NFL preseason games

[uplinkguy]

Just a heads up for you guys.

I would be willing to guess that 90% of all the preseason games will be in the clear.   A lot of them will still use analog signals.

I would check the satellites with a lot of occasional space available such as AMC-9 and SBS 6.  Last year there where 6 games at one time on SBS 6 at one time that I was working.

Preseason football works very differently than the regular season.  The football teams themselves sell the rights to the games.  This adds up to a lot of local stations producing a lot of games themselves.  Since they typically produce on the cheap and get other stations to join them in other markets to share cost, the backhauls are usually kept simple.
 

During the regular season, there won't be a game in the clear unless there are technical difficulties.  This would be a case at the game site of broken encryption gear, or the intended network headend or affiliate having problems unscrambling the picture.

(Go Pack!)
Andy

[packman]

I would check the satellites with a lot of occasional space available such as AMC-9 and SBS 6. Last year there where 6 games at one time on SBS 6 at one time that I was working.

Pardon my ignorance but do I need FTA satellite receiver for this?  I do not understand "in the clear".  As a newbie I'm guessing you mean these can be picked up with special equipment and not just a DTV receiver. Can I repoint a DTV receiver to get this signal? So I am asking, is this a note just for Free to Air hobbyists that it is out there?  Will the MP2 FTA signal have more than the SD from my local station?

[uplinkguy]

This is a notice for the enthusiasts that aim their dishes at several satellites.  DTV receivers won't pick up these games unless they are on the standard network channels or locals.

The uplinks from the stadiums are usually more interesting than watching the polished output of a tv channel. A lot of raw camera shots, comments and other components of a game will get uplinked unless the commercials are rolled from the production truck.  If the commentators aren't used to live tv, they sometimes are seen and heard at very awkward times.

Most of the preseason games will be available with no special scrambling.  Some will still be analog.  This would require probably a six foot dish for decent receive and a receiver capable of KU band analog

Stations/cable networks that put up a digital signal will need a FTA or other digital receiver.

Just from experience from the past, but almost all games will be on KU band  because it is cheaper to uplink.  Some outlets, i.e. local stations that pick up these games, might not be used to receiving digital feeds so they still feed the games analog.

[tazman]

This is a notice for the enthusiasts that aim their dishes at several satellites.

Oh I'm enthused...  Thanks a bunch for the heads up.    Just a side note from the other thread.  I have been picking up some feeds from time to time on either AMC-1 or AMC-9.  Some are listed as NBC and some just say occasional feed or digital sngl.   Yesterday I was watching NBC 5 out of Chicago flying around in their news chopper looking for an accident.  They never found it though.:cool:

[tazman]

Pardon my ignorance but do I need FTA satellite receiver for this?

Yes you do.  Also a Ku-band dish 1 meter or larger or a C-band setup with a 6 foot or larger dish and a C-band only or C/Ku-band LNB's and feed horn.

You get to learn after awhile where to expect the feeds to come from, but pardon the expression, it's still a crap shoot as to where and when you'll find them.  That's why friendly little hints from people in the know are always welcome.  Feed times and sat. locations are not made public knowlege.  Which makes this more of a fun hobby, than just sitting there bored watching Direct or DISH.

" in the clear "  all that means is programming that has not yet been encrypted.  There is still a good amount of it out there and of coarse the feeds.

[Malamute]

Packman, Yes the FTA rec is not like a dish or defect TV reciever, but they use the the same format MPEG 2.

I just put up a 12 ft C-Band Dish, I now have C-Band lnb / Ku-Band lnb so I get Anolog NTSC & Digital NTSC with VC2 / DC2 / MPEG 2

If you goto another post in FTA section I did list some web sites were you can get info and buy the equipment needed.

Malamute