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                                                                                            DTH WOES            

                                                                                            **************

Way back in the 80's our home was proud to own a B&W TV set. It had  wooden sliding doors with a lock. The grey screen was fitted with a blue screen. With a terrestrial antenna I enjoyed two local channels happily.Beaming was for about three four hours a day which I viewed with rapt attention.

Cricket test matches were telecast live which was almost magical to me !! My favourite cricketers right in my drawing room !! What a marvel of technology !! On the second channel late night movies were telecast which was so so entertaining ! But this was not for long as you will see in my case.

I was transferred to a small district town a wee bit far away from the city's transmission. I bought a small portable TV with a stick antenna. When I switched it on .... no picture or sound !!!!

I tried adjusting the telescopic antenna but no.. nothing !! Next day I looked at the rooftop antennas in the neighbourhood.I visited my landlords home and took measurments of the aluminium pipes since I couldn't afford readymade antennas.I bought alumininium pipes,filled them with sand and bent into the "dipole" The other two I attached one in front and one behind the dipole.I fetched a ten foot wooden strip to which I attached the indegenous antenna. Yes !!!!! the picture and sound came but with flies flying all over the screen.

I decided to scrounge and buy a booster for increasing the signal strength. With the help of a small maidgirl who lived whole time with us I got the booster fixed in series with the antenna. Lo and behold !!! Sharp pictures and crystal clear sound ! I placed the TV on a packing crate and everyday from 6 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. I enjoyed the programs telecast I was as happy as happy could be.... My two year old son soon memorised the jingles of the advertisements and sang them in his lisping tone.Oh yes ... those were the happy days. But again this happiness was short lived.... I was transferred to my home city on request and I took the TV with me.Now our home had two TVs !!!!! The home-made antenna was discarded since the telescopic one worked fine in the city.

Now readers who read this must be finding it quite drab and without any lustre which accomplished writers post on this site.Anyway the choice is yours read or not....

Most of my city neighbours had in the meantime acquired 20inch colour TVs and I exchanged my B&W (doored one) and brought home a 20in colour TV with a black plastic cabinet.Wow !! two colourful channels !!!!Donald Duck,Uncle Scrooge,Bugs Bunny,Popeye and tthe "Mahabarata" and a few Hindi soaps plus the weekly Friday night late night English movies .The ladies looked sexy indeed with skimpy colourful clothes !! But again there was not much choice of channels.Then came the cable TV .... I got one connection and soon was enjoying more than 50 channels for a pittance. I had fallen into the deepest trap !!! I forgot that now I was "paying" for the channels.But in any case I was happy.The TV which I had became of a back-dated technology and I again exchanged it for another colour TV with a remote .The cable now controlled my family life.We read less and ogled more.But it was the height of entertainment unlimited.There was always a wide choice for all.The gulf war on CNN was brought to my living room complete with the Patriot missiles and their lauchers.Kuwaiti oilfields burnt with orange flames licking the sky.God above must also have felt the heat and decided to move away to some other place.When war was disgusting there was always a mushy soap available.But this technology also became obsolete about five years ago !!

"You need a Set Top Box to see all the  channels.Two options.. Outright purchase or monthly rental."I opted for monthly rental. I now had two colour TVs ,two STBs and two remotes with two batteries each.

The STBs had viewing cards inserted in them and all channels from satellites were viewable.Wonderful !! I told myself.. But gradually the rates payable every month began steeply rising and CAS (Conditional Access System) was introduced.... Bouquets and packages were offered. I opted for a reasonably good assortment package. No ! no !no ! Off and on channels were deleted and worthless channels were shoved in. When I approached the friendly neighbourhood cable operator he said that the package was changed by the MSO. I had to accept his words as gospel truth but with a grudge deep inside me.This went on for almost two years. In the meantime several reknowned DTH players had begun selling equipment and package options. I began window shopping for DTH operators with their package offers.... "Rainbow Pack" "Deliteful Bonanza Pack" "Special Festive Pack" and so on. I surrendered my cable connection and got a dish fitted from which two connections .. one to each TV. One was "Parent Card" and the other "Addon Card" The Addon Card was cheaper and the channels could be viewed simultaneously on both the TVs.

I was awfully happy and delighted for five months. Then one TV "The Addon" one gave querky channels and Free channels but not a single Pay channel !!! I contacted the call centre.A "knowledgable" technician arrived and replaced my new shiny STB with a sick metal old STB. But the pictures and channels were okay. I was happy for another four months.Then my woes began again !!! When one TV was on the other did not work with a message "Check to see if your TV is properly connected to the TV or Wait for the rain to stop etc" The call centre guy said that a home visit by a techie would be chargeable. I said "OK" Techie arrived and changed the LMB for a substantial cost.Could you believe me !! Just a month had passed and again the same problem. I telephoned the service guy personally who installed another dish antenna with single LMB . I dont know how long the honeymoon will last !! I now truly miss my old TV with only two channels and keep on wondering... what next.

©bishu