ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Satellite TV

Tell me,
How many of you people on ECN, recieve a Satellite service?.
How many channels do you have?.
How much did it cost to have it installed?.
How big is your Dish?.
Just wondering?.

I have been using a 10 foot C-band dish for 17 years.

I only pay for the channels that I select, and can choose from any of the remaining non-digital channels on any of the satellites. A motor drive controlled from my remote control moves the dish from one satellite to another.

I installed it myself in 1986 for about $3000.00.

Ed

Trumpy,
I have DirecTV, 18" dish.
Reception:
East and West coast CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX Networks
3 ESPN's, History, Discover, Nickleodian, etc. About 50 channels total. All the usual free stuff(lots of evangelical channels--Benny Hinn the faith healer, in Spanish, is even better than a dubbed over Kung Fu movie!)
12 Encore and Starz channels---$extra
7 HBO channels---$extra
about 100 pay-per-view channels

Cost about $60/month
I think its highway robbery(there is no competition due to Gov/FCC geographical license system) but where I live it's the only way to get more than two or three channels...

I installed it myself.

I'm hoping "Wild Blue" is successful with its internet satellite system(delayed until 2004?). ADSL is 2 -3 years or more off here in the rural parts of northern NH.

Len

Ed,

I was always under the impression that C-Band sattelite was free since you were just chancing on getting the direct video & audio feeds that go to the TV stations and the cable companies.

All you had to do was spring for the $700+ for the dish and the receiver.

Aren't a lot of these C-Band services going away because of the "pizza dishes" (18" Direct TV dishes)?

Yes, I receive all DirecTV channels (haven't counted them, but there's a bunch). Also Direcway satellite internet service. No cable available, no DSL.
Rowdy

Had a C band until last spring when something in it died, would have cost an arm and a leg to repair.
Cable tv is available here, mom has it, but it is out of service more that it works, though she still is billed for the whole month.
Dish Network is the service we have currently, basic package $3.99 month (first 12 months), because we ordered the promo package. The service will cost $39.99 a month after promo is complete.
We do not have an movie channels or pay per view selected.
The installation was "free", if the years service was paid in advance.
Tiff

SvenNYC,

You are correct, some services have gone completely digital, and are not available on C-Band, while some still put out analog and digital signals.

I assume that eventually all services will disappear from C-Band, but at present we can still get channels such as CNN, WTBS, Discovery Channel, TNN, A&E, History Channel, Country Music TV, House and Garden TV, TNT, ESPN, Speed, etc.

There are still some free channels, such as TECH TV which is really interesting.

The fact that I am a NASCAR race fan, and cannot access FOX TV means that I will have to soon go digital.

Ed

rowdyrudy; How do you like the direcway service. I am also in a rural area with no access to cable or dsl and have been considering direcway after I upgrade my computer.

Life is way too short to watch that much TV!

dtl66: I have Direcway 2 way since 09/02. I am quite satisfied and I have some large downloads of stuff from attorneys and bar associations. You need a clear view of the southern sky. If you are a gamer, Direcway is not for you due to the latency.
Rowdy