What Happened to Everybody?

Has everybody died or are they just quiet and no longer posting

With regards to posting wild feeds, there are still a decent number of guys posting 24/7 at Rick's. I post feeds on nights and weekends when I see them, but since my motor crapped out earlier this year I'm limited to what I can find.

If anyone would like to donate a used motor to the cause, let me know :biggrin
 
I think comfortably number his the nail on the head... Equipment.

Its also hard to find equipment now. Old equipment is dying off and you can't find (or afford) new equipment to replace it. I think a lot of people got tired of trying to keep things running.

And Primestar is also on the money with the fact that finding things with streaming is easier and costs really nothing. Honestly if there is something you want to watch chances are you can find it online. (No matter if its legal or not) and honestly for many that line of whats legal and not legal is a blured line.
 
think comfortably number his the nail on the head... Equipment

I choose to keep my dish active because I still enjoy the "thrill of the chase" with the wild feeds.. it reminds me of my childhood, moving around my parents' C-band dish and finding hundreds of feeds. I acknowledge that the number of feeds is now dwindling, but I'll probably hang on 'till the bitter end :)
 
I agree with what others have said, and part of the problem is while C band still has some good channels that can be had, not everyone has a place for a C band dish. As well, in the past few years, whereas before a six or eight footer would have probably been sufficient, now you really need a much larger dish to catch most of it. If you didn't have room for a 6 or 8 footer, you definitely don't have room for a larger dish. And, as noted above, finding a larger dish is even more difficult than it was.

On the Ku side, which I have only ever had, each year gets worse and worse, and the pickings are getting mighty thin. Only area which seems to still be thriving is the Spanish channels. Unfortunately, unless they have English on a secondary audio track, I am out of luck!

Recently, I have been going over my notes that I have made since my first foray into FTA in 2006. Besides the loss of some really great channels that could be had on Ku, is the loss of the news wild feeds we use to get (as well as the sports feeds). I made one note on April 17 2007 about the massacre at Virginia Tech, and had found approximately 75 (yes 75) news feeds on just three satellite (72, 79, and 91) with others feeds on other satellites (not as great a number). Those days are long gone. Don't know the last time I saw a wild feed of a car chase or a fire on Ku!

Also, and it shows by the above, we have lost many satellite positions that use to have channels or feeds on them. Besides the three mentioned above, 72, 79, and 91, I can add to the list 74, 83, 85, 89, 93, 95, 121, 125, and 127. As well, the satellite fleet for Ku satellites is aging fast, and few are being replaced. Not good!

But I am sure I will be there (and here) until the end!

EDIT: added 127 to the list of lost satellite positions.
 
Ill be here to the end... The truth is, im just too frugal. Our cost of living is less than 99% of people. One streaming service just doesn't cut it because no one streaming service carries everything. So, i bow out. This family doesn't subscribe to ANY streaming services. I love the news and there is still LOTS of news out there. I am a minority, a lot of shows people like just don't interest me. I still think there is quite a bit to watch between Cband and KU.

Example, last night on 87w KU, i caught a New Hampshire Dean Phillips meet and greet, and watched almost its entirety. That was a great catch. Ill never see that in main stream news. I've enjoyed watching Reuters Live and The Palestinian channel for the live feeds. Then there is all the great news, and the many DigiNet FTA channels, and the many music channels, our satellite network accounts for 95% of our TV entertainment, minus the occasional DVD's we watch when a friend brings one over.

But, to be honest, what really makes it so workable for us is the EPG guide we have within the satellite receiver. With that, we hardly miss stuff worth watching, and with the 4 tuners in the receiver, we watch and record many things that gives us hours of recorded stuff to catch up on when we are in the tv watching mood. We caught 'Regarding Henry' on PosiTV. Thats a oldie but good movie, and i almost never watch PosiTV but, thanks to the EPG, we caught it.

I dunno, i am still IN LOVE with this hobby.. And yes although it has changed over the years, I think it's also a part of why i love it. Things are constantly changing, channels come and go, things move around, and it forces to you adapt and doesn't allow you to settle too much, which keeps it 'NEW' and 'Fresh'.:happydance
 
I still have two 12 footers and I use them on a regular basis. I don't know if I'll spend the bucks to repair or replace anything in the future. The biggest problem that I've had recently is getting replacement mesh for the antennas. Either the dish maker went out of business (KTI, Paraclipse, etc) or it's a supply chain issue (TEK2000). I don't watch much on C-band anymore but there's still stuff of interest - usually older programs. And now we have the 5G interference. I do some streaming but not a lot of that because most of the newer shows/movies turn me off.
 
We currently have the following setup. C-Band: A motorized 10ft mesh dish usually parked at 101W, an 8ft mesh dish parked at 99W, an 8ft mesh dish parked at 91W and a 6ft solid dish parked at 47.5W. In addition we have a motorized 90cm ku dish. Also have an 80cm ku and a modded DirecTV Slimline, neither of which are aimed at anything currently. The majority of our tv watching comes from these dishes plus OTA. :)
 
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We currently have the following setup. C-Band: A motorized 10ft dish usually parked at 101W, an 8ft dish parked at 99W, an 8ft dish parked at 91W and a 6ft dish parked 47.5W. In addition we have a motorized 90cm ku dish. Also have an 80cm ku and a modded DirecTV Slimline, neither of which are aimed at anything currently. The majority of our tv watching comes from these dishes plus OTA. :)

Wow, you have a dish farm!
 
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We currently have the following setup. C-Band: A motorized 10ft dish usually parked at 101W, an 8ft dish parked at 99W, an 8ft dish parked at 91W and a 6ft dish parked 47.5W. In addition we have a motorized 90cm ku dish. Also have an 80cm ku and a modded DirecTV Slimline, neither of which are aimed at anything currently. The majority of our tv watching comes from these dishes plus OTA. :)

What do you watch on 47.5w that keeps you parked there?
 
Still at it here :) Streaming FWIW is almost non existant for me and my crappy Century Link DSL which only has bandwidth for one thing at a time. I guess the one thing I'm trying to get connected here which is fiber, since it runs 50 feet from my house,is taking a top transport seat for carriers lately. I admit is definitely was more interesting in days gone by.
 
Good discussion here and all good answers. I knew the decline was coming, but like a lot of you I am still here. Myself it is all hobby to me. I don't watch much TV, so I like seeing what I can find, just to find it. I still sell a couple receivers to help out. It is not gone and will not be gone for sometime. I think the main thing is I don't see as many new people in the hobby. The generations coming up are used to watching their phones, so they watch stuff like YouTube etc.
 
Hi all,

I’ve had a BUD since 1991 and needless to say, so much has changed since then.
Even though I can see from 55w to 119w
(when the leaves are off the trees), most of it is either in spanish or some other foreign tongue I’m totally clueless with.
I have an 8 foot solid with a kU side car and it serves me well.
I think the maintenance needed to keep your dish in top form, the shortage of unused dishes waiting to be pick up for a song and the price for a new dish (have you seen Tek2000’s prices ?) are adding to the decline in BUD popularity. Its a hobby not a necessity.
I’m in it for the long run, but am discouraged by its decline.
What I don’t understand is, knowing the declining number of BUDS, why do broadcasters continue to encrypt ?

John