I miss the old days!

[dfergie]

Oh man. I loved those days. Every Cowboy fan enjoys beating the Redskins

Yup... I have a Videopal somewhere

 

[dfergie]

Ok CVS brought back memories... Spotlite was a premium before VCII (bought out by Showtime I think) C-Band back then was much better than the current FTA is now as you got everything, channels, wild feeds, sports, uplinks from all over and very, very little encryption...

 

[cband]

Ok, you folks are making me "home sick" for C-Band again. My wife used to watch her soap opera (Days of our Lives) the day before it came on with no commericals. Wild news feeds, NASA Channel before it went to small dish, Sci Fi same reason (comcast in FL wouldn't carry it). Picture quality during rain and just plain picture quality. For more I will have to go out and unbury some old OnSat mags.

Jeff

 

[boomer_106]

Ok, you folks are making me "home sick" for C-Band again. My wife used to watch her soap opera (Days of our Lives) the day before it came on with no commericals. Wild news feeds, NASA Channel before it went to small dish, Sci Fi same reason (comcast in FL wouldn't carry it). Picture quality during rain and just plain picture quality. For more I will have to go out and unbury some old OnSat mags.

Jeff

You can still see Days of our lives and NASA. You can even see some NASA in HD

 

[dfergie]

The loss of Star Trek Voyager on UPN drove me to Dish and the Superstations...I had went to Directv for the portability of DSS in 96 (did a lot of camping then and now) & has kept me with them to this day(and the HD)... Even after VCII hit , I had the Denver 5 that I loved (in the Mtn. time zone here so...) and I had the Nationals before that... (still have as Grandfathered with Directv)

 

[cband]

I went with VOOM after upgrading to a 922(?) and HD box (can't remember the correct nums and names). It was more to upgrade to C-Band than we could afford at the time. Sent everything back and got VOOM instead. But if I ever could, I would go back to C-Band just because of picture clarity and all the other goodys that come with C-Band. It all worked out in the end because we moved from FL and I couldn't bring my stuff with me so I sold the dish. Still have my Drake receiver though.

Jeff

 

[FaT Air]

Any issue or something in particular? Does it 'have' to be OnSat? How 'bout an Orbit? Details? (Don't know if anyone here has an issue 'tucked away')
Also, probably would do better if asked in a new thread than resurrecting an archived 5 yr old thread - mods may 'break it off'.
Anywho -

 

[rooneysat]

Great stories from some C-Band old-timers...keep them coming please!!!

Since I was too young too dabble in this technology in the 1980s, could some of you old-timers enlighten us some more? I have a few questions:

1. Specifically, what premium channels were available in the early 1980s? How many?
2. Were adult channels actually broadcast in the clear? Wasn't that illegal?
3. What was the video quality like? Were the analog broadcasts "noisy" or crystal clear? I know there was no HD back then, but how did the image quality compare with say MPEG-2 SD today?
4. How many C-band dishes do you think were sold in the 1980s? Who were the big players in this business? I have heard Dish CEO Charlie Ergen was the biggest - is this true or urban myth?
5. When was encryption introduced? Was is hacked and how successful was the hack? Did C-band completely die after encryption?

Finally, just a hypothetical question, what if ALL C-band premium channels were opened up today, either by government legislation opposing cable/small dish monopolies or by a hack, do you think C-band would take off again? Would people be sufficiently motivated to install BUDs again?

I was only a boy in the early 1980s when I started to see these black mesh dishes going up all over the place...I had no clue what they were for, in fact, I always thought budding scientists were putting them up to study the Universe or something. Now that I think about it, more than likely all my neighbours were not in fact amateur astronomers but probably perverts pulling in porn!

 

[richyrich]

Great stories from some C-Band old-timers...keep them coming please!!!

Since I was too young too dabble in this technology in the 1980s, could some of you old-timers enlighten us some more? I have a few questions:

1. Specifically, what premium channels were available in the early 1980s? How many?
2. Were adult channels actually broadcast in the clear? Wasn't that illegal?
3. What was the video quality like? Were the analog broadcasts "noisy" or crystal clear? I know there was no HD back then, but how did the image quality compare with say MPEG-2 SD today?
4. How many C-band dishes do you think were sold in the 1980s? Who were the big players in this business? I have heard Dish CEO Charlie Ergen was the biggest - is this true or urban myth?
5. When was encryption introduced? Was is hacked and how successful was the hack? Did C-band completely die after encryption?

Finally, just a hypothetical question, what if ALL C-band premium channels were opened up today, either by government legislation opposing cable/small dish monopolies or by a hack, do you think C-band would take off again? Would people be sufficiently motivated to install BUDs again?

I was only a boy in the early 1980s when I started to see these black mesh dishes going up all over the place...I had no clue what they were for, in fact, I always thought budding scientists were putting them up to study the Universe or something. Now that I think about it, more than likely all my neighbours were not in fact amateur astronomers but probably perverts pulling in porn!

in the old days feeds free were change channels until you found the one you were looking. No scanning was required. Easy!!!!! How many changes the signals decided; the following did not require any inside info; it was sold with the cost of the receiver because it was hardwired in the receiver.!!! With the right people inside broadcasting live stuff; a feeds "list" can be accrued!!!

more channels disappear today. As quickly as they appear!!! In the old days "new" channels were needed. Today, the carriers do not have room for them on "their" systems of re-broadcast!! Makes people like us the only way to watch new ones!!! And the ads are not high like network tv.

