'Free To Air' Satellite?


H

hertig

Senior Member
It appears that the common choices for satellite TV in a motorhome are Dish Network and DirecTV. However, I had a fellow tell me last night about the advantages of 'Free To Air' satellite. His claim is that 1) aside from the equipment, it is 'free for life', and 2) there are about 600 channels, including many of those included in Dish Network packages.

Anyone have any experiance with this? Any reason this would not be appropriate for a RV?
 
K

Krazeehorse

New Member
'Free To Air' Satellite?

Sounds too good to be true. How many zeroes after the dollar sign on the equipment? And then you have to trust them to stay in business to honor their end of the deal.
 
H

hertig

Senior Member
'Free To Air' Satellite?

As I understand it, he got set up for $200 to $250 (thanks to a closeout deal on the dish). He claims that he is getting 600 channels, but looking at the published list Krazeehorse pointed to, it doesn't seem so. On the other hand, I specifically asked about the SciFi channel (which is not on the list) and he tuned to it and seemed to be watching it... Looks like I'll have to get more info from him because at the moment it appears the channel claim may not be substantiated.

The programming is not provided by any 1 company, so if a company goes out of business, you only lose their channel(s). A more likely scenario is that they encrypt their signal so you can no longer see it, but again, this only affects individual channels.

Another site I found had a map of N America, with outlines drawn on it. For each outline, it said what size dish was required. The one which contained the entire continental US plus a bit was 70cm if I recall correctly. Smaller dishes worked in a smaller area, tending towards the southern parts of the US.
 
Kirk

Kirk

Senior Member
'Free To Air' Satellite?

Just remember the old saying, "When something seems to be too good to be true, it usually is just that."
 
O

odonnks

New Member
'Free To Air' Satellite?

I've has some experience with equipment like this. Ran similar for years.
Your standard Dish Pro antenna will work fine. the equipment is fairly cheep. 200 - 600 dollars depending on if you want a hard drive recorder built in. With these you can get every channel offered on Dish and other networks. No monthly fees. All locals. You pick where you want.
The only issue is that the receivers come 'un programmed' you or another must program the receiver. Not too hard but it takes a computer to do it.
Here are the better FTA sites I've seen.
Look under the Free to Air section in the forums
http://www.hashhu.com/forums/
http://forums.dsstester.com/vbb/
 
P

phlemb

New Member
'Free To Air' Satellite?

I have the FTA receiver, it works great, using the same dish as either bell, dtv or dishnet, you are able to tune into dishnet sat either 110 or 119 or (both if you have two lnb's) takes me about 15 mins to tune in the dish.. ahhhh! roughing it in comfort
 
P

phlemb

New Member
'Free To Air' Satellite?

I have the FTA receiver, it works great, using the same dish as either bell, dtv or dishnet, you are able to tune into dishnet sat either 110 or 119 or (both if you have two lnb's) takes me about 15 mins to tune in the dish.. ahhhh! roughing it in comfort. receiver cost $145.00 cdn, dish $30.00, cable 10.
 
W

we-wants-it

New Member
'Free To Air' Satellite?

What is the possibility of using the "Free to Air" system at home and then on the road also. I'm a notorious tightwad - something for free is always interesting.
 
D

DirectDishTV@GMAIL.c

New Member
'Free To Air' Satellite?

I have worked with dish network systems and directv, i find them both easy to use, install, and to tune. Sometimes they can be tricky. Free To Air is something that i have only heard about, ill do some investigating, and ill get back to yall at this forum...If you have any questions about dish or satellite, please feel free to contact me at my Email address DirectDishTV@gmail.com, or call 18008380490
 
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