Sports TV Question - Free To Air Satellite Systems

#1
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Smoky Vol

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#1
I stumbled upon Free-To-Air (FTA) satellite systems recently. It appears they have been in existence a long time & allow you to use virtually any satellite dish you already have installed, using an FTA receiver. You could get Dish Network or Direct TV to install a system in your home for free & then discontinue it & start using the FTA receiver & legally receive tons of channels nationally & internationally for free forever.

There appear to be over 6,000 free channels you can get, even though many of them are in foreign languages. However, they including some of the most popular ones, including A&E, C-SPAN, CNBC, CNN, CSS, Discovery, E!, Encore, ESPNU, Fox News, Fox Sports, HBO, Playboy, & CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, & PBS thru a huge range of local channels nationally. Here is a link to all of those you can view for free in the USA:

www.lyngsat.com/freetv/Un...tates.html

My question is, has anyone ever tried these receivers & how well do they work with dishes that have previously had Dish Network or Direct TV hooked up to them? Do you have to have a satellite motor & be constantly moving the dish around to get certain channels? What is the FTA reliability versus pay satellite? With the high cost of satellite monthly, you can buy these FTA receivers many places on EBay & elsewhere for $100 or so & never pay any more monthly fees. You appear to get most of the channels I watch regularly except for ESPN & ESPN2. In fact, you get channels that I don't get on my basic cable package at all, such as Encore, ESPNU, HBO, & Playboy. Just getting those 4 channels free forever would be worth getting one in my opinion.

I'd be interested in anyone's experiences or opinions on these systems. They can certainly be used by those who can't get CSS, for instance, to watch a lot of UT games, including UT baseball that has been on that channel this weekend, & which carries a lot of UT men's & women's basketball games every year.
 
#2
#2
Sounds way too good to be true. Reminds me of the good ole days 20 years ago when people had these monster dishes in their backyard and picked up all sorts of satellite signals they weren't supposed to.
 
#3
#3
(Smoky Vol @ Apr 23 said:
I stumbled upon Free-To-Air (FTA) satellite systems recently. It appears they have been in existence a long time & allow you to use virtually any satellite dish you already have installed, using an FTA receiver. You could get Dish Network or Direct TV to install a system in your home for free & then discontinue it & start using the FTA receiver & legally receive tons of channels nationally & internationally for free forever.

There appear to be over 6,000 free channels you can get, even though many of them are in foreign languages. However, they including some of the most popular ones, including A&E, C-SPAN, CNBC, CNN, CSS, Discovery, E!, Encore, ESPNU, Fox News, Fox Sports, HBO, Playboy, & CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, & PBS thru a huge range of local channels nationally. Here is a link to all of those you can view for free in the USA:

www.lyngsat.com/freetv/Un...tates.html

My question is, has anyone ever tried these receivers & how well do they work with dishes that have previously had Dish Network or Direct TV hooked up to them? Do you have to have a satellite motor & be constantly moving the dish around to get certain channels? What is the FTA reliability versus pay satellite? With the high cost of satellite monthly, you can buy these FTA receivers many places on EBay & elsewhere for $100 or so & never pay any more monthly fees. You appear to get most of the channels I watch regularly except for ESPN & ESPN2. In fact, you get channels that I don't get on my basic cable package at all, such as Encore, ESPNU, HBO, & Playboy. Just getting those 4 channels free forever would be worth getting one in my opinion.

I'd be interested in anyone's experiences or opinions on these systems. They can certainly be used by those who can't get CSS, for instance, to watch a lot of UT games, including UT baseball that has been on that channel this weekend, & which carries a lot of UT men's & women's basketball games every year.
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One problem, they're illegal. All cable stations have copyright protection for the programming they send out. Receiving the signals without authorization is a violation of federal anti-piracy laws.
 
#4
#4
(GAVol @ Apr 23 said:
Sounds way too good to be true. Reminds me of the good ole days 20 years ago when people had these monster dishes in their backyard and picked up all sorts of satellite signals they weren't supposed to.
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I had one. The best part was listening to announcers during commercial breaks. You found out what they really thought.
 
#5
#5
(hatvol96 @ Apr 23 said:
I had one. The best part was listening to announcers during commercial breaks. You found out what they really thought.
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Exactly what I was thinking about. You saw and heard some of the funniest stuff imagineable during commercial breaks and prior to going on the air.
 
#6
#6
(GAVol @ Apr 23 said:
Exactly what I was thinking about. You saw and heard some of the funniest stuff imagineable during commercial breaks and prior to going on the air.
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Two of the best to listen to in those situations were Hall of Famers Marty Brennaman and Harry Kalas. Dick Vitale used some pretty spicy language.
 
#7
#7
I'll never forget listening to Harry Caray between innings as he pointed out eye candy with that distinctive voice.
 
