New to this, need help

[LeperMessiah]

Hello,

Honestly I’m not even sure if I’m posting this thread in the proper section or not but here it is.

I’m not much into satellite issues, all i want to do is get a nice satellite receiver to use at home, I'm located in Egypt and we don't have cables so I’m getting an FTA receiver.
I have 2 Meters dish, not sure about other spects, so i have few questions which are:

1- What is HD? (i know it stands for High Definition) but is it broadcast based or hardware based? i mean if I’m receiving a normal channel can i get it in HD if i have proper hardware (receiver & TV) or it’s based on the broadcast itself (some channels comes in HD and other doesn’t) ?

2- I have Plasma TV with HDMI inputs which i want to make use of (if HD broadcasts can be received over FTA receiver) which i need to understand more, so I’ll be really happy if you can point me at a tutorial or something explains the whole thing.

3- How to know the available satellites in my region & their channels (HD or not)?

4- Are there any FTA receivers that have internal recording ability (I think it’s called PVC or something like that) and have internal hard drive storage?

5- Are there any FTA receivers that have local network connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet?)

I wish i can get a device that works as normal receiver (get me HD channels if possible) with internal recording ability, internal storage and network connection so i can use it to play videos stored on my PC via network connection, does such devise even exists?

Sorry too many questions but appreciate your feedback, you guys are the experts here

[FTA Michael]

The broad overview answer is that most of us on this forum are based in North America. You'll find much better answers about what's FTA and what you need to get it from the satellite equipment dealer down the street in Egypt.

Meanwhile, here are some answers:

1) HD, as with any broadcast technology, requires matching formats for sending and receiving. For example, a DVB-T signal requires a DVB-T receiver. There are several standards, so you need to make sure that your receiver matches the signal you want to get.

2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hdmi When looking for information on any topic, Wikipedia and Google are your friends.

3) Best is to ask the satellite dealer down the street. Next best is to ask another satellite dish owner down the street. More difficult is to sift through the listings at LyngSat http://www.lyngsat.com and hope they're right.

4) Most FTA receivers with storage that I've seen use external drives. Again, the dealer down the street knows what's available in your market.

5) Yes, sort of. See dealer.

Good luck!