Satellite Italy UK/English Channels

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We're staying the winter in Fiumicino (Rome) and my online research suggests that we will need a 3m dish to pick up all the Astra UK channels - though that doesn't agree with the footprint shown on the Astra site which suggests that we will be no worse off than we were in Almerimar, southern Spain, where we managed fine with a carefully-aligned 1.8m dish. I don't think that the yard will be very happy about a 3m dish.

I've never experienced the other (non-Astra) satellites....is there much for us in English? I saw a suitcase satellite system on Maplins (link below) and I think it's been discussed here before? Is it any good? I have got a Digital Terrestrial box and I can get a terrestrial aerial up to 20m. Any general ideas or suggestions?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Modu...rs&T=217921

Many thanks.
 
I pick up the Astra satellite in Greece, I have a sky box and a one metre dish, although friends pick it up on a 70cm dish. I can get, bbc news 24, channel 4 and 5, sky and ITV for all uk regions, plus lots of others,all free to air.
You cannot get bbc unless you have a 3.5 metre dish.
Channel 4 recently moved frequency, but I found out how to get it back, ITV has to be manually set, its easy. If you need the two frequency numbers let me know.
 
That's excellent news as according to the footprint we get a better signal here than you do there. Many thanks. I think I have the frequencies, etc., from our time in Spain but will get back to you if not. The key thing with Astra is that there is a North beam (serves the UK channels and is deliberately downgraded in continental Europe) and the South beam, which is much stronger. Presumably you are getting the North beam to get ITV etc. Channel 5 used to be the most difficult in Spain.
 
You should have no problem with a 1.8 meter dish, it will be a little more difficult to align exactly, but trial and error will do the job!!
Whats it like in Fuimincino? Prices? Facilities etc? Let me know please! Thanks,
Colin
 
Colin - They are charging us €14/m/month plus electric at €0.25 per kWh as liveaboards. Non-liveaboards, elect. free. Internet - free WEP-protected service by Constellation at near broadband speed. Fine for Skype and Pressreader. Water by neg. but unless they think we are abusing it, they won't charge, they say. Constellation went out of business a couple of years ago and was taken over by a co-op of four customers.

As for the location:-

Food:- We are only five minutes gentle walk from a really superb supermarket and ten mins from a covered market. There is one fish market less than one minutes walk away offering local and imported fish and shellfish - all the Med stuff landed by the local fishing boats plus farmed salmon, homard, etc., which cab be difficult to find in the Med - really good chilled storage, world class.

Shopping:- Local Fiumicino shops for all your everyday stuff and a bus (€1 each way) to Park Leonardo a major mall so big it takes hours to walk round. Not my thing but Sandy likes it /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Have not yet got a handle on the specialist shops and chandleries but they must be here.

Environment:- We are on the canal section of the Tevere (Tiber). Barely any foot traffic and very little boat traffic. Clean enough and paved. The other section, the non-canal section, is called the 'Fiumara Grande' (= big river). Many FVs and yachts. Pretty quiet. Sometimes the planes from Fiumicino go over as though the entire population of Italy is trying to evacuate then they go quiet. We are one hour and two EUR from the centre of Rome. Not many other liveaboards yet. We are expecting one Dutch vessel in October but might be quiet. We will have to re-discover ourselves /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Rafting-up is the norm. We are on the inside - agreed at the outset with Constellation.

So far, very pleased but we haven't been here a week yet. 10 mins by car from Fiumicino airport or an hour's brisk walk via Ordnance Survey type route. Non-IT yachts do overwinter here and seem to be well cared-for. For liveaboards, would suit folk prepared to interact with the yard and area rather than those who are more comfortable to deal with 'girls in the office'.

There is a lifting bridge max height 21.5m - we are 20m so I had to take down the VHF, wind vane and masthead lights. There is no way round this.

I cannot believe that we will experience any surge this far up the canal. Security. Could be an issue. Will put up our PIR light and maybe an active CCTV.

David
 
Has anyone out there had experience with Tracvision, Glomex or Raymarine Sat Dome TV systems, they all look pretty good apart from the price that is. I personally don't fancy the idea of a large dish, stowing or using, and what if you are in an anchorage ? /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I live about 50 Km south of Rome and can not get the Astra Northerly beam on a 1.2m dish. Just getting a bigger dish is not necessarily a solution because if the beam is not visible to you .... it is just not visible, even with a 10m dish. I think in Rome you are right on the edge and you may get it with a 3m dish but it will be iffy paticularly in cloud/rain.

I watch BBC prime on Hotbird at 13 degs east, but you need a card from the BBC which costs £85.

Digital terrestrial TV does not have many channels in the Rome area yet but you can get BBC World unencrypted.

A 3m dish is pretty big and you will need to point it quite accurately and also bolt it down to some decent foundation.

Alan.
 
I am not an expert on the subject, just someone who does not like to pay. I live on Kefalonia and can pick up Hotbird easily on a one metre dish, my opinion is its Crap, shopping channels, God channels, porn channels, whatever floats your boat.
To get channel four, five and itv you need a Sky viewing card, the blue one with a yellow house on it, and aim at the Astra 28.2% east of South, I do not know if it is North or South beam, I just know what I get! If I take the Sky freeview card out I will lose channel 5, 4 and ITV. I use a Sky digibox (Pace) bought of e-bay £20, one metre dish, 50 euro, wall bracket, 10 euro, it works for me. If I pay through a uk address for the pay to view card, I can get all the rest exept bbc. I get a few film channels as well as us channel five, plus channel 4+1 and channel 5=1, I have just lost Bloomberg and the fight channel, at the mo they are switching the frequencies around, this is why channel 4 has been lost (but can be got back) ITV has only been available in the last few weeks, but is a perfect picture with regional news available in six different regions of the uk.Apparently more will be available later in the year as they switch satellites.
 
look up www.lyngsat.com (european packages section) and follow the settings there for changed channel 4 etc . Just re-tuned here in Dublin and I think I have everything back ok. incl BBC 3& 4 . Good Luck. In Fiumicino small camping sat disk will only get some crappy channels on tv , but the radio section will still work very well.Useful when working on the boat to be able to listen away!Thanks Lemain for the update on Constellation Nautica. Hope you have by now found the free Airport Bus at the Civic Offices car park.In the back streets on a corner there is a super takaway with a variety of Chicken/roast potatoes at a great price, or pizza slices, good toppings. beyond the library from memory.Enjoy!
 
Thanks for that, Paul. I had been told that there was an airport bus but not found it. The local car hire outfit run a very expensive bus to the airport - €10 or more /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Do you know who runs the free bus and how to find the timetable? Will certainly try the takeaway. Italian food has to be the best in the world as long as you don't eat tourist food. They seem to make flavours work, somehow, with more skill and less pretension than the French (better duck now, I think /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif)
 
By the way, what's your view of security along the canal, up by Constellation? As a liveaboard boat we have rather more in the way of stuff than the average cruising yacht in the winter.
 
Nothing touched at all during my stay Lemain. Many dogs could deter thieves.Bus Sustitutivo is a large white coach. the timetable is written up at the building side of the car park opposite Constellation Nautica. to the right of the sloping brick paved area. about 4 mins to the Airport.luggage goes inside the bus, not underneath as one would think. The railway used to come to Fiumicino.When it was diverted to the Airport, the locals allowed it to happen provided a free bus was provided in substitution, hence the name.Have fun!
 
ps Lemain, is Hans (Beneteau centre cockpit 40) one of the operators now? Agreable chap, say hello from Irish crews who enjoyed his company.
 
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