What is C-Band???

[tdti1]

I have a question, can I also get HD content from a BUD? I am getting ready to contact my doctor for some anti-depressants to deal with my Voom shutdown issues. I am not sure where to go for good HD PQ if Voom goes dark. I have plenty of room, my back yard is almost a half acre. I can stick it way in the back and then trench the cables back to the house if I have to. Someone PLEASE tell me that the HD PQ on a BUD is AWESOME, someone please give me some good news.

Hmm.. Just thought of another question. Are there directional/view issues also with a BUD like with the little ones?

Thanks in advance

You will need a 4dtv and a hdd 200 to get the highest quality hd your eyes will ever see
Sub's: HBO E+W, Starz E+W, Encore E+W, Showtime W, Discovery HD.
Free: Wealth TV HD, PBS HD

There is more HD in the clear but you would need another box like a IT912.

 

[tdti1]

does BUD have dvr/pvrs if so how much

This is the bad/sad thing about the big dish, since not to many people use them anymore, there is no big demand for this type of box for a big dish.
the 4dtv dsr 922 is the latest model 4dtv box, the older ones are the 920 and the 905 the 905 is an add on box to any old analog box, any of them can be hooked up to a HDD 200/201 to get HD.

Good place to look for good deals is in the swap and shop section on the www.4dtvrocks.com forum's many people must get rid of there whole bud system because they are moving and can't put the bud up at there new location.

Like was said here before get a used dish and maybe a used box and do the install by yourself and you will save lots. If money is not a problem then a whole new system 10' dish 4dtv 922/HDD VC II+ c/ku feedhorn with lnb's will be about $2000 from a dealer. And you can always add a dvb box to your system for more programming from around the world.

 

[SactoCal]

Hmmm.. this all looks promising. Thanks for the response tdti1. I guess I am going to have to do some research now and figure out everything I need.

 

[chucksrt]

If only I can hide the initial shock of $2000 from my wife!! I was able to buy a 811 and subscribe to dish and have it installed without my wife ever knowing until she had seen the remote. I don't think she'll miss a 10' dish sitting on or near the house, not to mention a $2000 withdraw from our account!!!
Chuck

 

[tdti1]

HAHAHA!!! best thing is to go for a used dish

 

[mini1]

Forgive me, I don't know C-Band that well either. But can anyone explain how it works? Is the C-Band subscriber getting the feeds directly off the satellite's that the channels' broadcaster is broadcasting them up onto? (which cable and the small dish providers buy those exact feeds off of?) That has been my understanding. If that is true, then how does the broadcaster know who is viewing the feeds, and know that the C-Band company (does it have any other name, who do you pay to each month/year?) isn't just giving their (the broadcasters') channal away for free to its subscribers? Thanks for your help!

 

[charper1]

Yes, that is correct.

C-band IRDs have addressable modules in them. The subscription channels are encrypted. When you pay for a channel, an authorization key is set for you and then the signal is opened up at the receiver. The great thing about TVRO is there is also a ton of FREE stuff as well.

 

[tdti1]

(Is the C-Band subscriber getting the feeds directly off the satellite's that the channels' broadcaster is broadcasting them up onto? (which cable and the small dish providers buy those exact feeds off of)


Yes, with a big dish you get the first generation master broadcast feed. And many analog and digital channels are in the clear. Channel count depends on the equipment you have, there is far more feeds up there than one can imagine, there is something for everyone.

 

[mini1]

can anyone (a subscriber) tell me what the offical name for the company of C-Band is? Who DO you pay your programming fee's to evvery month/year?

So does the C-Band company directly pay the broadcasters, and make deals with each broadcaster to sell their feeds? I still don't get how the broadcaster knows that C-Band isn't selling the broadcasts' feeds to more subs then what C-Band claims?

 

[tdti1]

can anyone (a subscriber) tell me what the offical name for the company of C-Band is? Who DO you pay your programming fee's to evvery month/year?

So does the C-Band company directly pay the broadcasters, and make deals with each broadcaster to sell their feeds? I still don't get how the broadcaster knows that C-Band isn't selling the broadcasts' feeds to more subs then what C-Band claims?

Yes NPS,SRL YSP (YSP was bought by dish network and will try to get big dish users to switch with lies and does not support C-band much anymore)

The providers get a deal worked out, and then can sell the programming, the way they do not sell more than what they claim is, the big dish uses Motorola DCII tech, witch has never been hacked, and for the programmer to open a channel for a client they must contact the ACC (Motorolas access control centre) to unlock the channel, same goes for the analog with the VCII+ board, and this is how Motorola counts the subs, every company that uses the DCII is done in the same fashion, Voom Star choice comcast cable, they all go through the ACC. You are getting the channels the same way every cable company and mini dish company get it, direct from the source. And so you can shop around and look for a better deal, talk to an outbound rep,and save lots of money when you shop around for programming, big dish gives you choice and freedom.

Main providers and resellers can be found here.
http://www.4dtvforum.com/packagers.php

 

[mini1]

ahhh. I get it. I never knew you could buy C-Band programming from several different providers (or programming sellers really). So you can shop around between them, and find who is charging the lowest price for a channel, or channel package? Do you have to have a company specific receiver for each provider, or can you buy say a channel from all the providers and view it using the same receiver? I thought there was just one seller for C-Band programming. Good to know. Can I ask why anyone would buy from YSP if they are always going to try and get yoy to switch to Dish Network?

