What FTA brand/box would you recommend?

[gigahertz20]

I'm looking at buying a FTA box, there are so many brands and products, I'm not sure which one to get? Do any of you have any recommendations or any comments?

So far, Viewsat and Sonicview seem like they are the major players and are the best supported FTA receivers.

 

[gigahertz20]

Nobody owns a FTA box on this forum?

 

[sdifox]

a wee bit late to jump into fta. wait for everything to switch over to mpeg4.

 

[gigahertz20]

Originally posted by: sdifox
a wee bit late to jump into fta. wait for everything to switch over to mpeg4.

Guess you don't know the reason why most people buy FTA receivers....to receive Dish channels for free, just requires some technical knowledge and lots of patience.


http://www.multichannel.com/bl...203/post/90012209.html

These pirates use the so-called Free-To-Air (FTA) set-top boxes to view, for free, subscription TV services for which the overwhelming majority of normal, legal DISH Network subscribers pay monthly.

The way piracy works in North America, consumers turn their FTA receivers into FTA units that steal DISH Network.

Also, because DISH Network utilizes the universal DVB standard, and DirecTV does not, Dish is more vulnerable. Conversely, pirates can?t steal high definition signals from DISH, yet.


FTA pirates tapping into the 13 million legal subscriber DISH Network, as well as into EchoStar?s progeny, the 2.3 million legal subs Canadian Bell ExpressVU (BEV) system, have now distributed their illegal services and products to an estimated two million illegal TV households in the U.S. and Canada. This is at an average hardware unit price of around $200, accounting for almost $350 million in total cumulative revenues.

The top three distributors of FTA devices for the EchoStar and BEV systems are, in order, Sun Valley, CA-based PanSat; South San Francisco, CA-based Coolsat; and Mississauga, ON, Canada-based Fortec. Among just these top three FTA providers, they have already distributed an estimated 1.385 million units, representing sales of well over $200 million in estimated cumulative revenues since 2004.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: gigahertz20

Originally posted by: sdifox
a wee bit late to jump into fta. wait for everything to switch over to mpeg4.

Guess you don't know the reason why most people buy FTA receivers....to receive Dish channels for free, just requires some technical knowledge and lots of patience.


http://www.multichannel.com/bl...203/post/90012209.html

These pirates use the so-called Free-To-Air (FTA) set-top boxes to view, for free, subscription TV services for which the overwhelming majority of normal, legal DISH Network subscribers pay monthly.

The way piracy works in North America, consumers turn their FTA receivers into FTA units that steal DISH Network.

Also, because DISH Network utilizes the universal DVB standard, and DirecTV does not, Dish is more vulnerable. Conversely, pirates can?t steal high definition signals from DISH, yet.


FTA pirates tapping into the 13 million legal subscriber DISH Network, as well as into EchoStar?s progeny, the 2.3 million legal subs Canadian Bell ExpressVU (BEV) system, have now distributed their illegal services and products to an estimated two million illegal TV households in the U.S. and Canada. This is at an average hardware unit price of around $200, accounting for almost $350 million in total cumulative revenues.

The top three distributors of FTA devices for the EchoStar and BEV systems are, in order, Sun Valley, CA-based PanSat; South San Francisco, CA-based Coolsat; and Mississauga, ON, Canada-based Fortec. Among just these top three FTA providers, they have already distributed an estimated 1.385 million units, representing sales of well over $200 million in estimated cumulative revenues since 2004.

No, as in the entire system is being switched over to mpeg4. The newer receivers like hd9000 has the option of installing that board but it does not come with it. It is illegal to sell a box with the board already installed.

Reason I say you wait is current gen hd FTA boxes are not that great. They overheat. Wait for another gen, prices will come down too.

I do know what I am talking about.

 

[gigahertz20]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: gigahertz20

Originally posted by: sdifox
a wee bit late to jump into fta. wait for everything to switch over to mpeg4.

Guess you don't know the reason why most people buy FTA receivers....to receive Dish channels for free, just requires some technical knowledge and lots of patience.


http://www.multichannel.com/bl...203/post/90012209.html

These pirates use the so-called Free-To-Air (FTA) set-top boxes to view, for free, subscription TV services for which the overwhelming majority of normal, legal DISH Network subscribers pay monthly.

The way piracy works in North America, consumers turn their FTA receivers into FTA units that steal DISH Network.

Also, because DISH Network utilizes the universal DVB standard, and DirecTV does not, Dish is more vulnerable. Conversely, pirates can?t steal high definition signals from DISH, yet.


FTA pirates tapping into the 13 million legal subscriber DISH Network, as well as into EchoStar?s progeny, the 2.3 million legal subs Canadian Bell ExpressVU (BEV) system, have now distributed their illegal services and products to an estimated two million illegal TV households in the U.S. and Canada. This is at an average hardware unit price of around $200, accounting for almost $350 million in total cumulative revenues.

The top three distributors of FTA devices for the EchoStar and BEV systems are, in order, Sun Valley, CA-based PanSat; South San Francisco, CA-based Coolsat; and Mississauga, ON, Canada-based Fortec. Among just these top three FTA providers, they have already distributed an estimated 1.385 million units, representing sales of well over $200 million in estimated cumulative revenues since 2004.

No, as in the entire system is being switched over to mpeg4. The newer receivers like hd9000 has the option of installing that board but it does not come with it. It is illegal to sell a box with the board already installed.

Reason I say you wait is current gen hd FTA boxes are not that great. They overheat. Wait for another gen, prices will come down too.

I do know what I am talking about.

Yeah, I was reading about those add on boxes. You are right about the overheating, the Sonicview 8000 HD had that problem but it has since been fixed. There is a new nFusion HD box launching in a few days, but all the HD FTA receivers are expensive, only really 3 to choose from. I might just go with a standard def receiver and upgrade to a HD receiver in the future.

Maybe you can help me since you seem knowledgable, I'm new to this FTA thing and I'm about to buy the nFusion Nova box since it auto-updates and I've read nothing but good about it on forums but I don't know anything about the satellite connected to my house since I didn't install it.

My family moved into a new home, the house has a Dish 500 satellite hooked up to it and the lines come in from outside. I don't know alot about satellites or the terminology, but I am pretty technically proficient with computers. What will I be able to receive with the satellite pictured below..like how many channels, can it receive HD channels? (I know I can't watch HD if I don't buy a HD receiver)


What are all the parts I will need to get this setup? After reading many posts and searching the internet, I think my satellite has 2 LNBS that come in aiming at 119 and 110 (If that is the correct term). I will need to connect both of these to my receiver I will be buying...correct? Do I need a switch or something in order to do that, I keep reading about these DiSEq switches? How do I extend the RG6 cable? The 2 RG6 cables enter my house in my living room, but my main TV is downstairs, I do need to use RG6 cable correct and not regular coax?


My satellite
http://img185.imageshack.us/im.../dish001800x600be4.jpg

The LNB's aiming at 110 and 119
http://img120.imageshack.us/im.../dish002800x600gx6.jpg

The 2 cables coming out the back
http://img120.imageshack.us/im.../dish003800x600et8.jpg

The ends of the 2 cables, I guess these need to plug into a switch then have that plug into my receiver or something?
http://img120.imageshack.us/im.../dish006800x600iq5.jpg