Astra Satellite Footprint

witzend

witzend

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Hello All just wondering if anyone has any information from their own experiences in the last few weeks. I've found charts on internet and it looks pretty grim for reception in Europe
 
I am currently down in the Algarve at Luz Bay near Lagos and the main BBC channels are still working in their normal settings on Astra 2 although it is said that the BBC will move to the new Astra sat in mid Feb14.

Reception in this end of the Algarve is good at present using my Oyster 80cm dish with the LBN skewed around to "8 o'clock" rather than the default 6 o'clock setting. The default setting is fine for northern Europe and still worked in Burgos in northern Spain, but as you go further south in Spain and Portugal you have to twist the LBN around clockwise (looking at the rear of the LBN). On the Oyster LBN the connecting cable to the control box is normally installed so that the cable exits the LBN at 6 o'clock.
 
Dish/Dome Help

Morning,
I am looking into buying and fitting an auto dish/dome, could I ask what would be the best size dish or dome to enable a viewable picture in light of the up and coming changes to the service?

Thanks
 
barnyb2012 said:
Morning,
I am looking into buying and fitting an auto dish/dome, could I ask what would be the best size dish or dome to enable a viewable picture in light of the up and coming changes to the service?

Thanks
Click to expand...

We are currently in the Algarve and there has been no obvious change so far. The general suggestions so far are to wait and see when the change over happens. The new satellite has another beam which will give good coverage for the Iberian peninsula tand there are some reports that Sky and Freesat want to use this if they can deal with copyright problems. Mind you new actions by the EU may remove the copyright problems.
 
Last winter Nov/Dec while in the Algarve I was reading a expat newspaper and there was mention about the BBC promising to maintain a television service in Portugal for a few more years. Pity I didn't save it or remember the exact publication but the wife read it as well so not just my imagination
 
barnyb2012 said:
Morning,
I am looking into buying and fitting an auto dish/dome, could I ask what would be the best size dish or dome to enable a viewable picture in light of the up and coming changes to the service?

Thanks
Click to expand...


Hi
I have fitted a 85cm manual crank up dish, am very happy with it and so easy to set up :)

Paul
 
Hi Paul I've not mentioned it as Barnyb seemed set on a auto system, But I also use a Maxview 85cm manual dish with a Maxview receiver and its so easy to find the Satellite with this I'd never think of spending more for a auto system. The wife or myself rarely take more than a minute to locate the Satellite


wisper said:
Hi
I have fitted a 85cm manual crank up dish, am very happy with it and so easy to set up :)

Paul
Click to expand...
 
I have a Camos dome on my van, it's the first auto satellite I've had. It was already fitted to the van, found it useless down in Spain last year so not expecting much this year on Astra 28, couldn't even get the radio. Taking our old suitcase dish to try out this time, downside of an auto system is that if it can't get a good signal it won't lock on & just keeps spinning around searching, with a manual system can position it even if it is a weak signal & get some of the channels even if they break up a bit.
I would go for a decent manual crank up system if I were buying one, all my Camos does in Spain is waste power.
 
Tv reception in southern Spain

We are over wintering in Manilva (25 miles north of Gibraltar) and there are people here getting UK freesat channels on a 60cm dish but this is likely to change soon. This is from a local newspaper:

So the countdown begins... Astra 2 E is on the move as of the middle of January. It will take 10 to 14 days to move in to position at 28.2 degrees from its launch position at 43.5 degrees then a further 10 to 14 days testing at 28.2 before it transfers the Freesat channels over from the outgoing Astra 1 N which, if your still interested and still sticking with me, will move over to its new position at 19.2 degrees.

So does this mean I will lose everything from my Freesat? If you have a standard Sky or Freesat box without a sky subscription, yes. You will still receive sky news, shopping channels and a few odds and sods.

What if I have a sky or Freesat HD box?. You will lose most of the channels from a Freesat HD box and if you have a Sky HD box without a subscription, same applies. And if I have a subscription? Well, that's the thing. Channel 5 HD and ITV 2/3/4 HD channels will still work, along with all your movies/sports/documentaries/kids and entertainment channels (Sky 1/2/3 Dave, UK gold's, livings, foods, etc will still be fine.

So I won't get the BBC/ITV HD channels if I have a Sky subscription?
That is the million dollar question that you are all asking and that is the one that absolutely nobody can answer... Our gut feeling is no, they will all be lost except CH 5 as they have a contract with sky running until 2015.

It's rumoured that we will still receive ITV HD if we have a Sky contract?
That is complete rumour and speculation. The answer is that it is possible as some unusual testing was taking place with ITV HD 10 days ago that was picked up by some of the satellite (train spotters) but that is all it is and I really wouldn't bank on getting any of the Freesat channels even with a Sky subscription. We (as a lot of you are already doing) will wait and see.

A few expats are going for IPTV set ups (internet tv) with great results but no good if you are travelling
 
I know you can't get much with a small dish but I could at least get the BBC radio (with some occasional loss) on my cheap suitcase dish, all the Camos would do was continually search for a signal. We tend to just use the Spanish digital TV, many of the channels have programs that are dubbed into Spanish from English but on some you can change the language back to English.
 
witzend said:
Hi Paul I've not mentioned it as Barnyb seemed set on a auto system, But I also use a Maxview 85cm manual dish with a Maxview receiver and its so easy to find the Satellite with this I'd never think of spending more for a auto system. The wife or myself rarely take more than a minute to locate the Satellite
Click to expand...

Which has received signals in all of Portugal, Spain, France and as far east as Friedricshafen in Germany where I started to lose some channels
 
Friends of mine here that must have English T V have just had a 2.4 size dish and lose bbc at 9.30 most nights now
 
Have just checked we still get most freeview channels except ch5 and it's associated channels, even BBC news and Sky news which some have said have dissappeared are still available her in Armacao de Pera in the Algarve, that is with a 1.5 metre dish
 
Useful

Thank you everyone for your info on the subject, I will have a look at and have a more in depth look into auto dishes given the info. Its just that I used to have a manual dish on my old 'van which was a bit of a pain to set up on each outing.
 
Quoted from Barnyb2012 above post
Thank you everyone for your info on the subject, I will have a look at and have a more in depth look into auto dishes given the info. Its just that I used to have a manual dish on my old 'van which was a bit of a pain to set up on each outing

Yes I know how it can be finding the satellite with some receivers I used to use a Sky box with a sat finder but their responses were so slow that you'd passed the sat before they responded. Then I bought a maxview receiver just because it had a remote eye so you could site the receiver in a cupboard out of sight just leave the remote eye in view much tidier. When I started using it it responded immediately it has a teardrop on screen which goes as soon as the satellite is reached and picture follows made life a lot easier for us. These receivers are quite expensive thats the down side but if you can manage with out the remote eye Aldi do a Silver Crest receiver which is identical to the maxview for less than half the cost which I only found out afterwards:cry::cry:
 
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