jmhalder

So my girlfriend cant afford cable, so everytime i go over there, i throw a few .avi movies on a dvd and we watch em on her xbox via XBMC, which is fine... but it would be nice if i could get SOME current broadcasting, and i remember my uncle talking about free-to-air, i'm sure i could get a free ku-band satellite, and wouldnt mind manually aiming it and whatnot, just to have SOME TV!!!
-what satellites can i get?
-how can i recieve "encrypted" channels?
-can i get other countries stuff, IE. astra satelittes from europe, etc...
-what is a good/cheap reciever?

i know some of you cheapasses gotta know about FTA.

Jorsher

-Any DirecTV/Dishnetwork, but you need to buy the LNB separate, I think they're about $30 at bestbuy
-You have to have the hacked firmwares and point at the right satellites
-You can get any satellite within your range, pretty much this hemisphere
-I recommend Viewsat receivers just make sure they're legit and not CDM

Jorsher

http://cgi.ebay.com/VIEWSAT-VS2000-P...QQcmdZViewItem

$100 for receiver, grab someone's satellite dish, buy the LNB (buy 2 if you want around 600+ channels, but you'll need a better switch), get the firmwares and you're good

jmhalder

the first question, was REALLY meant to be "what terrestrial satellites can i recieve from?" i can get a LNB/sat. for free.

alx954

FTA rules it goes down more often now but it's free
The best sats are Echo 8 and Echo 10 those will give
you all the Dishnet channels

Random Hero

PM BLUEHATCH hes got a sat setup thats unlocked I'm sure he can help you out.

Sinner

the Viewsat VS2000 Lite isnt HDTV.. . are any of the channels HD? is it worth it to get an HD reciever?

jmhalder

for ME personally it would be worth getting a HD box, but for y girlfriend, it would be absolutely pointless... so the VS2000 lite is a fine suggestion.

Jorsher

HD receiver, plus the chip thing you need to decode dishnetwork crap is about $500 last I checked.

If that's worth it to you, then yes it's worth it.

HD FTAs just came out recently.

A dishnetwork or directv LNB won't work, if that's what you have (from what I've heard).

Unfortunately I haven't set one up due to living in an apartment the past 2 years, and they require professional installs. Kinda hard to get dishnetwork out here to install my FTA. When I get into the house, I'll have it.

I just know enough to figure the rest out, told a friend the basics, and he figured it out.

Sinner

what about this receiver

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-VIEWSAT-ULTR...QQcmdZViewItem

is it any good? it has component outputs atleast..