Is 4DTV soon to be 6 feet under?

[Milesdrifter]

Hey everyone, I just joined this site cause I am in the process of moving and found my old Sat. equip. buried and thought to check it out. to shorten this, I have seen some info relating to 4DTV and how it is soon to be losing channels, how it has lost pretty much all the Ku band, and how it is soon to go the way of VCRS II. I got a sidecar back in '07 after my last move but was unable to put my dish up so it all went in the basement. I have checked the battery and matched the ID from on screen and on the back, but have seen a 905 going for 300$ on ebay, but it got relisted at 120$. I am hoping this format will still be around and hope someone can save their time and point me in the direction of a source of info that will get me up to speed with the current C/Ku band, and 4DTV situation. Thanks for any and all help anyone here can offer, Miles

 

[pro96]

Hint: RIP

Posted Using The New SatelliteGuys Reader App!

 

[Anole]

It's been on life support for the last two years.
http://www.programming-center.net/

But maybe your dish could get you some useful FREE programming.
I know it might not seem as good as subscription, but there are a lot of choices.

How is your local OTA reception?
Do you get all the networks, independents, PBS, etc?

Do you like weather, or news (in English) from a foreign perspective?
How about retro TV programming; all those shows from your childhood.

What sort of TV set will you be using?
An old analog, or a wide screen HD set?

Tell is more about your dish.
Post some pictures.
The sky's the limit.

 

[Milesdrifter]

First off, Thanks again for the info. I am stuck with a 6 footer, and last I ran it was '05-'06. I got a Chaparrel Monterey 50, if there is any analog left, which I doubt? I have 3 main TV's, a 27in. Sony HD 4:3 and a 34in. Sony HD widescreen, both goin to 1080i, and a 20 in. Trinitron from '93. I spent close 2 all of '09 on the Digital Home site from Canada, threw 2gether a few antenna, mainly a 6awg Hoverman using the info from Jon E. Davis. I get the main networks but where I plan on movin there are round 2 channels! I would have invested in an FTA reciever but they seemed like you had to almost know computer programming, and I hated learnin assembly language in school! Retro is good, foreign perspective in this age is better. When I was 16 I had a 7 footer and ran it with an HTS 8+ receiver. I still have some old equip. from the mid-80's that I got with that dish, like a Janeill positioner and what is left after teardown of a Uniden UST-1000. I payed 100$ for the sidecar but it looks like a loss on that 1. I remember back in the day watching live sumo on NHK at 3:30am! I have a dual polarity C-band feedhorn if they are still valuable, I might post it to the classifieds here, but seems like the older you get, the more work all around a move is.

 

[Anole]

I don't do analog, but here is a recent post that might help:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/312707-Classic-Arts-Showcase-(G7-18)-leaves-analog

Nor do I do 4Dtv, and I was hoping someone who still subscribed would offer more current info.

If you could get one or more of those analog channels, it might reignite your interest.
And you could get your system back to basic functionality.

It wasn't clear if your 6' dish was still up or not.
If it is, and you can move it reliably, then the rest is just education and accessories.
I don't want to scare you, but those accessories could include a modern receiver and modern Vbox to move the dish.
But let's not put the cart before the horse.

If you are faced with just two local channels, then you are a good candidate for FTA! :up

 

[waylew]

There are still a few sats with in the clear DCII channels,not your mainstream cable type programming tho.There are a couple of audio services that are"free" also.You can check here,
http://www.programming-center.net/
to see what you can still buy for programming.
You can also look thru here,
http://www.lyngsat.com/america.html
to see what else you might be able to get.You'd be looking for things listed as Digicipher 2 and highlited in yellow.
The 6' dish is going to limit what you can get ,but it should work okay for the HITS channels on "X4",actual name AMC 18@105west.

