jre@hjuxa.UUCP (ELIEFF) (07/09/84)
I'm interested in possibly getting a dish antenna, but I know absoloutly nothing about the subject. I am particularly interested in recieving sports broadcast from the eastern hemisphers, i.e. soccer games. Is there anyone out there who can give me some information on this subject or tell me were I can get information. Any help at all will be greatly apprecieated.
lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein) (07/11/84)
Without going into detail, I'll specifically address the particular inquiry recently made regarding this subject: 1) Forget about Eastern Hemisphere broadcasts. The satellites you can receive at home with conventional equipment, by and large, are domestic communications satellites. You would only see Eastern sports events if they were being relayed through the U.S. systems for local distribution. There are some exceptions to this rule, but this is accurate as a general statement. You'd have lots of trouble with the Eastern broadcasts even if you were properly located to watch an international satellite, since the transmission standards are different (the old NTSC/PAL/SECAM problem). While it IS possible to get a somewhat distorted monochrome image of a PAL or SECAM transmission on some properly MIS-adjusted NTSC sets, the picture has aspect ration problems and will of course have no color. 2) If you're interested in domestic sports, I'd advise you to forget it. The sports outlets (ESPN, USA Network, WTBS, etc.) are already planning to scramble their signals, with DES-based systems which should be considered to be uncrackable for all normal purposes. --Lauren--