Social Feed

If your local library doesn't have such books, ask them to try and ILL it (Inter Library Loan). Some libraries in the hinterland keep such old oddities.

I considered joining the FTA club, but realized I didn't need another hobby. I just want to watch TV. And saw no value in a BUD "discussion" with SWMBO. PICK YOUR FIGHTS.

Interesting. I'd say a lot of the FTA interest died when the barrage of get rich quick C Band satellite dealers out there got stung with M/A-Com delivering the first VC encryption systems to thwart what was a for cable headend and hotel/motel industry. Consumer level electronics and receiving dishes capitalizing on what was "free". If you knew how to do it. Of course, the dealers found a way to keep their customers who spent a ton of money and suddenly one day had a yard with a "big ugly dish" in it. Basically useless. But not really so. At a price. In the interim. Cable companies expanded their area coverage. Dish and Direc came into being.
Dish vendors "in the know" hush-hushed their customers with a scheme. For a price. To make it all 'free' again.
Anyone remember milled off epoxy and embedded chips and piggy backed socketed-on chips?
And how about 1-900-HOT-SHOT every once in awhile with a notepad to write down the numbers station cryptography and entering a secret menu?
Yeah. Big dishes died. Interest died. Gazebos and kids huts and landfills were their destiny for the most part.
Little dishes started cluttering the sides of houses.

Electronics? Born in my blood maybe. Soldering with a paring knife since my mom showed me how to splice twin lead antenna wire when I was a little turd. She was one of the Rosie the Riveters. Dad and me got our tickets when I was 10. He didn't particularly like it when I tapped out dih-dah dah-dah-dah dah-dah at the dinner table.

USAF brat. I am. When dad was stationed at Canaveral AFS as a kid and rockets went up. I think I watched the tracking dish antennas more than the rocket flames going up.
One of the Airmen took me to the weather station one day. Stacks of radios and teletypes clacking away and wet faxes. But the biggest rush i think was a guy loading up a teletype with a long paper tape and waiting and then running it. The Airman took me up on the roof and there was this big crossed yagi. Must have been 20 feet long. Slowly rising and turning. We went back in and there was this sound. Never will forget it. A "ring-ching-ching" sound coming over a speaker. And a tape spinning on an open reel deck. Later on I saw a photo of the image of the Tiros sat that just passed overhead. I think I was kinda "hooked". There was stuff up there sending radio waves back to earth.

Someone said a bad word. CB. Or as one old friend called it. Kuh-Buh. Somehow the purity of the radio spectrum on those 24 channels was turned into a toilet. To me. Everyone had one. Nobody had to know code. Or say "over". Or knowing what a proper QST, QTH even is. It's easier to get handgun permit here. Fill out a form, check all of the boxes, smile...you're on state camera, and pay 20 bucks.Than to get a tech. ticket.
Hit a truck stop CB shop. Get the most powerful, dirtiest linear you can get. Get on the air waves and spill filth all over in and out of band. And be all that you want everyone to make you think you are who you say you are.
Will the FCC come-a-knockin'? Nah. Probably not. Break in on a nightly ham band network and spill filth and insults? Knock-knockerdy-knock. Guess who?!
Probably said this before. Friend comes home with a duffel bag of CD's. I run out and grab a couple of bricks of TDK SA-90's. And start drinking beer and copying away with him.
Guy up the street with his dirty linear bleeding over into my TV and stereo. Asking him kindly if he might be able to do something about it. In my face about how I have to go get filters. Kind of a.....no....he was a dick.
Spite took over after getting in the car the next morning. Slapping a tape in and driving to work. And his CB crap imposed on my newly recorded tape. That was it.
A late night walk. Really late. After robbing my chickies sewing kit for the biggest darning needle I could find.
Meandered up and stuck that needle through the dead center of his coax running up the tower. And gave 'er a *SNAP*.
His coffee and first key down must have been an awakening thing. Because I later found out the whole room turned to smoke. Doop-de-doop. Breaker one-nine. Station down, station down.
What really sucked? Realizing part of what I earned gave him welfare cash to buy the stuff in the first place.

Oh. FTA? Certain type? Unavailability? The European continent is blazing with equipment. Just that they use a lot of fixed dishes and are limited to the size of dish they allowed to stab in the dirt. That kinda sucks.
The interest. Ability to learn. Not giving up. Good influences and Elmers. Communication and leaning the jargon.
Creativity. What else? An occasional darning needle?
"Xerox" people irk me kind of. Ones who want it all given to them and learn enough to be dangerous. And then take all of the credit. I love to fish. Not really that great at it. If someone wants to give me a nice one to cook up. Cool. But I'd never ever say give me one. I guess that's why it takes a special kind of person to get into my shop and sit at the repair bench.Being able to rip rip zippedy zip and fix a broken something or other didn't come overnight.
Damn. You got 'ole Seth all fired up!!!

Don't forget "birdbaths."

I get enough entertainment from my BUD and OTA. But, the BUD has become very expensive. As long as my insurance pays for repair or replacement, I'll keep using the BUD. I do some streaming but not as much as I use to. Everything is getting pricey. 5G has become a problem despite what I have tried so that might get me off C-band in the near future.

The simple answer to your:

Who is allowed to take part in the FTA hobby?

Anyone with some time and money to spend plus a quest for satisfaction from a DIY project.