dish tv in the med

TNT

TNT

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OK, so just been wandering around the shops in the UK with the boss and came accross Boyes shop who sell all sorts of tat but saw a dish kit with everything included and a dish meter for locking onto the best satellite, dish is not huge but for £40.00 GBP seems reasonable, the question is will we be able to get any reception in Sardinia over the winter bearing in mind the dish can be located on the pontoon and we have shore power included in the marina fees. The dish is not huge which I guess will effect what we can recieve but it seems like a good deal to me.

anyone got any experience of these types of kit or comments to its sutability.

cheers
 
You are unlikely to receive the transmissions from Astra 2D (28.2 degrees East) in Sardinia - that is the one with all the UK channels. The satellite footprint is focussed just for the UK although it is possible to get the signal much further south with a sensitive LNB, receiver and a large antenna. However, I have tried in north-eastern Italy but with only a 60cm antenna, no chance - anything larger is just not practical. It is always possible I am too far east and you may stand a better chance than I do.

Consequently, I have resorted to Astra 1 at 19.2 degrees East, which has a large selection of mainly German channels (I speak German) plus English-language news feeds such as BBC World, Sky News, Aljazeera, CNN, CNBC, Bloomburg, with world news and local content in English on Korean and Japanese international channels.
 
I get the Astra 2d and Astra 1 in the Ionian on a 90cm dish. I can watch bbc news and sport through the red button. To get ITV, ch5 and ch4 you need a Sky box and a white card (£20) ITV and ch 4 has to be manualy entered and viewed using the services button, (other channels) to get full BBC you need a three metre dish!
 
Davy_S said:
I get the Astra 2d and Astra 1 in the Ionian on a 90cm dish.
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That's interesting ... but, I suspect you have property and are able to site a large dish far more easily than a liveaboard can. I mount my 60cm dish on the pier and anything larger would not really be possible.

I can watch bbc news and sport through the red button. To get ITV, ch5 and ch4 you need a Sky box and a white card (£20) ITV and ch 4 has to be manualy entered and viewed using the services button, (other channels) to get full BBC you need a three metre dish!
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In Switzerland I use a 60cm antenna and get all BBC channels (1,2,3 and 4) as FTA (Free To Air), as I do with all ITV, plus the +1 channels, the three Channel 4 (4, E4, More4) plus the +1 channels and Film4. Channel Five is also there but I cannot ever recall noticing anything worth watching. Everything is on there without using red buttons, set-top boxes or charge cards inserted.

LyngSat has a list of all the FTA channels on Astra 2D here.

Since I set up the satellite system our cable service added them all anyway to the standard digital mix - we now have a vast number of channels from every European broadcaster - a true Tower of Babel.
 
The oval 60 cm dish and Freeview receiver on my motorhome will receive all Astra 2D channels in Switzerland, Austria and as far east as Ancona, Italy. I find the footprint map given in most websites to be extremely pessimistic. In Preveza Marine it will receive BBC and Sky News and S4C(!) plus Radios 2 and 4 at least, not tried others.

Further south it seems to run out more quickly, e.g. a 1 metre dish seems to be needed in Mallorca to view in all weather conditions.
 
vyv_cox said:
The oval 60 cm dish and Freeview receiver on my motorhome will receive all Astra 2D channels in Switzerland, Austria and as far east as Ancona, Italy.
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If you can receive Astra 2D in Ancona with a 60cm antenna perhaps, in the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region that is only marginally further east, I should try again with more patience and a hand-bearing compass.

But on reflection, it is hardly worth re-orientating my antenna from Astra 1H as, for my taste, the only UK channels worth watching are the occasional programmes on BBC2, BBC4 and Ch4 - maybe the odd film on Film4 (if the advertising can be tolerated). Better quality programming by far are the German-language channels on Astra 1H - 3Sat, Arte, ZDF Docu, ZDF Theatre, etc., etc., just see the large variety here.
Also, it won't impress my Austrian wife on her occasional visits on board or provide incentive for the long train journey (Bern-Milan-Venice) ... hmm, now there's a thought ....

In Preveza Marine it will receive BBC and Sky News and S4C(!) plus Radios 2 and 4 at least, not tried others.
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Presumably those are also from Astra 1H, which has quite a few English-language channels, including many news ones. In fact that satellite is receivable throughout all of the western Med as can be seen from the footprint here.
 
That's interesting ... but, I suspect you have property and are able to site a large dish far more easily than a liveaboard can. I mount my 60cm dish on the pier and anything larger would not really be possible.

Late reply,could not connect to the site, server busy!

Yes my dish is fixed to my property. I have Greek tv, plus like a lot of others I purchased a Sky box from fleabay, plus a viewing card from sky, then bought a dish localy and fixed it up with a Maplins satelite finder. Probably because we are on the limit of the footprint, setting up (aiming) of the dish is critical. I really should have bought a 120cm dish instead of 90cm. I lose ITV anc ch4 in severe weather due to pixalating, the rest of the channels are strong. Cant complain, its free and something to watch when the monsoons arrive!
 
Here in corfu, Gouvia, have a 1.2m dish, gets a lot of sky, but not itv2/3/4 and bbc, I'm reliably informed you need a 2.8m dish for all channels, although the marina would have a fit if I tried to fit a 2.8 meter dish to the lampost where mine is now, so have to do without a bunch of channels. In Barcelona ahd all the channels with 1.2 meters.
 
Wherever you live this site is useful for pointing the dish...http://www.dishpointer.com/

It tells me that Astra is over the 5th boat from the end of the opposite trot and that works well for initial signal pick-up then a bit of tweaking with the Satellite meter and I'm usually sorted within a few minutes !!

I have just installed (in the UK) a Satellite dish - a Maplins Travel Kit - clamped to the pushpit & it works very well unless its exceptionally windy when it drops out sometimes as the boat rolls. I am in a Marina that is fairly sheltered most of the time.
 
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Here in corfu, Gouvia, have a 1.2m dish, gets a lot of sky, but not itv2/3/4 and bbc, I'm reliably informed you need a 2.8m dish for all channels, although the marina would have a fit if I tried to fit a 2.8 meter dish to the lampost where mine is now, so have to do without a bunch of channels. In Barcelona ahd all the channels with 1.2 meters.
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If you can see ITV and ch4 on your viewing list but when you press it, it says no signal received. You need to add the channels manualy.
For ITV add 124000 for ch4 add 12480. you can then watch the channels, but you have to press services and other channels ITV and ch4 will be there where you stored them, you should be able to get them in Gouvia.
 
Thanks for all the replies, looks like the dish will be too small in the portable kit to have any effect in the med. Has anyone downloaded the program for free tv viewing via the pc that was the theme of a thread a few weeks ago? Just wondered how good it was and if there are any catches that are not apparent till you load it up.

cheers
 
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