Newbie to FTA, some Questions

[kevinturcotte]

Never played with FTA before. I'm just looking to get a couple of channels. Is it possible to get west coast feeds on the 7 networks (Preferably in HD, but I'll take SD)? Also, Skyvision says the Soap channel is available: http://www.skyvision.com/pages/information_center/fta_mpeg2_no_am_east.html. Says its on 123.0 West Galaxy 18. What exactly is this channel?
What size dish would best be recommended to prevent rain fade? Played with Dish Network, and Directv dishes, as well as even larger dishes to pick up Directv. I'm in the Portland, ME area.
Are there any receivers that incorporate a DVR?

[FTA Michael]

Your link is to a C-band FTA list. You'd need a six-foot dish, maybe larger, to pick up much of anything on C band. And if you look to the right of "SOAP", you'll see "VIDEO SCRAMBLED FTA AUDIO". So if you want to hear, but not watch, SoapNet, you'll be all set.

BTW, that list looks exactly like one of Global Communications' fine lists, accessible here: http://www.global-cm.net/mpeg2central.html Whenever anyone asks me about the current C-band channels, I always point to Global.

West coast feeds? No. There are east coast feeds of most networks on C-band.

To prevent rain fade, get as large a dish as you can. The minimum for FTA Ku-band is about 30 inches in diameter, but a 1-meter dish or larger is better to fight rain fade.

To see what FTA channels are available in Ku-band, check Global's site or visit mine at www.ftalist.com.

There are some receivers with DVRs, typically using external hard drives. I have a Pansat 9200 HD, and its DVR is nowhere near as nice or easy to use as Dish or TiVo.

[kevinturcotte]

Resurrecting this, as I am again thinking about going to FTA, and dumping Directv, but still have some questions.
First, is it possible to get East and West coast feeds of the OTA networks (Including CW)? I realize I won't get my specific local channels, but New York and LA are fine, as are other cities, as long as I can get BOTH EST and PST channels.
Second, is it possible to purchase a few channels ala carte? Mainly looking for Soapnet, Comedy Central, and Showtime (JUST Showtime, not the whole suite of channels). Also, all of these channels in HD would be preferred (I realize Soapnet isn't available in HD).
Third, are dual tuner HD DVRs available? With HDMI output?

[FTA Michael]

With the right receiver and a C-band dish, some channels are available a la carte. I hear that several vendors sell such programming, but the only one I know about is Skyvision. http://www.skyvision.com/programming/alacarte.html

You might search these forums and maybe Google around for the "Dish Welcome Pack". It's about $10/month, includes Comedy Central, and would open the door for you to also subscribe to Showtime.

To see what's available on C-band, the link in my previous reply still works. Here's the C-band part of that section of that site: http://www.global-cm.net/MPEGlistCBandUS.html

The Viewsat 9000HD has two HD tuners, but one is just for OTA and the other is for satellite. Most FTA HD receivers have HDMI output. Otherwise, I know of dual-tuner receivers, and I know of HD receivers, but I don't know of any dual-tuner HD receivers. Which doesn't mean that such a thing doesn't exist. :)

[Jon Ellis]

Straying off topic a bit, but to help people find info on the "welcome pack," here is a link to the list of channels I get as part of the "welcome pack":

http://www.northpine.com/welcomepack.txt

I'm still getting the welcome pack, locals, superstations, and a second receiver for about $28/month with tax!

[kevinturcotte]

What would be the cheapest way to get locals, and either (Preferably) west coast feeds, or Soapnet?
It's not going to be possible is it, without shelling out probably at least $1000 for C-Band equipment?

[Mertzen]

What would be the cheapest way to get locals, and either (Preferably) west coast feeds, or Soapnet?
It's not going to be possible is it, without shelling out probably at least $1000 for C-Band equipment?

I am sure you can get a C Band dish for free by offering to remove a disused one from some ones yard.

[LOCODUDE]

I am sure you can get a C Band dish for free by offering to remove a disused one from some ones yard.

Sounds like the best route to go..... :) Went this route myself many years ago.Swapped computer services, for the unused equipment.