A Free to Air Satellite receiver (abbreviated FTA receivers) refers to satellite receivers that are designed to receive unencrypted FTA satellite transmissions. Using these satellite receivers, one can legally receive TV signals without subscription. The signal is typically encoded in an MPEG-2 video and may be restricted geographically. In some places around the world, people can receive encrypted Free to Air satellite channels through the UHF and VHF band. The channels transmitted through Free to Air satellite are received by utilizing a common MPEG-2 video compatible satellite receiver. Many people use FTA to receive thousands of satellite TV channels free of charge. The equipment needed for you to enjoy the freebies are FTA receiver (and here one has a choice between Pansat, Coolsat, Conaxsat, and many other great brand names) and a satellite dish within the specifics within the specifics required by the satellite one wishes to point at. However, many satellites only require a standard DTV compliant dish that can be easily found in any satellite TV or electronic store. Both C-band and K-Band dishes work just fine. If you wish to receive channels from more than one satellite, you will also need to have an antenna motor. And then of course you will need the LNBF.

Once one has gotten the hold of the two pieces of hardware, one may then start with the pointing of the dish. In order to complete this, one needs to have a coaxial cable running from where the dish is and making its way to the FTA receiver which should be connected to the television. Usually this is the most difficult part. Though pointing the dish is not very difficult, many people would prefer to hire an experienced person agile enough to fix it on the roof of the house. But perhaps before one does that, it would be advisable to look for online resources possibly by checking out a couple of FTA support websites and the good ones will support you with the current FTA keys, files, software , updates and troubleshooting help. If you are going to buy FTA support, you may scout for the best site by sending them an email and taking note of the wait time before they reply. And this opportunity may also be utilized to know whether that particular site uses automated reply or not.

Once that is done, then you may go about the business of pointing the dish. You will need to go to the options of the FTA receiver and select the actual satellite that you will point at. It is also likely that you will be required to load some firmware updates. The FTA keys will need to be entered manually, and so its important you familiarize yourself with this process. Entering FTA keys usually involves entering the setting up screen of whichever the receiver that you own and find the key code section of the setup. But a key point to remember is that each satellite receiver is different and the settings may vary.