 

[JFOK]

Miles,

I've been a BUD hobbyist since 1991.
A few years back I decided to build a man cave where I would relocate my satellite equipment. I disconnected my satellite equipment from its location in the living room to allow for rewiring and for approximately 2 years (the time it took me to build the man cave since I did it myself on weekends and holidays) I was without BUD access. When I returned to this hobby after completing my man cave, I was surprised at the changes to the FTA world. I knew 4DTV was on its way out before I even started the man cave, but was very surprised at the lack of analog transponders I could use to re-aquire satellite locations. With the help of this forum and research on the internet, I was able to get back up and running.
I currently use my 4DTV receiver as a dish mover and have slaved a Geosat MicroHD receiver to it. I am very pleased with the programming I find and can tell you between C-band and Ku-band there is alot of FTA to be found.
4DTV for all practical purposes, is dead...that was then and this (Micro HD) is now.

 

[Anony55]

I can't imagine not having a functional 4DTV receiver in my setup. With the help of MapMaster and the BDM device, it's like knowing that you'll always have an outstanding dish mover with the side benefit of whatever FP or ZK DCII that you can find, not to mention the odd analog feed from time to time.

Personally, I use commercial gear that's controlled by my HTPC. I have first gen TP data streamed in through ASI. DCII-HD looks awesome when it comes around. Of course, this is in addition to normal fta that's also done with my HTPC. But even though I use commercial gear for most of my DCII viewing... still... there's that ole DSR922 sitting there... controlling the dish position and polarity, even with timers when needed. If you don't use commercial gear, the 4DTV receivers still work for all the non-megapipe non-HD DCII.

You have to remember that there are 2 sides to the 4DTV. There's the plain ole "consumer" point of view, and the "fta hobby" point of view. The 4DTV receivers do really well in one category... and not so well in the other. If you're looking for a family (user) friendly DVR with lots of popular channels to sub to... well... the 4DTV hasn't shined in that category for a whole lot longer than any recent HITS announcement. However, if the 4DTV really is dead, I wish the pricing would reflect it.

Seeing what these units are still selling for, you'd think we have gone back in time a dozen years or so. I would like to have access to some cheap backup 4DTV receivers. But right now, there's no such thing. Maybe someday if HITS will go ahead and kill the horsey channels on the 4DTV, we'll be able to get used working units for 50 bucks. But as long as those horsey channels can be subbed to with these units... you can expect those $400 to $500 prices to hold.

So that puts the 4DTV receivers in a really odd position. Dead for subbing?... pretty much. But then, it's the fact of being able to sub to just one or two channels that are artificially keeping the prices up. Odd indeed.

Cheers

 

[highskies]

Seeing what these units are still selling for, you'd think we have gone back in time a dozen years or so. I would like to have access to some cheap backup 4DTV receivers. But right now, there's no such thing. Maybe someday if HITS will go ahead and kill the horsey channels on the 4DTV, we'll be able to get used working units for 50 bucks. But as long as those horsey channels can be subbed to with these units... you can expect those $400 to $500 prices to hold.

To me it doesn't look like these things are selling anymore on Ebay, at least not for the high prices they have been. Maybe these sellers will eventually get the clue that nobody is going to pay these ridiculously high prices anymore, then put these up for what they're really worth in this day and age..say 20 or 30 bucks. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting these things are totally worthless..they're just not even remotely worth what they were selling for awhile back.

 

[wallyhts]

To me it doesn't look like these things are selling anymore on Ebay, at least not for the high prices they have been.

HRTV left H2H and that was a VERY popular channel.

 

[Anony55]

@ Highskies: You are right. When I check "Completed" listings... it's a lot more of a mixed bag. Looks like there's been some movement towards sanity.

@ Wally: When did HRTV leave HITS? That is no doubt responsible for the move in pricing. In fact, if we could get those other units to flood back into the US, the prices would really be cheap. Problem with that idea is that they would probably sell for less than it cost to get them back into this country.

I've kinda been wanting to get my hands on a corrupt UID DSR922. I'm doing some testing and some of it is a little dangerous for my valid unit. Plus, for at least one thing that I wanna test, a bad UID is actually required. Maybe if I get a valid UID 922 cheap enough, I could try to change the battery on it. If I screwed it up... well... there'd be that corrupt 922 I've been lookin' for, lol.

Cheers

 

[boblop]

I suppect this whole TV watching "fade" is gonna pass soon enough.