Is anyone else on here into FTA satellite systems? I'm talking about the true FTA stuff, not the illegal apparatus used for bypassing the likes of Bell & Dishnetwork, there are plenty of sites aimed at that crowd. I just helped out a compatriot get a system for his cottage. He'll be aiming it at the new Galaxy18 satellite and receiving the clear channels all perfectly legal. Recurring cost is nil. For rainy days at the cottage, and to get the evening news its perfect. I did a re-scan on my system last night and got 50 channels now. After I weeded out the non-English and religious broadcasters I have about half worth watching. Cost for his gear was about $220. I just thought I'd mention here as I'm sure other OTA users would be interested. I can probably add some value for those interested in getting on-board with this.

DJ

Is any of it HD?

There are 5 on this satellite, but none English - yet. There is however freebie HDTV to be had on other satellites. All the PBS stuff and about a dozen or so independents of a regular flavour. You'd need a dish motor and dual-mode block converter to pick all these up. Add $80 for the motor and the same again for the LNB. Also, the receiver would have to be so equipped, add $200 here. I noticed that the HD receivers also have ATSC built in now. I'm guessing come February of next year there will be a lot more HDTV.

What about PC-tuners.....I've seen the 2006 K-World DVB-S card
at Tigerdirect.ca [and they're honest in their ad that it can only do unscrambled & users report that it can "find the birds" too]so one can have PVR functions. Do you know of any other brands/products?

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. It appears to be a C-band (big dish) receiver. I'm talking about Ku band (small dish) gear for FTA. There's enough to watch on Ku band that I doubt I would ever go the big-dish route. The card costs 80$, but for the same price you can buy a cheapie standalone Ariza FTA receiver that will switch up to 4 dishes. So in theory you could start into FTA for as little as 150$.

I'm interested in products that I can PVR with because I record everything. I have the nasty habit of dozing off when tired. In the old days I used to curse and swear a blue streak if I missed a show but now that's not a problem. Like last night I dozed off to House & Fringe but watched it later even though the log reported WUTV-HD had transmission glitches in the middle of Fringe. Twenty minutes were lost and/or chopped up but with the beginning and conclusion being intact, I got the gist of the story and then there's rerun season. Then at the same time I didn't have to miss RMR & 22 because the PIII recorded that. I had the same flexibility with my three VCR setup through the '80s & '90s but now they just playback my old recordings.

2:30pm.....
Aw Hell DJ.....
I just did a Yahoo search and found a plethora but can't tell yet without more reading if the models are for C or KU....
but in 2004-5 when I wanted to wean off Pay-TV I couldn't find anything related so that is why I went with the two MDP-130s [see my profile] because at the time it seemed to be the best K.I.S.S. solution...and now the Fusion tuners seem to be the best for multipath interference because with DT reporting OK with WNED-HD/DT I must be getting MPI since midsummer.
Though the one at tigerdirect is for 30 inch dishes....so it must be for KU because even a dummy like me knows you can't get C on small dishes.....I've seen LNBs that are dual C/Ku but again you need the larger backyard dishes. On quick reading though it seems that the K-world requires a more powerful computer that the other brands I've glimpsed.

So what stations [with popular shows] can be had with FTA satellite...though I don't think I can afford it right now.

I was curious about that as well, donnyjaguar. What stations did you think were worth watching on that Galaxy satellite?

I'd like to be able to record HDTV shows also, but I haven't found a standalone PVR that a) doesn't include some paid-for service I don't want b) doesn't involve a computer c) is priced within the budget I allocate to activities that don't improve my physical fitness. :)

Near as I can tell all the USA network stuff can be had for free on FTA. The Canadian content is conspicuous by its absence. There's plenty of stuff on there you'd never find on OTA or a cable provider. Some is actually quite interesting coming out of the various universities. Truth be told, some of it I have no idea who the target audience is! If you're a news junkie, speak a foreign language or enjoy watching fringe religious programming Galaxy25 does not disappoint. I'm amazed that they're allowed to broadcast some of this stuff, but I guess that's freedom of speech in action. There are quite a few music/radio feeds available for free too, which suits me as I'm a musician. Its not for everyone, but judging by the calibre of staff vehicles at my local FTA dealer, business is very good. At lot of this is driven by the large ethnic communities in the Toronto area no doubt. See Galaxy25 above. There are a lot of "birds" up there now. They are in geosynchronous orbit and all operate on the same bands. Have a look at lyngsat.com to see. It takes a little while to figure out the mumbo jumbo, and granted it makes more sense when you have a system already set up. The Ku band is split into two parts. One requires a circularly polarised LNB where as the others call for a linear. You can tell by the transponder frequency which it is. To get everything calls for an LNB that will do both at the same time. See my 70$ above. Most LNBs can drive two separate receivers watching different programmes. Satellite receivers are available, at extra cost, with PVR built in. Including HD models.

"I was curious about that as well, donnyjaguar. What stations did you think were worth watching on that Galaxy satellite?"

[Link: lyngsat.com]

This is the one I'm pointed at right now. Anything above 11000MHz with an "F" beside, and even some without, I receive. There are a LOT of Galaxy satellites up there though. There's a plethora of vintage programming from the 70s,80s,90s on every evening. Retrojams plays older music videos in Dolby audio.

My first surprise about Dolby audio came when the first digital C-band receivers came out. We had one with Dolby audio...and two RCA jacks for output.

Some research revealed that Dolby Audio is a method of getting audio from one point to another, and its actual output could be analog one channel, two channel, five channel, or digital.

Do you know what the surround capabilities are of this receiver, and whether those videos are in POS (plain old stereo)?

I can't speak for other, perhaps higher cost, receivers, but the Viewsat Ultra 2000 has a Dolby Digital output. You'll need a receiver so-equipped to decode the soundtrack. Given its vintage pop music videos, surround sound isn't required. Other channels do include the surround soundtrack, whether its digital or Pro Logic. The unit does however have analogue left & right outputs which cover off 98% of other channels. Curiously enough, the left and right channels are reversed on mine. No biggie of course. I also found they don't like to drive low-impedance inputs like you find in some older audio gear. Mind you much of my audio gear is very old (as in vacuum tube) so input impedance isn't an issue at all.

well I have a Captive Works 600S Premium but eventhough it has a S/PDIF optical output , therefore digital , it is only PCM 2 channel (of course this receiver has no HD capabilities). There is no option in the menus to change it to Dolby Digital though, like other tvs or dvd players will allow you. I can still use the onkyo to do some surround processing however. all channels are standard definitions therefore stereo sound.

I think they will normally stream whatever they're given. Are you receiving anything that is actually supposed to be 5.1?

This is so when you're watching music, the sound matches the perspective of the guys in the band...just joking, because then you'd be looking at the audience, wouldn't you?