Good to see an interest for hands-on projects whenever it appears. The FTA hobby projects are always fun to observe, and that makes coming here even more of a joy. This is interactive TV the way it should be. And on this I have some thoughts...
The big problem with FTA is making oneself a victim to an ever growing amount of used equipment for very little or nothing, to the point of hoarding. These orphaned goodies are mostly discarded but functional with potential for new and interesting projects. Sure, we can always buy new or used parts, even preassembled systems, to save time when building our FTA system. But I prefer to only buy what I must in a throw-away society and hard times. This affects the retail sector, and that's natural; growth on another level always changes the balance and flow, for the better, we hope. The double-plus for me is recycling and creating; basically the making of functional art from garbage. One idea leads to another, and journey from concept to the real world makes the trip a heck of a lot more interesting than taking that well worn path to the local FTA supply store.
Buying cheap and easy to find equipment and saving all the time spent on eccentric projects is certainly not something I would promote. But people have their perceived and established limitations from and within their range of experiences. Some projects are just too intimidating. Not just anyone will enjoy playing at component level in foreign territory where it's easy to make destructive errors and become frustrated. Playing with sensitive electronics inside the hidden world within an exposed LNBF is amazing just to see. The shiny gold plated PC board with its intricate maze of precision tuned sections and tiny exotic components is a skilled work of art by itself. That's the surface of the component level where anyone can rearrange and create a mess or something different. Whatever, just marvel and enjoy the techno-art in the process. It's all about having fun and doing something new while exploring and stretching one's own potential limits, with nothing to lose but time. My TV is starved for quality time of mine. The more active we are means less time spent being passive to watching TV. But let's not get too crazy outside that box or the hobby might consume itself by excessive modification. It is, afterall, about receiving, viewing and hearing the results - the fruit of our labors.
I'm also an artist, and by arranging color upon a surface, I can express and develop my ideas. I could have spent the time doing more interesting things, by just snapping perfect pictures and creating an album, rather than drawing for hours an almost identical image of a still-life model, to create a collection over the years. I could carry that logic to creating one's family too. Save time: adopt. However, I doubt many would choose that option unless it was forced. What I'm really promoting by example, is self-sufficiency and fun. How to think around the conventional and arrive at the destination with new experiences in the mindbox. Use it or lose it. As to raw materials of our environment: reuse it or we all lose it. FTA can set some good examples in many ways. If only we could get it more mainstream and alive in the eyes of the many who don't have a clue. We need an invigorating PR campaign and a growing alternate programming base. I'm not sure whether the former or the latter should lead the parade.
Will I share other ideas and projects in development to the FTA community? Well, maybe, but, only if people have the time or show an uncommon interest; perhaps the weakness to be distracted?
Oh well, I've spent enough time on these thoughts; time to waste what's left on my many other projects of distraction in my 25 hour day.
-sidha
PS: Since we are on the subject of modifications...
The time has finally arrived; DN has secured their programming. The pirates are now lost without a paddle and are naturally drifting our direction. So, we had better be nice during their enlightenment and conversion to the real thing: REAL FTA. Get REAL, we own the root term 'FTA' by default, not by comparison or qualification. It's time to take it back; reclaim our REAL property and unblemished identity! They have some new things to learn [besides spelling] and we can help. Here's some of the current gossip I've heard echoing within their now dark and sad domain.
Is this the end?
Are Pansats officially done?....if and what should I do?.....any recomendations would be most appreciated as I am not sure as what is best to do right now.
all you can do is Waite bro,sub or get the right dish like i do and put it on 123w
What is this real dish and 123w you are talking about. Sounds intresting.
its a 33inc dish and 123w is a true fta sat sig theres no bin needed to view the channles
so all the channles on 123w or viewable still and always will be
Besides the dish, you will need a linear LNB.
would like to know what is a linear lnb and what channels do you get on true fta thanks
Basically, there are 2 different signals from the sats, circular like for DN and linear for True FTA sats. Do some reading
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