Astra Satellite Footprint

There was a lot of adverts on the English speaking radio down in the south of Spain about the loss of the UK TV channels & about paying for a subscription to get the TV via the internet. Just seems that it is making a nice earner for somebody whilst depriving us UK licence holders of getting TV via satellite. Even saw in one of the local English newspapers they have here trying to get people to contact their MP if they were still a UK resident or if not get friends & family to campaign to get the TV back!!

The outcome will be people living permanently in Spain can easily & quite cheaply get around the changes to the satellites but us motorhomers who pay our UK TV licence will be deprived of it unless we want to get a large dish to lug around with us.

Personally we tend to tune in to the Spanish digital TV, it is possible to change the language to English on many of the programs if they were originally made in English. Also our main TV packed up when we were about a week into our trip so we only have a small 16" TV in the bedroom if we want to watch it.

Managed to find the Qatar MotoGP live on Asttra 19, apart from the German commentary it was OK.
 
What I Got

With 85cm disc and Maxview receiver going South. Nort sur Erdre good all channels, Fontenay le Comte good all channels, Monpazier breaking reception and some channels missing but rainy weather,St Antonin Noble Val better reception but still channels missing, Autreive South of Toulouse All Gone Tried twice since still going south and no signals received. So trying other Satellites on 13 & 19 so should be well versed on world news soon
 
Update on our travels and UK TV reception 85cm disk and FTA receiver.

Villarreal Del Huerva (near Teruel) - Some ITV channels receivable + CH4 and 5. No BBC
Olete - No signal dish wouldn't even lock to satellite. Good clear view of sky without obstructions.
Capbreton - All channels receivable (BBC ITV Ch4 CH5)
St. Porchaire - All channels receivable
Saint-Germain de Marencennes - All channels receivable
Maillezais - All channels receivable
Vouvant - All channels receivable
Bouére - All channels receivable
Chalonnes-sur-Loire - Satellite would not lock on, however another UK van seemed to have locked on. Could have just been my location and trees.
Saint-Pierre-Des-Nids - All channels receivable
L'Oudon – Le Billet - All channels receivable
Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Talle - All channels receivable
Fort-Mahon-Plage - All channels receivable
Calais Port - All channels receivable

So as far as I can see Spain around Valencia to Torrevieja is fine Q of 35 to 50 some ITV and others at times but no consistency, no BBC. Some of the Spanish highland is OK but a bit hit and miss. Over the border into France the signal becomes stable and of a Q of at least 70%
 
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John Thompson said:
Update on our travels and UK TV reception 85cm disk and FTA receiver.

Villarreal Del Huerva (near Teruel) - Some ITV channels receivable + CH4 and 5. No BBC
Olete - No signal dish wouldn't even lock to satellite. Good clear view of sky without obstructions.
Capbreton - All channels receivable (BBC ITV Ch4 CH5)
St. Porchaire - All channels receivable
Saint-Germain de Marencennes - All channels receivable
Maillezais - All channels receivable
Vouvant - All channels receivable
Bouére - All channels receivable
Chalonnes-sur-Loire - Satellite would not lock on, however another UK van seemed to have locked on. Could have just been my location and trees.
Saint-Pierre-Des-Nids - All channels receivable
L'Oudon – Le Billet - All channels receivable
Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Talle - All channels receivable
Fort-Mahon-Plage - All channels receivable
Calais Port - All channels receivable

So as far as I can see Spain around Valencia to Torrevieja is fine Q of 35 to 50 some ITV and others at times but no consistency, no BBC. Some of the Spanish highland is OK but a bit hit and miss. Over the border into France the signal becomes stable and of a Q of at least 70%
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Thanks for that excellent summary, John. Do you know whether it is still possible to receive BBC radio stations via satellite in Spain?
 
John H said:
Thanks for that excellent summary, John. Do you know whether it is still possible to receive BBC radio stations via satellite in Spain?
Click to expand...


All the UK BBC radio stations can be had for free on the BBC.co.uk website.
John
 
siimplyloco said:
All the UK BBC radio stations can be had for free on the BBC.co.uk website.
John
Click to expand...

