Free KaKu television in the sky?
April 13, 2013 7:52 AM Subscribe
My uncle gave me a DirecTV SlimLine dish with a three-LNB head (119, 110, 103/101/99). Can I point it at the sky somewhere to get free KaKu band TV channels?
What I don't have and what I don't want is a DirecTV subscription or cable box. I have tons of old VCRs, old TiVOs, and old NTSC TVs with giant cathode ray tubes and UHF/VHF channel-changing knobs.
I can buy this:
http://www.amazon.com/Satellite-Finder-Meter-For-Directv/dp/B000OGS6WO
to find strong signals in the sky, using some amateur astronomy tricks on a clear night? Protractors and sextants for measuring angles above the horizon?
Without a DirecTV box, is this dish useful for anything?
What I don't have and what I don't want is a DirecTV subscription or cable box. I have tons of old VCRs, old TiVOs, and old NTSC TVs with giant cathode ray tubes and UHF/VHF channel-changing knobs.
I can buy this:
http://www.amazon.com/Satellite-Finder-Meter-For-Directv/dp/B000OGS6WO
to find strong signals in the sky, using some amateur astronomy tricks on a clear night? Protractors and sextants for measuring angles above the horizon?
Without a DirecTV box, is this dish useful for anything?
I would think that you'd still need a DirecTV or similar box for two reasons:
•The received signals are fairly week and will need to be amplified
•The Ka/Ku satellite bands and cable/digital cable TV operate at different frequencies, so even if you connected the dish straight to your TV, it is unlikely that your TV would know what to do with (or even recognize) the incoming signals.
I'm not sure that the satellite and cable/digital cable signals are encoded using the same methods, either.
posted by xedrik at 9:21 AM on April 13, 2013
•The received signals are fairly week and will need to be amplified
•The Ka/Ku satellite bands and cable/digital cable TV operate at different frequencies, so even if you connected the dish straight to your TV, it is unlikely that your TV would know what to do with (or even recognize) the incoming signals.
I'm not sure that the satellite and cable/digital cable signals are encoded using the same methods, either.
posted by xedrik at 9:21 AM on April 13, 2013
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posted by 445supermag at 8:01 AM on April 13, 2013