British tv reception in Spain
This coming February I will be taking my caravan to southern Spain near Gibraltar. Is it possible to get satellite British tv down there with an 80cm dish. If not do any members have any alternative ideas. Thanks for your help. Jim
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There is a decoder that you can buy around £65, that will give you access to the Intel 907 satellite, this is the backup satellite for BBC/ITV
It is used successfully in Southern Spain and Portugal, it will give you BBC1 and 2, ITV1, ch4,ch5, Film 4, and possibly some other channels like challenge. t them down there
If you have Sky and pay for certain channels then it is possible that you MAY get some of those channels with an 80cm dish, they are not broadcast on the narrow 'Spot Beam' but on the Pan European beam.
Hope this helps.
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We have not been down there for a few years, but when they shortened the satellite beam I have been told it's near impossible to get British TV with just a Sky box. We used a 1.35 mitre dish mid way down Spain and was OK if no tree's about, with a small dish you could forget it after Barcelona.
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Its possible to get Sky paid channels on an 85cm as far south as Valencia according to BB, he reported that a while ago. Not sure how further south you can get it.
BBC and ITV is all but impossible south of the French border unless using internet or an encryption box.
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Another option you may wish to consider is as follows which we used successfully around Marbella in March and April of this year and also in Girona in September.
Get yourself a mobile router (believe it is called a MIFI) from someone like EE or Three with a decent amount of GB loaded onto it (we took one with 30GB).
Hook this up to your laptop or in caravan TV and you will have no problems in watching BBC I player and I understand the same service with ITV - I forget what they call it. Just means that you watch the 6.00 p.m. News at say 10.00 but it is effectively the same.
Depending on where you are exactly there are two or three good English speaking radio stations in and around Gib and Marbella and equally some of the Spanish TV stations broadcast in English though you need a TV which allows you to change the language to the original one - obtained via the Tools Menu. We have two small TV's in the caravan - only one allows us this option.
Hope this helps and enjoy your trip!
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Catch up TV isnt normally available outside the uk without some form of IP address masking....at least we've never had success with it..
yes, Sky pay channels are most definitely available in the Valencia area on an 85cm dish.
i will be heading a lot further south in a few weeks and can report back on the latest situation...
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Hi
After the demise of Filmon (they charge now) the latest kid on the block seems to be Easyview TV which is pretty good if you have a good wifi connection, I have used it a few times down here when the wife is watching soaps. There are professional IPTV providers all over Spain, they come to site provide you with an excellent connection and a good streaming for British TV. I have a couple of friends down here who swear by their IPTV box and the latest versions are very good with hardly any buffering but these companies only supply for contacts some as little as one month most only three or more so not a lot of use if you intend to move around. Only other option is buy a few USB sticks and download films/dramas, a good download app is Bitlord which has everything you will need but don't tell anyone I told you that I will deny all knowledge.
Phil
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The other thing we do is have a portable hard drive, while at home we record programmes and films on it, we have a 1tb one which holds loads of material. This then is played back either through our tv (it has a usb point) or our laptop.
We also take loads of DVD's.
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If you can get internet on site then you could try an app TV catch up .you can get BBC and some ITV channels Tried last year in Bennacissim with 80cm dish can pick up Sky but not terrestrial
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Sat TV reception has sadly had its day in Spain and similar distances for UK TV me thinks.
Live UK TV is though readily available in Spain by way of Wifi (or a personal Mifi) and the likes of Sky Go etc. It can be very cheap.
If you've plenty of time and patience there are some hooky free options if you dont mind seemingly regular grief, reloads and buffering signals.
We will be using a personal Mifi unit for our Wifi & TV when in Spain in January 19 and for Touring UK after.
Some Spanish sites offer or have deals with longer term faster wired wifi to pitch. You might be lucky.
Much depends on your needs and wants with UK TV.
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I have spent 15 winters overseas - in Thailand, Malaysia, Bali, India ,Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand - without any opportunity or need to watch UK television - and nor did the numbers of Germans and Scandinavians whom we met have any opportunity or need watch their home TV either. We all picked up home news on our i.pads, but that was enough
Why do people who spend winters in caravans in Spain have this ever repeated need for television?
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Why do people who spend winters in caravans in Spain have this ever repeated need for television?
No idea, but obviously some do which is personal choice ET.
Why do we carry a TV around for 17 weeks+ of the year to watch it for around 6 hours over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing day? We are all different and some. like me, are plain daft. I doubt that between last boxing day and the coming Christmas Eve that I will have watched more than 6 hours TV whether at home or away.
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Why do people who spend winters in caravans in Spain have this ever repeated need for television?
Quite simply because they want to
the thing is they are not 'on holiday' as some see it. They are just 'living' in a different place, so want all the things they are used to at home. If that means watching Emmerdale or Eastenders then that's up to them surely.It gets dark at teatime so the nights are quite long, its not warm enough to sit out, so they are indoors.
If like me you don't drink, or frequent pubs and restaurants what does one do with 4-5 hours of an evening. Play cards, read a book, do a jigsaw, there has to be a limit to that.
Some folk like to watch tv, be it a film or soaps, most men like to watch sports, football, rugby, golf, snooker etc. so they get together and watch that at the pub/restaurant, if the women don't want to watch it they get together and do something else, or they stay in their vans and watch tv. Simples.
They are there for anything from a month to 6 mths not just a couple of weeks like a fly to holiday.
We are going on a 19 night holiday soon, don't think I will miss the tv one bit, however I will have lots of other things to do, as I won't be sat in a caravan for 5 hours of an evening.
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About the only thing I miss while abroad is the TV news although upon return I find that little has changed.
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Hi
We're on a site near Alicante and we have had for the last 3 years a 1.3 meter dish using a freesat box giving us all that freesat has to offer. It is fag paper tuning as they call it but a few hours patience pays off.
As Phil has said upthread a UPTV box using a good wifi signal is a good alternative albeit with a monthly subscription. There are many along this coastline.
As mentioned above also, vpn blockers are everywhere but I didn't say that!!
JK
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