Is C-BAND still Viable alternative

[truckracer]

channels

Well,
I myself and most likely alot of others who like to watch almost everything in HD do not place to much "value" on SD channels anymore. Sorry but thats just how it is nowdays.

I still like most my SD channels but the above is becoming more true by the minute. Pretty soon SD is going to be like AM radio.....HD is going to be like high quality digital FM radio (with a lot of bandwidth).

People will not settle for a bunch of SD channels for their big tv's.


Many of C-band's higher bandwidth SD channels would give Dish or Direct's HD lite services a run for their money. Maybe not all but some. A couple of my buddies have pizza dish HD and honestly the master NBC feeds on C band look better than their movie channels.

I had Direct for a few years and the cost was a lot for what I was getting.
Our cable tv services cost even more.
I went with C-band and I am very happy with it.
HD FTA channels are out there and I am not naming them on this open forum but trust me..... there are some there. Some come and go, but there is always something HD up there. Those with HD FTA boxes can back me up on that one.

 

[tvropro]

Interesting, So what is the uplink fee that NPS is charging actually going for?

You would have to consult NPS accountants as to there business model. If your read my post I said "fair share"not all. It costs quite a few bucks to rent a couple transponders 24/7 365. Not to mention paying Crawford to reuplink them.

And where's the chat (date) where he said this. I don't recall .

I suggest reading through the chat logs for this year. Do some reading between the lines. Mike let's things slip out.

When your done you can go report back to Charlie that your helping do his dirty work for him. I hope your getting a big corporate bailout bonus for your hard work. Maybe if you lobbied that well for C band we may have a new receiver already.

 

[Corrado]

Since we keep slipping off topic...

I notice how much different the C band and FTA forums are here. The BUD guys stick together and bend over backwards helping each other, brainstorming everything.

The little dish guys spend all their time whining about their latest opportunity to call customer service, threatening to cancel and what new obscure HD lite channel they don't have yet.

The only thing I'll Thank Charlie for is my DTVPal. It works great.

 

[rv1pop]

Since we keep slipping off topic...

I notice how much different the C band and FTA forums are here. The BUD guys stick together and bend over backwards helping each other, brainstorming everything.

The little dish guys spend all their time whining about their latest opportunity to call customer service, threatening to cancel and what new obscure HD lite channel they don't have yet.

The only thing I'll Thank Charlie for is my DTVPal. It works great.

I do not thinkl you mean FTA is a bad forum. It is the E* and D* guys that are the "wine and cheese" guys.
If motorola would allow someone else to design and license new receivers C Band subscription services could again become profitable!

 

[Mr Tony]

pop

he means we C-band/FTA folks are different than the pizza guys...and in a good way
(he forgot to say KU Band too)

 

[Mr Tony]

I notice how much different the C band and FTA forums are here. The BUD guys stick together and bend over backwards helping each other, brainstorming everything.

so true. I started a thread a while abck about "we FTA'ers are an interesting group" and had differences between the two. I really like how when Al Jazeera English came up the pizza guys whined "I dont want that crap on my tv" whereas we said "sweet. new channel"

The only thing I'll Thank Charlie for is my DTVPal. It works great.

eh, the remote sucks but its a nice box

 

[14karat]

BILLING SUMMARY as of 11/24/2008
Amount Due: $29.99

Since I do not have any HD capable TV at home I don't have the HD package that I'm guessing is the $29.99, but, what I have is a Top 250 pack that is listed at $54.99.
By the time they are done with all their fees, etc...
Statement Balance: $75.94

Yeah, I'm getting away from them in a hurry. Only about one more month to go...

What really ticked me off about E* was that (until very recently) you couldn't lower your programming subcription online. You could add to it all you wanted, but to go to a lower cost sub, you had to call them and listen to their sales pitch as to why you should give them even more cash...
In fact, the last time I dealt with that, I hung up on them 3 times before someone finally allowed me to interrupt their pitch and get to the business at hand... I have to believe that some of them put their receiver on mute when they start their sphill...

 

[Kb Cool]

After re-reading this entire post. I think i should have not said 4DTV was a poor choice for other programming besides premium movies. Because, all of us are different and what works for someone else maybe won't work for you. But, that doesn't mean it's a bad choice, It's just personal preference. And who am i to judge anyways?
Sorry guys

 

[Mr Tony]

no problem

but we were able to have some good conversation and not lynching each other like you see in the other forums

 

[K4LK]

I recently decided to dust off my 4DTV/HDD-200/FTA SD setup. Found a bad servo motor in the dish. The receiver will not lock on any digital channels anymore. Analog reception is great. ATS Electronics thinks it will cost about $150 to repair it. I'm having a hard time spending the money not knowing how much longer there will be 4DTV programming available. How many subs can there be left? What channels are available FTA HD besides the Outdoor channel?

 

[Lak7]

I think the Outdoor HD Channel is no longer FTA.
However, almost all live sporting events are in HD now, and some of the Networks.

 

[Cadsulfide]

pop

he means we C-band/FTA folks are different than the pizza guys...and in a good way
(he forgot to say KU Band too)

Right on, Ice!

True FTAers and c banders have a lot in common. We have the ability and the motivation to learn to use available technology to better our lives. I'll bet most of us tinker with more than just our dishes, and probably dissasembled a clock or two as youngsters.

The fact that there is an enormous and eclectic selection of programming out there for those willing to do the work simply is a foreign concept to those with a "buy it and throw it away" mentality.

And we, as a group are guilty of assuming that everyone should posses "the knack" of being able to fix things and solve complex problems. That would put most of out of work.

