What Happened To Those Huge Satellite Dishes?

[Justin]

Remember those HUGE satellite dishes? What was the story with those, and where did they go? This is great:

 

 

[DegasElite]

Also, I think they are being replaced by digital antennas where you can get FREE digital TV from. Satellite television has a price. :O)

Edited March 29, 2022 by DegasElite

[DegasElite]

I saw the video before I posted my first message. Interesting. But, at least you can now get free local TV that rivals cable (and satellite) on an antenna. It's been that way since 2009, when the government mandated digital TV signals. I have a digital antenna, and it's mint. Sure it tiles, like satellite on a rainy day, but it's free TV, and I like free. :O)

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I remember my cousin getting one back in the 1990s.  One night after she got it I spent the night with her. She had paid for some of the channels on it but I played around with it and found NBC's channel feed for all its networks.  She was getting commercial free programs weeks before they aired.  She was very happy I found it.  She was able to catch her soap opera a week before her coworkers so it gave her bragging rights.  She would tape the shows to watch after work and once a tape was full she would let her coworkers take it home with them.

[CrossBow]

My grandmother had a satellite dish like this in the mid 80s. Her husband at the time made really good money so they had the means to afford it back then. The only things I really remember is that I broke it the first time I visited after they had gotten it because my grandmother never told me about the limits of the dish's rotation. So I ended up turning it beyond where it was supposed to and the motor seized up or something. Her husband was not very happy about that... In fact I want to say it was at least a year maybe two before he would trust me with the remote to control the dish by myself again after that. I also remember the first disk was a white all opaque model that wasn't meshed. That was the one I fried the motor on. They replaced it a few years later when it was struck by lightning and took out their electronics in the house connected to it. The new dish was a mesh style like shown in the thumbnail. I have no idea how long that dish was kept because they still had it the last time I visited them while they were married. That was sometime likely around 89 - 90 would be my guess.

Oh, something that video didn't mention correctly. Far as I know, channels like HBO, Playboy, Cinemax...etc. Their signals were always scrambled from the get go because my grandparents weren't able to get those stations. Those would come in all goofy like a smeared mess of color on the screen. But other stations like the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon I could watch without issue. But, I did have to follow a magazine guide they had so I knew where to adjust the dish to see that station depending on the time of day. You had to adjust two different angles as I recall (Zenith & Azmuth?). Wild stuff but it was fun and pretty cool! I do remember being able to watch NASA live feeds and it was about the coolest thing ever.

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by CrossBow
spelling...clarification

[Atari 5200 Guy]

My cousin had the mesh dish. The receiver was a Toshiba.  Once channels were found you could set it and the receiver would automatically adjust the dish. 

[CrossBow]

41 minutes ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

My cousin had the mesh dish. The receiver was a Toshiba.  Once channels were found you could set it and the receiver would automatically adjust the dish. 

yeah my Grandparents wasn't nearly that advanced. Again I had to adjust two different sets of numbers on it following a guide in a monthly magazine they subscribed to to watch specific channels depending on the time of day. I think some of them might have even required different stations within the current dish direction to be chosen since ABC on one satellite might be on a different number on a different satellite that you were currently pointed at. 

I remember watching a LOT of Disney channel when I visited since they didn't really have any of the premium movie channels. They had to have a dish because they lived pretty rural quite a few miles outside of a very small town back then. So it was the only way to get any real TV channels for them back then.

 

[- Ω -]

I remember those early monster C Band dishes.  I loved being able to get so much stuff for free, especially the Star Trek DS9 feeds to the stations.  I was able to record the episodes and take them for viewing to our local Star Trek club before the episode aired on regular TV.  Good times!

[- Ω -]

9 hours ago, CrossBow said:

But, I did have to follow a magazine guide they had so I knew where to adjust the dish to see that station depending on the time of day.

I do remember being able to watch NASA live feeds and it was about the coolest thing ever.

 

Yeah, those guides were monsters!  IIRC they were even bigger than the Computer Shopper Magazine.

Yeah, NASA TV was the bomb.  I remember watching the re-entry of the shuttle live once and seeing the map, it was probably like 1am or something.  Anyway I looked at the map and said, "Hey that suckers going to come directly overhead, so I went outside and actually saw the little orange speck track across the sky in a southern direction.  

Now days I don't watch any TV, in fact two weeks ago I cancelled my Direct TV and landline.  No point in paying $178.00 a month for something I don't have time for.  Now I get everything streaming.

Edited March 30, 2022 by - Ω -

[Atari 5200 Guy]

I miss analog broadcasting. I'd rather try to pick up a snowy channel than have a hard time getting any kind of digital signal. Those indoor rabbit ears even did wonders at times.