Will be interesting to see what I get tonight when the CATV guy is coming to my house to hook me up … :saywhat:
I just said fuck it and bought a new cable box for NT$1,500. 188 channel reception. Don’t know if we have Star World, never did before.
I should send Yangming Cable the goddamn bill.
Has anyone signed up for the digital service?
Is there any kind of consumer satellite service in Taiwan? This is the usual alternative to cable in the US but it doesn’t seem to be offered here. I saw a satellite feed from Japan once at Daiichi to demonstrate HDTV, but that’s the only time I’ve seen satellite in use here.
Yes, there is - I just got satellite last week, which is a relief considering the current cable fiasco. I realise it’s not possible for everyone, for location and cost reasons, but if you’re a media freak like me and you can, it’s fantastic and I think it was worth every cent.
The system I got is DREAM (there are old threads about it in the forums if you do a search, which is where I found out about it 
) which is broadcast from the Philippines and is about 50 channels, but I would say about 25 channels in English of watchable stuff, excluding religious channels, home shopping, pay movies and Philippine local channels (which can still be good because they do show English language programs on occasion, such as in prime time). Other channels such as the French channel and Mandarin movies channel often have English subtitles.
And as an aside for Monk lovers - I’d be happy to tape eps for you, but I’m still trying to get hold of a PAL/multisystem VCR!. I’ll do another post in Technology, but any help appreciated.
No use complaining, because they ARE run by gangsters. You can’t switch to another operator because rather than competing in the same area, they agree to split up the area between them. If you don’t like what your cable comapny offers, you can go to … nothing. There was a good article in the Taipei Times on this about 4 years ago. When I say the companies are run by gangsters, I don’ mean ‘shoddy operators who behave like gangsters’ - I mean gangsters. How else do you explain the illegal ads that cut in. Like the cable company or the goverment can’t do anything about it? Bullshit. The ads are preceded by a number you can dial to get your ads placed. It would be so easy to stop them.
brian
you can but you need to get a dish and decoder. Also since you will not be subscribing to the operator, you may only be able to get the free to air channels and not the encrypted channels. Most of these free to air providers give crap programming as you have to pay subscription for anything good
Also you need the write decoder with the right app software to be able to read the signal thats pulled down. Then you need to decrypt it via a smart card.
Most channels except the crappy free to air are encrypted nowadays. Its the way the sat companies generate revenue
This is a little :offtopic: but…Some friends of mine are getting free cable. Apparently all’s you need is a screw driver and the location of your floor’s cable box!
As I understand it you can get free-to-air stuff using some huge dish that you have to rotate, but the package I bought is actually through a Taiwan distributor for the actual operator (I think) - dish, decoder and smart card are all branded, and the subscription has to be renewed yearly by purchasing a new card.
so i did have every right to flip out then… fuck, i have lost discovery, national geogrphic, star, cnn, and hallmark. not that those channels came in that clear anyway, and i have a new tv. my landlord charges me every month for what i suspect is illegal cable anyhow. i even went out and bought anew cable… any suggestions to make reception better? and why have i lost the majority of english channels compared to everyone else!!!
all the cables here are exposed to the wet rain, heat etc, and the network keeps getting branching each time they expand it . The result of this is that they loss signal level ( about 2.5dB) per two splits.
to compensate they drive up the signal level with amplifers that create noise. This may explain the shit picture on your TV and the ghosting or snow, else the splitter may not be terminated properly or it could be half broken.
I would find the source of your cable, and then check the connection.
I would check where the other cable goes to ( maybe your neighbour) and then ask them about the quality of the picture
As regards channels, I think they shoudl be still there. The cable company cannot select individuals on the network not to have channel X Y and Z. Either they send it down the network or they don’t. Check your TV and scan for the channels
In that case perhaps check with your neighbor, and give your landlord shit about the quality of cable. Why should you pay for cable when you can;t see it properly
Get the landlord to sort it out since your paying him and he is dealing with the cable company( well suppoasley by paying your cable fee)
FYI Most satelitte and cable installers are cowboys. They have no idea of anything beyond, plugging into Y and nailing a cable into the wall. If they cannot fix it by unscrewing and rescrewing your cable into your TV, they will leg it out of there, prhaps blaiming your TV and go to the next house where they will get paid for a 5 min installation
[quote=“daasgrrl”][quote=“TNT”]
you can but you need to get a dish and decoder. Also since you will not be subscribing to the operator, you may only be able to get the free to air channels and not the encrypted channels. Most of these free to air providers give crap programming as you have to pay subscription for anything good
[/quote]
As I understand it you can get free-to-air stuff using some huge dish that you have to rotate, but the package I bought is actually through a Taiwan distributor for the actual operator (I think) - dish, decoder and smart card are all branded, and the subscription has to be renewed yearly by purchasing a new card.[/quote]
unless it is a distributor for a sat company it may be a pirated card and decoder. I could possibly buy a decoder in UK, with a pirated card, stick a dish on my roof and point it to the Astra satelitte sitting over Europe and have full access indefintley well at least until a new over the air software and download happens
This is hugh problem globally hence you have got hugh CA companies like NDS, Irdeto, NAgra constantly releasing updated CAs to keep a head of the hackers
one of the reasons I buy DVDs nowadays so often is my frustration with the local cable companies.