True but the problem with that is that, when I was in southern Spain in the winter 0f 2012/13, reception suffered from buffering. It was far easier to get the signal via satellite and, since the TV reception seems not to have altered very much, I wondered if radio was still available.
 
maxi77 said:
But if you are overseas they are now blanking out some programmes for copyright reasons
Click to expand...

Web viewing is not practical if you are wilding over the winter and relying on poor/slow WiFi or limited date usage on a SIM. We had only 100Mb a day on our Carrefour (Orange) SIM card. Our UK Vodafone contract limited us to 25Mb a day roaming and then charged £3 per Mb excess usage. This was for the additional £3 per day roaming charge.

The camperstops/Aires we visited had WiFi but it was very slow due to the number of other users.

We took a large holdall of DVDs to supplement.
 
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John Thompson said:
Web viewing is not practical if you are wilding over the winter and relying on poor/slow WiFi or limited date usage on a SIM. We had only 100Mb a day on our Carrefour SIM card.

The camperstops/Aires we visited had WiFi but it was very slow due to the number of other users.

We took a large holdall of DVDs to supplement.
Click to expand...

Any news about BBC radio channels via satellite in Spain?
 
If that was the case, then I wouldn't have asked the question. The fact is that on an 85 cm dish it used to be possible to receive BBC radio but not BBC/ITV etc television when we were in Almeria. From John Thompson's post it would seem that the television coverage in Spain and France is not so very different to what it used to be. I therefore asked whether the same applied to radio. Does anybody out there have an actual answer to this question?
 
The superceded transponder footprint seemed to have localised Spanish hotspots where reception was possible in areas well outside the various footprint ranges where one might not have expected to receive a signal,the reverse was also true. The transponder transmitted 2 beams the North and the South on 2 differing frequencies, the LNB had to be skewed the appropriate angle. Sometimes people in fairly close proximity with like for like equipment would get opposite results.

The quality and sensitivity of the receiver, LNB, not only dish size all have a bearing on reception, as might be expected.

I found that getting truthful answers from some people was problematical. I was certain they weren't owning up to getting very limited coverage, after an outlay of some £1800 on an Oyster System,I suppose there might have been a bit of embarressment.

I can say that the domestic satellite installers for the Brit expat market in southern Spain are fitting 1300mm minimum size dishes, and mostly pushing Internet connection as the TV solution, that tells you something I guess.
 
I'm sorry but you misunderstand what I asked. My point was that in the winter of 2012/2013 I could, using my 85cm dish, get BBC radio but not television when in Almeria. John Thompson's excellent summary of the current situation regarding tv reception suggested to me that it was not much different to what it used to be - ie almost full coverage in France and northen Spain but nothing much south of Valencia. Since it seems that he is now getting a similar television coverage to what I got a year or so ago, I was asking whether radio coverage was still available on an 85cm dish in southern Spain. The answer to that question cannot be ascertained from reproducing maps or theoretical points - it needs someone who has experienced trying to tune in to give a yes or no answer. Failing that, I suppose I will just have to wait until I go there again next winter.


.
 
John H said:
I'm sorry but you misunderstand what I asked. My point was that in the winter of 2012/2013 I could, using my 85cm dish, get BBC radio but not television when in Almeria. John Thompson's excellent summary of the current situation regarding tv reception suggested to me that it was not much different to what it used to be - ie almost full coverage in France and northen Spain but nothing much south of Valencia. Since it seems that he is now getting a similar television coverage to what I got a year or so ago, I was asking whether radio coverage was still available on an 85cm dish in southern Spain. The answer to that question cannot be ascertained from reproducing maps or theoretical points - it needs someone who has experienced trying to tune in to give a yes or no answer. Failing that, I suppose I will just have to wait until I go there again next winter.


.
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And my answer which you ignored was that the radio went with the telly. your experience was most likely down to dish misalignment as alignment becomes tricky when you are on the edge. The guy I used to get to align my dishes had to work hard to get me STV rather than ITV London for example. In Portugal you cant get anything with a 1.5 dish and apparently they have tried 3 metres without any luck.

