Free To Air/Freesat Satellite System Equipment Selection

Definition: Free to Air (FTA) satellite: Unencrypted Television and Radio broadcasts that may be received without subscription with a satellite receiver and dish

Guide for Selecting a Complete FTA kit

A complete Free to Air Satellite Kit is made up of:

Satellite Receiver
Satellite Dish and LNB
Installation Kit of satellite cable, bolts and connectors

Step 1. Satellite Receiver

All FTA satellite receivers do basically the same job i.e. they take the unencrypted digital feed from the satellite dish and convert it to a picture which can be displayed on a TV screen.

Below are the main FTA receivers offered by Tvtrade.ie:

see http://www.tvtrade.ie/satellite-receivers/free-to-air.html

Step 2. Satellite Dish and LNB

Satellite Dish

Use

Sky/Freesat Satellite Dish
UK Free to Air Channels

80cm Satellite Dish Foreign Language Channels

Why Sky dish is Ideal for Free to Air ?

The sky zone 2 dish is by far the most commonly used satellite dish in Ireland representing over 95% of all dishes erected.
This is because it designed specifically for the Irish (and non-central UK) market
Relatively inexpensive
Easy to assemble and Install
Rarely if ever will the sky dish move even in the most extreme of weather conditions - if properly installed !
Easy to buy replacement part or upgrade to Quad or Octo LNB

Which LNB ?

An LNB amplifies the signal picked up by a satellite dish. Sky LNBs come in a range of 3 different types defined by the number of outputs they have

LNB Type	Outputs	Uses
Single	1	Single Sky or FTA install
Quad	4	Sky+ or Multi-room install
Octo	8	Apartment block, Sky+ or Multi-room

Note: if buying an LNB for a dish was installed before June 2009 you will need to also purchase a Sky Legacy LNB adaptor

Step 3. Installation Kit

The final part of the complete satellite kit is the Installation kit. The purpose of the kit is to provide the materials to anchor the dish to the wall and to neatly run a satellite cable from the satellite dish to the satellite receiver.

You can find the installation kits here....

http://www.tvtrade.ie/satellite-dishes/satellite-dish-installation-kits.html