2008 FTA Christmas Wish List

by Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

It’s that time of year again and so it’s time to build my dream configuration. 

1. Start with the Winegard 30” dish.   This is an excellent dish for all major satellite providers and all FTA signals floating around in the sky.   If the neighbors complain, I’d be just as happy with the 1000.2 DPP Triple LNBF.  A single dish that automatically points to 110, 119, and 129 and includes the LNBF.
2. The CaptiveWorks 4000 HD receiver may be on the top of my wish list right now because the advanced living room entertainment features are far beyond what Sammy is used to.   It’s hard to find this receiver in stock so Sammy would still be happy with a Sonicview 800 HD version 2.
3. Sammy still loves the DPP44 switch with the power inserter for the 2^nd year running, I’m going with this one.
4. The most fun, Sammy wants to try the Sadoun Digipower SG2100 motorized dish mount this year it’s single control cable setup and “Go To X” DiSEqC 1.2 compatible technology.

N2News would like to wish all our members and non-members a very safe and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  

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The Clones - FTA Receiver Clones

by  Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

Did you happen to catch the news that a company in China started selling a knockoff version of the iPhone that was unlocked and able to work on any network? That is called a clone and it’s a real problem in the world of FTA.  When a company like Pansat or Sonicview spends a significant amount of time and money to research and create a product you can bet that they know the best way to make it. These companies live and die by the quality of the products so they know that production quality and component quality are vital.  

Hardware, like a nice bowl of soup, is made of up components that are available all over. There are companies, mostly in Korea and China, that specialize in deconstructing the circuit boards of existing products and creating copies. These companies go to great lengths to copy the external and internal design so much that it is often hard to tell them apart.   There are some differences though. First, they tend to use the least expensive component that still performs the same function. Instead of a 20 year high performance capacitor in the power supply they may use generic capacitors or a similar nature left over from another project. 

Clone devices don’t last as long or function as well in most cases and more importantly, the money goes to the wrong person. If you find a clone receiver on an auction website your money never makes it to the company that spends the time, energy and resource to figure out how to make the receiver in the first place. More important, there is no guarantee that the BIN files will work correctly on your receiver.

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The Blind Scan

by  Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

If you have an FTA receiver you have probably done a blind scan already.  Your receive also supports transponder scans and possibly other types of scanning.    Today Sammy will explain a little bit about the Blind Scan and why it’s used.

Satellite signals shoot from the sky on TPs or Transponders.   A transponder is simply a device that converts some type of digital information (video and audio in this case) into a specific frequency and sends that information down to earth.   Every satellite in orbit contains many of the these transponders each running at a different frequency.   There are limitations to what each transponder can hold and some signals actually reach earth with more power than others so satellite companies carefully manage what signals are on what transponder as each can only hold a limited number of TV and Radio stations.

A blind scan asks your dish and lnb to lock into a complex series of frequencies looking for a viable signal.  Within each transponder that contains a signal the satellite company sends some helpful information such as the “Station Identification Number” or SID as well as “Picture Identification Numbers” or PID.   When the receiver finds this information it is used to produce a channel lineup within the memory of the receiver.   A blind scan is usually slow but does an amazing job of finding all of the available signals you are capable of receiving.

An auto scan, or standard scan, is much faster and uses a list of known working frequencies to locate the signals.  This is fine to quickly see if new stations are available but it’s always good to do a blind scan upon new install and every few months to make sure your receiver has the latest available station information.

Due to the way that some companies have taken advantage of way signals work, you may see duplicate channel information after a blind scan.  If this is the case, clear the station list and do the scan again.  This time, look for a setting that says “Polartiy” and make sure you select Vertical only.

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What’s N3 and does it affect me?

by  Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

Various satellite signal providers choose to add a level of encoding on the video making it more difficult for FTA receivers to display.   Currently providers in the United States use something called “Nagra 2”.   Five years ago the “Nagra 1” codes where used and now certain providers are moving to “Nagra 3”.   Even very experienced FTA users are confused by the transition so here is some information from Sammy that may answer your questions.

