I was at a Canadian airport couple weeks ago and i was wondering the same thing as you were. So i asked one of the customs at the airport if it's ok to take an Fta receiver with me on the plane and i only had a carry on bag with me. He didn't really know what a Fta receiver is so i told him, it looks like a cable box and he had no problem with it. So you are perfectly safe but like others suggested load factory file in it and it's used for true fta only of course.
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