what is an fta receiver?

[classicsat]

It receives channels from satellite, in the DVB format, which are transmitted with no encryption.

Right now, the major FTA satellite is mostly religious and foreign programming.
You generally get little network or cable type programming. You can find backhauls and stuff like that.

What FTA is not, is not receiving encrpyted pay channels without subscription. The past several years a lot of people used hacked FTA receivers for that purpose, but they were simply stealing the TV programming, and caling it "FTA".

 

[Kevin]

and what kind of channels would I get with it?

 

[GibsonEssGee]

FTA means free-to-air channels which are unencrypted and don't need a viewer card or subscription. The channels available depend pn which satellite you are receiving. http://www.lyngsat.com/ lists the channels on most satellites and whether the channels are FTA or encrypted.