#8
#8
(GAVol @ Apr 23 said:
I'll never forget listening to Harry Caray between innings as he pointed out eye candy with that distinctive voice.
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In the very early days of dishes, you had Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall doing the White Sox broadcasts. That was classic televion between innings. Kalas and Richie Ashburn were great in Philadelphia.
 
#9
#9
We used to have one of those big satellites as well... I thought it was cool as hell as a little kid, you could press some buttons on the remote and the thing would move up and down.

Best thing about was like ya'll said, you could find some channels where there didn't show the commercials. I don't remember still having the audio during the commercial, but I know way back when we'd be watching races through the commercials.
 
#10
#10
(hatvol96 @ Apr 23 said:
One problem, they're illegal. All cable stations have copyright protection for the programming they send out. Receiving the signals without authorization is a violation of federal anti-piracy laws.
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So true. Illegal for sure.My brother in law works for Comcast.That said, he said by September in Nashville, Comcast will be offering phone service through your computer.
 
#11
#11
Actually, all free-to-air satellite systems are purchasing equipment certified and licensed by the FCC. When you view programs with an FTA system, it is totally ethical and legal. You are totally within the law when you view free programs.
 
#12
#12
how many channels are actually free? other than the networks..ABC CBS, ect....
 
#13
#13
(Smoky Vol @ Apr 23 said:
Actually, all free-to-air satellite systems are purchasing equipment certified and licensed by the FCC. When you view programs with an FTA system, it is totally ethical and legal. You are totally within the law when you view free programs.
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If all you want to watch are programs on the broadcast networks, this is the thing for you. Viewing pay channels by this method is neither ethical nor legal. It's theft, pure and simple.
 
#14
#14
thousands of channels all over the world are available, totally free for anyone who has a dish to receive them, not encoded & without having to buy any package from anyone. you simply have a dish & a receiver & watch. they are being broadcast 24/7. if these channels wanted to protect any supposed copyright, all they have to do is scramble their signal so that only dish or direct TV can broadcast them. the fact is that many of these channels are simply trying to get their broadcasts out to as many people as they can & their advertisers pay for them, so they don't care if you get them thru one of the packaged providers or just pick them up on your own.
 
#15
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(Smoky Vol @ Apr 24 said:
thousands of channels all over the world are available, totally free for anyone who has a dish to receive them, not encoded & without having to buy any package from anyone. you simply have a dish & a receiver & watch. they are being broadcast 24/7. if these channels wanted to protect any supposed copyright, all they have to do is scramble their signal so that only dish or direct TV can broadcast them. the fact is that many of these channels are simply trying to get their broadcasts out to as many people as they can & their advertisers pay for them, so they don't care if you get them thru one of the packaged providers or just pick them up on your own.
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None of those channels are anything anyone wants to watch. I guess the manufacturers of this miracle product are just doing a poor job of marketing. If this is all legit, they should be able to wipe out DirecTV, Dish Network, and all cable providers.
 
#16
#16
(hatvol96 @ Apr 23 said:
If all you want to watch are programs on the broadcast networks, this is the thing for you. Viewing pay channels by this method is neither ethical nor legal. It's theft, pure and simple.
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So ethics and law matter concerning cable television, but not concerning agents and amateur athletes???
 
#17
#17
I don't understand how that can be legal if when you tap into a phone line is illegal.What about cell phones?It sounds more to me like the old napster site or better yet present day morpheus where songs are stolen for free until you get caught.
 
#18
#18
(therealUT @ Apr 24 said:
So ethics and law matter concerning cable television, but not concerning agents and amateur athletes???
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Who's the victim in the agent/athlete situation? If you're reduced to an analogy this pathetically strained, I like my side of the debate even more.
 
#19
#19
(hatvol96 @ Apr 24 said:
Who's the victim in the agent/athlete situation? If you're reduced to an analogy this pathetically strained, I like my side of the debate even more.
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Stealing TV, victim: Comcast. Dish Network, DirectTV, etc. Damage done to victims, per instance, $100/month.

Buying house for Bush's family, victim: USCs competition suffers, Notre Dame loses a very probable BCS bid, damage, millions.
 
#20
#20
(therealUT @ Apr 24 said:
Stealing TV, victim: Comcast. Dish Network, DirectTV, etc. Damage done to victims, per instance, $100/month.

Buying house for Bush's family, victim: USCs competition suffers, Notre Dame loses a very probable BCS bid, damage, millions.
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That's a joke. If Notre Dame could stop 4th and 9, they win. I bet you were the kind of guy who was always running to the teacher to rat someone out in school.
 
#21
#21
Wrong, but if I know someone has flagrantly violated the rules and then asks for my help, too bad.
 
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