Your Satellite Tv Hobby -When & how did it start?

[far]

For me it started in 2002, when Eurosport lost the contract to show Champ Cars. I learnt ABMoteurs (then FTA) were carrying it so got an installer to swap out my minidish for a 60cm dish with Astra 1 LNB on a separate bracket. Until 2004 I was using an A/B switch and the dodgybox to get channels from 19.2E but I got a Skystar 2 second hand from that well known a*uction site for £33 second hand (bargain at the time). The same year I added Hotbird to my setup. Didn't go motorised until 2009 but been amazed at what you can get. Its not as much fun as it was even in the early 2000s maybe but, hands down, its still a fun hobby and beats Murdoch anytime!

[huston]

I have just come across this thread and really enjoyed a trip down nostalgia lane .
I am not a techie but I have always be inquisitive in communication equipment .
I guess it all started in my teens , in the 50's , I was given an old radio ( wireless ! ) which had good SW bands ,I rigged up an aerial from my bedroom and I remember picking up broadcasts clearly in N.Ireland from places as far apart as Canada and Ceylon.
Jump forward to the 60's living in Kent , BBC2 had just started , we moved to ***bria ,no BBC2 there , but I got a signal booster and picked up a strong signal from N.Wales with a large aerial , in good weather .
Then in the early 90's with a friend we set up a dish and had a box and we had to put codes into a variety of chips which we had to update nearly every day to get a good selection of channels , I think on 13E .
I retired in 1995 and treated myself to a motorised system . I really enjoyed tracking down news feeds , seeing how they were edited before transmission . One time I picked up a reporter in Scotland ,at the time of Dunblane , who before going on air he talked to his studio link about how he had phoned his wife to make sure his kids were OK !
When analogue became digital it was more difficult to keep up with new challenges , I have had Technomates , Spiderboxes and currently HiTech HD9000 , and changed my motorised system three times .
I have to say the information , and help , that you can find on-line , especially here , is what keeps me enjoying this hobby/pastime .