Feel Like A Sailor..Because All I Found Was Pirates

[garrelt1]

Now I know why this board is closed to hackers, crackers, pirates, stealers, etc.

I thought that maybe I could buy some of my FTA equipment locally, save on shipping, and possibly get an even bigger dish than the 1.0 meter I was planning on, so I called around to some places in the yellow pages. Here is what I found:

1. Lots of places advertised as satellite retailers but only sold Dish/DirectTV and had no clue about FTA equipment or where to get it.

2. There was one place that sold only BUDS (and they were pretty nice). I could hear the man laugh in the back groud when I asked if they had a anything smaller than 6'-- he said something like "not if you want to get anything good." He was being funny.

And then....

3. There were the pirates. I called several places that, when I asked about FTA, they hinted that maybe they had "really good" dish equipment...Of course, I found a place that sold viewsats and fortecs--and then was really sort of excited. Then, I asked if they had a 1m or 1.2m dish and I was told that I only needed a Dish 500 "for what most people want to get." To which I promptly disagreed, and explained to them that this would only get me GOL and NASA, etc. and anything else was illegal. The guy sounded amazed :shocked when I explained about the Lyngsat list and then they quickly got off the phone with me becuase they knew I wasn't into the same "hobby" as they were.

Aghh! I had the same experience when I first started to read about FTA. All I could find was illegal crap talk. This is really frustrating. I am really happy that I found this board.

I read once that us legal people have sometimes gotten burned (prosicuted) from buying our FTA euipment from places that also engage in dirty dealings. I tried to find information on this, but couldn't. Is this true? Should I be worried about who I buy from, even though my intentions and integrity are rock solid?

 

[n4bbq]

Aghh! I had the same experience when I first started to read about FTA. All I could find was illegal crap talk. This is really frustrating. I am really happy that I found this board.

This is a great information site for the legal users of satellite equipment.

I read once that us legal people have sometimes gotten burned (prosicuted) from buying our FTA euipment from places that also engage in dirty dealings. I tried to find information on this, but couldn't. Is this true? Should I be worried about who I buy from, even though my intentions and integrity are rock solid?

If you buy from a hacker, you're supporting hackers. I try to get all my stuff from legal folks (like Sadoun) http://www.sadoun.com/ - otherwise you may get ripped off. Stick with the law abiders.

 

[TiminMb]

Our local Buy and Sell paper is full of ads for N2 FTA systems. So is a local online ad service. A local computer place that puts out a flyer in the newspaper is now advertising Pansats, and other equipment. When I called them and asked them what the largest dish was they sold, they told me 60 cm. It seems clear to me who their customers are.

 

[Anole]

hard to find FTA goodies

The OP makes me laugh.
I read a post (elsewhere) by a lady who'd found a nice dish 'n LNB at a place in my area.
I live in a thriving center for all things imported, so I was looking forward to finding any size dish and all sorts of LNBs at great prices.
After tracking down the company (who used a building for their web site bearing no resemblance to their suite in an industrial center), I wandered in and asked about some 36" dishes and maybe an Invacom LNB.
They had only 30" dishes and one kind of generic Chinese LNB... and not at especially attractive prices.
Oh, and no motors... why would you want one of those?
Maybe my error was not being Asian...I should have taken one of my Asian buddies with me...

That was disappointing, so in the following weeks, I did a lot of internet reasearch, especially into stores in my general area.
Figured the dishes come into my port, so they should be cheaper in my town.
Well , no, not really.
After considering local taxes versus cross-country shipping, it was still cheaper to order from Sadoun.
So, I did.
.

 

[DiscoLoveGrapes]

Oh, and no motors... why would you want one of those?

A Satellite Shop a few blocks north of me gave me this line. They wondered what I'd need a motor with for a 30" dish. "Everything is basically on one satellite." I wasn't impressed.

 

[Anole]

lots of legit FTA

Well, the truth is, with your 30" dish shop, and mine with 30 inch dishes, they really were catering to the legit (pick your nationality) local folks who are watching real FTA.
Just not the wide variety of FTA this site supports.
And quite honestly, those users don't need a motor.
I see lots of 30" dishes on houses around the area, and most are in ethnic communities.
(we have many different nationalities)

The comments further up the thread where the satellite salesmen were only offering 20" dishes represented the pirates.
I haven't actually run across any of those.

 

[DiscoLoveGrapes]

Well, the truth is, with your 30" dish shop, and mine with 30 inch dishes, they really were catering to the legit (pick your nationality) local folks who are watching real FTA.
Just not the wide variety of FTA this site supports.
And quite honestly, those users don't need a motor.
I see lots of 30" dishes on houses around the area, and most are in ethnic communities.
(we have many different nationalities)

The comments further up the thread where the satellite salesmen were only offering 20" dishes represented the pirates.
I haven't actually run across any of those.

I know what you're saying, it's just interesting how people interpret what you are saying when you say "unscramlbed" or "Free To Air" satellite.

-I'm looking for FTA equipment
"Oooh, we only carry legit stuff here."
-No, legal, unscrambled satellite equipment
"Okay, what nationality are you?"
-Actually, I'm from here in the States
"Then you want the religious channels, right?"

It's like explaining why I'd listen to shortwave in years past. Radio Shack employees had no idea why I couldn't just buy a $30 analong receiver they carried while big box stores just stared at me. With FTA, it feels the same. They either don't know what you're doing, or think you're doing something illegal.

 

[mk279]

Our local Buy and Sell paper is full of ads for N2 FTA systems. So is a local online ad service. A local computer place that puts out a flyer in the newspaper is now advertising Pansats, and other equipment. When I called them and asked them what the largest dish was they sold, they told me 60 cm. It seems clear to me who their customers are.

"Panset" ................ big difference. These guys have no idea what they are selling or why. They got a deal on some bad clones and figured they would try to make a few dollars. These guys are all computer geeks and are clueless when it comes to the satellite industry. In this case I wouldn't lump them in with the rest.

 

[mdovell]

Reminds me of other things back in the day. I had friends before that saw electronics saying "Pan - O - Sonic" then there was a pirated movie on video tape with extreamly cheap paper sleeves...they watched it only to see peoples heads in the front row, a kid crying and then some odd flashlight getting closer

I think some will continue to associate satellites with some rural communities (say cband in the 70's) to which I'd reply with "Do you really think it's logically to wire the WHOLE world via cable?"

I've even gone to work with a catalog from Skyvision catalog and people think that material is pirated! Some of them think that somehow cable co's are directly connected by wire to all of the providers. They don't understand that they get the feeds from the satellites etc.

Also it seems that for some anything that requires more maintence than just turning a single knob or pressing "on" is too much work

 

[TiminMb]

"Panset" ................ big difference. These guys have no idea what they are selling or why. They got a deal on some bad clones and figured they would try to make a few dollars. These guys are all computer geeks and are clueless when it comes to the satellite industry. In this case I wouldn't lump them in with the rest.

You were right. They were Pan-sets. WTHeck Bet they only sell circular polarity LNB's as well.