what the heck is this thing?

[edprush]

http://www.homecable.com/Products/70.html

Please explain in english...I don't understand half the crap in their description.

 

[imported_Trippin315]

It does stuff.

 

[meltdown75]

free-to-air receivers... hmm in a nutshell

you buy a dish and slap it on your roof. you buy the receiver linked in the OP... you point your dish at a satellite, and you can pull down & decode the channels.

many people around here switched to FTA when the DirecTV gravy train broke down. (Canada)

 

[FoBoT]

"Out of stock do not order"

 

[edprush]

What the heck is free-to-air?

Will it work with any dish or antenna?

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: edprush
What the heck is free-to-air?

Will it work with any dish or antenna?

there are a lot of resources on the internet about free-to-air.

the short answer to your last question is that setting up a dish (and LNBs or dual LNBs) for FTA varies depending on what kind of signal or channels you are trying to pull down.

i'm no expert on it, although i have friends that are. IIRC there are tuner cards for the PC that can essentially do the same thing as that receiver.

 

[edprush]

I've been reading a bunch of the resources on the 'net but I can't figure out why anyone would choose FTA. It sounds like it is nothing more than a glorified antenna--no premium/pay tv stations.

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: edprush
I've been reading a bunch of the resources on the 'net but I can't figure out why anyone would choose FTA. It sounds like it is nothing more than a glorified antenna--no premium/pay tv stations.

i read an aritcle a while back about a guy who is obsessed with television, he has something like 10 or 12 dishes, a standard cable connection, and even pulls in some stations from the internet...iirc he has like 4 tvs in his living room

professional couch potato :laugh:

 

[EightySix Four]

How many channels do you get with FTA?

 

[edprush]

I finally get it!

These receivers are for hacking into satellite signals. I honestly didn't know that when I posted the original question.

They're for unscrambling/decoding digital signals. You pay for the reciever but you get FREE digital progamming.

Now I understand why everyone was so hush-hush about responding to this thread!

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: edprush
I finally get it!

These receivers are for hacking into satellite signals. I honestly didn't know that when I posted the original question.

They're for unscrambling/decoding digital signals. You pay for the reciever but you get FREE digital progamming.

Now I understand why everyone was so hush-hush about responding to this thread!

yeah.

There are a lot of foreign language channels that can be brought down, which is why FTA is sometimes popular with ethnic groups in certain communities.

It's not for your standard-fare MTV-type channels. There is a very wide variety of stuff you can pull down though.

People here use FTA receivers to pull down / decode DishNet's channels though, which is a pretty similar lineup to DirecTV. :evil:

 

[edprush]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: edprush
I finally get it!

These receivers are for hacking into satellite signals. I honestly didn't know that when I posted the original question.

They're for unscrambling/decoding digital signals. You pay for the reciever but you get FREE digital progamming.

Now I understand why everyone was so hush-hush about responding to this thread!

yeah.

There are a lot of foreign language channels that can be brought down, which is why FTA is sometimes popular with ethnic groups in certain communities.

It's not for your standard-fare MTV-type channels. There is a very wide variety of stuff you can pull down though.

People here use FTA receivers to pull down / decode DishNet's channels though, which is a pretty similar lineup to DirecTV. :evil:

Is using FTA receivers akin to 'under the table cable'?