photos by Brian McManus
The two types of satellite dishes available in Lincoln are shown above. Left, Lincoln Justice, hoes in front of his parabolic dish, located iri front of his earth
home in southeast Lincoln. Right, Russell Dodworth adjusts the horn to the spherical dish on the roof of his store.
Satellite dishes: A television alternative
BY BRIAN MCMANUS
If you've got the cash, you can turn your
television set into a satellite receiving
station.
According to Russell Dodworth,
owner of Dodworth and Son Farm Store
in Havelock, satellite receiving dishes are
likely to become more popular for home
use.
The dishes Dodworth is referring to
are about 10 feet in diameter and can be
aimed at the horizon to pick up satellite
television transmissions. This allows the
dish owner to pick up cable channels, in
cluding the movie stations, without hav
ing to pay for it.
The problem: the dish and the elec
tronic hardware needed for a complete
system starts at $3,800, and can be as ex
pensive as $10,000.
Dodworth sells two types of receiving
dishes. The first, and more expensive, is
called a parabolic dish. It is a solid dish
with the "horn," (the device which hones
in on the transmission), at the center of
the dish. The dish is usually mounted on
a pole, and a motorized pivot can be pur
chased to move the dish to point to any
of the five sattelites on the western hori
zon. The second type, known as the spheri
cal dish, costs less, and according to Dod
worth, gets just as good reception as the
parabolic type. Dodworth sells the spher
ical in a "do-it-yourself kit. It is a criss
crossing of redwood slats, covered with
screening. The dish itself remains sta
tionary, the horn is separate, pointed to
wards the dish, and can be moved to pick
up the various satellites transmissions.
Dodworth said it takes about two days
build the dish, and it's easy enough that
almost anyone can put one together.
There is nothing illegal in having a
dish for private use, Dodworth said.
"The air-waves are free. They can't
charge you for picking up transmissions
that are in your air."
The question of legality comes when
the transmissions aren't used just for pri
vate use, Dodworth said. Any satellite
transmissions used for profit or large
audiences are subject to FCC regulation,
he said.
For example, Dodworth said that the
Lincoln Meadows neighborhood by
Holmes Lake was considering installing a
satellite for their condominiums, having
the tenants share the use of the one
sattelite. To do this, they would have to
license themselves with the FCC, since
there are over 49 people involved.
Doc Chaves, who was selected at a
Lincoln Meadows Homeowner's meeting
to investigate the possibility, said he
doubted that they would install a satel
lite system. Although the cost of the sat
ellite dish itself is feasible, they would
have to buy .separate amplifiers and
demodulators for each user, which would
raise the cost, he said. Nevertheless, he
said it is an alternative to Cablevision
that they are still considering.
Although the costs may be prohibitive
to most now, Dodworth said that tech
nology and mass production will, lower
the expense of owning your own private
satellite dish. Like calculators and digital
watches, greater demand will reduce
production costs of the electronic hard
ware, he said.
In addition, he said that he thinks the
present satellites will be replaced with
much more powerful ones in the next five
to seven years. When this happens, peo
ple will not need such large dishes to pick
up the transmissions.
"It would be a very easy thing to do
with the space shuttle' Dodworth said.
He said he even called NASA to see if
they were planning on replacing the sat
ellites. They refused to give him any in
formation. "When the satellites are replaced, it
will change the whole outlook on owning
private dishes," Dodworth said. "People
would only need two-or three-foot dishes
on their roofs then."
The cost for a complete unit by that
time could be as little as $500, Dodworth
said.
Former Crete Mayor: NU must cut spending
BYLORI MERRYMAN
Pointing to ASUN president Rick
Mockler, a former Crete Mayor asked the
Board of Regents Saturday what good
his education would do him if he can't
get a job because the nation is bankrupt
in the process.
I sympathize with this young man
here," pointing to Mockler again, "and
the generation that are going to get the
bill for what we are today doing to
them," Norman Behrens, member of Ne
braska Tax Level Coalition, told NU re
gents. "I sure hope all of us have a lot of
money to leave our kids because they're
sure gonna need it to foot the bill," he
said.
He told regents the University of Ne
braska should not shoot the moon in ask
ing for state-aid budget increases, but
conform with the rest of the country and
try to cut spending.
In the previous subcommittee meet
ing, UN-L President Ronald . Roskens
presented the regents with a proposal for
a 15 percent increase in state-aid.
The regents board, representative of
the people, should not be pushing for
higher state-aid, Behrens said.
"The people I'm here to represent are
damed worried about taxes" he said.
"Bankruptcies are upcoming on main
street Crete and elsewhere," he said.
"Keep in mind the debt that we owe
our country has to come in the form of
taxes, he said. Money used for state-aid
to higher education comes from property
taxes.
There has to be some property tax re
lief for the people in Nebraska, those on
"mainstreet Crete," and the higher num
bers of unemployed, he said.
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