I did consider satellite, too. But I’mnot sure we can get it here with our apartment building. how do I check?
Thank god for Amazon!
Kenneth
[quote=“KenTaiwan98”]one of the reasons I buy DVDs nowadays so often is my frustration with the local cable companies.
I did consider satellite, too. But I’mnot sure we can get it here with our apartment building. how do I check?
Thank god for Amazon!
Kenneth[/quote]
you can get sat, there are two or three sats hanging over Asia. The satelittle installataion “professinals” just have to point it to the transponder and bobs your uncle. Then you got to have their software and the priveleges to decrypt it.
from your apartment all you got to be able to do is get line of sight to the sat and transponder.
Before I do that I would check what actual content they provide…do you really want 80% of your channels in Thai, Korean or Chinese?
Good point, and something to be wary of I suppose. I’m pretty convinced mine is genuine - Dream branded Nokia receiver, in Dream branded box, with instruction booklet showing same and all documentation in perfect English (ie not Chinglish), license in several European languages, plus limited legal warranty applicable only in the Philippines. Given that, I’m inclined to believe the card is genuine as well, and they have indicated they sell renewals. Really, as long as it works, I’m not complaining 
However, as to whether Dream is allowed to legally distribute their services outside the Philippines may be another issue…
Depends which satellite you want to get - with mine you had to have direct line of sight to the sun at around 10.30am to be able to get it. That’s it, really. It’s obviously easier if you live on a higher floor with no obstructions - they can put it on your balcony - or if you can get permission to install it on the roof.
You can buy a signal amplifier in 3C. I think they are a bit less than NT$1k.
So, I am hooked up now. The guys had to run a new cable from the distribution box to my apartment, which is easily done Taiwan-style on the outside wall of the building - just throw the cable down 11 floors, fix it with two cable ties and done (distribution box it mounted outside and there is another connection just outside of my window).
After the guys left I zapped through and found lot’s of channels, in particular the English ones, unwatchable.
However this was due to the internal wiring, in this case the wall outlet box to be exact. A trip to B&Q sorted this out and now most (but not all) channels are watchable. I guess this is due to the signal fed in however.
No StarWorld here either but everything else seems to be available (incl. CNN :really: ).
In comparision to the digital service in Malaysia (via SAT) the quality in terms of picture and choice sucks.
Some areas evidently still have a couple providers hooked in with the two major services though. We used to switch services every couple years - chasing Star Plus and then Star World. If your CNN is now on 94 and Cinemax is 62 (for us Cinemax now is incredibly LOUD, we have to turn the volume way down to channel surf to it or it’ll blow your eardrums right out) and Star World has gone byebye then you’re probably on the same main provider we are.
For the folks who still have Star World, what channel is it on and where’s your CNN.
A few local companies are replacing some channels on their own without permission from the big-boys but that’s not as common as it used to be (back when cable was illegal and there were channels that just played porn DVDs - I can still remember surfing channels and coming across a European film with transvestite transexual bestiality).
Oh, well, there’s still Kazaa Lite and current seasons of Enterprise . . . but it ain’t the same. I want my Star World . . . I’m not sure life will completely suck without it but TV will certainly suck a little more than usual (TV in Taipei has never been without an ample dosage of suck). 
[quote]For the folks who still have Star World, what channel is it on and where’s your CNN.[/quote]Star World 90, CNN 100, Cinemax 61, HBO 56.
Yes, meiguorenlang, but the question of the hour is “Does kazaa have episodes of Monk?” Seeing as this computer I’m on doesn’t have kazaa, I’ll need someone to check for me. I know, I know…no encouraging illegal activities, but after listening to that damn song for the furniture place over and over, sometimes 3 times in a row in the same commercial break, and being robbed of my Star World without even a warning, I think it’s time to fight fire with fire.