Except for just playing around with it as a hobby whats the advantage? For the average user there doesn't seem to be any feeds on it worth watching. Can you get programing subscriptions? Would you be able to get the national feeds (ABC, NBC, CBS) off one? I seen some PBS feeds, and there was some listings of channels like Hallmark, and what not, but the video is scrambled, and all you can get is the audio. Obliviously there are people who use them to steal programming, but for the legally legit user there doesn't seem to be any reason for one.
FTA ?
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You've come to the right place to get educated.
Obviously, you have the wrong view of FTA satellite reception.
The members of this forum are involved in totally legal TV watching, covering many areas.
Some watch old shows.
Some like news feeds.
Some live in the sticks, with little or no over-the-air programming available.
Some like actual unknown/unpublished game feeds of all sorts (not encrypted).
Many watch foreign programming. Often those channels have news or other programs in English.
Here's a quick list of the Ku satellites, prorgamming, and languages available.
It's far from comprehensive, but should give you a 'first look'.
Feel free to ask about any particular interest you may have.
There's even a subscription service called 4DTV available on C-band, but we have a whole 'nother department for that.
If it's FTA, we can tell you about it. - :up
Obviously, you have the wrong view of FTA satellite reception.
The members of this forum are involved in totally legal TV watching, covering many areas.
Some watch old shows.
Some like news feeds.
Some live in the sticks, with little or no over-the-air programming available.
Some like actual unknown/unpublished game feeds of all sorts (not encrypted).
Many watch foreign programming. Often those channels have news or other programs in English.
Here's a quick list of the Ku satellites, prorgamming, and languages available.
It's far from comprehensive, but should give you a 'first look'.
Feel free to ask about any particular interest you may have.
There's even a subscription service called 4DTV available on C-band, but we have a whole 'nother department for that.
If it's FTA, we can tell you about it. - :up
For some of us, it's not just a hobby; it's a way of life.
I think you are dead nuts on with this statement. The average user might not be so interested in the more regional college football games, or the Major League Soccer games that are so frequently found. However, those are the exact reasons why I am an FTA fanatic! I find precisely what I want with FTA, and I cannot get it anywhere else, no matter how much money I could pay to a service provider.
I should also mention there can be a technical side to the endeavor, both electrical and mechanical. It is a rewarding hobby that keeps the brains of those inclined to take it further interested and satisfied.
I think the same way about stamp and coin collecting, and any number of other things people spend time on. I legitimately use both coins and stamps, but can't find a reason to be more interested in them.
You are right that there is no advantage, if you already have everything you want. And FTA is only an advantage if you can get it FTA. (It occurs to me that "advantage" is subjective here...)
Well... this year alone i watched at least 100 MLB games ITC, totally FREE, and a good portion of them in HD.
Basketball... there's a good amount of feeds every week.
Movies... well with netflix or videoclubs or whatever they're called nowadays, it's hard to miss major movie channels or PPV (the price of movies at walmart, kmart, etc. are really low for some good movies).
News... i can get more news feeds than i can watch any day.
Major networks, also i can watch the major networks, some of them in HD with a quality that not even your OTA HD has.
Of course this needs the right equipment, knowledge and most important of all, patience.
I think the best FTA comes in the form of occasional feeds... Its great to watch programs from the source, with the highest picture quality available!
Scoobyxj,
These four gents have expressed it most well! I totally agree with every one of their statements.
My personal direction is more into the hobby and research and the technical aspects of it. Something to give my brain a hobby (especially during winter). Something that is always changing and new! Fascinating! Simply Fascinating!
However, there is at least one other aspect here that hasn't been covered. That is finding new friends and acquaintances through channels like this one. We might not all actually visit one another in person, but sometimes we do and sometimes some do very frequently. Some friends are from all over the globe!
Even for myself, I have found a new hobby to share with my brother. We share many of the same interests and so satellite hunting is a great hobby for us to share.
There is just so much more to FTA than you may perceive.
RADAR
These four gents have expressed it most well! I totally agree with every one of their statements.
My personal direction is more into the hobby and research and the technical aspects of it. Something to give my brain a hobby (especially during winter). Something that is always changing and new! Fascinating! Simply Fascinating!
However, there is at least one other aspect here that hasn't been covered. That is finding new friends and acquaintances through channels like this one. We might not all actually visit one another in person, but sometimes we do and sometimes some do very frequently. Some friends are from all over the globe!
Even for myself, I have found a new hobby to share with my brother. We share many of the same interests and so satellite hunting is a great hobby for us to share.
There is just so much more to FTA than you may perceive.
RADAR
At my other location, I don't have internet...but like to listen to Alex Jones. On 97West the audio side has that type of programming. On 101W I watch the History Channel at that location.
But here, I have had Direct TV for a number of years and FTA supplements my OTA and DTV choices. It is about choice and the lure of getting TV that your local cable or satellite doesn't offer.
I can get Ohio Network Now on 74 W (I live the next state over from Ohio) and ONN is one of the better FTA choices on satellite . During the day they have newscasts from Toledo, Columbus and Cleveland. ONN is offered on some cable systems in Ohio...but I don't live in Ohio and yet ... I am still able to see it.
Direct TV doesn't offer, CCTV, Research TV or Pentagon...but Dish does. And these are FTA in the clear channels for anyone to watch. I don't have Dish Network but I can watch them if I choose for free anytime I want.
