Trying to understand the info in LyngSat for FTA

[rainman]

I've had old posts show up after clicking on new posts many times also.Some of the same ones show up alot.

most the times these threads have polls when ever someone votes on them they pop up again.

[glen4cindy]

TP 7-3840-V

I know this is a C-Band frequency, but, this block shows several Starz/Encore as F with the color code for FTA, but, the first line shows Starz Encore, Digicipher 2, with SR-19510.

Are all the rest of the lines that are shown to be FTA ***REALLY*** FTA or are they actually encrypted with Digicipher 2?

Thanks!

[rainman]

when they show digicipher II it will be the whole mux untill it goes back to DVB.I always check for the DVB in this coloum and that tells you the channel is DVB.

[glen4cindy]

when they show digicipher II it will be the whole mux untill it goes back to DVB.I always check for the DVB in this coloum and that tells you the channel is DVB.

So, then, the count of "free" channels shown at the bottom of the whole grid is not correct, and Lyngsat's information is not really correct for this block of channels. Whould that be a correct statement? I thought Lyngsat was one of the most reliable sources available.

[rainman]

DCII channels are digital also so the free channel count would be correct just because we don't have the equipment to receive them don't mean they are not there just that we can't receive these channels.

[glen4cindy]

DCII channels are digital also so the free channel count would be correct just because we don't have the equipment to receive them don't mean they are not there just that we can't receive these channels.

Is that to mean that someone with a DCII decoder/set-top-box would be able to view these channels as FTA? I would think that they would not be free being "premium".

I just want to learn to understand what I am reading. SatcoDX does not show the whole mux, but only the top line of what Lyngsat shows, and it does in fact show it as encrypted.

[rainman]

Is that to mean that someone with a DCII decoder/set-top-box would be able to view these channels as FTA? I would think that they would not be free being "premium".

I just want to learn to understand what I am reading. SatcoDX does not show the whole mux, but only the top line of what Lyngsat shows, and it does in fact show it as encrypted.

if it is a authorized receiver you should be able to get the FTA that is listed. most of the info on lyngsat is sent in by FTA guys like us from all over the world. so info is not always up to date just at the time the info was up dated.

[elgemcdlf]

All premium movie channels are subs (encrypted) except the MPEG4 feeds on 148. I can not verify they are in the clear as I do not have a MPEG4 receiver. All of teh movie channels have free preview times from time to time in hopes of enticing those of us with the equipment to view these previews to sub.

[wejones]

TP 7-3840-V

I know this is a C-Band frequency, but, this block shows several Starz/Encore as F with the color code for FTA, but, the first line shows Starz Encore, Digicipher 2, with SR-19510.

Are all the rest of the lines that are shown to be FTA ***REALLY*** FTA or are they actually encrypted with Digicipher 2?

Thanks!

I know I'm coming in a bit late on this, and other people have answered 99% or the question, however, I want to emphasise the the "F" designation on Lyngsat doesn't imply FTA. It implies "FREE", however as I've tried to suggest in other posts, FREE means different things, and doesn't imply that you can get it with just any receiver. As Rainman was getting at, if it says Digicipher or DCII, the MUX cannot be locked with a DVB receiver. THis isn NOT the same as a MUX like the 3800 mux just above, which is a Powervu encryption thing were some channels occasionally go free so that you can view them. THe Powervu things are really sent in a DVB type format, and are encrypted, so they can go back and forth, however Digicipher muxes cannot go unencrypted to being a FTA (DVB) signal, it can only go to a ZK or FP mode, which is still a Digicipher mode, not a DVB mode.

Basically, there are several common terms that hobbiests use for "Free" channels.

ANALOG

Channels are completely unscrambled are called ITC (In The Clear).
VCII channels that are "free" to people with VCII receivers are often called "Fixed Key", although there are different types of this, such as free for everyone, free for Canadians only, free for US people only, barker channels that are free for a while then get a slate, and timed channels that are free for a while then completely go black..... and probably a couple other categories.

DIGITAL

Digicipher
Free Digicipher channels are called ZK (zero Key) or FP (Fixed Process). ZK channels should be available to any receiver that can tune the Freq/SR. FP are really scrambled, but with a fixed key, similar to the VCII fixed key status, meaning that if you have a digicipher receiver, these channels may or may not be available on different receivers, depending on their authorization status, past or present.

DVB
Free DVB channels are the FTA (Free to Air) channels we're used to here, and you usually recognize these because the MUX will usually indicate DVB at the top of the mux, or, if it doesn't say Digicipher, it's probably DVB.
I think Steve has posted that there are some channels that are similar to the digicipher FP, in that thery are scrambled with fixed key so that if you have a receiver capable of subscribing to certain types of encryption, that they might be free to those receivers, but I've never heard of a specific example of this.

In any event, there are many types of "FREE" channels, and any one receiver can NOT get all these different types.

[rainman]

very nice explanation Bill.