I am new to this, please help!!

[pbrady5]

Hello everyone! Before I begin with my questions, please forgive me ahead of time. I am completely new to the FTA concept (just started reading about it less than 2 hours ago) and I could really use some guidance. I have a directv slimline sl3s4r2-03 dish, but I've just recently canceled my directv service. We've been dtv members for years, and recently we started noticing their service and customer support slipping through the cracks. On multiple occasions they've made billing mistakes for me, and I also paid for service in a room in my house that didn't work from the time they installed to the time I canceled, even though i asked numerous times for someone to come out and fix it.

But thats neither here nor there. I started looking for alternatives to DTV, and it seems that FTA will do just about everything we need out of television service. We honestly don't watch much tv, but its nice to have it every now and then.

I am hoping to find out whether or not I can use the satellite dish that I have now for fta? I was planning on using my pc as the receiver, and I have an ATI HDTV wonder card to install still.

Im just so new to this, I don't understand the requirements and the set up. I've just tried DVB Dream, and it gives me hardware errors with my hdtv card, and plus I have no idea what to try to do to get my dish recognized in order to scan for channels. Is there a better software? Am I better off using a linux os? I am a pc technician and have a pretty good understanding of linux, but satellite tv is way over my head. If anyone can shed some light on what I should do, please let me know. I really appreciate it ahead of time!

 

[zamar23]

Hi pbrady5,

Frequencies range assigned for sat TV is divided into a few bands. Your dish & LNB set can get Ka & Ku band signals with circular polarization, like DirecTV and Dish Network subscription channels. FTA Ku-band signals are usually linear polarized, and would require bigger 36"+ dish to receive stably, and a linear LNB, meaning a different setup from yours. Ideally you would also need a motor to move your dish from one sat to another to broaden channel choice, but it depends on your programming prefs - check with Lyngsat. Modern movies are a rarity on FTA, but alternative news, old shows and sport feeds are plentiful.

Your PC Card model seems to be designed for ATSC Terrestrial signal reception that you can get over antenna from nearest land tower. For sat reception you would need a different brand card with DVB-S/S2 signals reception support. You can use both cards for broader channel choice, if ATSC signals are available in your area according to TVFool. ATSC in large cities usually has solid programming choice.

 

[paztruck]

I am also new to this and interested in watching live sports, mainly football and baseball are these possible?

 

[Magic Static]

I am also new to this and interested in watching live sports, mainly football and baseball are these possible?

Very possible. In fact that's what we invest a ton of time and all our spare change in doing. A lot of quality broadcasts are there but not meant for our eyes specifically. So we need to hunt them. Unfortunatly FTA is not a service with no monthly bill,(Unless you want a religious family programming package) It requires more than grabbin the remote and turning on the set.