After having gone through the reviews on TATASKy for the past few months, I decided to buy one in the first week of Jan, 07. They took nearly 10 day to connect the antenna. I have now realised that majority of the reviewers who have recommended the product, appear to be living in placed where CAS has not been implemented.But what is the situation in placed where CAS has been implemented; is TATASKY really superior to CAS based set-top box? Much to our harrowing experience during this short span, to all those reading this article on TATASKY - I would just ask one question, would you at all prefer a service which TOTALLY FAILS during the rains?! For us, residents in Kolkata and other CAS affected regions, we have to either go in for a DTH service or take recourse to the cable operators set-top box, to view the pay channels. For the past six months TATASKY has been aggressively branding their product to be’far superior’ to the cable operators. While I may agree that their picture quality is better in places where CAS has not been implemented, here in Kolkata at least they HAVE TOTALLY CHEATED US.
The first hint of the sorry state of affairs in the DTH service arrived on the day of the first one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka which was to be played here in Kolkata(the rains arrived and the match was ultimately abandoned), on the 4th feb 2007. Most of us, TATASKY owners in Kolkata received the message "The Set-top box in unable to receive a signal." and the picture blanked out of the screen, for quite some minutes, when the rains started heavily. The same incident kept occuring on other rainy days and even on the 25th Feb 2007, at 8.30 PM when it started raining heavily, and the reception was back only after the rains receded around 9 PM. We have incidentally checked all the electrical connections to see if anything was loose etc.but unfortunately I have come to know that the DTH service will simply NOT WORK IF YOU are living in rainy places- In fact many foreign DTH related websites clearly state that the raindrops absorb and degrade the DTH signals. Users in the North-east and other rainy areas India have a very bitter experience in this respect.
https://hindu.com/2005/08/03/stories/2005080300290200.htm and https://truesrilankan.wordpress.com/2006/04/19/pros-and-cons-of-dth-systems/
The picture quality? DVD QUALITY? HA! Only the Star channels and a few others(etv/ Discovery etc) are somewhat DVD quality.Most of the channels picture quality are slightly better than VCD. In fact the entire ZEE and HBO channels are very poor( most of these channels the picture appears’out of focus’ most of the time-this has been confirmed by several TATASKY owners here.) For further analysis visit https://indian-voice-overs.com/tatasky.html
In comparison, the CAS Based digital set-top box of our local cable operator NEVER fails during the rains. The picture quality is equal to that of tatasky( and infact some channels like zee and HBO are better than any DTH operator here).And they offer all the channels of Tatasky+ many more like HALLMARK, Boomerang, B4u Music, B4 Movies, French, German Channels and also FM Radio channels(NONE OF WHICH ARE AVAILABLE IN TATASKY - the so called’SUPERIOR’ DTH service? in what sense.!?!). To our dismay, we learnt that many of our popular local bengali Channels(TARA Bangla, Kolkata TV, Alpha Tv Bangla, CTVN, Sonar Bangla etc) are NOT available in any DTH service.Similar is the case in other states.We have in its place been offered a gallery of too many channels of other regions. Not to mention that CAS is far chaper too- for the price of a single TATASKY connection, we can get two CAS digital set top boxes along with it far cheaper rentals(Rs. 80/- for 35 free to air channels and we get to see only the selected pay channels we want for Rs. 5/- only for each pay channel; something NOT YET implemented in TATASKY, which has an inflated fixed rental of Rs300/- per month per subscriber).
So I wonder, how does TATASKY claim themselves to be superior?!? The showcase? Why will I pay Rs.75 to view a movie just for one day- that too a few selected hindi only and no English or regional movies?Moreover we can rent get a good quality DVD on rent for just Rs. 30/- per day! The cable operators have dedicated a few channels only for movies of their choice- Hindi, English and regional; no separate charges are required. Well the active games/ whizkids etc etc? Absolutely bullshit! You can play far better games on you PC and even video games. NOT TO MENTION IT ALL, the terrible rain disruption will mean that, we esp. in the rainy areas in India will have to keep our TVs fitted with TATASKY connections, switched off during most part of the monsoon season- which means nearly 5 months a year in eastern and north eastern India. Therefore to prospective buyers BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE BEWARE….If you are living in CAS affected areas, do stick to your cable operator’s set top box. In case you are living in an absolutely dry area in the country; and if CAS has not been implemented, you may go in for the service taking other points into consideration. As far as we in Kolkata are concerned, TATASKY will soon be TATA BYE BYE & surely be dragged to the courts sooner or later.