Tips on Purchasing a FTA Reciever

So you are thinking about purchasing a FTA receiver and just dont know where to begin.

There are several on the market all of them have their advantages and disadvantages.

First you have to decide what you want to do with this item.

True FTA receivers are ment to be an add on to what you are watching on TV at any given time. They can add hundreds of stations to what you already enjoy. All of these stations are free for viewing and can be received by anyone without any monthly subscriptions.

There is another use for some of the FTA receivers out there that you you may have been exposed to. It is the use, through modification of them, to receive stations that are normally not for viewing by the general public without a paid subscription.

When you are purchasing a receiver, first you must realize that even though you are going to use it only for true FTA there is always going to be some speculation that your use will be for modification of the device for use of piracy. Never buy any product from a retailer that states that the device will allow for viewing of subscription stations. It will only cause you problems and the retailer is advertising and promoting illegal activities.

You will also, at times find items on eBay that are also illegal for use when modified. Such devices as cards and card readers have been known to be used for illegal activities and are most often banned on ebay. If you find one the price will be highly inflated and more than likely your bid will be canceled prior to the end of the auction. This is not to say that these items will be used for illegal activity, but the speculation is so high that many of these items are no longer for sale on ebay.

Getting back to the FTA receiver:

To start out with you will not only need the receiver but other pieces of hardware as well.

You will need to purchase a Dish. For true FTA the Dish 500 system is not acceptable. You will need a minimum of a 30 inch dish to capture the signals.

You will also need what is called an LNB. You will need one that has a "low" rating. Currently the best product for use is the Invacom brand 0p31

You will also need a multi switch. Pansat, Coolsat both make a good product

You will need cable and connectors RG56, shielded is best. Weather couplers for the outside are necessary.

For True FTA you will also need a dish motor, since stations are not all located at one location and you will need to move your dish to the area where the station is brodcast to.

In short to get into this hobby. it requirs more than just the $150 to get the box. Remember you will soon be up to $500 very quickly if starting from scratch.

To recap

Buy only from honest vendors

Buy from Vendors that offer to hide the bidders names (just for safety)

Understand that you could be spending not just $150 but as much as $500 to get you started.

Best of luck.