# What's the straight dope on FTA satellite TV

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-fta-satellite-tv/302289>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 3, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-fta-satellite-tv/302289 "2005-05-03T23:01:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Stan\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@Stan\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Doubt)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-fta-satellite-tv/302289/1 "2005-05-03T23:01:49Z")

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I have been seeing more ads for FTA satellite systems. Going by [http://www.lyngsat.com](http://www.lyngsat.com) there are a number of interesting channels available free over the air for anyone with a compatible receiver and satellite dish.

Any dopers own a system like this?

I realize that a major part of the business is foreigners who want to watch tv in their native language/from their home country, but is there english language programming available that is easy enough to set up with a modern receiver?

I’m asking strictly about FTA, not in any way suggesting the use of this equipment for stealing/descrambling pay TV services.

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**Author:** ![Alvis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alvis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alvis)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-fta-satellite-tv/302289/2 "2005-05-04T14:22:51Z")

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It can be a bit of work, but it’s a great hobby. I’ve got a 90cm dish fed into a DVB-S card I use to scan the western sky, but I’m limited in what I can see from my balcony. To get most of the “useful” channels, you’ll need a Big Ugly Dish with a KU LNBF.

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**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-straight-dope-on-fta-satellite-tv/302289/3 "2005-05-04T14:31:54Z")

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I guess you’re in the USA?

I’ve just set a system up in the UK - I used an old 60cm dish, and a spare Sky digitbox - pointed at 29.1E and now receive all the FTA German channels.

UK channels etc are available at different locations.

Not sure how this will all work in the USA though - you’ll need to check the coverage maps for the various satellites to see which fall in your area.