It is not unreasonable that a satellite company or Free-To-Air station wants to provide viewers with more options.  To make that happen they use a special type of card that looks like a credit card but contains a microchip running software.   These cards are called “ROMS” and fit into non FTA receivers.   When a satellite company wants to offer new features, such as new methods of interaction or a new signal decoder, they must SWAP all of the cards that all of their millions of customers have with new cards.   Over a period of time new rom cards will be shipped to existing customers and old cards will no longer work.   This is called a Card Swap and has recently been started by at least one of the major providers and will start soon with others.

Here are some common questions and answers.

Q: Will my existing receiver be able to handle N3?

A: Little is known in the public about N3 at this time but most people believe that manufacturers and coding teams will find a way to support N3 on all popular receivers that are currently in the marketplace.    Some receivers with less processing power, memory or other resources may not be able to handle this “Next Generation” of decoding.

Q: If I am not sure that a receiver will handle N3, should I spent my money on a new receiver or just wait?

A: This is a good question and there are two ways that experts are advising.   Some experts are just not sure and they recommend buying a low end receiver for now and waiting and then switch to the best receivers as they prove support for N3.    Others, including Sammy, think that more powerful FTA receivers will be the first to support N3 and having one now is a good investment and will likely prove to have less downtime.    Sammy loves the way his HD receiver can record prime time shows in HD format free over air from my local network stations and this is worth the investment.

Q: Will I loose my FTA channels?

A:  FTA receivers have many purposes.   If you are using your receiver for OTA ATSC (Over the air signals sent by your local networks in digital and often HD format) then you will not have any problem and the N3 card swap will have no impact on you.    The FTA hobby is perfect for watching international stations available on many different satellites that will not be impacted in any way by N3.

Q: Is one brand likely to come out with support faster?

A: Some people think that it will be a great sales advantage for the manufactures to support N3 before anyone else and in some cases this will happen.   Generally speaking, the FTA community is just that, a community of hard working coders.   Some hardware companies even use the same coders and coding teams.   As information becomes available, these teams will likely share with each other so that everyone can learn and the hobby can move forward.  Some receivers will have less downtime than others.   

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Connecting your TV to your Receiver

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FTA Terms for Beginners - Part 3 of 3

by  Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

• ATSC – Advanced Television Systems Committee.   This really means a digital signal that is broadcast in a local market, usually from the top of tall building or a mountain.   These broadcasts can be encrypted but are generally free and contain network programming and local interest programming.
• A/V – Audio and Video.  Generally used in reference to the signal going into the TV.
• Azimuth – The angle of ration that a ground based antenna must be rotated through in order to point to a specific satellite.  This really means how for left and right to turn your dish while pointing it.
• Bin – Short for Binary File or the software information used by your receiver to access the full functionality it is capable of.
• Bird – This is slang for Satellite
• CONUS – The 48 states making up the CONtinental United States.
• Codec – This is the name of a computer method used to encode or decode the video in a way that saves space.  An AVI file on your computer may use a codec to compress the video.  In the same way, some signals, especially HDTV signals use advanced codecs to compress the picture and save bandwidth allowing more tv programs on the same satellite.    Not all stations are created equally.  Popular stations may be allocated more room and less popular stations may use a Codec with more compression resulting in a blockier looking picture.   Your PVR also uses a codec to save space for video files.
• Charlie – A nickname affectionately given to a specific satellite company based on the loveable long time CEO.
• ECM – Electronic Counter Measures.   In order to counter-act the misuse of FTA hardware, some signal providers change the signal or insert some other signal in an attempt to confuse or disable unauthorized hardware.
• EL - Elevation
• EPG – Electronic Programming Guide – Think of this as a copy the Sunday Paper placed right on your screen showing what is on the air right now on every channel.   Some EPG systems color code movies and can search for your favorite actors.
• FTA – Free To Air refers to any signal designed to be received over the public airwaves and watched without decryption.
• FSS – Fixed Satellite Service
• HDTV – High Definition T.V. generally  means signals set at 720p, 1080i or 1080p.
• Key – A key or keycode is a digital value u
• MPEG – This is a type of compression used to reduce the amount of information it takes to transmit a TV signal.  Most stations transmit using MPEG-2 Compression but some are using MPEG-4 which are not the same.
• OTA – Over the Air
• PPV – Pay Per View
• PQ – Picture Quality
• PVR – Personal Video Recorded.  Refers generically to any system or device that allows a show to be recorded and watched again at a later time. 
• RG6 – This is a type of Coax cable that is used to move the signal from one location to another.  An RG6 cable is a little thinker than normal Coax (RG-58) and is dual shielded to prevent interference. 
• Spot – Sometimes called SB or Spot Beam.   The same frequency on a satellite may contain entirely different programming depending on what part of the country you are in.   A specific transponder may carry a group of East coast locals in one part of the country and west coast locals in another part of the country.
• STB – Set Top Box.   The STB is generally talking about your receiver that you use although it can be used to talk about a receiver provide by a cable or satellite company.
• Stream – The data information sent over the satellite company.   Usually used in reference to an ECM such as, “There is an ECM in the stream, you may need to U/L and new bin”.
• Tiers – Satellite providers group signals into Tiers that represent the way they are packaged and sold or the way they intend for them to be group and displayed in the receiver.
• TP – Transponder
• U/L – Upload or transfer from your computer to the receiver
• YPrPb – Another way to talk about Component Video Cables.