On 97W like I mentioned earlier, there is also Russia Today, Al Jazeera and Press TV all in English and offering a different persepective and take on the news.There are some here who love the sports feeds. These feeds are there for the duration of the game and then gone...only to return the next day with another game. There are some who like the news feeds, I got to see newscasts from Dallas TX and Washington DC. complete with news, weather and commercials.
But here, I have had Direct TV for a number of years and FTA supplements my OTA and DTV choices. It is about choice and the lure of getting TV that your local cable or satellite doesn't offer.
I can get Ohio Network Now on 74 W (I live the next state over from Ohio) and ONN is one of the better FTA choices on satellite . During the day they have newscasts from Toledo, Columbus and Cleveland. ONN is offered on some cable systems in Ohio...but I don't live in Ohio and yet ... I am still able to see it.
Direct TV doesn't offer, CCTV, Research TV or Pentagon...but Dish does. And these are FTA in the clear channels for anyone to watch. I don't have Dish Network but I can watch them if I choose for free anytime I want.
On 97W like I mentioned earlier, there is also Russia Today, Al Jazeera and Press TV all in English and offering a different persepective and take on the news.There are some here who love the sports feeds. These feeds are there for the duration of the game and then gone...only to return the next day with another game. There are some who like the news feeds, I got to see newscasts from Dallas TX and Washington DC. complete with news, weather and commercials.
I notice that one important reason hasn't been mentioned (unless I missed it), and that is quality. Of course some of the channels available via FTA are just as low quality as the Dishnet/DirecTV stuff, however a lot of what people watch can be found with significantly better quality.
With digital, you can usually associate the quality of the signal with the bitrate, and for example while the bitrate of a typical DBS HD MPEG2 signal might be in the range of less that 14000, the network channels had bitrates that approached 40000, and sporting and other special events can typically be found at high quality bitrates that are greater than 30000. The quality increase isn't quite as great for PBS, but the satellite signals are still significantly better quality than is available from the DBS pay services. The above bitrates change significantly when talking about mpeg4 video, but the results are the same. Basically, DTV and DN squeeze as many channels as they can onto their transponders, which requires them to lower the bitrate significantly compared to their source. For casual viewers, the quality might be "OK", but it's simply not as good as what you can view by tuning into the original network signals.
The channels mentioned above that have old TV shows and foreign language programming are NOT high quality, but they have content that often isn't available elsewhere.
FTA isn't a replacement for cable or DBS services, particularly since most of the cable type channels are encrypted and not available via FTA, but fta is a compliment to DBS, giving you content you couldn't get from other services, and often in quality that isn't available by other services. FTA is not going to be as user friendly as subscribing to DN/DTV, but most people think it's worth the effort.
With digital, you can usually associate the quality of the signal with the bitrate, and for example while the bitrate of a typical DBS HD MPEG2 signal might be in the range of less that 14000, the network channels had bitrates that approached 40000, and sporting and other special events can typically be found at high quality bitrates that are greater than 30000. The quality increase isn't quite as great for PBS, but the satellite signals are still significantly better quality than is available from the DBS pay services. The above bitrates change significantly when talking about mpeg4 video, but the results are the same. Basically, DTV and DN squeeze as many channels as they can onto their transponders, which requires them to lower the bitrate significantly compared to their source. For casual viewers, the quality might be "OK", but it's simply not as good as what you can view by tuning into the original network signals.
The channels mentioned above that have old TV shows and foreign language programming are NOT high quality, but they have content that often isn't available elsewhere.
FTA isn't a replacement for cable or DBS services, particularly since most of the cable type channels are encrypted and not available via FTA, but fta is a compliment to DBS, giving you content you couldn't get from other services, and often in quality that isn't available by other services. FTA is not going to be as user friendly as subscribing to DN/DTV, but most people think it's worth the effort.
Enlightening! While I'm not into sports, or news. I can understand why the fans would be interested in the better quality FTA feeds. The major network feeds would be something that interested me, and feeds with content like the Science Channel, History, Discovery, Nat Geo, and TLC. My dad has an old C band receiver (the dish is long gone, but I'm sure I could find one there everywhere around here), and those will pick up C-Band & Ku. Right? IIRC it has the descrambling unit built in, and it would automatically move the antenna to the correct bird when you selected your channel. Would a unit like that only be restricted to a large 8' dish, or could you ues one on a smaller 18" dish. I'm going to go troll the C-band forum to see what I might expect ffom that equipment this day an age.
Probably he has a digital receiver, there's not a lot of feeds nowadays analog, but the few that still exist are pretty good, specially when we're talking about syndication, you can watch next day's syndication shows the night before, without logos nor commercials (only a cut to black screen)
.What you'll need is to check The List for all the info about the available channels ITC, feeds as somebody pointed out, come and go, but with time you can come to more or less know where you can find certain feeds. Maybe your dad had 4DTV but if it hasn't been used it may need a rehit or subscribing to the lowest package so you can update your receiver if it hasn't died yet.
Check the C Band section for more info about what you can do with a big dish attached to your DVB receiver.
Oh... and welcome aboard
.M.
I use it for the sports feeds. Who needs those big buck PPV packages for cfb/cbb games when I can see way more games than that
I am lucky to speak 3 languages and beleive you me, I watch a lot of free boxing matches (example: Paqman and Cotto [PPV $50.00] ) on SAT MEX 6 It is in Spanish but I am very fluent!!! I also watch some italian shows plus all I can get in English!! There is nothing short on the FTA system, unless you make it be!!!
For me, it is not so much about what I get, it is partly about the hunt, and Dr. Gene Scott (and Melissa).
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