For as much as E* and D* suck, the sheer size of the markets they control has made a lot of cool toys available to us at a price we can afford.

I too wish the lawyers at Motorola would allow another outfit to produce a subscribe-able reciever for c band....someday.

 

[stogie5150]

I recently decided to dust off my 4DTV/HDD-200/FTA SD setup. Found a bad servo motor in the dish. The receiver will not lock on any digital channels anymore. Analog reception is great. ATS Electronics thinks it will cost about $150 to repair it. I'm having a hard time spending the money not knowing how much longer there will be 4DTV programming available. How many subs can there be left? What channels are available FTA HD besides the Outdoor channel?

If its just the servo motor, you can fix that. If the 4DTV is a DSR-920, you probably have a dead battery, which further means you have a doorstop. Once the receiver battery goes dead, the receiver ID is gone forever. No receiver ID, no digicipher. If you have a 922, the same thing can happen, but not as prevalent because they are newer. You can check it by going into the setup menu and see if the ID numbers are still there or not...

 

[tvropro]

but we were able to have some good conversation and not lynching each other like you see in the other forums

One thing that I always liked about Satguys is we can have disagreements but they don't get out of control like in other forums.

I believe that all us here are really into our satellite hobby and only want it to go forward. While other forums post doom and gloom about how the sky is falling with c band and 4DTV we try to recruit more into the hobby which helps it stay alive and well. I for one have got a lot of years, time and money invested in my satellite equipment. I try to keep people focused on the benefits of C band be it 4DTV or FTA over the LSD systems. Too many have jumped ship and that has hurt us. Slowly I see some people turning back to c band and that a good sign. C band was once king and can be again. There is so much in digital out there now vs analog days it boggles the mind. We need to make this known and get all those old once great c band dishes pointing back up at the birds giving us the best in programming and quality once again. :up

 

[Mr Tony]

One thing that I always liked about Satguys is we can have disagreements but they don't get out of control like in other forums.

so true. Unlike the other areas, we are actually like a family

I believe that all us here are really into our satellite hobby and only want it to go forward. While other forums post doom and gloom about how the sky is falling with c band and 4DTV we try to recruit more into the hobby which helps it stay alive and well. I for one have got a lot of years, time and money invested in my satellite equipment. I try to keep people focused on the benefits of C band be it 4DTV or FTA over the LSD systems. Too many have jumped ship and that has hurt us. Slowly I see some people turning back to c band and that a good sign. C band was once king and can be again. There is so much in digital out there now vs analog days it boggles the mind. We need to make this known and get all those old once great c band dishes pointing back up at the birds giving us the best in programming and quality once again. :up

:up:up amen to that. Back when I bought my house in 02 I thought Dish & Direct was the only options for satellite when I lived in town. Then I heard about this thing called KU Band and allowed you to pick up stuff with a 30" dish and that opened my eyes to an amazing technological setup. I knew that sporting events and news feeds were beamed up on satellite but always thought we couldn't see those....Oh how wrong I was Had a blast picking up news feeds, sporting events and just oddball channels on KU. First time I saw Doc Scott I was like "what the hell is this old nutjob doing on TV"...now I watch that nutjob and his wife religiously (pun intended)

I've learned so much in the last 5+ years about the satellite world from alot of folks its insane. Always thinking of how to tinker with the system and make it better. At work they think I'm nuts as I'm always drawing a diagram of how to make the system better

And you're right...we all help each other out. When I got a C-band dish I had no clue how it was different than KU. Never worked with one other than at the lake for about 6 months until the dish busted (fell in the lake)....But the veteran C-Banders helped this "rookie" out to get mine working and I thank them for that

sorry for getting OT

 

[tdti1]

ATS Electronics thinks it will cost about $150 to repair it. I'm having a hard time spending the money not knowing how much longer there will be 4DTV programming available. How many subs can there be left? What channels are available FTA HD besides the Outdoor channel?

Get the 4dtv fixed if it's a 922 I think they can still repair them, 920 then it's toast, if you get it fixed and don't want it sell it. And for HD on dvb there is so much out there, you just got to find it

 

[truckracer]

I am a member of LS2GTO.com (car forum) and I don't even post anything there anymore since every time you say something your being corrected, grammar correction, spelling corrections, "use the search button" or someone calling "BS". I am glad this forum in not like that.

 

[harvard81]

ku-band service already exists, Dish, DTV, Bell, Star choice and Globcast.

Yes, but aren't these all or nothing packages like cable offers for about $60 per month. My questions was why basic packages for around $20 per month and the abililty to add ala carte channels to fill out your viewing wishes are offered just on C-Band and not ku band. It seems that with most channels going digital, that would be the new trend, but it isn't.

 

[K4LK]

If its just the servo motor, you can fix that. If the 4DTV is a DSR-920, you probably have a dead battery, which further means you have a doorstop. Once the receiver battery goes dead, the receiver ID is gone forever. No receiver ID, no digicipher. If you have a 922, the same thing can happen, but not as prevalent because they are newer. You can check it by going into the setup menu and see if the ID numbers are still there or not...

I replaced the servo hoping it was the problem. I also tried the LNB. It is a 922 (I was one of the early adopters). Signal strength on G1-3 is all over the place but analog reception is steady. The ID is still there.

 

[K4LK]

Get the 4dtv fixed if it's a 922 I think they can still repair them, 920 then it's toast, if you get it fixed and don't want it sell it. And for HD on dvb there is so much out there, you just got to find it

I suppose I could use the 922 to power the LNBs and move the servo and dish. The 922 repair money could help fund a new FTA HD receiver. I'm not sure if the ole Unity Motion HD STB can receive all the current transmissions up there.