ALISON

Hi,

Will probably be moving to Spain early next year and unfortunately I am a Sky+ addict!!!!
Can you get Sky out there?
Do I take my Sky+ box with me?
Do you recieve all the same channels?
Can't imagine life without Home & Away/Coronation Street/Everyone Loves Raymond etc...!

I've heard all the usual.....not having Sky isn't the end of the world...you'd soon get used to it....etc...etc! But I've got a serious problem......I'm ADDICTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mitzipurr

Yes Yes Yes in answer to all three questions. Dont blame you for your obsession could not do without mine. The only glitch is when it rains hard you will lose channels!

ALISON

Thanks Mitzi!!! I'm glad someone else understands my need for Sky+!!!

Will I need to get a dish once I'm there? It will be on the coast, most likely Costa Blanca. Also, do I still pay a subscription to Sky? Someone told me that as I have had my box for 12 months, I no longer need to subscribe (?).
If I do need to subscribe then do I need to keep a UK bank account and give Sky a UK address?

Sorry to bombard you with all these questions, but as a fellow 'addict', I'm sure you understand!!!

Cheers xxx

mitzipurr

You will need a dish of 1.3 minimum and a double low noise lnb. Yes if you want Sky+ then you need to subscribe. I believe you can get a standard family package and pay them £10 on top. The £10 is so you can use the recording facility. I think what you are talking about ie not subscribing would be for a normal sky box. As for your last question then yes I think it is advisable but others may know better???

No problem for me in helping out with your questions as I fully understand your obsession!!! In my opinion Sky + if you are a telly addict is fantastic, and just look what's around the corner HD with a 160 gig hard drive, hours and hours of soaps etc, but needs to become more affordable!!

ALISON

Thanks for your advice...really appreciate it!

Yes, HD looks brill...but maybe when the price comes down!

Well, I'm off to watch my daily top-up of TV that I've been recording all day....Home & Away, Enders, Hollyoaks, Deal or No Deal & Everyone loves Raymond!

Cheers!

Fred James

Alison, you say you may be on the Costa Blanca.

If so then the minimun dish size is 1.8m (ie. expensive) and even then some channels will not be available all day.

On the Costa del Sol 1.3m is usually fine for all popular channels except C5 at night.

jdr

Most channels are available on cable where I live on CDS, 350€ a year

Solarwhizz

Heed Fred's Advice, if your moving to the Costa Blanca you will need a Min 1,8M and as he says you may (depending on where u are) get some problems on some channels at periods duringthe day, IE Channel 4 in the late afternoon. No BBC2 at most times and on a 1.8M probably not at all!!. BBC1 and ITV channels are good all day in most areas. If you really want coverage you will have to go for 2.4M dish. You would be best advised to bring your sky box and contract card with you and keep your card registered to a UK address, NB ensure you have all the contract numbers etc that you registered with. to set up a contract over here can be expensive IE set up charge and purchase of card can be as much as 150€ depending on supplier. Bringing the a box over will save you money as a new one here will cost in the region of 250€ to 300€ of a supplier.
If you decide to bring your box over, make sure you get your dish installed asap, to avoid complications in missing a reset signal and then losing your premium channels which will be complicated for you to get back on if your not used to how the system works when dealing with SKY from abroad, one mistake and they will deactivate your card.
SKY+ boxes work reasonable well, but with a 1.8M Dish you may have some problems with some of the movie channels later in the evening. you could pick Sky sports up with a dustbin lid, so that should be no problem at all.

1.8m Dish should cost no more than 650€ installed
2.4M Dish should cost no more than 850€ installed. SHOP around!!

A second option depending where you are on the CB is the Superbeam or Micromesh systems , these give you a reasonable selection of channels for about 450€ installation and from 15€ per month depending on package.

ALISON

Thank you very much to all that replied!!

I'm just trying to decide if it's worth it or if cable would be better. If I list the channels that I watch, could anyone tell me if Sky would pick them up over there...?
BBC,ITV,CH4,CH5 (can't miss Home & Away!!), E4, LIVING (what would I do without America's Next Top Model????), PARAMOUNT, E!, SKY SPORTS, ANY MUSIC CHANNELS!

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!
xxx

Solarwhizz

Without a doubt you will need to have a Min 1.8M dish plus Sky Digibox for the prime channels BBC1 ITV1,2,3,4, you will need a FTV card for CH4 CH5 ( For Sky Sports, and paramount you will need a Sky subscription
You wont get all the channels you want on the retransmits by Super beam or Microsystem . Upside is once you have paid for the install its Free thereafter

julian_m

Why does Sky not want you as a subscriber if you live in Spain? It seems crazy to me. Given that several hundred thousand Brits reportedly live in Spain now, I would have thought they could make a lot of money providing the service legitimately.

jdr

Too busy counting their 561 million quid profit for the UK last year.

Its probably something to do with broadcasting licences, and if other countries know the profits, how much for the licence ?

ALISON

Thanks Solarwhizz...appreciate the advice!
I'll probably be back on here once we've moved asking even more questions!!!!
He He!!!

big wheels

@ ALISON
If Sky tv is that important. Why do you want to move???

You would need a bl**dy long cable LOL


BW.

big wheels

They do make a lot of money out of Brit subs in Spain. However they can't do it legitimately due to the copyrights on the content shown. They only pay to transmit their channels in the Uk.
That is why technically you are breaking the law watching sky tv in Spain.

It's the same reason why I watch the Spanish D+ package in the UK for free. Because by law I am unable to legitimately subscribe.
BW