Free to Air

[Devils'Advocate]

Okay, I know NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING about free to air signals except that a buddy at work recommended it.

Note: I am ONLY interested in the legal use of these things.

(1) I assume you need to buy both the satellite that sits outside your home and a receiver that you attach to your TV?
(2) Where do you buy these things? I thought they were legal items that could be modified to do illegal things... but I don't see them at Future Shop or Best Buy. What's up with that?
(3) All I want is a better means of picking up CBC and CTV than rabbit ears. Will this fit the bill?

[Rathji]

I assume you are referring to OTA transmission of HD TV signals.

Which has been discussed on a thread here when CTV started broadcasting theirs in HD a while back. I think the consensus from that thread was to build a big wood/wire frame inside your attic and wire your 'antenna' input on your TV to it.

Let me see if I can find it.

[Rathji]

Try this thread

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=67813

[nfotiu]

duplicate

[nfotiu]

Rathji, FTA refers to utilizing satellite dishes and receivers to pick up free in the clear satellite signals.

1) You need a dish and receiver. You may or may not want with a rotor depending on whether both channels you want are on the same location. I bought a pci card for my pc that I had hooked up to my tv in lieu of a receiver, that worked out pretty well for me.

2) Bought everything online. Sadoun is one place I know of.

3) No idea if those channels are available, my experiments with the stuff were of the less than legal variety (was looking for a way of getting some Canadian programming from the US).

4) It seems like your better bet would be to put up a good external antenna to get the local channels. If you get an iffy signal via rabbit ears, you should be able to get a pretty solid signal with an external antenna. You can also get the hd signals available that way with the right equipment.

[ken0042]

I know the old Memory Express location on Macleod has signs up now for FTA. I haven't gone in yet to see if they are selling the legal types that you are looking for or not.

It's been a while since I looked into FTA, but this site used to tell you what was available for free: http://www.lyngsat.com/

[Hanni]

Many people misunderstand FTA. Most people who have "free to air" are actually stealing signals and either pretend they think it is legal or are ignorant to the fact it is. This also involves a lot of reprogramming as satellite TV providers scramble their signals to keep people from stealing from them. I know people who have lost their TV for months due to this.

There is legal free to air channels but the selection isn't exactly spectacular http://www.ftalist.com/master.php

[ken0042]

OK guys, this thread is not to discuss any illegal activity. We have tried having those kinds of general discussions before without success; so I'm not even going to suggest you take it to another thread.

I've deleted a couple of off topic posts.

[Vulcan]

My brother in law has a big FTA dish. He had to update his equipment because everything's gone digital and he doesn't seem to get a lot of channels like he once did. No CBC anymore, as far as I know but for a fee through a broker he picks up American movies and HBO. He likes it but he also has Shaw for regular viewing so I think its more of a hobby.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

(3) All I want is a better means of picking up CBC and CTV than rabbit ears. Will this fit the bill?

For this, you just want to pick OTA transmissions which has nothing to do with Satellite. OTA HD should be uncompressed and higher quality.

To improve your pick-up of CBC and CTV HD over the air, you need to build yourself a better antenna which can be as simply as taking a few pieces of wood and making a big frame, hammering some nails into it, and wiring it up with a grid of coathangers

[Devils'Advocate]

Okay, a friend gave me one of these:
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...548a81bfa8en02

And I can see A-channel and I can HEAR CTV but the video is too fuzzy to watch, but I have nothing else.

So if I were to order this:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

would I be more or less likely to be able to see CTV?

[ken0042]

A lot depends on where you are in the city. Global and CTV's HD signals are the lowest levels allowed (so they can simsub.)

But in Copperfield I can get both on my portable tv- might take some playing around.

[gottabekd]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Okay, a friend gave me one of these:
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...548a81bfa8en02

And I can see A-channel and I can HEAR CTV but the video is too fuzzy to watch, but I have nothing else.

So if I were to order this:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

would I be more or less likely to be able to see CTV?

The following is for OTA TV. I know nothing about FTA Satellite.

To receive OTA TV, you need the following:

• An antenna
• To receive digital broadcasts (i.e. the only way to get HD), you need an ATSC tuner. Most newer (last 3 years) have one. Some newer, and older TVs do not.

Myself, I live pretty south-central, and I can pick up the following channels over the air:

• CTV
• CBC
• Global
• CityTV
• Access (poorly)
• Some french channel
• Omni
• I think the Christian channel?

But the best part:

• CTV HD
• Global HD

These channels are digital broadcasts, meaning you get the full quality, or nothing at all. No static or fuzziness. And, since the signal is never compressed, it is better quality than you get paying for cable or satellite service.

Now, about your question. CTV and Global are in the lower VHF range, and from what I understand, most "HDTV antennas" really only pick up UHF very well, and VHF poorly if at all. If your TV does have an ATSC tuner, then that antenna might very well pick up the digital (HD) CTV and Global broadcasts. If your TV does not have an ATSC tuner, then there might be better VHF antennas out there to do the trick.

It really all depends on your location, and if you can get a line of sight to the broadcast towers. I understand the Global tower is temporarily in Marlborough, and most other broadcasts (including CTV) come from broadcast hill.

This forum, and particularly this FAQ will help get you started.

I should mention that this is the antenna that I bought. As you can see, it is very expensive, and you really should be able to get it for a better price than that. Unfortunately, stores just don't seem to stock this gear. From my travels on the Digital Home forum, that (and other antennas of the same design) was the best "indoor" antenna. If you have the means to stick something on your roof, there are very good outdoor antennas available. And there are also instructions on that site to build your own antenna.

[To Be Quite Honest]

I've picked up the FTA awhile back for the UNSCRAMBLED channels. I would love someone to assist me in getting it running. I have beer and pizza and my own bottled brand of comedy for the lucky someone.

[Vulcan]

From everything I've read on that forum the CM 4228 is the antennae to get.