#261937 - 01/08/2005 11:48
Receiving foreign satellite tv?
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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No, not porn! But my girlfriend wants to be able to watch French and German news (TV5 was one she mentioned). The house we've just moved into has 2 dishes on the wall and neither is connected to anything. One is the newer digital minidish and the other is a larger dish that I assume is analog. So can I make use of either of these to receive the european free to air channels?
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#261938 - 01/08/2005 12:22
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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Probably, but you'll probably need a new LNB. You could buy a Nexus satellite card for your PC and run Myth on it. It looks like Astra 1H at 19.2°E is probably the bird you want. http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/France.html
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Cheers,
Andy M
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#261939 - 01/08/2005 12:28
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: andym]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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Is that Digital or analog? Whats LNB? (Sorry)
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#261940 - 01/08/2005 12:47
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 3583
Loc: Columbus, OH
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Technical definition: LNB is the "thingy" on the end of the arm on your dish that actually receives the signal.
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~ John
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#261941 - 01/08/2005 12:52
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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All digital, it's not worth bothering with analogue.
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
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#261942 - 01/08/2005 13:09
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: andym]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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Hmmm so assuming I wan't Sky Digital in the future should I get a new dish thats capable of recieving sky and the other satellite? What size of dish would I require? And wouldn't I need 2 receivers? Ahhh I need to do more research!
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#261943 - 01/08/2005 14:23
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
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You usually need an 80cm+ dish to pick up good signals from europe, bigger the further north you go.
Get yourself a copy of What Satellite magazine, and then talk to a local fitter (not sky!!!) they will be able to tell you if you can pickup 2 diffferent satellite signals on one dish (by off setting one LNB to pick up a 2nd signal while the first is pointing at the weaker of the two signals you want)
You will need 2 boxes, one for sky and one for the other channels, you can use the sky box, but it's not a good solution. I have bought from HiSat before, but there are loads of good places around.
Edit: Try to find you local wholesale fitters warehouse, you can save a fortune on stuff if you fancy fitting it yourself, I've just done mine, for example, cost for fitter TV antenna £160, I did the job for £14.95!!!!
I do have an old Samsung digital STB that I was thinking of putting on eBay, it's basic (does have CAM slots!) if you are interested?
Cheers
Cris.
Edited by Cris (01/08/2005 14:25)
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#261944 - 01/08/2005 15:44
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: Cris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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Unless you know what you're doing I seriously wouldn't recommend DIY. An Astra dish (which is probably what you want) is nice and easy. Anything else like Sirius/Eurosat you'll struggle to do it yourself. I spent a whole afternoon trying to pole up on Sirius, very frustrating, and I've done quite a few installs in my time.
You might also find most wholesale suppliers unwilling to deal with members of the public. If you're like Cris and can roll up in a van with your work clothes on they're more likely to let you buy stuff. I've bought stuff from Grax in Manchester when I go with a mate of mine who's a sat comms engineer, I've seen them turn away quite a few people because they're not installers, seriously great prices though. You could give it a try but don't turn up in a shirt and tie!
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
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#261945 - 01/08/2005 15:54
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: andym]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
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Amazing what a van and an ID card can get you. I use Grax in Leeds for all my stuff now, I didn't know there was one in manchester too. I suppose you do need the meter to DIY properly, you can hire them from most suppliers. I've always found thhe installs quite easy, although I'm quite used to being up a ladder, running cables etc.... I couldn't bear to give someone £150 just to screw something to a wall for me, but maybe that's just the Yorkshireman in me  Cheers Cris.
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#261946 - 01/08/2005 15:59
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: Cris]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 2489
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Whats the model number of the Samsung Cris? Would it do everything I'd need it to?
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#261947 - 01/08/2005 16:02
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: Cris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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If you look the part you're sorted, no offence intended, I'd never compare you to a Sky installer. I'm surprised some of them have the cognitive capacity to tie their shoe laces never mind drilling holes in the side of your house! Which I should add Cris made an excellent job of (drilling a hole in the side of my house that is, not tieing his shoelaces).
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
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#261949 - 01/08/2005 22:01
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: CrackersMcCheese]
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old hand
Registered: 01/10/2002
Posts: 1033
Loc: Fullerton, Calif.
