FTA Only?

[PopcornNMore]

Who here only uses FTA satellite and OTA to receive TV signals? If so, are you happy with what you have?

I'm realizing that we spend close to $1,000 per year for a Dish Network subscription and most of the programming we watch are on the networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, THIS & RTV) that we receive clearer on OTA and FTA satellite for free. Plus now programming from the top CATV channels can be found online as well as on DVD.

We are now thinking about starting the new year only using FTA and cutting out Dish Network in order to reduce expenses.

That $1,000 could be used to buy a new 8' dish, AZbox Elite receiver and some other FTA equipment.

 

[tdti1]

I only use dvb off c/ku, if you want to tune in all the dvb-s2 you will want a 10' or larger dish, I grab a sub here and there on the 4dtv, mite do so soon for the holidays, Starz for the year is not bad for some flicks here and there, or maybe HBO/Max for the boxing.

 

[Mr Tony]

I have a Shaw Direct account but that is mainly just for Hockey Night in Canada so the plan I'm on isnt that much

But otherwise its mainly OTA & FTA

 

[Avcomm]

I have been unemployed since January. (Yeah, theres a lot of that going around.) So I've been doing alot of cost cutting. I suspended my DirecTV account in May so OTA & FTA is all I have. So far, I haven't missed much. Most of what I watch is RTN (RTV). True, there are quite a few TV stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, so maybe I'm luckier than most.

 

[Larobpra]

We have a sub to SkyAngel IPTV, but that is only on the wife's TV. I find enough for me to watch with the FTA and OTA even being in an area without a lot of OTA available.

 

[JAS]

I only have FTA. No over the air. The County I live in has no money to upgrade their retransmission towers to HD, or so the say. I am satisfied with what I have. But locals would be nice.

 

[AcWxRadar]

My sole television source is FTA TV, and right now, just the Ku band portion of it.

I am quite satisfied with it all. I have several news sources such as ONN, NBC, ABC, Al Jazeera, etc.

For educational viewing I have History, Biography, Create and all the PBS channels.

For just general viewing, like series, I only watch RTV as no other programming would be decent enough to watch.

For movies, I sometimes check in on Cubavision. But, most often, I pick up a DVD of an older movie for $2-$5 in the discount bin. Surprisingly, I find a lot of good old movies in there. New movies don't excite me and I haven't been to a movie theater since 1979 when the very first Star Trek movie came out (Star Trek, The Motion Picture). Went to the drive-in a lot during high school and shortly after, but we weren't watching any movies then.

For sports, I seek out the feed channels. I do this once in a while just to see what is on. Sometimes I find some really interesting stuff.

I like older country music and older rock and roll. The Bluegrass station handles at least my country music desire. Of course, I have a CD collection of everything from AC/DC and Alabama to Led Zeppelin, ZZ-Top and Dwight Yokum. So, I am basically covered for music.

I do have 10 to 14 OTA digital HD channels, but I don't ever watch them. If I have to watch local news during a bad storm, I might pull them up, but otherwise they don't get seen on my tv.

I do miss WSTV and all the Equity channels that disappeared on us, but... Yeah, I think you could say that FTA makes me plenty happy!

RADAR

 

[melbfla]

OTA and Ku only never had any kind of subscription TV in the older days (80"s lol) C band but got tired of the hurricanes messing with it. But thinking about it again. When my kids were growing up they hated it I think they were the only ones without cable,dish, etc but they turned out ok I enjoy the hunt for channels and feeds better than another bill. Of course not counting the money for the FTA equipment.......

 

[Birdhunter]

I only use OTA & FTA. Never without entertainment.

 

[Conky]

satellite subscription too costly so I only have ota &fta. Made me realize I probably watched too much television . Usually at least 1 good movie on This! per day(which I record on dvd the watch later to fast forward through their 5 minute commercials). Discovered a lot of good old shows with better writing and acting(like Kojak, Emergency! and Rockford) than what's on offer on the big 4. There's still CBC and TVO on analog(can't beat 3 or 4 uncut, uncensored movies classics in a row on saturday nights)
Only miss ...Mythbusters

 

[Sadie]

I have Ku FTA and two snowy locals OTA, record most stuff ahead of time before watching and usually end up recording more than I watch in a week, still have a lot of stuff left over from the summer months to watch when I generally don't watch TV.

If I want more or different I'll have to put up a C band dish.

 

[ikki]

> Who here only uses FTA satellite and OTA to receive TV signals? If so, are you happy with what you have?

That would be me. I am more then happy. Every time I don't have to use the credit card or check book each month it reminds me why I dumped Dish Network.

Now if I could get my INTERNET bill down I would really be in heaven.


In this thread I asked others what is in there favorites.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/fta-shack/195505-whats-your-favs.html

Perhaps this could give you a better idea of what people are watching, and more importantly if switching to FTA will work for you.

 

[rv1pop]

No OTA only FTA and I sometimes miss having news, but have not put up a dish for the networks, yet. The wife and I are both happy with we have. Cable is 15 miles away and Dish can not find us --YEAH --- Direct finds our mailbox 4 days a week but the neighbors (a mile away) have direct and watch 2 channels -- TBN and Daystar which I watch, FTA!

 

[redilyn]

All I have is OTA & FTA, II mostly just watch the history channel & ION

I really miss the equity stations as well.

 

[classicsat]

Heck no, although if I got decent OTA reception it would be a consideration canceling pay satellite outside of baseball season.
I rely on Shaw direct for much of my TV viewing, and do quote enjoy having Discovery, NG, and other specialty channels.

 

[SpiffWilkie]

OTA and FTA here. I watch too much t.v. as it is. I find having a dvr is beneficial, though. There's always something recorded to watch.

 

[ZetaMale]

Most of the stuff I watch is FTA and OTA but I do have a 4DTV sub to the SyFy channel. Also, I rent Netflix DVD's and BluRay. I would like to see the NHL but I'm too cheap to pay for a sports package.

 

[Pismire]

We only have FTA here, both C and Ku. We watch the local news on the internet feed. Looks great on the 46" lcd. OTA is out of reach for our area. Don't miss the dish bills one bit and the quality is outstanding.

 

[Dishman Dan]

Only miss ...Mythbusters

Mythbusters is available on Netflix!

I am not sure if Netflix is available in your part of the world.

For $9.00 a month ($8.99) you get 1 DVD out at a time and unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows including Mythbusters! :up
The only other thing you need is high speed internet. You do NOT need the fastest internet! I have the middle speed Roadrunner and I am very happy with the Netfix service which has picture quality as good as the "pizza" pans. This is a lot better choice for me instead of repetitive HBOs and Showtimes which cost much more.

I also get the networks OTA, play some with FTA (I miss G18!), and temporarily shut down my 4DTV until I pick a cheaper package! My 4DTV provider will most likely NOT be NPS this time! :neener

 

[BurlesonBlue]

You know, I think someone could start a viable business offering just FTA and OTA installation. Set a flat rate for, say, a rooftop antenna and 3 Ku Band dishes, and advertise the channel lineup you'd get in fliers and commercials and such. In this economy, if people knew of the programming options out there, I think a great deal of people would drop cable and the pizza dishes.

Between an Antenna and 3 Ku Band Dishes, I could put together a pretty dang good lineup:
- All Major Networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc)
- Universal Sports
- This TV
- Accuweather
- Retro Television Network
- Create
- Qubo
- ION Life
- History Channel
- Biography Channel
- BYU TV
- ONN