Satellite TV: NITV

I reported recently that I was thinking of installing satellite television:

http://bkhome.org/archive/blog2/200910/satellite-tv.html

Given that I can only get one terrestrial TV channel, our ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corp., Government non-commercial), and that very weak, I reckoned it was time to go for free-to-air satellite TV.

I know in some parts of the world, satellite TV is the normal thing. For me it's a big deal. Most Aussies are well-served by the terrestrial channels.

So, on my last trip to Perth I bought the parts. There's this neat little hand-held "satellite finder", just a needle gauge and beeps -- the gauge shows signal strength and the pitch of the beeps goes up, and the beeps go faster, as the signal increases. It was a cinch to get the dish pointed at the Optus C1 satellite. It only cost AU$15:


http://www.sciteq.com.au/store/product_info.php?products_id=149&SciTeqsid=139c3f4d60243d27b11e5b70686703ba

After getting it all setup, I then had to go onto the Internet to activate the Optus smartcard -- oh, "two business days". Today is Saturday. Oh well.

The Optus C1 satellite only has two un-encrypted channels, Optus Sydney which only has a test pattern and a continuous tone, and NITV. You can also see NITV online:

http://nitv.org.au/

...I have been sitting here watching it. Hmmm, after the initial novelty perhaps even the most keen indigenous person would be changing to some other channel that provides entertainment. ...I don't mean that comment to come across as disrespectful.

This is the receiver I bought:


http://www.sciteq.com.au/store/product_info.php?products_id=388&SciTeqsid=139c3f4d60243d27b11e5b70686703ba

Not knowing anything about these things, I just bought what the guy behind the counter recommended. One nice feature, a USB socket that will take a drive, so can save to it.

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Comments

Satellite
Username: linuxcbon
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-4000 works in the PC and with linux, but it's not cheap. For external receivers, I need to have a look, but strong is a famous and good brand.

Cool ;-)
Username: Christopher vanDyck
"I don't watch television much anymore. I actually get all the video programming I need over the internet. Youtube has gone high definition, now - and I often watch Al Jazeera english for world news. I like what is available for overseas visitors of ABC's and SBS's programming. It's fascinating how public broadcasting has a very different tone in different countries. Each country's people has a certain set of expectations which differs from folks in other parts of the world. Deep thinking people tend to gravitate towards the niche of work in public broadcasting.

FTA Satellite Forum
Username: mercedes350se
"For a wealth of information visit http://www.vetrun.net/forums/index.php?s= It is all FTA (no pay TV in other words). You will see there is satellite D1 which will give ABC and SBS and also satellite D2 which if you speak other languages opens up a whole new area of viewing.

Satellite TV forum
Username: BarryK
"mercedes350se, Thanks for the link: http://www.vetrun.net/forums/index.php D1 has these free channels: http://www.vansat.com.au/optusd1.shtml ...I already get ABC and SBS on C1, but not ABC2. Yes, D2 has heaps of interesting channels, many of them English: http://www.vansat.com.au/optusd2.shtml Yes, I might buy another dish, they don't cost much. D2 is the most interesting I reckon. Yeah, might get another dish on the next trip to Perth. I already have one of those multiplexer units, what's it called now? ....diseq switch I think.

Tags: general