Why should I still get a big dish and receiver vs Direct TV

[dbbarney]

Hello all,

I remember the older large dishes, I always wanted one but could never afford. I wanted a Monterey receiver that would automatically turn the satellite dish back and forth between satellites. I remember seeing the huge TV guide showing all the programs and times.

I wanted to be able to intercept the different signals that passed between the satellites, see news shows during their commercials, etc.

With the advent of all the Direct TV stuff out there, is it still fun to have the older large dishes and what are all the things that I can do with one?

Please feel free to email me with reasons, stories, links, etc.

Thanks a million!

 

[PSB]

There are loads of people who still get a lot of fun from their BUD (Big Useful Dish), I am sure they will chip in with their views and comments (please). A cheaper alternative is a KU band motorised system, the dish follows the arc just as a BUD does, but it picks up all the KU band FTA programming up there including sports and news feeds, talk about fun! Good luck on the quest for satellite knowledge!

 

[Diamond Jim]

Small dishes are fine, if that's all you're into. BUDs offer a larger variety of programing. There are wild feeds of news, sports and syndicated programs, in the clear of course, subscription programing by the tons, pick and choose what you want to see, digital C and Ku band, some clear, some requiring a fee, pay per view movies and major sporting events, MPEG Free To Air C and Ku signals, radio and music services, the list goes on forever. Motorized you can pick up every satellite in the Clark Belt. If it's on satellite there is a 99% chance that you can watch it if you have a big dish. I have had my BIG dish for over 20 years and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I paid around $2500.00 for the whole set up, which was "state of the art" in 1983, I am sure they are quite cheaper now.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

 

[Todd Humphrey]

You would only consider C-band as a source of entertainment system picture quality and High Definition (HD equipment for C-band is hard to find). If you are a hobbyist type of person who likes to tinker, then c-band can offer some entertainment from that angle. If however, you want to come home, turn on the TV and watch something. Then you really need to consider directv or dish network.
C-band can be a blast to use. The picture quality is far superior then DBS systems and they do offer a wide variety of things DBS cannot provide. 4DTV programming offers an awesome picture compared to the over compression images offered by DBS systems.

Ku-band on a tracking dish can be a pain. Most Ku-band programming is MPEG2. MPEG2 is not available from a 4DTV receiver. You really need a separate dish for MPEG2 free to air programming. Using a 30" dish with a motorized H to H mount can provide a wide range of programming, but no main stream content. If you want to see what the rest of the world watches for TV or you have a special interest, then FTA MPEG2 may offer some value. Warning: Programming a receiver for the H to H Ku-dish mounts can be a real chore.

For me to give you a straight to the point answer would require me knowing more about you, your family and your interest.

I will tell you this. Every one of my C-band customers, also have a DBS system. With the slow move by channels away from a analog C and Ku band and towards secured MPEG2 systems, you really need a DBS system to provide you core television programming.

 

[Mr Tony]

Using a 30" dish with a motorized H to H mount can provide a wide range of programming, but no main stream content.

I can see lots of college sports games in the clear and some networks from around the country...good programming for me

Warning: Programming a receiver for the H to H Ku-dish mounts can be a real chore.

huh?

I set my latitude & longitude and switched it to "USALS" and the motor does the rest

 

[TuxCoder]

Using a 30" dish with a motorized H to H mount can provide a wide range of programming, but no main stream content.

I have to respectfully disagree here. There's quite a bit of mainstream content out there:

- "Distant broadcast" channels from other parts of the US including ABC, FOX, UPN, WB, PAX, Daystar, Univision, Telemundo, TeleFutura, etc. See a greater variety of syndicated non-primetime programming, or watch your favorite primetime programming at different times through the different time zones.

- Music videos on "The Tube" (it's all real mainstream music you know, not obscure recordings by some group of kids in their basement). Actually much better than the familiar modern music video channels, in my opinion. There's also Christian music videos (and some other related programming) on JCTV. JCTV was on Dish Network until very recently but is still on Sky Angel. Latino music videos on "Mas Musica".

- News, lots of that, on "CCTV 9" (newly added to Dish Network), "ABC News Now" (good quality news channel found on some cable systems), "FOX News Channel" (the same one you've surely seen on basically all cable and satellite providers), "Bloomberg TV" (many cable and sat providers), "Ohio News Network" (on Time Warner here in Ohio), and others. Not to mention excellent feeds.

- Sports on "Empire Sports Network" for NY regional coverage, "Gol TV" (straight from a Dish Network satellite, in the clear) for Latin American and European sports coverage, and three channels of live horse racing coverage.

- Other good content such as health-education programming, kids ("PBS Kids", on many cable/sat systems), educational ("PBS You", "Research Channel", "UWTV", all on Dish Network and other providers), "Maharishi Open University" (previously on Dish Network), public interest ("PBS X", "NASA TV", both on Dish), religious ("Angle One", "Daystar", "TBN", etc. all on other cable/sat systems).

 

[Cascade]

I can honestly say I watch more FTA programming on Ku than I do on our regular DishNetwork system.
It may have been challenging to install and peak at times, but everything I've learned about installing these things has made me appreciate what's up there tenfold.

"Boomberg TV"

Is that one listed on Lyngsat?

 

[TuxCoder]

That just about applies to me too... especially since FTA has Cheers everyday!
Still missing Futurama (Cartoon Network) and Whose Line (ABC Family Channel). And I don't know if I really could give up the Discovery networks (mainly Discovery and Discovery Health) and CourtTV. But FTA is becoming more and more prominent in my house.

(Note: we're halfway straying off-topic... halfway because we are actually discussing the "vs. directv" part but not really the "why big dish" part)

 

[Diamond Jim]

As I said, buy a big dish, a Motorola 922, an MPEG2 receiver and get it all.