If, like me, you are starting to get seriously fed-up with paying through your neck for the luxury of DSTV, I have some bad news. Here in South Africa, sadly, there are no alternatives. The terrestrial national broadcaster treats us with the ‘quality’ programming available on SABC 1, 2 and 3 while the fourth public tv station, eTV, thinks that if they throw enough WWE at us, we’ll all be happy. The other satellite tv provider available in South Africa, TopTV, needs to seriously consider getting channels showing series from this decade. Currently, the lineup on TopTV consists of Silk Stalkings, Angel, Ally McBeal, Buck Rogers and M.A.S.H. To name a few.
The funny thing is, that both DSTV and TopTV carry some Free to Air channels, and actually SELLING it to us as part of their various packages! Channels like France24 (TopTV), EuroSport(TopTV), Setanta (TopTV), CCTV4 and CCTV9 (DSTV & TopTV), Al Jazeera (DSTV & TopTV), BBC World (DSTV & TopTV), MSNBC (DSTV & TopTV), as well as SABC 1, 2, 3 and eTV. If you have a FTA satellite decoder, you are able to receive all of these channels, and more, without paying a cent to No-Choice and CrapTV.
But don’t get depressed. I have some good news (well, at least to DSTV subscribers). By following the instructions I provide below, you will be able to open up your DSTV decoder to receive quite a few extra TV and radio channels. Also, you don’t even need to be concerned about changing your DSTV dish alignment. These settings will work with your DSTV dish as it is.
Ok, so here’s the instructions. Using your DSTV remote:
1.) Press menu Select “Advanced Options” Select “Dish Installation” Enter the pin “9949″ Select “Network Configuration”
2.) Leave “Network 1 Setup (Home)” unchanged!
3.) Select “Network 2 Setup”, press right until “Other” appears, then press OK and enter the following details:
Satellite Name: IS 7/10 Frequency: 12562 Symbol Rate: 26557 FEC: 1/2 Polarisation: Horizontal
Accept all displayed values
4.) Select “Network 3 Setup”, press right until “Other” appears, then press OK and enter the following details:
Satellite Name: IS 7/10 Frequency: 12682 Symbol Rate: 26657 FEC: 1/2 Polarisation: Horizontal
Accept all displayed values
5.) Select “Network 4 Setup”, press right until “Other” appears, then press OK and enter the following details:
Satellite Name: IS 7/10 Frequency: 12722 Symbol Rate: 26657 FEC: 1/2 Polarisation: Vertical
Accept all displayed values
5.) Select “Network 4 Setup”, press right until “Other” appears, then press OK and enter the following details:
Satellite Name: IS 7/10 Frequency: 12722 Symbol Rate: 26657 FEC: 1/2 Polarisation: Vertical
Accept all displayed values
6.)Exit once to go back to the “Dish Installation” menu Select “Scan All Networks” Your decoder will go into scanning mode and might take a while to scan all 9 networks. Do not interrupt the process even if it seams to take longer than you expected!
Once completed, your picture will return as normal. To access you public channels, press the “TV button” on your remote control. The “Bouquet Options” menu will appear. Select “Public PAS7/10″:
TV
PressTV (24hr News Channel)
France24 (24hr News Channel)
Kruiskyk (Afrikaans Christian Channel)
Muvi (African Movie Channel)
Kicc (Christian Channel)
Ahlul (Islamic Channel)
Jesus (Christian Channel)
3ABN (Christian Channel)
God Channel (Christian Channel)
Daystar (Christian Entertainment Channel)
ITV (Islamic Variety Channel)
Ezekiel TV (Christian Channel)
Hope TV (Christian Channel)
The Learning Channel (Educational)
Radio
5FM
Good Hope FM
Ikwekwezi FM
Radio Metro
Radio Lotus
SAFM
R2000
RSG
Radio Islam
Radio Pulpit/Radio Kansel
DW Radio
Classic FM
FusionFM
Trans World Radio
Radio Pretoria
It’s not much, but better than nothing. Unfortunately channels like BBC World, Eurosport and CCTV 4 are blocked from FTA reception on the DSTV decoders, as this will detract from their packages. If you have a FTA decoder, like Strong, the above settings will work for you as well, but I suggest you do a Blindscan. This will allow your decoder to pick up any and all FTA channels available for your sized dish.
With uncapped bandwidth and ADSL speeds becoming more affordable, I will be looking to invest my DSTV subscription in Internet TV. If you are interested in accessing sport events streaming via Supersport Live, for free, have a look at my post Live Sport Streaming.