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My wife is from Taiwan (we live in california) and she wanted Taiwan TV. We usually go shopping in a Chinese area near us and every weekend they usually have many vendors show up and sell stuff on the sidewalk. One of these is a company selling a satillite receiver (with a larger than normal dish) to get Taiwan channels. For $200usd they sold us the equipment we needed *and* installed it in July heat. Well worth it. That poor guy was on my roof for two hours.
I'm sure if you go to the french area, or even just a market that specialises in French stuff), you can find a similar deal.
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#261950 - 02/08/2005 05:36
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: larry818]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5914
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Quote:
I'm sure if you go to the french area, or even just a market that specialises in French stuff), you can find a similar deal.
I'm afraid that isn't going to work. There aren't any "French areas" in the UK.
There is also no need for it, there is nothing uniquely French about receiving French satellite TV. The same technical standards are used across Europe for satellite TV, all he needs to do it to talk to his local satellite installer.
_________________________
Remind me to change my signature to something more interesting someday
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#261951 - 02/08/2005 08:38
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: larry818]
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addict
Registered: 02/08/2004
Posts: 434
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
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For those in North America you can get French- Canadian television by getting a Canadian dish system. You will also get one real "French" station. RFO coming out of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.
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#261952 - 02/08/2005 11:15
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: andym]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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Aldi or Lidl did some really cheap deals a while back, something like £30 for a dish and cheapo receiver.
I've got a few bits of hardware from CPC (www.cpc.co.uk), they are cheap and easy for cable and accessories.
I have aligned dishes before, certainly Sky can be hand aligned if you are gentle and patient. I fitted a quad LNB a couple of years back so we have satellite on each TV, analogue TV is poor here due to trees. We only have a subscription on one though!
Gareth
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#261953 - 02/08/2005 13:23
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: g_attrill]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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Quote:
Aldi or Lidl did some really cheap deals a while back, something like £30 for a dish and cheapo receiver.
Wow that is good.
It's a shame dishes aren't as easy to pan now most things are digital. I remember aligning dishes by tuning to Eurosport and just swinging the dish until I got a picture. In one instance I actually mounted the dish to the side of a wardrobe next to the window as the landlord wouldn't let us mount the dish on the wall outside. We got a great picture even though the dish was pointing directly at house over the road.
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Cheers,
Andy M
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#261954 - 02/08/2005 13:33
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
We got a great picture even though the dish was pointing directly at house over the road.
The actual positioning of the dish is usually odd looking because the signal comes in at quite a steep angle. The one at my parents place actually points towards a wall but it's got a clear view of the sky.
Don't try fitting a rotator to the Sky dish. The digibox won't appreciate it and will refuse to work if you leave it pointing at a diff satellite too long. You'll have to phone them up and get them to send an update to restore it.
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#261955 - 02/08/2005 16:04
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: tman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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Quote:
The actual positioning of the dish is usually odd looking because the signal comes in at quite a steep angle. The one at my parents place actually points towards a wall but it's got a clear view of the sky.
No, the dish really was pointing right through the house. The angle by which the signal comes in is related to the angle the LNB is pointing at the center of the dish (or something like that).
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
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#261956 - 02/08/2005 16:09
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
No, the dish really was pointing right through the house. The angle by which the signal comes in is related to the angle the LNB is pointing at the center of the dish (or something like that).
How on earth did you get a signal through the house? I get a margin signal everytime the tree near the dish gets big.
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#261957 - 02/08/2005 16:57
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: tman]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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Quote:
Don't try fitting a rotator to the Sky dish. The digibox won't appreciate it and will refuse to work if you leave it pointing at a diff satellite too long. You'll have to phone them up and get them to send an update to restore it.
If you have the phone line plugged in you can run a "new install" on the installer's menu (services > 4 0 1) and it will sent the serial number and trigger a reactivation.
Gareth
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#261958 - 02/08/2005 17:10
Re: Receiving foreign satellite tv?
[Re: tman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3995
Loc: Manchester UK
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Quote:
Quote:
No, the dish really was pointing right through the house. The angle by which the signal comes in is related to the angle the LNB is pointing at the center of the dish (or something like that).
How on earth did you get a signal through the house? I get a margin signal everytime the tree near the dish gets big.
In my experience analogue was rock-solid, never had any problems even in torrential rain. The dish was also bigger than your average digibox dish.
_________________________
Cheers,
Andy M
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