Common Forum Myths

Here's a list of several myths that you will see posted on the hundreds of FTA forums:

Myth: Blind-scanning circular satellites is not recommended because it produces duplicates.
Fact: When blind-scanning, your receiver scans one polarity at a time. First it scans Vertical or Right polarity and then it makes a second sweep through the same frequencies searching for Horizontal or Left polarity. Since DishPro LNBs are designed to take advantage of band-stacking technology, which converts all transponders to one polarity, your receiver picks up all channels with both scans, hence the duplicates. The way to avoid this is if you are using a DishPro LNB is to change the settings to only scan one polarity rather than two. If you are not using a DishPro LNB, duplicates are never an issue at all.

Myth: Channel lists don't work with Viewsat
Fact: Channel lists work just fine with Viewsat if you make sure you load both .sat and .cha files.

Myth: Factory bins fix receivers
Fact: Factory bins are no different than third-party bins, except that the latter contains decryption functions. Factory bins do not "clean" the receiver. Loading a third-party bin directly over another third-party bin is no different than loading a factory bin. A factory bin is only required when you must send the receiver back to the manufacturer for repair.

Myth: When updating to a new fix, always be sure to load the factory bin first before applying the new fix
Fact: Load the new fix directly on top of the old one. See above.

Myth: Always Factory Default three times before loading a new bin.
Fact: It is not necessary to factory default at all before loading a new bin. Factory Default clears channel information, antenna settings, and other user options. It is not the same as loading a factory bin (which, as described above, is also not necessary). If you factory default before loading the new fix, you will need to rescan your channels, re-set all of your antenna/switch settings, change your time, turn on your autoroll, and set your locals. None of that is needed and anyone who tells you that you have to do all of that is full of shit.

Myth: Tuning your receiver to channel 200 will help the autoroll process faster.
Fact: There is nothing special about channel 200. Keys are sent every 3 minutes on Dish (every 6 minutes on BEV) on all encrypted channels equally. Tuning to channel 200 will not bring your TV back any faster than tuning to channel 7032.

Myth: Tuning your receiver to channel 200 will help populate the EPG faster.
Fact: That's not a myth, it's true. channel 200 just happens to be on the same transponder as the EPG data.

Myth: Mount your dish as high as possible, preferably on the roof.
Fact: A satellite dish does not work like a conventional rooftop antenna. The only requirement for mounting a dish is a line-of-sight path between the satellite and the dish with absolutely no obstructions. A dish mounted on the ground can be just as effective as a roof-mounted dish as long as there are no trees or buildings in the way. When possible, it is actually best to mount the dish where it can be easily serviced without the need for ladders. This is especially true if you live in places where snow and ice are an issue.

Myth: Sort by SID has made channel lists obsolete.
Fact: For the average user who uses 110/119 only and who doesn't care that locals are in the 7000s and just wants to watch easy TV without any fuss, this might be somewhat true. Channel lists are still preferred by those who have the knowledge of how channel and transponder info works. They also allow for more personalized channel organization than what can be done with the remote control. This is particularly useful for multiple-satellite systems. The manufacturers themselves have propagated the myth that channel lists are obsolete and therefore have declined to continue to support SharpC's Channel Master project. SharpC now relies entirely on monetary and equipment donations. www.sharpc.com/cm

Myth: FTA satellites require a universal LNB.
Fact: No North American satellite requires a universal LNB. Satellites other than Dish Network and Bell ExpressVu are linear and therefore require a linear LNB as opposed to the circular LNB used for Dish/BEV. A linear LNB can be either standard or universal.

Myth: When attaching a second LNB to a single-LNB dish, make sure that the 119 LNB is slightly higher than the 110 LNB.
Fact: This is TRUE if you live east of Las Vegas. If you live on the West coast, the 119 LNB must be slightly lower-- though in either case 119 must be to the right of 110 when facing the dish.

Myth: Brand X came out with a fix first, so they have proven they are better than Brand Y and Brand Z.
Fact: Next time, Brand Y or Brand Z might be first.

Myth: Viewsat and Sonicview are products of the same company.
Fact: This is not and has never been true. This misconception came from the fact that FTAHQ (formerly total fta) was at one time the ground-zero site for both brands. That is no longer the case.

Myth: Charlie secretly owns certain FTA sites and is collecting member information.
Fact: Charlie does not own any FTA site. More discussion here: http://www.sattech.us/forums/index.php?topic=10701.0

Myth: Because certain sites have been named in a lawsuit, it is best to avoid them.
Fact: Four sites (total fta, curious contraptions, hashhu, and fta newbies) were mentioned in a legal brief as examples of sites where authorized dealers advertise. None of these sites were named as co-defendants.

Myth: An offshore server is more secure.
Fact: No it isn't. Read here: http://www.sattech.us/forums/index.php?topic=10150.0

Myth: Never buy from ebay. You'll get a clone.
Fact: Never buy from a dealer that does not have the authorized dealer logo (see http://www.sattech.us/forums/index.php?topic=10873.0). Many legitimate authorized dealers sell on ebay.

Myth: Pay and VIP membership sites get their fixes before anyone else
Fact: That's false. For every major receiver brand, there is a "ground zero" support site. These sites are always the first places the coders release the fixes for the particular model the site supports. Pay sites get their files from the ground-zero sites just as everyone else does. Unfortunately, ground-zero sites (and many totally free unaffiliated sites) are nearly impossible to get on due to high traffic. The pay sites charge for VIP membership, which allows access during these peak times. But there is no incentive at all for coders to release on pay sites first. Anyone who claims otherwise is full of shit.