Everything Great is *Nixbased

I have cut back on watching television for the last few years. I actually cut back to the point that I had no T.V service, not cable, not satellite and not even rabbit ears for analog (or analogue) “terrestrial” television. However recently I have felt the desire to have some form of television service. To decide on which type of service to choose I did plenty of research to find the most cost effective option which would suit my needs. Generally my needs are UFC, a few network T.V shows and the odd movie, everything else is a plus. Via the research I conducted I noticed that the cable T.V service provided in my area is both low in quality and high in price, satellite service is much better quality but the subscription costs are much higher then the service is really worth. Analog is not even an option as digital switchover is happening world wide and will be mandatory in Canada as of August 31, 2011.

So what’s a man on a budget to do? Should everyone on a budget stick to streaming media on the Internet or avoid T.V all together? I think not!. The solution to those of us with a little lump sum of “spare” cash but not much extra to cover an ongoing monthly bill is Free-to-air (FTA) television using a MPEG 2/DVB receiver. FTA consists of free unencrypted satellite broadcasts from many satellites. Many types of channels are offered such as: Public educational broadcasts on AMC 3 (87°W) and Ethnic-language broadcasts on Galaxy 25 (97°W).

The ability does exist however to flash some FTA receivers (Set Top Boxes or STBs) with customized firmware allowing a user to freely view pay television such as Bell ExpressVu and DISH Network. The process differs depending on which receiver is used but most require nothing more then some software and a straight DB9 RS232 female to female cable or Null-Modem 9 pin RS232 female to female cable. Some receivers such as the Viewsat 2000 Ultra even have a USB port which allows new firmware to be flashed onto the unit via a USB jump drive.

This isn’t perfectly legal mind you so most people call it “testing”. If your still interested here’s what you need to be looking at. Obviously you need a receiver or multiple receivers if you have multiple T.V sets you wish to run your satellite connection to. I recommend the Viewsat 2000 Ultra if you don’t need DVR functionality and the Viewsat VS Pro if you do need that functionality. The Viewsat 9000HD is also available if your looking for a High Definition FTA receiver. As you can tell I am a fan of the Viewsats as they are currently one of the most popular brands and have very fast updates when the “service” goes down. FTA receivers flashed to receive services like Dish Network do on occasion go down when the company implements new electronic counter measures but the programmers whom release the modified firmware are always well on top of it with a new fix. Other receivers are available from manufacturers such as Conaxsat, Coolsat, Dreambox, Pansat, SonicView and many others. I do recommend researching any STB your considering purchasing. You can do so by reading forums and talking to others whom have used that particular model. These people can also point you to the right place to purchase the STB your looking to buy, it is important that the business you buy your STB from is well known and trusted in the FTA community as many STBs are sold branded as one model when really they are cheap knock offs or “clones” of that receiver. These “clones” tend to not perform as well as the genuine models and should be avoided.

You will also need a satellite dish or multiple dishes and a low-noise block (LNB) or multiple LNBs depending on which route you wish to take. This is where things get a little tricky. The most common sizes of dishes for “hacked” FTA are 18” such as the Bell ExpressVu type, which can pick up Dish Network or Bell ExpressVu as well as Echostar 3 , 30” which can get actual FTA satellites like AMC-16, elliptical 18″ x 23″ which can pickup multiple satellites at one time given enough LNBs are mounted on it, and even bigger such as the 6 foot and larger dishes. Generally speaking bigger is better. If you wish to just pick up Dish Network or Bell ExpressVu the 18” dish with a circular LNB will do fine. If you wish to pick up both Dish Network and Bell ExpressVu a elliptical dish with multiple LNB holders and circular LNBs would do well or multiple dishes could be used as well. Depending on which satellite your aiming at you need a specific type of LNB and size of dish. Many lists to pinpoint which equipment is needed to use which satellite already exist on the web but here is one I feel is pretty complete: http://www.nixbased.com/dishnlnb/.

When using multiple LNBs you will need a Diseqc switch to connect them all to 1 receiver, think of it like a splitter you would use on normal cable T.V (but it’s not). You will also need cable pigtails from each LNB to the Diseqc and enough cable to run from the Diseqc to the receiver. The Diseqc switch and cable are not the places you want to go cheap in your setup. The Centuari EMP is a great waterproof model Diseqc switch and RG6 cable with high quality connectors should always be used. The connectors most installers prefer are the EX6XL. It is possible to use common channel lock pliers for installation of these connectors but I would not recommend it. Using a coaxial stripper and a compression tool will ensure a better connection and less chance of issues down the road.

The final thing to think about is pointing the dish correctly at the satellites you wish to receive. On the Internet many calculators can be found to help you discover the proper adjustments but my favorite one is http://www.dishpointer.com/. This calculator uses Google Maps and is pin point accurate which makes dish alignment a breeze. A more in-depth explanation of dish alignment can be found here: http://www.sat-sales.com/free_to_air_satellite_installation.php.

In conclusion, for a few hundred bucks, some patience, a little planning and a lot of research you can easily get setup with an FTA system which will incur no monthly fees and provide you with plenty of T.V viewing pleasure. I hope this post has helped a few of you whom maybe new to FTA and if you have anything at all to add please do leave a comment.