Free satellite TV ???

[broken ed]

Is anyone trying this satellite TV? 

http://ftalist.com/

FTL List stands for Free to Air Television List. But I asked because it doesn't seem worth it. First the dish, that you buy, is about twice the size of a Direct or Dish Network dish. And two, it doesn't seem like there is anything (or very little) worth watching when you look at the channel list. I could deal with a slightly bigger dish if you could even get the major networks, but it dosn't seem to be the case. Wondering if I'm missing something.

So does anyone have experience with this?

I currently have Dish Network, but I recall when satellite got started, you could watch the Networks for free with a very large dish. Are those days gone? If your out in the boonies, no TV or cell signal, what are you doing? Is satellite the only answer? Reading a book...?

 

[Motrukdriver]

I stream live or prerecorded TV shows off the internet. I also have a ginormous external HD with nearly unlimited classic TV series (McHales Navy, Munsters, Tennessee Tuxedo, etc..) on it along with more movies than I can watch in a month. IF I actually get the time to watch TV there is plenty of free stuff to keep me occupied for days.

 

[lenny flank]

I watch mostly history and science documentaries, which I download from YouTube and watch offline.

The good part about getting one's TV from the Net is that it makes available TV from other countries which one can't get from cable or over-the-air. Some of the best documentaries in the world come from German, Japanese, British or Arabic TV. (Chinese and Russian TV are of course full-on propaganda, but their nature documentaries are usually pretty good.)

 

[lenny flank]

Mr Flank,
             I'm a documentary watcher too. Are these foreign docs dubbed in English (including the  British ones, HA)? 

Those channels all have English-language services.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

Ed,
The channel list is misleading. You have to hunt around and if you go from sat to sat, you can find a lot there that is not listed.
Pay per view events, almost always, can be found for free. (But you do not see the commercials. You see the same feed as the TV stations/news/pay services...etc.)

When I was using it, I loved the news coverage. You get to see live stuff they do not allow on the air.
Also, you can pick your time zone and watch programs when you want to.
We used to be able to get A+E, History, Discovery and a couple others.
If you do not have the cash for one of the pay services, you can have a bunch of choice in broadcast TV from half the country at your fingertips for under 500 one-time investment.
When I was last using it, you could still pay for a HBO/Cinemax/showtime "decoder chip" (I think each one was 10-15 dollars per month.)
(If you are into religion, you can get a load of shows...)

If you are a news-hound, it might be worth a look.
I have a 480 resolution "DREAMBOX" I could send you if you have the right LNB and an old Dish Network dish.
If you can deal with regular resolution, it gets really cheap.

One thing to know---to do it right, you need to have the motor on your dish, so you can swap 'birds' without moving the dish.

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

Not free, but $8. a month is not bad to download pretty much anything on Netflix to watch when you are not connected to WiFI. I went on a cruise a few weeks ago and did not want to pay for WIFI. I had all the programming I could watch and it did not take long to download from the Netflix system.

 

[broken ed]

Thanks, JD GUMBEE

That really answers the question. Many of the locations I've been and plan for in the future don't have any reception, nothing. No TV, no radio, no internet, but out of all of those; cell is available in some locations, but not all. I'd be willing to keep paying for Dish Network, but like most, I'm paying for less then 10 percent to watch waht's available. I like news and the major networks.

History and Discovery used to be good for me - but I recall cutting the cord years ago, for maybe two years. When we decided to connect again, cable this time, the same programs where still on History and Discovery,,, two years later I knew how each show would end. Just not worth paying for.

We've dealt with satellite radio, now XM, and they make a portable radio for reception I haven't tried.

The older I get I have more and more time, so thanks to everyone else for sharing what you do, lots of good thoughts.

If anyone doesn't know about, the FCC runs a reception map for television, the link is here: https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
This will tell you what direction to point your antenna, how strong the signal will be and what stations are  available,,, all base on the location you enter.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

With an FTA setup, you can get more stations of music than you could ever listen to.
No matter what you like, it's there as far as radio.

Absorbing half the cost of your mailing address' Dish account works out to be $50 each for the "250" level service.
(At least I think thats what it is. It is a ton of channels and we like having the robot antenna find the 'birds' automatically.)
Turn it on and POOF!

That little sucker sits up there all the time...
Sometimes, I get nervous that Dish will send it a signal (TRANSFORMERS, ROBOTS IN DISGUISE!) and it will climb down the ladder, begin talking to our dogs...and snuff us out in our sleep! LOL

 

[broken ed]

Wow - had no idea FTA had radio. I've checked with Dish Network and I don't see any music,,, unless I'm missing something. I agree with you on the motorize dish to move it across the sky for more channels,,, I think that's the only way to go.

Thanks again