FTA C-band or Ku-band satellite (wild, prices, America, cheap)
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I refuse to pay for cable, satellite, and so called streaming services. Which they are nothing more but a cable package without a cable box. I live in an area where I only get around 7 fta channels on my outdoor antenna. Does anyone know anything about fta satellite dishes or if they are any good? I have Netflix, Hulu, and amazon prime. But with Netflix and amazon raising their rates. I don’t feel like it’s worth paying their prices. When I already have a ton of dvds and the library has more. Plus my son would rather read, color, or play with his hot wheels then watch tv. So any help would be greatly appreciated.
Start here to see what's available on the air: [url]https://www.lyngsat.com/america.html[/url]
Then get on Amazon and get your receiver and dish/LNBF. I use a PCI board in an old junk PC and a generic cheapo Chinese 3' fixed-position dish (since all I really am interested in presently is in one transponder on one bird, but that's just me) but apparently the Geosat Pro line is very popular amongst in-the-clear circles right now. (If you can find one used, get it and a nice big external USB 2.0 hard drive.) Get a receiver that supports DVB-S2 if you want HD, in fact I don't know that you can even find a receiver that doesn't support S2 any more. AC3 (a.k.a. Dolby Digital) and MP2 audio decoding is a must, so look for one that supports both codecs. Consider that analogue (NTSC) transmissions are exceedingly few and far between these days, so if somebody wants to sell you their 30-year old analog set, just say "no thanks" and walk away, unless all you want to do is monitor C-SPAN and the extremely once-in-a-very-great-while analogue wildfeed. Virtually all the services worth receiving go out in DVB format.
A huge amount of what you'll find in the clear are foreign, ethnic and religion programming, and ethnic religious programming, and the occasional background music service. For a real treat, peruse Galaxy 19's (97.0 west) Ku side. Cable networks in DVB are usually scrambled but you might be able to find one that will let you subscribe individually, at least you could 20 years ago when my parents and another dude I know were doing it. They'll mail you a PCMCIA cartridge that inserts into the conditional access module slot on your receiver hardware, if it has that feature (the cartridge is the particular descrambler for whichever system they use and there are several) as well as a smart card containing your subscriber keys to activate the CAM. Enquire with whichever networks you know are going out in DVB format and ask. Pretty sure HBO does, at the very least.
Many cable nets use a proprietary format called Digicipher II, incompatible with DVB. I won't say much about that system other than it's rapidly becoming obsolete.
Note that most if not all the ATSC secondary-channel networks' national feeds (e.g. THIS-TV, Laff, Antenna etc.) go out in the clear, so you'll definitely be able to see those. Personally I would not use satellite as my primary form of television since local terrestrial channels usually are not simulcast, I would use it in addition to terrestrial broadcasts, though I know people who do and are perfectly happy. Since there's so little that's even worth watching on broadcast TV these days I guess I can't say I blame them, and since the secondary nets all go out over C-band anyways, well, maybe I might experience a personal change of opinion in that regard. Who knows. If you're a public TV junky AMC-21 (124.9) may be worth keeping in your presets.
There are entitre sites full of more up-to-date information about satellite receivers and such. I am certain the C-D link police will kick down my door and haul me away in the middle of the night if I link directly to a couple of the better ones since they both include bulletin boards (oh! god forbid!) so just searchy-searchy "Gofastmotorsports" and "Satelliteguys".
Finally, read this; even though portions of it are completely outdated now the technical information about DVB will still remain valid and relevant as long as the system is in use: [url]http://www.coolstf.com/mpeg/[/url]
Finally finally, if you want a margainally entertaining diversion, you can check out the archived remnants of the Echostar Knowledge Base, [url]https://web.archive.org/web/20171102011637/http://www.dishuser.com/[/url] . Since it deals exclusively with DISH Network it has virtually zero relevance to this particular discussion of in-the-clear systems, though Echostar is based on DVB so I guess there's that at least.
Hello! I always find it weird that you westerners have to pay for any kind of TV services, we never do that here!
I find it a bit of a scam to pay for what you watch + advertisements all over your TV.. it's sad..
basically FTA services are the solution for us. and that's what we always use, free movies free shows.. you never really need to pay for anything..
and you have a whole set of satellites in the air to keep track on, I personally find it fun to do that.. once you have a dish, (it shouldn't cost more than 60$, don't get scammed again, you can get it from Amazon)
As for the receiver, I recommend Chinese receivers, that's what we use, not only because they're cheap, but because they can do more than what you expect.. if you have descent internet, you don't have to own a special flat TV like Samsung or LG to watch Youtube.. you can link the receiver even to the old fat TV and you'll have it all there..
+ some IP-TV if you wanna unlock some channels for free.. but it's a bit illegal of course
so, you can order the dish from Amazon, or just grab it if you found it in any kind of store there..
as for the receiver, you can just grab this red guy over here http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bEUgqANE
it's a famous Chinese website.. they even ship for free to the US!
I hope you found this helpful!
Hello! I always find it weird that you westerners have to pay for any kind of TV services, we never do that here!
I find it a bit of a scam to pay for what you watch + advertisements all over your TV.. it's sad..
basically FTA services are the solution for us. and that's what we always use, free movies free shows.. you never really need to pay for anything..
and you have a whole set of satellites in the air to keep track on, I personally find it fun to do that.. once you have a dish, (it shouldn't cost more than 60$, don't get scammed again, you can get it from Amazon)
As for the receiver, I recommend Chinese receivers, that's what we use, not only because they're cheap, but because they can do more than what you expect.. if you have descent internet, you don't have to own a special flat TV like Samsung or LG to watch Youtube.. you can link the receiver even to the old fat TV and you'll have it all there..
+ some IP-TV if you wanna unlock some channels for free.. but it's a bit illegal of course
so, you can order the dish from Amazon, or just grab it if you found it in any kind of store there..
as for the receiver, you can just grab this red guy over here http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bEUgqANE
it's a famous Chinese website.. they even ship for free to the US!
I hope you found this helpful!
You don't really have to pay for TV service here... In fact, Over the Air TV does exist. Furthermore, there are ways to get TV shows and movies online for free (legally too), if not that you can generally go to a library and get DVD/VHS films for free or VERY low cost
Throw my hat into the ring here but just as a look up reference. As I have often said, I left TV behind years before which was Fate being good to me.......for if I had not, when I moved out here to the country, I would have "starved".
About the only thing I can add to this thread is that when I built up most of my video library, the glut was in the market due to video stores closing. Well, that glut is gone now, IMHO, and it is no longer so cheap to buy. Occasionally there is luck, such as when I was able to get 5 seasons of classic Hawaii 5-0 cheap, but it is not often.
Go there and you can learn all you need to know about legal FTA satellite.
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