Prior to this project we got 2 channels (and they were not very good). Since I hate signing yearly (or longer) contracts for things like this I decided to go with FTA. 

Free to Air is quite simply the capturing of video/audio that is being sent ITC (in the clear). It is free and legal. Please note this is not the capturing and Decrypting of Dish/DirectTV signals (this is illegal). I do not condone nor will I help anyone needing information regarding signal "theft". .

It used to cost a lot of money to get into FTA television. One had to get a BUD (big ugly dish) which was anywhere from 10-20 ft round and cost anywhere between $2000-$10,000

Now you can get by with a dish that is slightly bigger than a Dish/DirectTV dish (FTA needs a 30" dish vs Dish Network/Direct needing a 18" Dish. The cost to get into this has also dropped (my cost's are detailed below). 

Project Cost
---------------------------
Used Satworks Receiver $60
New Twinhan DVB Card $43.00
Pole $10.00
Dish 1 FREE
Project 20 Gallon Bucket $6.00
Concrete $7 ish (2@3.48)
100 Ft of RG6 Cable $10

Total Cost $136.00

Several of the items were purchased from Ebay (RG6, Twinhan Card)

The Satworks Receiver was purchased from a person on the Satguys.us website
Pole, Bucket, and Concrete was purchased from Lowes. 

All in all I spent approx 10 hours getting this up and running
(over 2 or so weeks).

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