Mark Z
Use Your Brain
Premium
join:2002-10-14
Gatineau, QC
 ·Bell Sympatico
·Primus Telecommuni..
| FTA in Canada
Is it for real?
Is it theft?
Any Canadian content?
Will my Bell TV dish work with FTA?
If this is real, why isn't everyone doing it?
Very curious, seems to good to be true.
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Bandit 1250ABS rider in search of the perfect ride, and still searching. |
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happylurk
@look.ca | WTF is FTA? |
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Robrr
join:2008-04-19
Toronto, ON | Free To Air Satellite |
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Hydraglass
join:2002-05-08
Kingston, ON
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to Mark Z
Legal to watch OTHER country's satellite programming. Illegal if you turn the receiver to point at a Canadian satellite (i.e. star choice or expressvu). No you won't find Canadian content on those other satellites. You'll get something like Dish Network or DirecTV for the most part. As those carriers don't have agreements in Canada - you're not technically breaking the law to watch them.
Unfortunately you have other issues - the carriers change and upgrade their encryption methods regularly, so you constantly have to be upgrading and flashing the code on your receiver. Sometimes it can take a week or more for the FTA "hackers" to crack those codes and release new firmware for you.
So :
FTA - good to use for watching stuff that you don't want to pay for but don't care if you can't get it for a while.
Non-FTA Pay Satellite: good to use for stuff you don't mind paying for, and you know it'll always be on and available.
Most people I know who have FTA use it in combination with either a "basic" local cable subscription, or a second dish pointed at either star choice or expressvu, with a legal receiver and a minimum subscription just covering their "must have" viewing. (This is all for people who live where over the air TV is just not at all an answer - like here in Kingston where an antenna will get you 2 channels - maybe 3 - no US networks, CTV, and sometimes maybe CBC, and Global). If you live somewhere that you get a good variety of OTA tv with an antenna, FTA might be a wonderful "free supplemental programming" addition. |
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andyb
Premium
join:2003-05-29
SW Ontario
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to Mark Z
Yes FTA is for real.There are lots of free channels to be found.Your bell dish however is to small and its the wrong LNB.FTA needs linear lnb's.Something like a 33" dish would be good.A motor added to it would be even better.
Wild feeds are fun to watch at times also.
FTA satellites and stations
»www.satelliteguys.us/thelist/
»www.lyngsat.com/america.html
123west is very popular
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Teksavvy |
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dirtyjeffer
Beauty
Premium
join:2002-02-21
London, ON
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to Mark Z
said by Mark Z  :If this is real, why isn't everyone doing it? do you live under a rock?
FTA is HUGE and has been for years...it's just that people don't brag about it as much and lay low.
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Best Marketplace Ever: »www.cbc.ca/marketplace/speed_bumps/
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Devanchya
Smile
Premium
join:2003-12-09
Pickering, ON | You know I tried FTA, and only "real" FTA... wasn't worth it for most things. I get better HD content on the Over-the-air systems... |
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Robrr
join:2008-04-19
Toronto, ON | reply to Mark Z
Planning on setting up an FTA when I move into the city here as my new apartment has a clear view of the southern and western skies.
Going to use the FTA in conjunction with an OTA setup as it will give me way more tv than I will ever watch |
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ftarules
@teksavvy.com
| reply to Hydraglass
said by Hydraglass :Unfortunately you have other issues - the carriers change and upgrade their encryption methods regularly, so you constantly have to be upgrading and flashing the code on your receiver. Sometimes it can take a week or more for the FTA "hackers" to crack those codes and release new firmware for you. I've been running on the same firmware for 2.5 months now. Updating firmware takes about 5 mins and when Bell and DishNetwork do screw with things new firmware is released in 1-2 hours NOT WEEKS.
You either connect a small serial cable to your computer and upload the new firmware or use USB thumb drive. Copy the firmware to it, plug it in the front and BAM your TV is back on.
Details:
»www.ftabins.net/
»www.fta-newbies.com/
And if you are buying I suggest.
»www.worldwidesatellites.com and »www.justfta.com I've used them both and recommend them. |
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Snickerdo
Premium
join:2001-02-28
Niagara Falls, ON | reply to Mark Z
I've been doing it for years. Great hobby. |
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Hydraglass
join:2002-05-08
Kingston, ON
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to ftarules
said by ftarules :
I've been running on the same firmware for 2.5 months now. Updating firmware takes about 5 mins and when Bell and DishNetwork do screw with things new firmware is released in 1-2 hours NOT WEEKS.
I didn't say "Always" - as I said in my post "Sometimes" it can take a week or more - about every 2-3 months is correct for how often firmware bins have to be updated, but 3 times in the last 4 years I was out for around a week. Yes the majority of times it was less than a day - often around 4 hours from what I've found.
The problem is, if you're like me, and have a family who just want the TV to work when they turn it on, even telling them to wait 4 hours is unacceptable. Telling them to wait 4 to 5 days is a death sentence on the FTA receiver and you'll find it in the dumpster the next day when you get home, and the ExpressVu installer on a ladder at the back of your house.
So it was just a warning - it's not flawless - you have to be willing to do the firmware bin updates, sometimes at the most inopportune time (in the middle of a movie, football or hockey game, the season premiere of Gray's Anatomy, you name it) - and _sometimes_ the waiting for that BIN can be a killer. If on the other hand you have another source for your regular programming, as I said basic cable, OTA antenna, basic Satellite service, etc. and you use your FTA to watch things like Starz, HBO, Cinemax, US network feeds, etc. and won't be inconvenienced by an outage, then by all means.. FTA FTW.
