| Have you been pulling your hair out trying to | | | | USB 2 on the other hand has a maximum speed |
| watch satellite tv on your computer? Many folks | | | | specification of 480 Mbps, which is about 40 times |
| know it can be done but are confused on how to | | | | faster than USB 1.1. USB 2 is well suited to all |
| do it. I am going to give you my quick and easy | | | | kinds of video applications that you might want to |
| recipe for watching satellite tv on your computer. | | | | use. |
| There are only a few steps and it is a cinch on | | | | What you need to watch satellite TV on your PC |
| you know how. Most people still use a | | | | Most of the satellite to PC solutions are available |
| conventional TV set and a set-top sattelite | | | | for Windows Â(R) only so that's what I'm |
| receiver to watch sattelite TV but it's fast | | | | assuming that you will be using. |
| becoming popular to watch satellite TV on your | | | | PC System requirements |
| PC. More and more homes today are equipped | | | | • MicrosoftÂ(R) |
| with at least one PC and most of those pcs are | | | | WindowsÂ(R) XP |
| perfectly capable of showing DVDs, streamed | | | | • MicrosoftÂ(R) |
| video and sattelite TV. | | | | DirectX9.0C or later |
| Free to Air (FTA) satellite broadcasts | | | | • MicrosoftÂ(R) |
| Free to air satellite TV broadcasts are transmitted | | | | WindowsÂ(R) Media Player 9.0 or later |
| for you to enjoy without needing to pay any | | | | • P4 2G MHZ CPU or above |
| additional subscription or pay-to-view charges. | | | | • 256MB RAM or above |
| Unless you live in the UK of course where you | | | | • VGA card with at least |
| have to buy a TV licence no matter what TV | | | | 32MB memory |
| broadcasts you receive. | | | | • Sound card or on board |
| The vast majority of satellite TV to PC solutions | | | | sound chip |
| available are designed to receive FTA broadcasts, | | | | • One free USB 2.0 port |
| which can mean a lot of channels depending on | | | | In addition to your PC you will need the following: |
| where in the world you live. If you want to watch | | | | • Digital Satellite Dish & LNB |
| premium channels from your satellite TV provider | | | | • USB satellite TV receiver |
| then you will need a decoder to unscramble the | | | | with DVB-S |
| signal. More about that in the article Descrambler - | | | | How to connect your USB FTA satellite receiver |
| Satellite TV. | | | | to your pc |
| What is USB and which version do you need? | | | | When you have installed, or had a professional |
| The short answer to this is "Make sure you get | | | | install, your satellite dish and LNB you can connect |
| USB 2" on your PC. Most if not all modern PCs | | | | the cable from the dish to your satellite TV |
| support it so you don't need to worry too much. | | | | receiver. The next thing to do is to install on your |
| USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and comes in | | | | computer any software that came with your USB |
| two main versions, version 1 and version 2. | | | | satellite receiver. Just follow the set-up instructions |
| Version 1 was the first USB standard to be | | | | supplied with the receiver. When you have done |
| released and allowed for many peripheral devices | | | | that you can connect a USB cable, which is |
| to be added to your PC without needing to open | | | | normally supplied with the receiver, into a free |
| the box and do some techy stuff. | | | | USB 2 port on your PC. Run up the software that |
| USB 1 or 1.1 was a little slow however and didn't | | | | you installed and away you go. |
| perform well when used for video applications. It | | | | That's it. It is real simple to watch satellite tv on |
| will not support high definition TV (HDTV) at all. | | | | your computer! |