[andrewbee]

The rewards are worth the trouble though.

Ed, if I ever tested I would definitely agree
I have been "reading" about the subject for 20+ years. I remember some of my friends building 18 foot square wood frames  (I'm in the Caribbean) and using an LNA on a ground mount tripod to pick up C band. When it was lined up right you could be get F1, G1 and F3. Of course I was just an onlooker
Seemed pretty educational then, still does now

I just love smilies! 


 

[satfrat]

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/

This is another good source for FTA discussions on many different fronts. Very informative folks.

Cheers,
Robin

[Bob in St. Louis]

http://www.warez-bb.org/   .............Doesn't work anymore.   

Looks like I'm *THIS close* to going with the SonicView 360 Elite, and a Dish Pro 500 quad "DP".
Total package is right at $250. Other than some cable, that "should be" all I need.

....Well, except for a DVR/PVR for recording. That research will be reserved for another day.
I assume any USB external harddrive will work for this? If so, that open up a WORLD of (cheap) options.

Bob

[Bob in St. Louis]

Alright, one more question. I can't seem to get an answer on the FTA forum for some reason.
Maybe the question I'm asking is too specific (read: nit-picky).

My wife asked me "Does the STB (Set-Top Box / receiver) have the equivalent of TiVos 'Season Pass'."
This is a feature the user can tell the STB to record all episodes of a given program. Even if it changes it's usually scheduled time slot.
{Equipped with an external USB harddrive installed of course}

She's given me a deadline to either get my DirecTv receiver repaired/replaced, or get FTA working.

Thanks guys,
Bob

[bbaker6212]

Ed, I recently downloaded and installed "Sopcast" and the "TVUPlayer" players which allows me to watch various TV stations for free over the internet.  They are software only.  You may want to check those out as well, and there are likely others of similar ilk.  So far, I'm liking the TVUPlayer.  You could envision some crossover functionality here if it turns out possible to stream this Internet TV content from your PC to your TV somewhere else in the house via PowerLine networking.

cheers, -Brad-

[Bob in St. Louis]

That would be cool if Highspeed were available where I lived (at a reasonable cost). 

Bob

[Ed Schilling]

Thanks Brad! I'll check it out.

Bob, Not that I am aware of, but the question begs another....just how lazy are you? 

I hope you (and I think you do) do understand that FTA is not like anything else. It changes and as such is a hobby. The fact that you can "test" every single channel, including all sports and PPV more than makes up for any inconvenience real or perceived!

It is not a substitute for "dammit I pay for it and I want it to do this and I want it to do that right now dammit!

I personally set up mine as simple as possible (single dish and one receiver) to see if it was something to fool with. It evolved into this......


You'll soon forget what having DTV was like.
Ed

[Bob in St. Louis]

Well Ed, it's not necessarily an issue with laziness  ( ....by the way...  ).
It's an issue with trying to make the wife happy.
Here's her deal:
She wants to be able to record (like TiVo) different programs on different channels at different times. Personally, I couldn't give a rats ass about the record feature. I can't remember the last time I used the TiVo feature in my HT room for something I wanted to watch. With the exception of the American Idol thing, but other than that I don't need it in my room. I don't watch TV at all. So as far as I'm concerned, we could save $70/month by telling DirecTv to shove it, NOT get F.T.A. and buy some rabbit ears. The morning news is about all I really ever want.
That being said, my wife sees the up front $350 expenditure (Dish/STB/PVR) as a test bed. If the system works (in my room), then she wants to expand it to three more rooms in the house. One of those rooms will have a PVR running darn near non-stop. That one's hers.
Honestly, I got all excited at the prospect of 'testing' all the free channels, but when I stopped and thought about it, I realized that I won't be watching any of it anyway. I'm just trying to make the wife happy by getting her all the bells and whistles she wants and the bonus of getting her what she wants for free. So try to have some mercy on a brother. 

Bob 

[Ed Schilling]

Bob,
Mercy ? Hell, I gave you THREE smiley's ( )!

I understand completely about the Wife. I have one, I love her dearly but she is a lot of trouble. I, on the other hand, am perfect.

But back to your problems....I am a long way away from an expert on FTA receivers. From what I can tell most of them use an external HD to record to....they do have two tuners mostly so you can watch one and record another...I don't know if you can record two at once.

