Contest - Two Free GEOSATpro SL2 Bullet LNBFs - Enter to Win! Ends 2.2.2009

[FTABman0]

I first learned about Free To Air Satellite Television and Radio looking for an alternative to cable TV back in 2003. My father and I were looking around for quality television programming manly for him being retired and on a limited income. We found out about free to air in mid 2005, we both subscribed to Skyangel programming in mid 2006. I found out about FTA by searching the Internet and found a website showing free to air equipment and channel listings. I got my first motor setup up and running around mid spring 2006. My father did not live long enough to get his since cancer took him in August that year. He seen pictures of my setup though and was very excited to get his but it never worked out for him. Skyangel went IPTV and all his channels went away right before he went into the hospital for the last time. Every time I watch mine I sometimes think of him, he would have been tickled pink with Glorystar!

 

[phlatwound]

Familiar story here.....got a BUD in 95 and watched as the analog offerings dwindled away, last ala carte sub was in 2004, I think.

Found this site, started reading, and with the help of the fine folks here setup my first motorized Ku system about a year ago.

 

[wcalifas831]

FIRST HEARD ABOUT

I first heard about FTA when my grandpa was moving his big BUD in Mexico and I was asking him what that big ugly thing was for. He answered to be able to watch spanish tv since he lived in a remote area in Mexico. I was amazed to see that the big ugly thing was used for tv since I had no clue what they were for. Of course I was very young but growing up I loved electronics and Fta became a fascination. Love to see and look for new feeds all the time and enjoy this as a hobbie. Thanks Satellite guys for helping me all the way through.

 

[ACRadio]

You just kinda "know" after being in the industry for nearly 30 years. I guess I first read about it on the internet around '96 or '97.

 

[14karat]

Count me in!
I guess mine was back in the 80's when my cousin was installing BUD's and my brother bought one. We've been in and out (and back in) the hobby ever since.
Everything fell off the truck when digital hit - nobody wanted to pay the price to upgrade... until a couple years ago when my dad was sick of Dish and bought their new 922 4D receiver. That led me to scour the internet for updated info and, hence, led me here.

Thanks SatAV!

 

[Dishtechman]

I heard about fta for a while but did not try it until I started to install Gorystar and became a dealer for AV satellite. I went to the training for the glory star system in Sacramento rest is history.

 

[eaamon]

after 10 years subscribe to dish. then their HD service it got to the point that the MPEG-2 they sold me was not going to work any more, MPEG-4 was in and tuner was not upgradeable. it had a terrestrial tuner in it, and traded it for their so-called free replacement box. I was not at all pleased with the quality. the old box had a better picture and as always the OTA pictures simply were much better than any I got from the satellite. they took the old box in trade I was very displeased, they would not give it back. my son gave me a viewsat 9000 HD OTA tuner built in and now I pick up 49 local digital stations OTA. far better than the dish network receiver, do not think I'll need them any more. I remember a girl friend from 10 years ago had a BUD and was a subscriber to a service. I remembered a shop around the corner from me had a 12' BUD set up (in the 1980's) and there were free stations up there.
got curios and now looking, watching. PBS is a favorite.

 

[jerwucef]

We had always thought about getting a big satellite dish to receive Portuguese programming, but it was either too expensive, too much of a hassle or we had too many other things going on.

Then my dad was listening to a local Portuguese radio station, and there was this add explaining how you didn't need a big dish to get RTPi, and that it was all free. So I started to investigate what the heck he was talking about, and learned about KU-band digital FTA.

Of course, the more I learned about it, the more I encountered that slippery slope. Sure, I could've just got some discount receiver and a 31" dish like the guy on the Portuguese radio commercial was advertising. But I ended up finding a local Fortec dealer (who appears to have disappeared. ), bought an Ultra and a 1.2m dish, put it on a motor, got it all up, corrected for an initial 6 degree error, and BAM, RTP on AMC4. And a bunch of other satellites, too!

That was over 4 years ago. And everything is still more or less running -- even the SG-2100 on that 1.2M dish. Probably because I rarely move it anymore. But hey, for the first time in a while, I just bought a bunch of new stuff (my local dealer is a little less local, now ), and I'm getting ready to expand my FTA system significantly, and install a couple for family members, too. All I need is time.

And some dual output LNBF's wouldn't hurt, either.

 

[INVERTED]

I learned about FTA a few years ago from a group of local hobbiest. It's pretty cool. With a 90 cm dish, my next buy will be a 120 for better reception.

 

[intrepid]

Satellite AV Free LNB Giveway

I first saw FTA receivers in a Skyvision catalog and researched FTA on the internet and found the best FTA site ever, Satellite Guys.

 

[spudz160]

one word, SatelliteGuys.us !!!!

 

[rdel]

A friend with a C-band setup got me interested, Then I found satguys and G10r and that's all folks (I was hooked)

 

[letongue]

Discovered today, while researching an old receiver on google and that opened the wonderful world of FTA to me. I am still a newbie and researching what tools and equipment I need to be able to FTA.

 

[ftajjyohn]

I first learned about FTA when I went over to my aunts house one day and she had a friend of hers setting up I5 for her. I can say I'm ahead of my aunt when it comes to FTA now =D

 

[grampaD]

I discovered FTA by looking for C-Band dish parts in the Skyvision catalog back in 1998. As this was the only source of info that I had at the time, I went with Dish Network instead, so my getting into FTA was delayed for 8 years.

 

[Zero]

I was introduced to FTA when I was young and there were no option to get over the air transmission in my village. DTH was not even there at that time...

 

[vanalex]

My uncle got a big dish in the late 70's early 80's and I was fascinated by it. I always wanted to get one after seeing that. Fast forward to the new century and I found this site probably about a couple months when first opened and started reading. Didn't know about Ku until I was reading this site. Finally joined in April 2004 and then finally a Ku dish up in 2007 and motorized in 2008. Have fixed C-band at 99W for now.

 

[Morbius]

Did a google search for "best tv antenna" which i needed a new one at the time and this satelliteguys.com website came up and that was when it started. One thing I did learn is December in Ohio is not a good time to try and learn how FTA systems work. Its an exercise in frustration and its damn cold!

 

[FTAsquirrel]

In the past I had a BUD, then I left for over 10 years. I was listening to a shortwave radio program where they were talking about FTA. Then the monster was born. I enjoy FTA so much I dropped my sub service even.

I am excited about my next good weather project, setting up a system for family members this spring. If I win the LNBF it would got to that project.

SatelliteAV is a great company to deal with. Thanks for the support and contest.

 

[goaliebob99]

I learned about FTA from the guys here. I came here for dish, and left a SATELLITEGUY! All though this play is like Margrettaville