This lot seem to give genuine advice and info BBC, Sky, satellite & media news for Spain, Portugal and Western Europe. Astra 2E and Astra 2G news.
 
I'm in Benidorm and can't get BBC, ITV, CH4, CH5 etc on either my roof mounted 80 cm dish or my floor mounted 110cm dish.
The 80 cm dish lost the channels somewhere south of Brive, which was our last stop in France prior to going further south.
Last winter whilst in Benidorm the 110 cm dish got all the channels.
The 80 cm dish still appears to receive a strong signal whilst aligning the dish, I've got a pace 12 v receiver, and it shows well over 50% quality on the signal graph. The epg loads up all the channels, but it's only the rubbish ones like shopping / auctions, old films, music videos, dating channels etc that you can receive.
None of the BBC radio stations listed on the epg can be received. Some of the commercial staions on the epg can be heard.

The site we're on (LaToretta) has a good selection of brit tv channels coming through the services bollard, you just have to supply your own sat cable, and then remember how to perform a digital search on your tv.

regards
Allen
 
radio requires a lot less bandwidth that TV , so it is highly likely that you can get radio reception in some areas

eg there are areas where you can get free SD channels but HD channels break up or ar not viewable at all

but , if you have an automatic system it would have to be able to lock on to the TV first ....I don't have such a system but would I be correct in thinking that they are set to seek a 2A or 2C southern frequency which are still largly receivable in southern spain albeit with Sky encrypted channels ?
 
Just to clear things up.

We were at Almerimar when the switch over took place. We had lost Ch5 at Teruel on the way down. We had had good reception on all other channels down to here however on change over we were left with:
Information TV
Food Network
Food Network + 1
CBS Reality
Bloomberg
France Eng
CNC World
CBS Drama
on transponder 11344
True Movies and True Drama plus lots of selling and pop channels etc. on transponder 11307

We did not get any radio. However I have never been able to get them on this box. I tuned to the transponder but nothing even in the UK. I may be missing a trick somewhere. The box is an EagleBox HD MINI not a SKY Box

When we go up to Cartagena we began to get some ITV on transponder 11052 This was very weather and cloud dependant. It could also go pixelated and broken sound.

Torrevieja the ITV was solid when the sky was clear but lost with heavy cloud. No BBC
 
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wints said:
The site we're on (LaToretta) has a good selection of brit tv channels coming through the services bollard, you just have to supply your own sat cable, and then remember how to perform a digital search on your tv.

regards
Allen
Click to expand...

Hi Allen. I can't PM you but as I'm in Raco perhaps I could call in and say hello sometime?
John
 
maxi77 said:
And my answer which you ignored was that the radio went with the telly. your experience was most likely down to dish misalignment as alignment becomes tricky when you are on the edge. The guy I used to get to align my dishes had to work hard to get me STV rather than ITV London for example. In Portugal you cant get anything with a 1.5 dish and apparently they have tried 3 metres without any luck.

This lot seem to give genuine advice and info BBC, Sky, satellite & media news for Spain, Portugal and Western Europe. Astra 2E and Astra 2G news.
Click to expand...


Do you have actual first-hand experience of that from southern Spain since the February changeover? And radio reception under the old satellite was not down to dish misalignment. The television/radio companies have always put out different channels at different strengths. For example, with a 85 cm satellite dish in Almeria, it was possible to get BBC News, BBC Parliament and for some bizarre reason, BBC Alba (the Gaelic service) and Channel 4 in Welsh but none of the main channels. It was also possible to get all BBC radio channels except Five Live.

John Thompson - apparently the only other person on this thread with actual experience - reports that television reception with a roof-mounted 85 cm dish is very similar now to what it used to be. My question is simple. Does anyone know whether or not radio reception is similar to what it used to be? I know the theory, I have studied the maps - but, as anyone who has travelled Europe with a satellite dish will know, that information is a very loose guide to what may or may not be possible. The only definitive answer to my question can come from someone who has tried to get satellite radio reception in southern Spain with an 85cm dish since the changeover in February. So far, it seems there are few people on this thread with that experience (although Wint 's answer was quite helpful) so I guess I will just have to wait until I go back there next winter.
 
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