# please explain c-band and what u can get with



## DOC63 (Dec 30, 2003)

please in detail what is c band and can a person get any channel in world?if im in ny can i watch los angelas networks(abc,cbs,etc)? can i watch channels in europe?can i hook into different satellites in space?also i used to hear when people were watching the news on like cnn,when a commercial brake happened,u could still see what was going on in studio.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

DOC63 said:


> please in detail what is c band and can a person get any channel in world?if im in ny can i watch los angelas networks(abc,cbs,etc)? can i watch channels in europe?can i hook into different satellites in space?also i used to hear when people were watching the news on like cnn,when a commercial brake happened,u could still see what was going on in studio.


C-band used to have a lot of stuff, but there is less and less every day as more broadcasters switch to all digital transmissions. You can look at this :chart to get an idea of what is still available. The "live feeds" of most regular programming is no longer available in the clear. Here are some more charts, including 4DTV (digital using C-band, sort of):

http://www.4dtv.com/Xcel/xcel.htm
http://www.4dtv.com/4DTV/what_4dtv.html


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## Marvin (Sep 14, 2003)

Im dumping my C Band in June when my programing is due for renewing. Between the fact that some channels have been dropped and the age of my system, I think now is about the best time to put it to rest, although Im going to keep it hooked up for the feed of WWE Smackdown (the UPN channel here is digital OTA/cable only) every Wednesday night like I've been doing for the last few years now.


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## lee635 (Apr 17, 2002)

Hi.
Really, to enjoy c-band these days, you need an analog receiver and a digital free-to-air receiver. You can get a budget digital receiver on ebay for under $75. Currently in the clear in digital are the Anchorage, AK locals, over a dozen Fox, UPN, WB and other smaller stations, and a few other network stations, a couple Canadian stations in English and a few in French, a bunch of Spanish language stations, some cable channels and so forth.

There's also 4dtv which is digital subscription television, but the receivers are so god-awful expensive. Even on ebay they are selling at top dollar.


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## ypsiguy (Jan 28, 2004)

Plus from the way it looks, some C- band digital channels are using Digicipher II (4DTV) and some have went with SA PowerVu+. My parents have a C-band with a VCII and I have advised them to switch to Dish when their programming disappears. Having to buy two descramblers would be nonsense, especially when Dish essentially gives their equipment away for free with a subscription.


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## ypsiguy (Jan 28, 2004)

Marvin said:


> Im dumping my C Band in June when my programing is due for renewing. Between the fact that some channels have been dropped and the age of my system, I think now is about the best time to put it to rest, although Im going to keep it hooked up for the feed of WWE Smackdown (the UPN channel here is digital OTA/cable only) every Wednesday night like I've been doing for the last few years now.


FYI
Dish carries WSBK (Boston) and WWOR (NYC), both of which have WWE Smackdown. One of them can be bought for 1.50/month a-la-carte.


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2004)

I have had a BUD (Big Ugly Dish) for 15 years. I am now searching for information on what system to replace it with. Dish or Direct? So far, I'm leaning towards Dish. Do not go to C-band. It's dying out. There are less than 300,000 subscribers at this time.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

I went from C-band to Dish for a variety of reasons.

One of them was the fact that I no longer had to wait while the dish moved from one satellite to the next - everything in one spot (well, 2 or 3 really, but the hardware gets it all at once).

When PVRs first came out, that was what did it for me. I wasn't keen on paying several hundred dollars MINIMUM for a 4DTV box. But there was this new thing called a Dishplayer that had a hard drive in it and recorded the digital signal straight from the satellite. "Sold" said I.

The advantages of the minidish/PVR setup combined:

- On screen guide.
- One-button record - find it on the guide and press the red button - presto, that program will be recorded to the hard drive. No more "Honey where did you put the tape with 'Buffy' on it?".
- Better channel surfing. No waiting nearly a minute to get from a Discovery Channel on C4 to NASA on S2.

The later addition of locals made it even better.

Nowadays, I recommend minidishes but NOT Dishnetwork. Simply put, they can't supply PVR hardware and software that works. For that, you need a TiVo. I've had my Dishplayer for 4 years and it STILL has bugs that never should have been in V1. In addition, Dish is now removing advertised features because they don't work (instead of TiVo's style of fixing them). What's worse is that Dish's newer PVRs don't do name-based recording. They are basically a hard-drive VCR. You record a timeslot, not a named program. The Dishplayer had name based recordings but they don't sell the DP anymore.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

Dish is supposed to bring name-based recording later this year to the DVR's.


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## Geronimo (Mar 23, 2002)

Jacob S said:


> Dish is supposed to bring name-based recording later this year to the DVR's.


Whatever decision you make about what to purchase make it bsed on what the technology offers TODAY. There have been alot of promises about what willbe fixed or added that just have not panned out.


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## PSB (Oct 4, 2002)

Why not try ku band? There are still hundreds of FTA channels up there right now, including the news feeds and live sports feeds and so much more, the system is much like a c-band systems as in its motorized but the dish is usually under 1 meter is size, and can be self installed by anyone who has done two or three dbs installs, check out the link on my web site to "Free to air channels" and you can see all the FTA channels that are available in the USA, some of these channels are c-band but most are Ku-band, its a great hobby and alot of fun, with my motorized system I can scan almost all the satellites in the Clarke belt, and the great thing is you never know what new channels you will find, there are also local channels from around the country all FTA and legal. Let me know if you want some more details......