The way to approach this is figure EXACTLY what you need to be able to do and then see if you can get those features in the receiver brand you want.....this will require watching the forums to see which ones get "support" the fastest. I like Sonic View because that is what I am familiar with and I don't care about recording anything. Next I would simply call the places that sell them and talk to the guys to make sure what you want to do really is possible. I would NOT get features I wanted in a brand that does not receive "support" as opposed to a brand that does  get support but does not have all the features.

The desire to record is going to be trouble and if you require recording more than one show at a time then things probably can get out of hand fast. While very complicated systems are possible, FTA is at it's best when kept "simple". I have a few dishes aimed at multiple satellites but really the setup inside is "simple".......2 receivers, no HD and no DVR

Not sure what I'd do if I had your predicament.

Good luck and if you want to chat about it call me anytime.
Ed

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thanks Ed,
I understand totally about being perfect. Marrying someone less perfect than yourself makes things difficult sometimes. 

I looked at the SonicView website for additional info, and...well...there isn't much there. A phone call or email directly to the manufacturers sound like the best bet. Answers on the FTA forum are few, far between, and 'half-answered'. 

Once the rig is up and running, my wife learns very fast how to use it. She's got the DTV/TiVo/DVR dancing and juggling at the same time, so level of complication isn't a problem for her.

I think the idea of having FTA in my house is quickly fading. I'll track down some STB distributor/manufacturers and ask them directly.
We'll see.

Thanks for the THREE smileys Ed. 

Bob

p.s. By the way Ed, my wife says she LOVES your drawl/accent (she heard it on the answering maching).
If you still have my number, you should call her during the day and have a chat, she'd love the suprise! 

[Bob in St. Louis]

In case anyone is interested in FTA and TiVo working together, here's some info;

Well, after lurking on a TiVo forum for a while I've found enough threads to say it's not necessarily a "no-go" for a marriage between Tivo and FTA.
It's just VERY uncommon, and difficult to find (good) information.
In fact, the "TiVo purists" find FTA a crime punishable by death. They change their usual cordial friendly attitude as soon as they read the letters "FTA". The mere discussion of it over there puts them on the defensive as they consider it theft of service (either DirecTv, Dish Network, or the TiVo service) and puts you and your thread/post one step away from permanent banishment.

Here's a couple excerpts:

- To this day, nobody has shown me a legitimate use for Tivo and FTA besides wanting to record Dish Network.

- 100% of the people arguing this question are wasting their time. Lets make it simple, the people on this site consider it Theft of Service, for the reasons stated. That is the party line on this site. Not a whole lot you can say to change their minds.

- TiVo does not provide channel/satellite guide information or support for "true" FTA receivers. You can use TiVo to manually record from a FTA receiver (you set your FTA receiver to the satellite and channel you want to record and then have TiVo record it), but TiVo can not change channels and/or satellites on the FTA receiver for you.

BUT........ Then I found this little gem of a comment:
"You wont get much help for FTA here but a little birdie tells me that Pansat's (2700 and 3500 with a modified firmware) and Captiveworks 600s model work great."

Those are items I have done zero research on.
The quest continues.........

Bob

[BoB/335]

I stumbled across this thread and am surorised it came to an abrupt end way back in August. Is there anything new to be added  I find this topic pretty interesting.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Nothing new on my end Bob.
I was pretty hot and heavy about doing this. Actually got as far as having my credit card number typed in at one point. The main requirement my wife had was that she had to have TiVo. Well, the only way to get TiVo to work was by highly modding a Series I TiVo box. Well, Then you've got to deal with weekly bin files to get you TV working again. It just turned into too much of a pain so I gave up. She wants TiVo, fine.....
Since then, highspeed internet "came to town" and I ended up getting a bundle package that included TV, Phone, and highspeed for a pretty reasonable price.
I did do more research on the two pansat models but can't recall what I discovered about the modded firmware thing.

There is some good info in this thread. Should get you off to a nice start. 

Bob

[andrewbee]

You missed the bus. "Testing" will be out for awhile when Dave changes over completely to Nagra 3 encryption (Bev already has). Until / if this method of encryption is compromised then the bus will be back on route. Expect "testing" to cease totally sometime later this month most likely.
Get yourself a sub, even with "Testing" I still believe in a sub.

If you still want a hobby which involves free tv then there is quite a bit available on the net.
Look up Hulu. Its only available in the U.S.A. technically but I use a VPN and get it fine. Its heavy on the ads but hey, its free.

There are other services online as well, take some time and and look around the web. Some of the networks are now featuring programs for streaming from their websites.