hugh said:
I have moved this to a more appropriate forum. This post in BEV is really just trolling.
If that post was considered trolling, the satellite aficionadoes have very thin skins.
I have had DTH since 1996 for only one reason: It was, and is, the ONLY way I can get TV in my isolated, rural location. No cable, no OTA options.
Frankly, while it was godsend, satellite is a PITA too. My dish is located on the brow of a hill, 250 feet from the house. This was necessary to get a clear shot at the satellite. Big inconvenience . . . having to to deal with getting a clear horizon.
The first couple of years I had DTV. It was very prone to rain/snow fade and was a major problem! My old-fashioned 1 metre Starchoice dish rarely has this problem . . . only with major snow fall building up on the lnb. But, when it does happen, it is no picnic slogging out there to clean it off.
While my dish is largely out of site, there is nothing pretty about dishes. They are no asset to anyone's property.
In major snow seasons, I have snow settle in around the cable, turn into an ice-like mass and begin sliding down the hill . . . dragging the cable with it. Again . . . not nice to deal with in winter.
Two years ago half of my channels disappeared. Turns out they were the ones horizontally polarized. My lnb had leaked and was half filled with water . . . cost was $150 to replace.
None of these are problems with cable.
Now the cable has been strung on my road and the final hookups should be made soon, I hope.
I will be going to digital cable just as soon as I am able. I have no fond memories of DTH and do not really understand why people have it at all unless, like me, there was no cable option.
I repeat, DTH is a PITA. And it seems very ironic that the cable companies, considered stodgy and non-innovative, seem to be ahead of the satellite companies in technology like HD-PVRs.
And, of course, with the cable, comes affordable high speed internet . . . still a pipedream for the DTH companies with their restrictive and highly-priced internet services.
Again, the popularity of satellite TV in areas served by cable is just beyond me.