 

[Zathraaas]

There are pros and cons to C-band. The biggest downside to a bud is that realistically a dish can only drive one tv at a time. I have 8 tv outlets, and while I can watch the satellite on any tv by turning it to a certain channel, all tv's would be watching the same thing. (my sat output is modulated to an unused cable channel, which is then merged onto my coax network). I could have a second receiver hooked up, and modulate that to a second open cable channel, which would mean I could have 2 different channels on 2 different tvs- but the 2 channels would still have to be carried on the same satellite, because the dish only points to one at a time, unlike the pizza dishes. There are several dozen satellites, in an arc over the equator, and each one carries up to 24 c-band analog channels.

That is one nice thing about the little dishes is that you can just add receivers to your system to get more tv's.

Programming is substantially cheaper on c-band, because of that good ol' American value, free enterprise.. There are multiple (used to be many) different companies selling the subscription packages, and competition helps keep the price down. Dtv and Dish have a sort of captive audience. their equipment doesn't work with anything but their service...
Sadly, we can no longer get the NFL ticket on cband. Directv has a monopoly deal in place with the NFL, which prevents the c-band providers from offering it. I was buying it for about 140/yr until 2 years ago when it stopped.

the picture quality is also definitly better on my cband than on my pizza dish. no rain fade either!

The coolest part about c-band is all the wildfeeds and newsfeeds. I was able to watch a lot of fascinating live broadcasts from Iraq during the war. Hours of stuff that end up only being a 30 second news clip on foxnews.

If you have the room and can afford the equipment I would definitely consider it.

 

[tdti1]

ahhh. I get it. I never knew you could buy C-Band programming from several different providers (or programming sellers really). So you can shop around between them, and find who is charging the lowest price for a channel, or channel package? Do you have to have a company specific receiver for each provider, or can you buy say a channel from all the providers and view it using the same receiver? I thought there was just one seller for C-Band programming. Good to know. Can I ask why anyone would buy from YSP if they are always going to try and get yoy to switch to Dish Network?

Yes the 4dtv is the main box used for big dish now, and like me I buy from a few different places, you can buy one package from NPS a few a la carte from SRL and some others from YSP, or buy nothing and just watch feeds.

Many people still buy from YSP I think they still have most of the subscriber base not sure, but they have some channels a lot cheaper than NPS or SRL like the Denver 5 and Starz/Encore.

And yes the big dish would be the one connected to the biggest screen in the house the home theatre room mainly, many people get a small sub from pizza or cable for the wife and kids and keep the good stuff to them self's.

 

[Fgsilva]

Chucksrt,
I have been in the process of setting up my BUD for about 2 months and am almost finished. All I have left to do is fine adjustments for aiming so i can "see" all of the Clarke Belt. The reasons it has taken this long is that its winter and I'm in Vermont, ie: its BRRRRRRR out there, and I have very limited time for home projects.

Here is what I have found out about BUDS, both from here and from my own experience.

A BUD and its associated equipment can often be had for free, all you have to do is look in the classifieds, that is how I got mine. The hardest part of setting up a BUD is making sure that you have a perfectly plumb pole to mount the dish on. After that setup is relatively easy, and there are some really good resources out there to help you out.

Picture quality off of a well aimed BUD is excellant, the best I have ever seen. There are a lot of choices for programming, including "Ala Carte" ordering of just the channels you want. The typical BUD owner pays about 30% less for programming than a small dish user. For example, the only subsription channels i wanted were a&e, history, discovery, TNT, comedy, and sci fi. I am able to get JUST those channels at a cost of around 7.00 per month. There are also FTA (free to air) stations on c-band, and of course lots of wild feeds.

To make the most of a BUD you should make sure to set it up for both C-band and KU band, that will give you access to LOTS of FTA, including all of the networks (currently), and lots of specialty channels, some not even available thru subscription via the small dish's.

So, if you have the space, and are fairly technically competent, it is something I would recommend looking into. Here is a thread that has been running in the FTA forum, take a look http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=35271

Hope this helps.

Sorry if this may sound like a dumb question, but how about high def? Is there a high def receiver that we can use with c-band? I have a huge dish in my back yard left by the owner that I guess worked at some point.

Thanks,

 

[charper1]

http://primefocus.com/products/hdd200.html?id=605

 

[tdti1]

You will also need the 4dtv.

 

[mini1]

Thanks everyone for educating me about C-Band. Good stuff to know, just wish more HD was available on C-Band.

 

[tdti1]

There would be, if more people would get back into the bud, the bad thing is many people have a bud but use it only for the free feeds,programmers don't let us get there channels even though we can, because our numbers are so low little under 300 000 so it is chump change and they just don't feel like letting us sub, its sad but true.

 

[charper1]

You are 100% correct. BUD fell out of favor with users, but then to top that off the makers stopped R&D and never could get costs down. I wish they would all get back into the game with a 10' - 12' home version of the toroidial and breath new life into C/Ku analog & digital.

 

[chucksrt]

Sorry if this may sound like a dumb question, but how about high def? Is there a high def receiver that we can use with c-band? I have a huge dish in my back yard left by the owner that I guess worked at some point.

Thanks,

I called up a retailer for BUD and she really tried selling me against it and tried pushing Directtv instead and when I asked about the HD receivers she said that they were discontinued and would have no replacement! I am very interested in BUD now and I will probably get it for the quality of the pic. and just to spite that retailer.