by: Will Spencer

Almost everyone is familiar with Dish Network (http://www.tech-faq.com/dish-network.shtml) and DirecTV (http://www.tech-faq.com/directv.shtml). These two enormous successful firms sell paid satellite tv (http://www.tech-faq.com/satellite-tv.shtml) to over twenty million Americans.

Both of these firms offer an incredible selection of programming with an amazing level of convenience for the average viewer.

What fewer people know is that many channels of quality satellite television programming are available at no cost to individuals with the proper equipment.

This programming includes channels such as:

ABC News Now

America One

Bloomberg TV

Bluegrass Music

CNBC

CNN

The Documentary Channel

Faith TV

IRS Satellite Network

KPBI (Fox Fayetville)

KQUP (UPN 24)

The Outdoor Channel

These channels are encoded using DVB (http://www.tech-faq.com/dvb.shtml), NTSC (http://www.tech-faq.com/ntsc.shtml), or PAL.

You can legally receive these channels without any type of subscription. These channels are known as free to air channels (http://www.tech-faq.com/free-to-air-channels.shtml).

What You Need to Receive Free Satellite TV

Most free to air (http://www.tech-faq.com/free-to-air-satellite.shtml) programming is broadcast on the Ku Band (http://www.tech-faq.com/ku-band.shtml). Ku Band signals can be received with a satellite dish as small as eighteen inches across.

Some free to air programming is still broadcast on the older C Band (http://www.tech-faq.com/c-band.shtml). C Band reception requires a dish at least six feet across.

Your satellite dish will need to be equipped with an LNB (http://www.tech-faq.com/lnb.shtml) (Low Noise Block) which is designed for use with free to air satellite signals.

If you want to receive channels from more than one satellite, you will also need a small motor for your satellite dish.

To control all of this gear, you will need a free to air satellite receiver (http://www.tech-faq.com/fta-receiver.shtml).

Pros and Cons of Free Satellite TV

Free-to-Air satellite TV is much more difficult to setup and maintain than DirecTV or Dish Network. On the other hand, free-to-air satellite is considerably less expensive than paid satellite tv.

Dish Network and DirecTV offer the most popular channels available anywhere. On the other hand, free-to-air satellite television also gives you access to a wide variety of specialized programming which is not available on paid satellite tv networks.

The right satellite tv solution for you depends on what you want to watch on your TV. And if you have room for two satellite dishes, you can have both!