thumbs up for u George. I and I appreciate u so much for ur immense contribution and "first aid" applications to this house.

@abuthaoban go get urself strong's 4669X which is mpeg 4 compatible. I think the issue of mpeg 4 here is hardware, u can't make 4663X MPEG 4: NO. u can enjoy crtv,gtv and ltm tv there.

@dorg3
hi pal, could you please try daarsat with your digibox and let the house know the result, I need to confirm my findings.
counting on you.

@twinstaiye
thank you very much for giving me back my previlages



Well, I want to post pictures as promised in my last post.

@george_d, all

I have been able to figure out why the multitv digibox could not open or show the daarsat signals.
My visit to lyngsat helped me a lot. Daarsat, according to lyngsat transmits their signal in DVB-S2 8PSK modulation where multi tv is QPSK.

There exists a difference in 8PSK and QPSK modulation methods
Firstly, Modulation is the process where a Radio Frequency or Light Wave's amplitude, frequency, or phase is changed in order to transmit intelligence. The characteristics of the carrier wave are instantaneously varied by another "modulating" waveform.
There are many ways to modulate a signal:
Amplitude Modulation
Frequency Modulation
Phase Modulation
Pulse Modulation
The QPSK is considered a phase modulation so, I will define it Phase modulation is the type of modulation where the PHASE of the carrier wave changes.
psk = Phase modulation is a version of frequency modulation where the phase of the carrier wave is modulated to encode bits of digital information in each phase change. (i.e it encodes the data into 0's and 1's)
qpsk = Quadrature (4) phase-key shifting
8psk = 8 phase key shifting
qpsk can have 4 different combinations to encode the data
8psk can have 8 different combinations to encode the data
Quadrature (4) phase-shift keying = Can only have 4 different states of 00 - 11 (ie: 00, 01, 10, 11)

8 phase-shift keying = can have 8 different states of 000-111
(ie: 000, 101, 010, 100, 001 ,011, 110, 111)

So, I figured out that the multitv digibox may be using QPSK modulation format for their HD channels because their manual spec indicate that the tuner is QPSK which is a much more simple modulation technology then 8PSK.
On the other end of things, daarsat has all their HD channels using the 8PSK modulation format. This is why those channels currently cannot be picked up as by multitv digibox.

Here is some more in depth info which sheds more light on the difference between 8PSK and QPSK,

8PSK is a higher modulation compared to QPSK. In QPSK bit/symbol rate is 2 while in 8PSK, it is 3. In other words, you can transfer more number of data using 8PSK than QPSK modulation. Supporting the 8PSK modulation is relatively costlier because of the technology involved. Hence, the 8PSK based solution is more expensive. Considering the utilization for a given allocated bandwidth, it is advisable to go in for 8PSK solution, though hardware may be costly.

Note that not all HD receivers are 8PSK, so most of the used electronics HD may not be able to bring out daarsat but will allow you to enjoy multitv channels.

Who knows what will be happening tomorrow, today 8PSK is ahead of QPSK.

@george_d
I think is enough concrete to seal my bet for daarsat, thank you for your concern.

@microgiant, pitodenz
I happened to lay hands on the multiTV didgbox today and I had to do everything possible to get your questions replied A.S.A.P because I don’t own it.

1. the digibox has NO card reader in it. I took pictures of it to prove and confirm to the house that the digibox doesn’t have a card reader in it. Yes, it has a compartment and a hole in resemblance of a card reader but if you insert a card into it you may not get it out unless you open the box (I mean it will drop into the box like dropping a coin in a piggy-bank)

I wanted to take pictures of the inside part, but it has a warranty seal cover on one of the screws and must broken to open to unscrew it – then the warranty would be void. Since, I am not the owner of the box and the owner does not agree to it, I could only take pictures of the front for the house.

One funny thing was that I was able to track Intelsat 907; I had the signal 61% on the 10977H 4056 frequency on the multi digibox but 85% on SRT 53x. I later input the daarsat frequency and the quality was 0 though the strength remained as the 10977H.
The daar frequencies 11555 and 11675 show 0% qualities on both polarizations.

For this reason and educational purpose, I have made direct quotations from their manual, below is the quotation,

“The preface
The receiver is a high performance with MPEG2/H.264 compatible and cost-effective digital satellite receiver for operations with IRDETO CA systems. You will have access to all digital free-to-air and pay tv channels of your choice. The friendly on-screen display makes everything really easy fast. The over-the-air upgrade supported will keep the viewers always updated with the new functions and service available. The clear picture and digital sound effect will definitely take viewers like you to a higher level of enjoyment.

Features
MPEG”/H.264 Compatible
Mail & Message supported
Pairing Supported
Support EFM (Enhanced Forced Message)
Support FTA Block function with smart card sectors
NIY search supported
Universal LNB supported
DiSEQC1.0/DiSEQC1.2 protocols supported
Electronic program guide EPG
Program parameters memorization after powering off
Multi-Language OSD and friendly user interface
Teletext output with VBI
Closed caption function
Support classifying BAT service
Auto program update
Aspect ratio 4:3 & 16:9
2000 channels space to be left
Software upgrade via RS232 serial port interface or OTA
SPDIF digital audio output
Satellite signal looping function out
S-VIDEO interface

Specification

I will give only the specs for the video decoder
Profile level – MPEG4 part 10 (H.264) _HPO@1.3, MPEGII MP @ ML
Out system - NTSC/PAL
Output Terminal - RCA
Output level- 1Vp-p (75Ω)(RCA)”

END

The rear panel

the rear panel has two video and audio outputs, s-video interface which makes it different from the SRTs. It has RF ports too.

NB:
The brand name of the digibox is just multiTV and the model number is MDVB S9800, made in china. It appears to me that the box is just a customised design for the multimedia company unlike daarsat which has kaon as brand name.

The following is also contained in the last page of the user manual;
“Note: Any modification will not be noticed in advance. Our company reserves all the rights of the explanation to the difference”


DISCLAIMER: the above quotations from the user manual is for educational purpose only and has no intention for any detrimental purpose to the owners or business, even including copyright

@microgiant & pitodenz
I can assure you that the multitv digibox does NOT have a card reader. I will send my detailed post later since I left what i typed home this morning.

@dorg3
thanks for the confirmation. what is preventing you from mounting a big dish, you know your area is hotcake to receiving all the nile, badr, eurobird2 etc. what's happening?

@dorg3
Please check your multi-tv diigbox, there is a compartment for card reader on the front panel. Check whether there is an opening or slot in that compartment, I strongly think it has a card reader. Please check and confirm.

@obnelly
I am sorry I have not tracked w6, but I am glad captain has done it and provided u with an answer.

@george_D
Thanks for the confirmation from and mpeg4 system too.