British TV By Satellite In Southern Spain

lovezoo

lovezoo

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Somebody told me today that in April the current British satellite TV broadcast that we can receive in southern Spain (and presumably other parts of the med region) will be turned off.

Has anyone else heard anything about this, as I can't find anything by googling?
 
There are certainly changes afoot though exactly how they will affect Iberian reception seems uncertain. We already do net get the full Sky package and recently 'lost' Ch 5
 
I'm presuming you used to receive all the UK channels from the Astra 2D satellite, as I did in Switzerland. This has been shut down having completed its intended service life period. It was intended for Astra 2F to replace all 2D transmissions but the launch was delayed and so all channels were taken up by Astra 1N that was temporarily moved into the 28.2°E position, which occurred earlier this year and will change again soon to the newly launched Astra 2F satellite.

It has been rumoured that the tight UK footprint from the Astra 2F satellite will have more distinct focus and a larger dish antenna may be needed in the peripheral areas.

Then again, perhaps you are receiving your signals from some local distributor with a big dish - southern Spain is well away from the intended reception area - the British Isles only. Only time will tell if the footprint will cover you at all.

Lots of information here.
 
The link posted by barnac1e is consistent with what I've heard. That is that the technology on the new satellite enables a more tightly focussed beam on just the UK, presumably to better satisfy the localisation of media rights. The knock on is that this will make it much harder to receive broadcasts intended for the UK in Spain.

This was from hurricane in Sant Carles who has a large dish on the back of the boat.
 
We in Gouvia Corfu, need a 2.5 meter dish at present to receive BBC and ITV and a few other channels, this happened last year, we could receive them with a 1.2 meter dish, but as yet not heard of it ending entirely. Cant use a 2.5 meter dish on the lampost!! Keep us posted.
 
Hi, out here in Greece, I use a 1.75m dish, we lost 5 and ITV when 1N came on air, we still get channel 4 and sky news plus CBS channels and Pick TV,
We get these through the other channels options and manual search, if you look at the Astra website, you can see the footprint of the satellites and recommended dish size. It should show 1F once it's in position.
 
paulingreece said:
Hi, out here in Greece, I use a 1.75m dish, we lost 5 and ITV when 1N came on air, we still get channel 4 and sky news plus CBS channels and Pick TV,
We get these through the other channels options and manual search, if you look at the Astra website, you can see the footprint of the satellites and recommended dish size. It should show 1F once it's in position.
Click to expand...

Did you lose BBC also?
 
Thanks for all the replies and the link. We have a larger than normal dish on the side of the house installed by the previous owners which gets everything other than (I think) Channel 5. Seems like we will have to wait and see what happens next year.

We also have a Spanish satellite dish to get Spanish TV, as we can't receive the digital terrestrial service due to the position of the house relative to the transmitter. Really the digital terrestrial TV has enough channels to suit most people, and all the American series and films have an option to switch to the original English dialogue, so unless you are really desperate for the BBC and ITV, satellite isn't essential.
 
We are in La Linea in Spain and with a 60cm dish can get BBC, ITV, Channel 5 and numerous others including HD channels with no problem. We even have the dish on the boat so it does move a bit.
 
If you ignore the extraneous posts, there is some useful information in the following link.

http://www.manilvalife.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20066&start=16

The following note was written by a technical expert.

CHANGES IN THE SATELLITE RECEPTION ON THE COSTA DEL SOL
All of the UK TV channels (Sky, BBC, ITV, 4,5, etc) are transmitted from a group of satellites known as Astra 28. These are in fact 3 satellites very close together and appear as one to us. All the dishes in the UK and the Costa del Sol point at these 3 satellites.Unfortunately satellites do not last forever, and a sequence of replacements has started. One new satellite was launched in September this year and became operational on the 4th December 2012.The new satellite (called Astra 2F) is now being switched on and taking some of the channels from the old satellite. The affect is that we have lost all of the channel 5 signals (channel 5, 5+1, 5*, 5USA), channel 4 HD and the new channel 4 programme 4Seven. This is because the new satellite has a more concentrated beam on the UK, and the fringe signal that we pick up is now much smaller. According to the Astra website many programmes will be transferred to the new satellite over the next few months. Also 2 more satellites are due to be launched – one in 2013 and one in 2014. These 3 new satellites will replace all of the UK channels currently operating on the old satellite. If the concentrated beam of all 3 new satellites is the same we will lose all of the TV services we are currently receiving. The first reaction is to install a larger dish. However I am hearing that people are trying 3 metre (10ft diameter) dishes with no result. What we don’t know is how the 2 forthcoming satellites will perform, and the company Astra who operate them are not giving any information. So I am afraid it is a wait and see situation. Alternatives may be via the internet. However speeds along the coast are not fast enough for High Definition TV yet. The current puzzle is why only a handful of channels have moved to the new satellite. It may be that the operators are using them as a test to see the reaction. It may be possible to adjust the satellite and restore the signal to us, or change the specification of the satellites that have not yet been launched. It must be realised that the BBC would have no interest in broadcasting to Spain. Nor would the advertisers using ITV/4/5. However Sky would lose a considerable amount of backdoor money from the Costas. .
 
Nostrodamus said:
We are in La Linea in Spain and with a 60cm dish can get BBC, ITV, Channel 5 and numerous others including HD channels with no problem. We even have the dish on the boat so it does move a bit.
Click to expand...
That's because you are receiving from Astra 1N as all of us currently are. When all those channels migrate to the recently-launched 2F (or the soon-to-be-launched 2E) the scenario will change because FTA (Free To Air) transmissions of those UK channels are intended only for UK consumption and the technology of more focussed spot beam transmission has been improved on the latest satellites. From the 'Sat and PC Guy' link that I posted the results of reception from one of the Astra 2F test channels in your area :
"Based on the reports it looks that a minimum of a 1.8m satellite dish or 2.4m satellite dish will be the minimum to receive a stable signal for Almeria, Granada to Seville and Gibraltar.
  • a 1.25m satellite dish in Marbella is not receiving a signal from Astra 2F UK beam.
  • a 1.25m satellite dish in Seville is not receiving a signal from Astra 2F UK beam.
  • a 1.3m satellite dish in Gibraltar is not receiving a signal from Astra 2F UK beam.
  • a 1.3m satellite dish in Malaga is not receiving a signal from Astra 2F UK beam.
  • a 1.4m satellite dish in Córdoba, Spain (75 miles east of Seville) is not receiving a signal from Astra 2F UK beam.
  • a 1.5m satellite dish in Seville, Spain is not receiving a signal from Astra 2F UK beam.
  • a 1.5m satellite dish in Mojacar, Spain is receiving a signal from Astra 2F UK beam.
  • a 2.00m satellite dish in Esteposa Marbella is not receiving a signal from Astra 2F UK beam."
 
lovezoo said:
Anywhere there are Brits abroad really in range of the current satellites. I suppose there will still be business installing Expat Shield on people's PCs, but that is it. Unless you can get an internet TV box that can work with a proxy server to get British TV?
Click to expand...

We use film on when the sky goes on the blink
 
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