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by  Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

Just by reading this article you already know what kind of person you are.   You’re not the type of keep up with the Jones, you’re the one showing off your cool digital toys and telling the Jones where to shop.  That may be an over statement but the truth is, FTA is a hobby for those that simply love TV.  If you’ve got the cash, get the HD receiver.  Sammy can’t think of any reason why anyone would buy and SD receiver except to save money (quite a lot of money!).   Here are some common questions and answers about HDTV, FTA, and your money.

Tommy S in St. Petersburg writes, “My TV is fairly old.  I got it in 2003.   It’s a Sony with a flat screen but it’s one of those old kind that weights 300 lbs.  It has a yellow, red, and white plug on the back and then a red, green, and blue plug.   Will I even be able to see HDTV?”   The Yellow plug on the back of your TV is the Video Input and it’s called an RCA Jack.   This is you’re normal low-definition picture and it’s been around longer than Sammy.   The other three (Red, Blue, Green) are your component input jack and this means you can take advantage of an HDTV receiver.   Most likely your T.V. doesn’t display a nice HDTV signal but even regular TV will look better from a nice HDTV Receiver using component video cables.  Many older TV sets from Toshbia, Sony and Samsung supported “480p” over component video long before HDTV was a selling point.   Check your owners manual, even your older TV may benefit from a nicer STB (set top box).    If you pitch that old beast and upgrade to an LCD or Plasma or even a nice rear projection system you’ll definitely see an improvement in most shows even if they aren’t actually HD shows.

Molly P in Tucson writes, “I looked online at the birds I wanted to point my dish at and very few of the stations were in HD.  Why should I get an HD receiver?”.   Molly, you’re running a common question with a simple answer.   The better receivers support over the air (ATSC) HDTV reception.  Local Broadcasters have been sending network stations in digital format in every major TV market for quite a while now.  With a good receiver such as the Sonicview SV-8000HD you can watch your favorite prime-time TV shows free over the air from your local broadcasters and the guide data will be added right into your satellite data and you can use the PVR features.

Johnny Q in Washington asks, “I’m 62 and I have glasses thicker than the Hoover Dam.  Will I really see a difference with HDTV on my FTA receiver that makes it worth the cost?”   Sammy says, “Won’t somebody think of the children!”   Really Johnny, you’ll see a difference.   It’s not just the popular prime time shows in HDTV anymore.   With the right receiver and FTA setup you’ll be able to watch a huge variety of shows that look much more real and vibrant than you’re used to.   Shows shot in HD format tend to zoom less and certainly pan the camera less making them easier to watch and easier on the eyes.  Besides, 62 is the new 42 and you’ll want to be hip your kids come over to watch the latest mega-blockbuster release on PPV in full surround sound.

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• Do you have an LCD (thin and flat) TV that is larger than 25”? If so, a receiver that supports OTA (OVER-THE-AIR) ATSC HDTV is worth the investment. Look at the Viewsat 9000 HD, Captiveworks CW-800S PVR, Pansat 9200 HD, and the Sonicview HDTV models.

