Just got my hands on a skybox and card, just need the dish now. Geezer in shop reckoned I'd need 90cm dish which isn't what I was told previously so I am a tad confused.
The landlady was a bit iffy about me having a dish and said I could only have one out the back as no dishes are allowed on the front of the buildings locally. 90 cms sounded a bit big. Do I really need one this size? He said he'd let me have one for £35.

Advice on here in the past has been 60 - 90 cms

Think yourself lucky .... we have a 1.80 disc, and some have 2.40

Thanks for that. 90cms it is then.

Remember Google is your friend; a search for "Sky satellite footprint" revealed this. http://www.brymar.co.uk/info/Astra/astra.html.

It confirms what I understood to be the case, that 60 cms would suffice for all of France.

Cheers for that Angela. 60cms would be better.

Collioure_Bee,

Also, Google found this fantastic resource for setting up your satellite dish:- http://www.dishpointer.com/. It calculates all the adjustment angles needed according to geographic location and satellite(s) required.

Christ, it even knows where I live

Angela, Je t'aime! What a great site, all I have to do now is understand it LOL. It has eased my mind somewhat though as I am told I have to have the dish out the back and as luck would have it, the direction it needs to point is out the back.

Collioure_Bee,



The only other piece of information you will need is the 'offset' for the dish elevation ... this page explains it... http://www.satsig.net/22-deg-offset-dish.htm

When I replaced a Sky dish in the UK, I simply pointed and arranged it much the same as the neighbours, but if you want Sky you, of course, can't do that here. A satellite signal finder, 5 or 6 pounds off eBay, will be invaluable and a real time saver.

You may also want to consider putting in a twin LNB (that's the active bit that receives the signal), and run TWO cables to your Sky box ready for when you upgrade to Sky+, or get a Freesat PVR when they are launched later this year.

I'm sorry to feed you this piece by piece by I'm doing my own research for a similar installation.

Good luck with yours!

Nah, feed me bit by bit Angela. It's gonna take me ages to work it out so the more idiot the guide the better and thanks again.

Why don't you dare pick up sky out there? Does this mean no cricket?

Gonna get at least two sets running off it as one can go to video and the other to tele, that way can watch one channel and tape another. I don't actually watch a great deal of tele but can guarantee there is a decent film clashing with the few programmes I do watch.

Me? Watch cricket?

Sorry, I think I didn't explain myslef very clearly; what I meant was that in the UK you can simply set up your dish so it both sits and points exactly the same as all the others around you, towards 28.2E. Here in France all the other dishes are pointing at 19E or 13 degrees East for Canal + or whatever - so if you followed those setups Sky would be cloudy.

I really don't want Sky at all, I resent paying to watch 15 minutes of advertising per hour, but I want the free to air stuff that is on the Astra 2D (ie Sky's) satellite, including the BBC HD channel.

I meant me watching the cricket LOL. As it goes I resent paying Murdoch any money, I was a printer on the picket lines at Wapping (and reading the very bias reports on it)and have never bought a News International newspaper since, even when anyone has asked me to get them a Sun as I'm going to the shop LOL.

I was told it was actually illegal to watch Sky in France anyway.

Paul