FTA - What can you expect?

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sunbeam

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May 20, 2013
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southeast US
Hi, I am a first time poster and joined this site because I would like to find out more about this subject.

Let me give you a little background. I personally don't really watch TV, unless some news thing is happening or I need the weather.

But my mom lives and dies by it.

She lives in a rural area where cable is not available. She has looked into Dish TV, and DirectTV but she isn't really that gung ho about the packages and channels offered. Plus they all seem to offer introductory rates, then zoom up after six months or a year.

She signed up for some fly by night streaming internet TV service, that didn't have much original content. It was pretty much movies from Hulu and programming that stations were putting on the internet on their own.

While reading up on that subject, I came across the whole FTA thing. But I do have some questions.

In earlier years I knew people with Satellite Dishes. Some paid some kind of subscription fee, but there was lot of programming out there they could get. Additionally you could see cool stuff that was the feed to local TV stations among other things.

Do things pretty much work the same way? All I seem to hear about is Dish and Direct. Would she be able to get other things? This pretty much came about when TV when digital. Things worked fine before, but while digital TV might give more options and a better picture, it sure played heck in the hinterlands.

She has a pretty tall antenna mast, tall enough that I am not putting a taller one up. I think it is about 30 feet. I replaced her old antenna with something from Yagi that was supposed to be designed for long range digital reception. It improved things a little, but it is not as good as predigital. Plus no matter what some channels she used to get just fine from the closest city won't come in reliably.

So if I brought a receiver and dish, what kinds of things might be picked up, without signing up for Dish or DirectTV?
 
Well sunbeam , fta is great hobby, and to answer the last question first>Just about anything could be received at one time or another with a free to air system. Find yourself a package (dish, receiver, cable) and try it out! You love the current news and weather stuff like I do, and most of that is available on one satellite or another for free. When "it" hits the fan someplace, like Oklahoma this past two weeks, you will be in the know in real time. When bad stuff happens, a lot of time the networks will put up a local affiliate stations feed on the satellite, live, so you get all the local reporters doing their thing. And even if its not a full affiliate signal, you can usually find live reports from the newspeople sent to the scene, including,sometimes, live helicopter feeds--too cool. Plus all the other things you might not ever see on the network news shows. You won't always be able to find the regular primetime network programming with free to air, but MOST of the time you can. There's a lot up there for reception with a small, ku band dish, like 1 meter or so, but to get the most options you will need a big c-band dish too. If that's not possible where you live, you won't be disappointed with the ku-only setup. There's too many channels to mention, news, weather and sports, and 'retro tv' type channels too if you're interested in older tv, or if your mom would be.
Check out the sponsors, at top of pages, a new receiver is out now that is affordable, and does pick up HD signals from the satellites. The older receivers only did the Standard def signals, of which there is still plenty to view. The new receiver was sort of crafted for use here in North America and has excellent support from the manufacturer, its called the MicroHD. Read the news and reports of it in the Review section here, and you'll find other sections on it also.
Read the forum well, and post any questions you might have. I see you're in the southeast also, if you're close enough I might be able to help you set up the dish, if you choose to get into the hobby. I wouldn't take anything for my system (s), I never run out of anything interesting to watch. BTW, Welcome to Satelliteguys!!
 
What sort of tv are you watching on? Analog or digital HD?
Have you visited TVfool.com for help with OTA programmming?

Does PBS appeal to you?
Would reliable network programming suit you?
Do you like retro programming (old tv series and movies)?
Weather shouldn't be a problem.
Many sources of news are available.

.
 
Welcome to the site sunbeam!

Posted Using The New SatelliteGuys Reader App!
 
Ku band - 36 inch dish. (and be 'motorized' to see all the Ku band satellites)
Does PBS appeal to you? http://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist/index.php?page=125+AMC+21
Offshore news sources and a lot more @ 97W.

C band - recommend at least a 7.5 ft (6ft minimum, bigger is better, 10 ft is the 'norm'. On a polar mount, with an actuator and V Box, to move from satellite to satellite)
(old tv series and movies) 87W, 101W, 137W are the 'main' PBS@ 103W
Networks: http://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist/index.php?page=C+99+Galaxy+16 and also, now, also 107W satellite. Just listing a few.
Another nice listing(s) is at Mike Kohls MPEG CENTRAL
Additionally you could see cool stuff
Yes, it's that today also. Can be found on practically every satellite from 139W to as far east as your dish can see. ('now' above, as there's no guarantee it will be 'forever', and this, is the 'hobby'. Find and enjoy for while it lasts.

OTA antenna. A yagi is a type of antenna. Could be VHF, UHF, or 'dual' band. Check at tvfool.com . Put in your location/antenna height to check local availability. Look for 'real' channel in the listing. VHF are between 2 an 13. UHF are above 14. Is your yagi in the correct band? A 'dual band'? Make/Model#? What kind of coax did you use? RG-59 = bad. Use only quality RG-6.
Some still identify themselves as CH 2 thru 13. But that's now the 'virtual; channel. They could be on real channel 14 and up.
Post a link to your report for comments, questions, recommendations here, or in the OTA section on this forum http://www.satelliteguys.us/forums/46-Digital-Over-the-Air-(OTA) .
 
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The Ku-band (smaller dish) satellite with the most channels is 97W. A lot of people are just curious what channels they can find on FTA, and this will give you an idea: http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/312615-Galaxy-19-(97W)-Ku-band-channel-guide-June-2-update

As stated, the best options for English programming are big dish (C-band), but Ku-band is still great, especially if you don't get much in your area :)

Oh, and the reason we keep mentioning PBS, is that on Ku-band on 87W and 125W, you can get lots of PBS programming, including some that might not even be available in the local market (we don't get Create TV here in Georgia). Create has lots of cooking, home improvement, and arts/crafts shows. I've seen PBS feeds on 125W airing programs a week before my dad watches them on local public TV :)

You can also get some NBC network feeds (a little more random and less reliable, but usually something is up).
 
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