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GO
Satellite Canada
FTA Satellite TV • Radio • Internet
What is Free To Air Satellite in Canada? |
| Canadian Free to Air satellite (FTA satellite)
is a term that describes satellite signals which a person can receive
legally,
without having any
subscription, and though it is not encrypted, it is typically encoded
for MPEG-2 video and may have geographical restrictions. Parts of the world receive encrypted Free to Air channels on UHF and VHF frequency bands. Free to Air is a subset of TVRO, and was originally transmitted on C Band. Canadian Free to Air content and programming has found it's way to the Ku (Kurtz under) Band, which allows Free To Air programming to be broadcast with considerably smaller satellite dishes, consuming far less power. Unlike subscription-based, pay-per-view television programming (i.e. Dish Networks, DirecTV, etc.); Canadian Free to Air channels are received by utilizing a common MPEG-2 video compatible receiver, since broadcasts are unencrypted. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite TV | Radio | Internet |
Canadian Free to Air Reception Requirements |
| To enjoy Canadian Free To Air content, you'll
need: •A dish antenna (both C-Band or K-Band will work) •A FTA receiver or satellite PC card •An LNBF •An antenna motor (If you wish to receive channels from more than one satellite) |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite Television | Radio | Internet |
International Free-to-Air Broadcasting |
| Australia has two primary, government-owned satellite
television channels, SBS and ABC, as well as the 100% digital
multi-channels (ABC2 and the SBS World News Channel). Both of which
are available
as Free to Air television channels on the NSS5 satellite network
(the Optus B1 satellite can also receive the SBS World News Channel). In remote portions of Australia, viewers can also enjoy Imparja Television and Seven Central Television, in addition to other channels via the free-to-view Optus Aurora program. There are 3 transponders that broadcast over 30 FTA television channels, on the NSS-6 satellite system; which covers Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, as well as parts of China, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. Korea has three primary Free to Air television channels- KBS (privately owned, albeit free to view), MBC and EBS. Germany enjoys over 100 Free to Air television channels , including MTV (which is actually encrypted throughout large parts of Europe). Roughly 1/2 of the television channels on both SES Astra 1 and SES Astra 2 (19.2E, and 28.2E, respectively), as well as Eutelsat Hotbird (13E) are Free to Air. Overall, European satellite radio is Free to Air. However, due to broadcast systems in use, Sirius and XM-style (in-car) reception is not possible. New Zealand has two national networks- The Maori and Television New Zealand (TV1 and TV2) networks; both of which are Free to Air on Optus B1, as is the Freeview. In North America, there are a number of competing Free to Air DVB satellite TV systems in use, such as Globecast World (Galaxy 25; 97°W), Glorystar (Galaxy 25; 97°W), the Equity Broadcasting stations (Galaxy 10R; 123°W), PBS (AMC3; 87°W), etc. Free to air is highly suitable for locations in which terrestrial reception (typical over-the-air reception) is a real concern; due to a broad geographical coverage in places where digital terrestrial signal coverage is poor- especially in rural areas, well away from major cities. Free To Air channels are very different from the television channels we are used to when watching cable television or DBS. To receive a Free To Air channel, you may need to know items such as: •What satellite the channel is transmitted from? •What frequency is the channel is transmitted on? •What polarity is the channel is transmitted on? •What symbol rate does the channel utilize? •What forward error correction does the channel utilize? •What format is the Free To Air channel broadcast in? (DVB, DigiCipher 2, NTSC, PAL, ...) |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite TV | Radio | Internet |
Canadian Free To Air Channels |
| Free To Air channels change frequently. The following
web site maintains up-to-date listings of Canadian Free To Air channels: •LyngSat FTA receiver is a receiver which is equipped to receive
unencrypted FTA (Free to Air) satellite transmissions. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite Television | Radio | Internet |
Canadian FTA Receiver Types |
| Most FTA receivers are stand-alone hardware boxes
which look very much like Dish Networks or DirecTV receivers. Some PC-based FTA receivers also exist. These devices enable you to watch Canadian FTA satellite on your computer. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite TV | Radio | Internet |
Features to Look for in an FTA Receiver |
| No one can tell you exactly what you want in
a FTA satellite receiver, but here are some of the features to look
for: •Does the receiver have an Electronic Program Guide (EPG)? •Does the receiver allow you to zoom into a picture? •Does the receiver support picture-in-picture? •Does the receiver have a built-in PVR (Personal Video Recorder)? •Does the receiver have dual tuners to enable viewing and recording of two different channels? •Does the receiver have a PIG/PIP interface? •Does the receiver have S-Video output? •Does the receiver have Dolby SPDIF output? •Does the receiver have Blind Search Power Scan to find all channels transmitted by a satellite? •Does the receiver have an On Screen Display (OSD)? •Does the OSD allow you to move, delete, and rename channels? |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite Television | Radio | Internet |
FTA Receiver Vendors |
| Quality manufacturers of FTA receivers include Captain, Captiveworks, Conaxsat, Coolsat, Fortec, Nfusioin NOVA, Pansat, Sonicview and Viewsat |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite TV | Radio | Internet |
Additional Equipment for FTA |
| In addition to a FTA receiver, you
will also need: •A dish (Either C-Band or Ku-Band) •An LNB •An antenna motor (If you wish to receive channels from more than one satellite) TVRO stands for "TV Receive Only", but that really does
not give you a good sense of what TVRO is. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite Television | Radio | Internet |
TVRO Programming |
| For free TVRO programming, see What is Free To
Air? Paid TVRO programming is available from National Programming Service and SuperStar. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite TV | Radio | Internet |
TVRO Bands |
| TVRO content is transmitted on C Band and Ku
Band. Most consumer-oriented C Band content is migrating to Ku Band. To receive TVRO programming, you will need: •A dish (Either C-Band or Ku-Band) •A TVRO receiver or PC card •An LNB •An antenna motor (If you wish to receive channels from more than one satellite) There is no "one" best dish. The best dish for you depends upon several factors. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite Television | Radio | Internet |
Dish Size |
| The larger the satellite dish, the better it
will receive signals. Therefore, the largest dish available
is always the best satellite dish -- except that few of us want a
nine foot dish bolted onto our home. A satellite dish should be as small as possible, while still being large enough to deliver good signal quality. Closer to the equator, smaller satellite dishes work perfectly well. The closer you get to the Earth's poles, the larger dish you will need to maintain an acceptable signal quality. Larger dishes are also better able to deal with rainfade. If you live in an area that is frequently overcast and rainy, a larger dish can significantly increase signal quality. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite TV | Radio | Internet |
Dish Shape |
| A round satellite dish can only receive signals
from one location at a time. The fix for this is to either
use a small motor to position the dish or to use an oval
satellite dish. An oval satellite dish can receive signals from several locations at the same time. For example, the DirecTV AT9 MPEG-4 Compatible Ku/Ka Band satellite dish is designed to receive signals from the DirecTV satellites at 99, 101, 103, 110 and 119 degrees. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite Television | Radio | Internet |
Number of LNB's |
| Each LNB on a dish will enable the reception of one data stream from one transponder. The best satellite dish is usually the one with the most LNB's. |
Canada's #1 Choice for Canadian Satellite TV | Radio | Internet |
