I am new to the fta stuff i have just recently learned about it I have looked at the channel list and it doesn't make a lot of sense so basically the only thing you can watch is local channels from around the world?
FTA ????'s
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UHH NO! OH maybe -- maybe yes! Most Satellite TV is feeds to local stations. Subscription services are re-distributed copies of local stations or networks. G-19 @97W has a lot of ethnic and Christian channels that may not be feeds to stations.
Out where we are - there are few to no local stations. So, FTA is / are my local stations! Confused? I hope I did not add to the confusion
Out where we are - there are few to no local stations. So, FTA is / are my local stations! Confused? I hope I did not add to the confusion
So insight is the local cable company here and if I had a dish I could pick up there programming?
The answer to that question is most likely a "NO" only a couple that they might carry you could get from a satellite.
So here is the big question can you pick up channels like fx or tbs wgn? I know my dad had a big dish when I was a kid and we had all kinds of stuff. Is that not possible anymore?
No, most of the stuff you have to pay for isn't available, but there are things you can't get from any cable service no matter what you pay.
Take a look at this, this will give you an idea:
SatelliteGuys.US_TheList - TheList
Channels in red are scrambled, you can't receive those
SatelliteGuys.US_TheList - TheList
Channels in red are scrambled, you can't receive those
Well, just starting with high definition channels... these are available for free in HD and cannot be gotten on any cable provider...:
HispanTV (it's an Iranian-run Spanish channel. It is a strange network, intended by the Iranians to act as a propaganda bridge between their country and South America).
Pentagon Channel (carried by no provider - at least not in HD)
NASA TV (carried by only one cable provider - Bright House)
NHK World (my personal favorite. Lots of fascinating documentaries about Japan, all in English. Beautiful scenery shows. No provider in the U.S. carries this channel in HD except for Time Warner Cable in their Hawaii and New York City markets only. This is a channel more worthy of carriage than most channels cable companies carry. It's outrageous.)
Fashion TV (women in their underwear - it's a good channel)
As you look at the list referred to above, G-19 at 97 west is the main satellite we watch. The high priced cable or subscription channels are not FREE. PBS and most religious channel are FTA . (again, refer to G-19). We are out 12 miles beyond Boonies (a local restaurant that failed because of lack of traffic), and our local OTA is limited (PBS we do get now). We get our news from JN1, and Russia Today - for the most part. Our "local" radio station has 30 seconds of ABC news each hour.
Personally, I would not watch FX, TBS or WGN if they were available, unless they were on one of the satellites I am set up for.
Cable systems pay to unscramble most of their channels - so they charge those willing to pay. If I wanted cable, I would have to pay for the line from the last customer they have - and that would be 11 miles of cable. Cost? $7.00 per foot for installation!
Personally, I would not watch FX, TBS or WGN if they were available, unless they were on one of the satellites I am set up for.
Cable systems pay to unscramble most of their channels - so they charge those willing to pay. If I wanted cable, I would have to pay for the line from the last customer they have - and that would be 11 miles of cable. Cost? $7.00 per foot for installation!
Yup! See why I do not have cable? Pole space rental or underground right of way fees plus labor and materials... If I could get 10,000 customers to share the cost ... Not... Would only average 3 customers per mile.
For the original poster....the equipment available to us lowly home-users these days doesn't allow for reception of the pay-tv stuff, the big companies that own all the rights to everything in cable-land don't want to cater to 'small' markets.
And probably, the big 2 pay-tv-by-satellite outfits would like to keep it that way too. In the days of big-dish programming, those 2 outfits weren't around to hassle us, and providers sold their channels to us , which we could unscramble with receivers that were available readily. Numbers dwindled, technology changed a lot, and we were left behind. There's still a great deal of free tv to watch, with an fta system though. For obvious reasons, we don't publish everything we see/know! But if you're just wanting cable channels to entertain the family with, you'll need cable or Dish or Directv.
And probably, the big 2 pay-tv-by-satellite outfits would like to keep it that way too. In the days of big-dish programming, those 2 outfits weren't around to hassle us, and providers sold their channels to us , which we could unscramble with receivers that were available readily. Numbers dwindled, technology changed a lot, and we were left behind. There's still a great deal of free tv to watch, with an fta system though. For obvious reasons, we don't publish everything we see/know! But if you're just wanting cable channels to entertain the family with, you'll need cable or Dish or Directv.
Thanks so much everyone for all the replies. I am looking for stuff to entertain the family with. But I also hate the fact that the big tv companies have everyone by the nuts and they charge so much to. How much would a "entry" level free to air setup cost and what is the smallest dish you would reccomed?
To get an entry level system, that is user friendly, I would recommend ONLY the system package from SatelliteAV. The 39" dish, the PLL lnbf and the microHD and most if not all the cables you will need to hook it up. The mount can be used on a wall, or on a piece of form board for concrete wall, or the dish will mount to a proper sized pipe in the ground in concrete. -- No, MOM could not get it set up, so it is not plug and play, but once I get it set up, she can run it.
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