• Are you looking for a multi-media center that can play your MP3 files and show slideshows? Newer receivers with a front USB port generally let you plug and play with your music and pictures. The Captiveworks 800s will even play movies you are able to put on a USB drive.

• If you are new to FTA and you have a Wireless Internet configured in your home, consider a receiver from Nova combined with a WiFi bridge. The unit is simple and easy to operate and will keep you up and running all by itself. The Nova nFusion is a low cost simple introduction to the world of FTA.

• If you are installing the device in a mobile home, RV, or fifth wheel, look for a higher quality receiver from a manufacturer with a solid reputation such as the Sonicview 360 series. When you are mobile you’ll want a nice PVR for the times when no signal is available and you’ll want a unit that supports a rotation device as well as an external ATSC (local broadcast) digital antenna.

• A PVR is essential but if you really love your TV make sure you look at how the PVR works. Does it require a computer such as the nFusion or does it work with an External HD (Hard Drive)? If you want to watch a show and record a different show you’ll need a unit with a Dual Tuner.

• Are you adventurous? Consider a PC Card or USB Device such as the Nexus-S. These cards plug into your PC and use software to play FTA TV. Software has come a long way and can do some amazing things but requires a lot of trial and error to get it configuration and isn’t for the novice.

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A Guide to FTA Receiver - Part 2

by Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

In part 1 of this series we looked at what general features make FTA receiver models different.  In part 2 we’re going to look at specific FTA receivers that are all a good entry into the FTA hobby.   With dozens of models on the market it is important to find one that fits your exact needs.

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A Guide to FTA Receiver - Part 1

by Sammy Satellite. – Staff Writer for n2news

When choosing an FTA receiver it is important to know some of the basic differences that make receivers unique. There are many receivers on the market and picking your first receiver can seem daunting at first. Here are some basic differences between receivers that may make the choice easier.

Standard Definition receivers (sometimes called SD) output signals in the most universal and compatible format. Normal television and most Cable TV signals are sent in “Standard Definition” so this is what you are most likely already using. If you check your Cable TV Boxor existing satellite receiver and you have a Yellow RCA Cable plugging into your TV or you are simply receiving TV over-the-air using an antenna then you are using Standard Definition. Please see our images section for pictures of the yellow RCA cable, a Coax Cable, or an S-Video cable as all of these mean you are watching “Standard Definition” TV right now. Sammy’s bottom line, if you currently get Basic Cable or watch TV from an antenna and you are happy with the picture or your TV is less than 27”, go with Standard Definition.

High Definition receivers (HDTV) output signals to your TV using newer technology. In order to use an HD receiver, your TV must support component input cables or HDMI. It may be a good idea to read our article “Is the High Price for High Def Worth it?” for more information on HD content. Sammy’s bottom line, if your TV has the ability to handle Component Input or HDMI then an investment in an HD capable receiver may be worth the money.

Another popular feature available on some models is a “PVR”. You may think of a PVR as “TIVO” although not all PVR systems are made the same. At a basic level, a receiver that includes a PVR offers the ability to record a show and somehow watch it later. Having the ability to watch the shows and movies on your own schedule is one of the greatest advances in TV ever but not all PVRs are created the same so check carefully if you’re looking into a PVR. Sammy’s bottom line, FTA receivers don’t have the same level of PVR as a TIVO® but keep this feature on your radar if you have a busy schedule.

There are a huge number of channels that may or may not be configured on your FTA receiver and keeping them under control is important. Some models offer the ability to group channels into “Favorites” and some even have multiple folders allowing different members of the family to organize the channels they watch and skip the channels they don’t. Sammy’s bottom line, if you have kids or a wife you may want to look for Favorites and Parental Controls on your next receiver.

Next generation receivers have all types of fun features that take advantage of the Internet. Some models may offer Radio Streaming or the ability to download icons representing the available channels. These models are usually reserved for the techies who love to tinker but if you have the time to learn and the patience to ask questions then these exclusive cutting edge features can be very rewarding.

The final thing to look at when considering a new receiver is the team behind it. Check out our support forums and see how active the section is that deals with the receiver you are considering. Take a look at our Guide to Posting Questions article and feel free to ask questions about the receivers you are considering. Sammy’s bottom line, a well supported brand with fewer features is a better investment if you are just getting started.

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