And unlike AndyB - I use my FTA receiver on an old ExpressVu dish just fine - I have an LNB provided with the FTA receiver that I mounted to the old ExpressVu arm with no problem at all and it works perfectly. Considering the ExpressVu dish *IS* the Dish Network dish re-branded, there's little to no reason you can't use it to "see" any of the Dish Network satellite feeds. I've never had a problem with signal strength. A motorized mount would be sweet however - but I've settled in with it pointed at one sat for now (I use my FTA at my cottage, and when I'm going for a long stay I take one of my BeV receivers from home with me just in case there's a "firmware outage"). |
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mr weather
Premium
join:2002-02-27
Mississauga, ON
| reply to Mark Z
FTA is very much for real. However, the death sentence will come when Nagra 3 is fully implemented.
The kicker is (as Hydraglass pointed out) you can't rely on it as your primary programming source. ECM's are unpredictable and the last thing you want is for the bin to go down in the middle of something.
If you're looking for true FTA, G10R at 123w is by far the best.
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"It's all coming down!!" - Mike Holmes |
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BigSensFan
Premium
join:2003-07-16
Marmora, ON | What type of programming do they have on G10r?
And as to the 'legality' of FTA I dont think it is legal even if you are pointing at the US Dishes.
As for Nagra 3, they said the same ting about Nagra 2 |
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nitzguy
Premium
join:2002-07-11
Sudbury, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Rogers Hi-Speed
·Bell Sympatico
| said by BigSensFan :What type of programming do they have on G10r? And as to the 'legality' of FTA I dont think it is legal even if you are pointing at the US Dishes. As for Nagra 3, they said the same ting about Nagra 2 I was about to say the same thing...I remember working for a cable company back when Nagra 2 came out and...well...its still alive  .
As they say...its like a spiraling staircase, they'll implement new protections, people will move to "circumvent" those protections for their TV viewing experience.
...meh, I'm sure for those people who end up paying $0/Mth for their TV viewing experience can handle some downtime from time to time.
I know I would |
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andyb
Premium
join:2003-05-29
SW Ontario
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to Hydraglass
said by Hydraglass :And unlike AndyB - I use my FTA receiver on an old ExpressVu dish just fine - I have an LNB provided with the FTA receiver that I mounted to the old ExpressVu arm with no problem at all and it works perfectly. Considering the ExpressVu dish *IS* the Dish Network dish re-branded, there's little to no reason you can't use it to "see" any of the Dish Network satellite feeds. The exvu dish/lnb will work for bev/dish.I was refering to real FTA where a larger dish/linear is required on most sats to get a good signal.Dish/Bev/GC is not FTA although some seem to think it is.
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Teksavvy |
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andyb
Premium
join:2003-05-29
SW Ontario
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to BigSensFan
said by BigSensFan :What type of programming do they have on G10r? 10r was replaced by G18 recently
»www.lyngsat.com/galaxy18.html
Look at the ku band list
Another good sat is G25 at 97w (soon to be replaced by G19)
if you like internationals.
»www.lyngsat.com/galaxy25.html |
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mr weather
Premium
join:2002-02-27
Mississauga, ON
| reply to BigSensFan
said by BigSensFan :What type of programming do they have on G10r? andyb beat me to it but Galaxy 18 (nee G10R) carries a number of Retro Television Network channels, ABC from Wyoming and FOX from four different cities. In addition there are number of Spanish channels and a couple of learning ones.
As for Nagra 3, they said the same ting about Nagra 2
Well, the thing is someone at Kudelski leaked key components of Nagra 2 and the Korean coders worked their magic. That's the ONLY reason anyone can watch Dish Network or Bell TV at the moment using a $100 receiver with an RS232 port for firmware "upgrades".
I don't think the same mistake will be made again. 
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"It's all coming down!!" - Mike Holmes |
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JayMan
Whoot
Premium
join:2002-06-05
Earth
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·ELECTRONICBOX
| reply to mr weather
said by mr weather :FTA is very much for real. However, the death sentence will come when Nagra 3 is fully implemented. The kicker is (as Hydraglass pointed out) you can't rely on it as your primary programming source. ECM's are unpredictable and the last thing you want is for the bin to go down in the middle of something. If you're looking for true FTA, G10R at 123w is by far the best. the chatter is Nagra 3 is already cracked in Europe where it's already active. |
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mr weather
Premium
join:2002-02-27
Mississauga, ON | Interesting... |
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nitzguy
Premium
join:2002-07-11
Sudbury, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Rogers Hi-Speed
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to mr weather
said by mr weather :said by BigSensFan :What type of programming do they have on G10r? andyb beat me to it but Galaxy 18 (nee G10R) carries a number of Retro Television Network channels, ABC from Wyoming and FOX from four different cities. In addition there are number of Spanish channels and a couple of learning ones. As for Nagra 3, they said the same ting about Nagra 2
Well, the thing is someone at Kudelski leaked key components of Nagra 2 and the Korean coders worked their magic. That's the ONLY reason anyone can watch Dish Network or Bell TV at the moment using a $100 receiver with an RS232 port for firmware "upgrades". I don't think the same mistake will be made again. Wait a minute...wasn't Nagra 2 supposed to fix the "hacks" from Nagra 1? ...I thought that the same mistake wasn't supposed to happen twice?  |
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