FTA dish used to receive L-band amateur radio

May 21, 2012 By 11 Comments

[David Prutchi] has an FTA (free-to-air) satellite dish. This means he can tune and watch freely available satellite television feeds. But this sounds much better than it actually is. There isn’t much that’s broadcasted unecrypted from satellites with the exception of a collection of religious channels. But he still uses the dish by using the FTA satellites to calibrate the … Read the rest

Filed Under: radio hacks Tagged With: , , , ,

Various Cantenna builds

July 7, 2009 By 26 Comments

cantennas(color)

Here is a classic project used to increase wireless signal strength. Cantennas focus using a waveguide very much like a magnifying glass focuses light. [Robert] made a Natural Light beer cantenna, pictured in the upper left. His approach used three beer cans, a paper towel holder, and a shower curtain rod. On the tipline, he noted a signal … Read the rest

Filed Under: home hacks, roundup, wireless hacks Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

DISH wins $1050 in satellite cracking case

May 21, 2008 By 3 Comments
Who doesn’t love a good corporate espionage story? We certainly don’t mind them, especially when they involve hiring a notable hacker to do the company’s dirty work. It seems this is exactly what happened in the case of Dish Networks vs NDS Group. Last month, Christopher Tarnovsky admitted he was paid $20,000 in cash to crack the security protocols used

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Filed Under: home entertainment hacks Tagged With: , , , ,