[Jukebox-list] Way OT question-- TV on PC scam

[Jay Hennigan]

Ron Rich wrote:
> Hi All,
> Sorry this is so OT, but I don't know who else to ask, at this moment--
> If anyone has info, please answer me "off list" at ronnnrich at yahoo.com .
> My question is: I just got a message that my mail service put in my "spam" file. It says "Digital TV from around the world on your PC". I am chicken to open it, for fear of viri--but I think that I would enjoy being able to view this--
> Anyone ever heard of it, or have it?
> TIA, Ron Rich

I'll answer on-list.  Now that you have our curiosity, others will bug 
you for a summary.

Rule No. 1:  If you received an advertisement that seems too good to be 
true, it probably isn't true.

Rule No. 2:  If you received an advertisement via spam, it is almost 
certainly an outright scam.  If not, it's a very bad deal.  "Limited 
edition US Government issued copper over zinc medallion of President 
Lincoln, $4.99 plus shipping and handling!" (The edition is limited to 
the number of pennies minted that year.  Not a total scam as you do get 
something more or less as advertised, but not a very good deal.)

What this scam is, is either software or simply an HTML bookmark file 
that has links to a number of streaming video sites.  Poor quality 
video, mostly religious or shopping channels, maybe stuff posted to 
YouTube, etc.  It comes over your broadband connection, not satellite. 
That's it.

Note that there are available actual hardware cards such as those made 
bu Hauppauge that can be placed into a PC hardware slot and connected to 
a DVB satellite dish antenna.  A reasonable dish is a bout one meter 
diameter, slightly bigger than the Direct TV or Dish Network "pizza 
dishes".  These can receive any of several "free-to-air" unscrambled 
satellite signals, occasional wild news feeds, etc.  NOT the Dish or 
Direct TV scrambled signals.  Point it at the Dish bird and you'll get 
their barker ad channels and I think NASA and maybe a religious channel 
or two.  This is NOT what the spam/scam sites are advertising.  The 
scam/spam sites basically provide a list of links and don't use a 
satellite at all.

Most of the free-to-air content is religious, shopping, foreign language 
TV with a few network and local stations mixed in.  You need a dish with 
LNB, probably a motor to remotely move it from satellite to satellite, 
and the hardware card.  A frequently updated channel list is here: 
http://www.lyngsat.com/

There is bootleg software available to turn the Hauppauge cards and also 
stand-alone FTA receiver boxes into Dish Network receivers.  It works 
after a fashion, or so I've been told.  The Dish folks frequently change 
the scrambling to disable the bootleg software, and then you're without 
TV until new software is made available.

--
Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net
Impulse Internet Service  -  http://www.impulse.net/
Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV