Check out the link below. They are one of many dealers that sell FTA (Free-To-Air) satellite systems. All you pay for is the equipment and you're set, no monthly fees. There are a long list of satellites in orbit that let you pick up their programs for free. I believe there is a list of the channels on this site. You can also do a Google search for Free-To-Air Satellite systems to find more dealers and info. You can buy systems with automatic tracking just like the pay per month units. Beats paying $80/month for service if you can get all the channels that meet your needs for free. Hope this helps some of you save money.
John
(Sadoun Satellite Sales)
http://www.sadoun.com/index.htm
Racerguy said
12:03 AM Dec 11, 2008
I would be very suspicious of this . I suspect there might be some piracy involved. I'm not accusing you of anything just a little sceptical, please understand.Back in the day of the old giant k-band dishes I knew a guy who would reconfigue your reciever to get programming for nothing. He got a pretty hefty fee for this but soon was sued and went out of business.It cost millions of dollars to put those satellites up there, I wouldn't think they would spend that much money so we can get free tv.
-- Edited by Racerguy at 00:38, 2008-12-11
dgorila1 said
07:43 AM Dec 11, 2008
Although there are still plenty of people that will alter the receivers for you for a fee, these FTA systems are legit. They are used by many people that either don't have access to cable or don't want to pay the outrageous fees for cable/Satellite. Its like receiving free channels using an antenna, only your "antenna" (i.e. satellite dish) picks up many more channels from multiple satellites. When you look at the list of available channels you'll see a wide variety of offerings. Religious, Public Television, local programming from various cities (CBS/ABC/NBC/FOX), News, Special Interest, Foreign channels, etc. Of course you are locked out of receiving the pay signals like Dish Network, HBO, and many of the other pay channels. If you are not a couch potatoe and just want a good variety of programming that far exceeds what an antenna will provide, this is the way to go.
Jack Mayer said
02:39 PM Dec 11, 2008
It depends on your desires of course, but you are likely to find there is not much you really want to watch on those truely free sat channels. Take a very close look before commiting to going that route.
travelfables said
05:09 PM Feb 3, 2009
There are still channels you can pick up with a good FTA system. It is legal and you will save alot of money on entertainment. If you bought a good 4DTV receiver and a ku band antenna it would work with your RV. The KU band antenna will be a bit larger than your typical pizza dish ones though, and you will be limited to the KU band -as you will not be able to pick up any C band signals unless you have a Big Dish (and that would just be funny on an RV, like something out of a cartoon), a KU band dish on a tripod would be fine. If you get a 4DTV receiver (like off ebay or something) you can also purchase a la carte channels for your system (pizza dish folks can't do this) To see what channels you can get for free why not stop over at http://www.lyngsat.com/america.html (be sure to look at the different KU band birds and the stuff they send out with the F icon) You can also get packages and many of your favorite pay goodies from a provider like http://skyvision.com
There will be the nerdy fun of finding the right bird (satellite), and getting everything set up well. For RVs I'd think of it as more of a hobby, than a practical and effort free way to get TV, but it could be fun for the right type of mindset, and for rigs that have the extra space needed for the larger antenna. anyway, good luck and happy travels. -- Dale
-- Edited by Racerguy at 00:38, 2008-12-11
The KU band antenna will be a bit larger than your typical pizza dish ones though, and you will be limited to the KU band -as you will not be able to pick up any C band signals unless you have a Big Dish (and that would just be funny on an RV, like something out of a cartoon), a KU band dish on a tripod would be fine. If you get a 4DTV receiver (like off ebay or something) you can also purchase a la carte channels for your system (pizza dish folks can't do this)
To see what channels you can get for free why not stop over at
http://www.lyngsat.com/america.html
(be sure to look at the different KU band birds and the stuff they send out with the F icon)
You can also get packages and many of your favorite pay goodies from a provider like http://skyvision.com
There will be the nerdy fun of finding the right bird (satellite), and getting everything set up well. For RVs I'd think of it as more of a hobby, than a practical and effort free way to get TV, but it could be fun for the right type of mindset, and for rigs that have the extra space needed for the larger antenna.
anyway, good luck and happy travels.
--
Dale