FTA (Free To Air) satellite.... see details....?

Question

I am in the U.S. and I would like to know if there is any way to receive FTA satellite channels by using a DirecTV dish and receiver.
If this is a stupid question, I apologize.... I am just now learning about this sort of thing, so I am rather ignorant concerning the subject.
If this can NOT be done, where can I get FTA equipment really cheap? I'm on a budget and can't afford but so much. Thanks, y'all!

Answer 1

You can use the dish but not the receiver. That sized dish plus the LNB it comes with (circular polarization) means that you will not get very many FTA channels; just the ones on Bell ExpressVu and Dish Network's satellites. What are these free channels you can get? Besides the barker channels (tells you about PPV movies, channel changes, channel placeholders with elevator music) and Charlie Chat, you can get NASA-TV (the space shuttle, etc), Gol TV (usually soccer in spanish), Jesus Satellite TV, Brigham Young University TV, Angel One (religious), a few radio stations, most of the Muzak radio station tier, and that's about it. Everything else is scrambled, and all of the other satellites require a bigger dish and a linear LNB. Oh I forgot to mention, all those channels aren't from the same satellite, but about 4 or 5 different ones so you might have to repoint it depending on which of those channels you want to watch/hear. ;-) To get any other channels using that dish and LNB would require descrambling software to be loaded into your receiver and that would be illegal.......

To get most of the other FTA channels, you will need a bigger dish, at least 30" and a linear LNB. Despite what the previous answer stated, you can't just get the linear LNB. An 18" dish is just too small to work well enough on non DBS satellites. This will open up hundreds of other stations to you.

The cheapest FTA receivers you will find will be on eBay. I picked up a PCI card for about $50 before but you can find set top ones for around $100. Just search for popular manufacturers on eBay like Fortec Star or Pansat. Even just searching FTA should yield some results. Many are selling packages that include the dish & LNB, too so if you're interested in getting the most legal free stations you might want to look into that.

Answer 2

FTA isn't a service. It is receiving unencrypted signals from satellite. Bell TV is all encrypted. The only way "FTA" comes into play is by pirating the service with illegally modified FTA receivers. The same applies to the US Dishnetwork service, although they have a couple FTA channels you can legally receive without subscription or stooping to piracy. The only way to get Bell TV legally is with their box and subscription. Dishnetwork is illegal to subscribe to in Canada. To get legal FTA requires you get a larger dish and linear Ku LNBF, maybe even with a motor, as well as a proper FTA receiver. A good legal FTA dealer will have what you need to get legal FTA programming.. Most FTA dealers out there do nothing but cater to TV pirates, and will probably lie to you and try to tell you that what they sell is somehow legal..

Answer 3

Yes you can use Direc tv dish No you can't use the receiver! You need a Free to air receiver i would say look at viewsat extreme You will have to change the lnb on your dish git Dish Network ProYour looking at about $130 for the viewsat $20 for lnb Have fun and enjoy!