koolguy

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hi i have never own a satelite before until i recently read these satelite threads. i have a question about FTA and what is it? do you watch satelite free or pay monthly like direct tv and dish? do i need to buy a satelite? and what brand is best?

Polk

FTA is short for Free To Air. Its spirit implies the hobby of checking out free-to-air satellite feeds (unrestricted program feeds on different satellites) which is legal.
You may get those feeds either through a set top FTA receiver or through a computer, with PCI add-on card or by a USB add-on.

Basically, fta receivers let you watch various free-to-air programs in different languages on many satellites legally because they are unrestricted.

There is a comprehensive list of satellite feeds and if they are free or restricted at lyngsat dot com.

On the other hand, FTA's are also used to watch restricted access TV from major satellite providers. Theoretically you may watch restricted access TV through FTA and PCI/USB by modifying the binary file on the set top or by adding plugins to the program you use on your comp to wathc FTA. This is illegal as you are stealing a restricted access signal. This voids the warranty on some set top boxes because you are modifying the firmware.

There are lots of brands out there, but among the best IMHO is Dreambox and Coolsat for set top boxes, and Nexus and Twinhan for DVB-S cards.

Google them and compare prices and features. The bins and all else are easily found throughout the net too.

Hope this helps.