My neighbor installed a satellite dish himself and he get a lot of free channels, even ones from Europe. Most of them junk sale tv but rest of them are popular European channels. So, how do I do it. What do I need to buy in order to get European channels for free???
Dr.T
Favorite Answer
You can get "FTA" receivers (either stand-alone or cards for a PC) and antennas and LNB gadgets.
There is a lot of information on FTA including places with satellite lists. You need to know which satellite you want to monitor, or get a motorized device that turns a dish to a satellite.
The big problem is satellite location. The more they are over Europe, the less likely you'll be able to receive the signal (the earth is round, remember your science class?) so if you're in the USA, and the sat is above europe, it's unlikely that you'll be able to "see" it, or it will be so low on the horizon that you may have homes, trees, etc., in the way.
But start by looking up information on FTA systems. FREE TO AIR
Anonymous
The previous answer is near the mark. But many of the channels need a costly subscription, as well as a decoder. There are several free Spanish channels on Astra 19.2 degrees east( in between Sky and Hotbird). A basic free-to-air box will receive the free channels, which consists of TVE International, and regional channels for Madrid, Catalonia, Galicia, Valencia, and Canary Islands; plus a few others. There are many other free channels also, mainly German. A dish size of 60-80 cms is sufficient, depending how far north you live. The Hispansat at 30 west has more Spanish channels, but may be more problematic to receive.
ken s in area 51
You will need either a Ku band dish which size start around 30" and up then you can use a HH motor if you want to pick up more than one satellite.
What you will need is a FTA ( Free to Air) satellite Receiver with a Ku band dish.
There are multi sats you can pick from 72 degrees W to 148 degrees W in North america.
You can pick up some European channels at 97W and others sats close by .
Anonymous
many C Band channels are still open.