 

[77TA]

2. Were adult channels actually broadcast in the clear? Wasn't that illegal?

I didn't have c band growing up, but a friend did. There was definitely adult channels itc back then because when they first got there dish around 84 or 85 he would go days without sleep from staying up all night watching it. He'd look like a zombie walking around high school. Seems like it was either Spice or Extasy he usually talked about watching. Remember this was long before the internet when adult movies were hard to find for a high school kid in a small town.

 

[richyrich]

How long ago the 80's were. The pictures actual quality is still as good as the tv you had; and everything, channel, etc. was clear and free. Making pictures today is a single format; what you do not see is the originally produced as the final product; where the differences of "equipment" used was the grade a produced "program" or "event" received. And there still was the black n whites; not colorized. And as a teen; I watched the porns go from europe to here in the USA; making billions when they required payment for such services: and winning because of the "equipment" satellite also had to buy to pay it up!!!!!!!!!

Todays broadcasts all look the same; except ATSC where the productions are held seperate at a higher standard. Even 3d doesN'T get to better "equipment"; re-broadcast not required!

Today satellite in the US is two companies; not the hundreds it used to be. What they say is what the people watch; the people who have the satellite dish do not say what channels they want to them. They get what they pay for!

 

[rooneysat]

My general feeling is that a properly setup C-Band system that tracks the arc from 37W to 137W is today perhaps equivalent to an average cable subscription but without any Premium channels like HBO, ESPN, etc. What does an average cable sub go for these days - about $75 / month?

If you also have an OTA antenna for your local HD channels, then you are pretty much set. Why pay $75 per month ($900 per year) for stuff you can watch for free?

Although C-Band isn't for everyone, for someone who has the technical ability to set it up and is willing to spend about $500 in up front costs (dish, receiver, lnbs, actuator, cable, etc), it is an economic way to view television, not to mention the countless hours of enjoyment it brings to hobbyists!

My only beef about C-band is that the premium channels aren't available for a subscription due primarily to the monopoly nature of DBS and cable.

 

[markbone100]

Before it went away, I watched Buena Vista on 99W analog for a long time

 

[richyrich]

?and in the old days; there wasn't a dish or directv guy every day of the week acting like they are a satellite tv byte; the only one at every street corner that can get you one for free!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[richyrich]

and in the old days; there wasn't a dish or directv guy every day of the week acting like they are a satellite tv byte; the only one at every street corner that can get you one for free!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy the way, this forum is really only one of the two; acting like they do them all? Which one???

 

[richyrich]

I find the feeds and better channels (like velocity) have all moved to mpeg 4 signals. Mpeg 4 has really come on fast; whats next, negative numbers to enter in fec sr and program id's???

 

[rooneysat]

Well the next move for (DBS) broadcasters will be compressing with H.265! It will save them 30-50% more bandwidth.

Just as an aside, I used TSReader and looked at Dishnetwork signals on 77W. They are broadcasting standard def signals compressed in MPEG4 with an average bit rate of only 600kbits/s! Their HD signals run at 1-2Mbits/sec. If they eventually move to H.265 and newer compression algorithms, it is possible that their signals could be compressed to the point where they could pass through a dial-up line! That is how watered down these re-transmitted signals are...I am sure DirecTV does the same, but I don't have the tools to monitor their bit streams...

Now compare those signal bandwidths with the master broadcasts on C-band. History Channel on Galaxy 14 (125W) clocks in at 12Mbits/s encoded with MPEG4. I have even seen some master broadcasts with a bit rate as high as 18Mbits/s. Although this particular channel is encrypted, you can check out the quality of say Outside TV or One World Sports which are broadcasting in the clear at about 8-10Mbits/s - the picture quality is outstanding!

It is a sheer travesty that end users cannot experience these high resolution broadcasts first hand because of the greeed of the DBS and cable executives. I am all for competition, but if Dish/DirecTV/Cables want to re-transmit these channels, they should be obligated by LAW to re-transmit at exactly the same bit rate as the master and the public should have a choice of either going to Dish/DirecTV/Cables or directly to C-band.

 

[toucan-man]

...It is a sheer travesty that end users cannot experience these high resolution broadcasts first hand...

What do you make of DirecTv's statements that they'll be exploring if not offering 4K in 2016 ?

 

[FaT Air]

What some call 'Hi Def' sure isn't. There should have been a minimum bit rate/aspect ratio mandated to qualify as such. 4k? Time for another Direct receiver update? Will have to compare it to a 8 to 10Mbit/s C band feed when their 4k shows up.

 

[richyrich]

Directv has the better pictures on a small dish today. They won't need to go there till then (when the rest find out how they are doing it so well) and install like studio equipment. When both little dishes and cable companies catch up; that is!

All a person needs to do is look how IBM can make a better, faster, stronger, smarter computer. They made an analog one!

And, even digital signals are not being sent; they first begin as a 1 or a zero; then the DA converter translates to analog so that a signal can move through the air to the destination; where it is received and then translated using an a to d (analog to digital) format!!!