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## gib4500 (Apr 11, 2004)

what kind of equipment do you need for ku-band. could you use an old dish network dish or does it have to be a special dish. also where would you find the equipment or the receiver for the setup. it would be nice to get all those free channels. ok let me know if you would thanx.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

Your right Geronimo, you cannot trust anything that a company says because promises do get broken, they have in the past, and will again. I was just mentioning that they were "supposed" to although we know what kind of delays Dish brings. Heck the 721 and 921 does not even have Dish Home yet although that is "supposed" to come soon as well.


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## xxxx (May 25, 2002)

gib4500 said:


> what kind of equipment do you need for ku-band. could you use an old dish network dish or does it have to be a special dish.


best to use is a 1 metre round dish with Ku LNB. However, the more powerful Ku satellites can easily be received with the larger Primestar or original Star Choice round dishes (30 to 36")


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## TonyM (Aug 14, 2003)

WHNB said:


> Can the feed from the KuBand dish be combined with the feed from a Dish 500 so that only one coax cable can come from the roof into the house (where the coax could then be split into two cables to go to the Dish receiver and the free-to-air receiver)?


no. Diplexers are for antenna and satellite. You would need one line from each system to their respected receivers.


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## PSB (Oct 4, 2002)

These Ku band systems are very cheap, for under $200 you can get almost 100 new channels on one satellite alone! Its a great way to start but beware it is very addictive! : )


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2004)

What it comes down to is c-band is not dead and never will be. How do you think Dish and DTV get there feeds for there programming. Off a C/KU dish, there is no way they can get it off a smaller Dish.

And the 4dtv receiver is a DCII and VCII Receiver it will pickup both signals.

If you got a C-band and are deciding to goto Dish or DTV why? You never gave up Your C-band Dish when Cable companies where trying to sell you a monthly Subscription did you?

Thats all DTV and Dishnetwork is are cable companies, you got to buy what they want you too. 

As long as there is satellite TV the C/KU dishes will always be good. You may have to buy a FTA or 4dtv receiver to get some of the channels. But the big dish will always be around.

One more thing about the 4DTV it is C/KU and is first Generation Digital the DSS are all second Gen. What I mean by this is the 4DTV's signal is uploaded to the satellites and thats when you get it. DSS are pulled from a Analog or Digital Feed then re-done and re uploaded, so the Quality is allot poorer. If you had a DSS and C-band System setup you would see what I mean. Example WTBS was playing on your C-band System it would be playing at the exact right time its suppost to. Now on the DSS it can be anywhere for 5-10 seconds behide. This is because the DSS people are re compressing it and reuploading it.

This causes a Second Gen Signal.


So my Basic Point to the long post is if you got a C-band System and goto a DSS.

1.) You gonna get screwed by the DSS provider just like the cable companies.

2.) Your a Idiot for even thinking a DSS is better then a BUD.

3.) If you really need to have whats on DSS then by one but leave your C-band System up. I know allot of people who went to DSS who had C-band and hated it so they went back to C-band.

4.) Dishnet is not giving you a Free system, First off if you buy a Dish they charge you $150. Then they say if you keep up a year contract they give you $10 or so a Month off on the programming. This is just a Con-job, if you read the fine print to most there add's you will see if you disconnect it before the year is up they charge you to do it not sure what it is. Also your not getting the Equipment Free, because you don't actually own it. Its basicly like the Cable Companies use to do they gave you a cable box free to use. But once you shut the cable off it was junk, you couldn't use it with any other cable companyl. Just like the DSS you got to buy programming from them and only them.

5.) Finally I know that a 4DTV is high but think of what you get when you buy one. When you buy a 4DTV you own it and can do whatever you want to with it. Also you know that the Digital on a 4DTV will be around in the next few years. Unlike the DSS remember Primestar they where the ones who started the little dishes and they only lasted a few years. 

So my Point is C-band will always be around aslong as we use satellite TV but the DSS will most likely not.


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## Guest (Jun 24, 2004)

good to hear from a fellow c bander.to all those who do not know what a bud is,you don`t know what satellite tv is all about.and to all you pizza pan people who think their picture quality is good, you should see hd tv with a first generation signal.


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## lee635 (Apr 17, 2002)

Well, the picture on the digital FTA c-band is very good when it comes in. However, the receivers are very finicky and you need to be dead on balls on the satellite or you get nothing. Also, there is a lot that is available on DBS that simply isn't in-the-clear or available by subscription via c-band, most town's local channels for one. Also, there are several cable channels that have gone power vu encryption, so you can't receive those via c-band either. 

Of course, c-band has some great stuff that isn't available or is only available via subscription on DBS. However, if you want 4DTV subscription c-band, you are going to pay over $300 for a basic sidecar on ebay, and more for a unit with more features, so it can get a little spendy. Also, analog program providers are simply dropping channels from their lineup tha go digital with no refunds to the customer. So you probably want to avoid an annual contract on analog c-band at this point.

I have both and use both, but it would be hard for me to drop the DBS at this point due to its ease of use and the availability of locals.


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## Jacob S (Apr 14, 2002)

That is a rotten deal to not get reimbursed for programming that you already bought if they shut it off with the equipment you are using. Do those stations not even offer the feed for the rest of the paid term on their new feed? Maybe it is not the station itself but the program provider that you are paying for the programming that is not willing to give the refund.


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