Demand for FTA equipment

[Super G]

First post here guys.

I just learned of FTA from an article in "Make:" magazine written by Dave Mathews. As a custom A/V installer with over 10 years of experience I am amazed that I didn't learn of this until now. Needless to say I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject so that I can give it a go myself.

So hear is my first question.

With FTA being such a niche market, how can there be enough demand to result in several manufacturers offering several models of FTA receivers? Low profit margins for electronics plus what would seem to be an extremely small client base adds up to an industry I have a hard time comprehending.

Any bits of insight would be appreciated.
Thanks, Gary

 

[PSB]

WELCOME to the SatelliteGuys.US FTA forum. FTA is HUGE in the rest of the world and in its infancy here in the US.

So its more of a hobby in this country and we try to help members install their own systems.

 

[john green]

Another factor might be the enormous amount of hackers using the equipment to steal some of the other services.

 

[raydio]

Pick up a copy of Tele Satellite magazine some time and you'll see receivers that we'll never see here in the US. There are manufacturers in countries such as Turkey and the UAE. Like the mod said (I'm not allowed to use his name in my posts) , FTA is very big in Europe and other parts of the world.

 

[Mr Tony]

rayydio
KNOCK IT OFF with the BS crap...

Like the mod said (I'm not allowed to use his name in my posts)

 

[jolt]

Also, (correct me if wrong) the fee to license FTA technology is mininal. There would be a small fee for MPEG-2 decoding (memory tells me it's around $1) and DVB decoding (again, memory tells me it's $0.20).

A few FTA boxes use more PC style parts running Linux. PowerPC is a popular processor, they are cheap, low power/heat, and can get them from either Freescale (Motorola) or IBM. They make tons of PowerPC chips in the embedded market, TiVo, routers, printers, cars, Xbox360, Macs, etc have all used PowerPC in the past, they are proven, reliable technology, and lots of engineers in the embedded market are trained for it's use.

 

[Super G]

Now I understand. Thanks!

 

[bryansr]

rayydio
KNOCK IT OFF with the BS crap...

ICE;
Are we not a LITTLE GRUMPY?????

BryanSR

 

[Mr Tony]

ICE;
Are we not a LITTLE GRUMPY?????

BryanSR

nope. Actually in a good mood (considering the mighty UMD Bulldogs got swept this past weekend by Colorado College)