Comment Further info and Linux too (Score 1) 1218
Satellite receivers are a much better choice than Comcast. In about 1 1/2 years of service from Dish Network I have not experienced any drop outs due to weather, some pretty fierce rain storms blow in off the Pacific during the winter. Only outage was when there was some major glitch in their system that took service down for several days. A receiver went comatose after about a year and a replacement was sent out without any delay. It died within a few days but customer service promptly sent another one out. Call tags for UPS were included for return of the DOA units. Customer support and service has been very good without any delays or being stuck in voice mail hell.
Current offers of DVR receivers seem to be a good deal but have not gone this route yet.
In addition to the pay satellite services, you can also receive free digital satellite broadcasts from other satellites. Most notably Telstar 5 in North America. All you need is a receiver, LNB and a 30-36 inch dish pointing in the correct direction. Telstar 5 provides a wide range of programming (both video and audio) from around the world:
http://www.lyngsat.com/t5.shtml
There is quite a bit info available on the net for what is termed "free to air" satellite broadcasts. Software tools ( http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinder/index.html)and websites will calculate the proper look angles and such for setting up the dish.
In the Linux arena a German company offers several Linux based satellite receivers with quite a host of customizable features.
http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/Bereiche/Produ kt e/DM7000_featurelist.php
There is lot more to satellite programnming and reception than just the pay services.
Current offers of DVR receivers seem to be a good deal but have not gone this route yet.
In addition to the pay satellite services, you can also receive free digital satellite broadcasts from other satellites. Most notably Telstar 5 in North America. All you need is a receiver, LNB and a 30-36 inch dish pointing in the correct direction. Telstar 5 provides a wide range of programming (both video and audio) from around the world:
http://www.lyngsat.com/t5.shtml
There is quite a bit info available on the net for what is termed "free to air" satellite broadcasts. Software tools ( http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinder/index.html)and websites will calculate the proper look angles and such for setting up the dish.
In the Linux arena a German company offers several Linux based satellite receivers with quite a host of customizable features.
http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/Bereiche/Prod
There is lot more to satellite programnming and reception than just the pay services.
