satellite tv in the med- which satellite?

[kashurst]

the new boat has a KVH satellite dish on it.
I have had a rummage around with it to get to grips with it, as we don't have satellite at home in the UK (not a big sports fan)
anyone know what satellite to point it at to (hopefully) pick up free sat TV - swmbo needs a coronation street fix
we are based on the costa blanca and domestic dishes tend to be 1M + so maybe I am out of range? looked on some websites for info and one suggested the Astra 2A south beam would work?

 

[Hurricane]

You should pick up most of the Sky TV transmissions on Astra
Also there is a wide beam (South Beam) transponder that BBC are still using.
IIRC the transponder freq is 11957 - I cant remember the polarity or the stream data but it carries the free BBC Sports (red button) channels and all the BBC Radio channels.
This transponder can be picked up on even the smallest dishes throughout Europe.

Unfortunately for you the usual BBC1,2,3,4 and ITV channels etc will be too weak for your system

 

[davids0865]

Sorry Hurricane, am I just being thick? but if you can pick up most of the Sky channels on Astra why not the BBC 1/2/3 etc that they re broadcast.
I must be missing something.

David

 

[Davy_S]

http://robssatellitetv.webs.com/astra2f.htm

Have a look at this link.
The bbc channels are concentrated on the uk, you would need a 2 metre dish to pick them up.
ITV has now moved to Astra 1N, again big dish needed.
Red button is 11954 H.

 

[Hurricane]

http://robssatellitetv.webs.com/astra2f.htm

Have a look at this link.
The bbc channels are concentrated on the uk, you would need a 2 metre dish to pick them up.
ITV has now moved to Astra 1N, again big dish needed.
Red button is 11954 H.

You are absolutely correct about the red button freq - sorry I was going from memory.

IMO, the best internet resource for anything to do with sat tv in Europe is www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk
Makes for good reading and very informative.

 

[volvopaul]

Speak to Zoe at m e s ltd poole for an unbiased answer, I deal with them for my electronics and specialist repairs. 01202666066

 

[st599]

Sorry Hurricane, am I just being thick? but if you can pick up most of the Sky channels on Astra why not the BBC 1/2/3 etc that they re broadcast.
I must be missing something.

David

Sky don't re-broadcast BBC channels. All they broadcast is the necessary additional data to get the BBC's own transmissions to work on their system.

 

[Hurricane]

This is a bit of a rant about KVH but it may also answer some of your questions.

Last month, I helped a friend with his KVH system and I was appalled at the design of such a well respected piece of kit.

My friend had arranged for a specialist from the UK to come out and help. The specialist did know his stuff and had a good contact back at his office for things he didn’t understand.

My Raymarine dome is essentially an Intellian system.
When setting it up, you enter the positions of the satellites and the frequencies etc for strong transponders so that the dish can lock onto the satellite and track it.
Once it is set up it’s a doddle – you just switch it on and it tracks the satellite it was last tracking. If you want another satellite you just switch to another in its memory. Note that you don’t need ANY other kit attached to it in order for it to track a satellite. No digibox is needed to get the system to track. The unit is completely self contained. Obviously, you need a box when it comes to receiving TV but to get the dish pointing at a satellite, the Intellian kit is self contained.

Now, the KVH system that my friend owns is a NIGHTMARE. Apparently, it is completely dependant upon signals sent from a satellite receiver (digibox) in order for the system to lock onto a satellite.

Some background notes.
Our European TV satellites transmit their signals on two frequency bands – they are referred to as high band and low band. The low band frequencies are mainly used by Freesat (BBC1,2,3,4 ITV etc) and in our part of Spain not strong enough to pick up. Sky mainly uses the high band frequencies. On top of this, a TV signal can be broadcast either horizontally or vertically polarised. Think of each transmission as a two dimensional signal being received by a 3 dimensional dish. A device called an LNB is fitted to the focus of the dish and converts signals for the satellite receiver to pick up. The satellite receiver also outputs signals to switch the LNB to either high or low band and to either horizontal or vertical polarity.

My Raymarine system has the equivalent of a satellite receiver built in so it can switch the LNB to high/low band and horizontal/vertical as required. It needs to do this so that it can “track” the satellite’s position in the sky. If you’ve understood this so far, there are four settings (frequencies etc) in my system – one for high band and one for low band and each one has a horizontal and vertical setting. I’ve cheated my system by setting my low band frequencies to actually receive high band ones. This means that my system will always track the satellite.

Now, it seems that KVH systems (my friend’s one anyway) needs a satellite receiver to tell the KVH controller whether to switch to high/low/horizontal/vertical. My friends Sky box only outputted a low band signal to the LNB which in the UK would have been no problem but in Spain this is a big problem because the signals aren’t strong enough. It’s really frustrating, knowing that the Sky (high band) signals are there but because it relies so heavily on the satellite receiver the KVH system cannot control its own dish.

As I say, I was appalled at the design of such a well respected piece of kit. My system just works.