Bigger Jim

Just been reading another forum where someone's only interest was receiving BBC world service on Astra 2A. Footprint shows that most of Spain can be covered by a 50cm dish, which is the same size as a Sky dish, has anyone any experience of this?

Currently, as many of you will know, Sky are virtually giving away Sky+ with cheap or free installation. The old dish and box are your property so you keep them and it may be UK car boot sales will be awash with them. Typical prices are 5 to 10 pounds for a box and from 5 pounds for a complete dish.

Installation is reasonable easy as the accuracy necessary to align the antenna is much less critical than larger dishes and instructions on doing it are readily available on the web.

Won't give you what you can get on Sky but will be very much cheaper and may serve in the short term or till funds become more available.

Question is of course has anyone experience of doing it?

Jim

The Guy

Yes BBC World Service, along with BBC Radio 1,2,3,4, 1xtra, 6 and 7 and are available on Astra 2a. They are on frequency 11954 H 27.5 2/3, and can be received with a 60cm dish.
Look at this LINK and look for the channels on Eurobird 1, Astra 2a South, and "b SOuth...and you should get those channels on an 60 -80cm dish.
And many of them are being installed in another room (as per multiroom) when the main system is upgraded to Sky+ or SkyHD+. But some of the older Sky boxes do not work well in Spain. They are very slow - avoid early Amstrads!!!
Accuracy is still important, even on a small dish. And also relies on good LNB, good cable and a good receiver.
Totally Agree. Or you can fit a multisatellite systems (2 dishes or a motorised dish) and get a few other satelltes also - Arabsat26 (juts next to the UK Astra2's) have a few movie channels showing films and series in English (albeit with arabic subtitles!)
Every day

Bigger Jim

Thanks Sat&pc

I should cut to the chase though what I was seeking was an answer to whether anyone had used a standard Sky dish and with what success.

Jim

The Guy

i did try a sky minidish here...and compared it to an standard 80cm dish...and the 80cm dish got many more channels....
many of the channels on the skyminidish could just about be received...many were breaking up, where on the 80cm all were ok...

Helpful-Bob

Good information Jim,
Many thanks

Bigger Jim

Many thanks for the info I will give it a try when I get back and see just how successful it is in getting BBC world.

Had some anectotal info from caravaners who said they had used a basic Sky dish in various areas of Spain down as far as Gib. I am not looking for anything wonderful just to meet a need that I've seen expressed in a limited number of posts where an ex-pat has Spanish TV but would like to keep in touch with whats going on in UK.

If possible I would like to come up with a DIY package that anyone with a bit of assistance could resource and install.

I know that some of the older boxes are slow, but I dont see that as too much of a problem, I have three old silver Grundigs in the square case that are quite sensitive and in my case have proved very reliable. Bought the first 5 years ago for £14 on ebay the second at £10 on ebay and the third with a card for £3 at a car boot. Boots, braces and a bit of string.

If it works it might help someone if it doesn't I will have enjoyed trying it.

Certa Cito

Jim

Jim

bigglesworth

Does the dish you need vary from area to area? We are off to Galicia in a couple of months. Does anyone know what equipment we will need? We don't watch sport if that makes any difference, and are mainly interested in Spanish channels so long as we can get a decent news channel such as BBC World. And radio which we hope t get off the net. The house we hope to buy has telephone, broadband and a Spanish dish.

Bigger Jim

This is the footprint for Astra 2A
http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/astra2a_south.html
In theory it should be possible to receive Astra 2a over most of Spain. But theory and practice often differ which is why I posed the question in the first place.
A local installer could tell you but would probably err on the side of caution if you are paying and you could find it reasonably expensive. Which is why I was looking for a low cost solution. Some of the dishes that you can buy at the less expensive end of the market are very flimsy and vibrate like mad. One thing about Sky dishes is that they are robust and if they work could be a better solution.

Jim

big wheels

@ bigglesworth
You could fit a sky mini dish and point it at Astra @ 19.2 degs east and provided that you know how to input the frequency and symbol rate etc.

Receive Free (no card needed)

Both BBC world and Sky news here. 11597 V 22000 5/6

Spanish channels are also available eg.
AndaluciaTV, TV Galicia, Tele Madrid, TV Catalan and Euskadi TV all on
11684 V 22000 5/6

TVEi 11566 V 22000 5/6
TVV Int (Valencia) 10816 V 22000 5/6
Extremadura TV 11508 22000 V 5/6
Aragon TV 11538 V 22000 5/6
TV Canaria 10977 V 22000 5/6.

bigglesworth

Thanks all for so much info and help

Casa Santo Estevo

If the house has a dish for Spanish services then it will more than likely be able to receive BBC world. We have a dish for the guests it can receive the channels listed above plus a few more. If you purchase a Canelplus card then you can get even more channels, but these will be Spanish. Canalplus services are very expensive so we stopped using them as not many guests wanted to watch TV.
If you want to want to watch the likes of sky services and BBC and ITV then you will need a dish of about 2.0m dia, some say 1.8m dia-
Up here you can easily spot the English who want to watch the “main channels”.

Bigger Jim

www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/

Is a good source of information on reception and using dishes abroad. Most caravanners like to keep in touch with whats going on in the UK as they travel around and will try to get reception in the weirdest places.

Jim