Satellite Tv for Europe.
I swore I would never do it but there has come a time when needs must.
My husband has little cognitive ability to do much else now than watch TV so.........
Can anyone recommend a Sat Tv system that is good for Europe that won’t break the bank? I have seen various small ones that claim to work but I am an absolute beginner at this and if you ask me which satellites I need 😳😳😳 I would not have a clue.
I would prefer something portable: I am not so blonde that I couldn’t work it out for connection but don’t have a scooby as what I need. Do I need a kit? Do I buy things separately?
I have seen TVs with Sat Tv built in, are these any good for Europe?
Any help would be very much appreciated
xxxx
Comments
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Artyboo
I would echo what BB has said above. Having for years had a portable dish on a tripod it can be very frustrating and time consuming to set up. It has been as quick as a couple of minutes to the best part of an hour!!! As BB says an 85 cms dish will cover most options for France if you wish to pick up UK terrestrial programmes. However if you don't want BBC 1&2 and ITV etc a smaller dish might be OK if you want to take pot luck with what you receive. It's handy having a TV with a built in satellite receiver as basically it saves on clutter in the van. There are several brands that have the feature, perhaps the best know one being Avtex. An automatic dish on the roof of the motorhome will be the easiest to live with but you are probably talking about a minimum of £1500 in terms of cost.
David
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Which bit, Artyboo? I'm getting a bit fed up with Concarneau's weather. I'd hate to move to another wet bit.
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Hopefully it is better for you today. Clear blue this morning as we prepare to move on to Carnac.
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Artyboo
We have sky set up in the van using a free standing oval dish which I was assured would give a better reception in europe, however we have not tried it as yet. Easy to set up using the meter recommended on a thread I started earlier under Sky Q in the van.
Then on our last trip we met a 70 yr old couple who gave us a bit of a ribbing for all this gear to cary and set up.
They then showed us a little plastic box that was supplied by EE that enabled them to receive Sky programmes through this box usnig a laptop this was then linked to the TV.
Afraid I cannot help further on this but it may be an option and obviously easier to set up on site.
I believe the gadget costs about £22 per month from EE.
Perhaps someone could help with more knowledge. We also met someone at Minsmere who had an AP which he claimed allowed access to Sky free of charge again perhaps someone could help further. I think it was something called mobdro.
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I suspect that relies on a fast internet connection to supply the feed.
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A few other points.
You do not have to have the dish in the sky to make it work - indeed it will work perfectly well at ground level provided it has a clear sight roughly SE (i.e. no trees in the way.) You will however need a tripod (if you haven't bought one:) look on eBay for lightweight units such as Konig.
If you have an Android smartphone download the free Satellite Director which will, using the phone compass (assuming it has one) and the camera show a picture of exactly where the satellite is in the sky. If your phone does not have a compass then get yourself a decent optical compass - doesn't need to be expensive - but it will make life easier. The system won't work through trees but it doesn't have to clear them by much.
You have bought the TV and a dish but do you have any cable? Get yourself a 25m roll of WF100 or PF100 from Screwfix, plus a bag of F-type plugs. There is plenty on the web to show you how to make a cable up.
Finally, make everything up and try it out a home before you go - it would not be nice to try to make it work in France for the first time! At least you know it will work in the UK!! One issue is that the Astra 1 cluster used by European broadcasters is very easy to find accidently - you will get a signal but no picture/sound. If you do then you need to move your dish a bit left (viewed from behind) and dipped slightly down to find the Astra 2 cluster.
It is a technical site but have a look at www.lyngsat.com and keep clicking to get to the footprint maps of Astra 28.2E. This will give you a better idea of where you will be able to receive UK FTA programmes. For instance you will get them much further south on the east side of France than on the west, and the weaker the signal the more difficult the dish is to align.
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